The Once and Future King (Deltora Quest)

CHAPTER 11

Lief sat in his study with his head between his hands.   Jasmine had threatened to leave once again. This time she sounded serious. If there was a way to convince her to stay and keep her at an arms length, he would have done it by now. His kingdom meant everything to him, but so did Jasmine. Deep in thought, Lief raised his head when he heard someone knocking at the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Barda." He sounded mad. Lief couldn't hide his smile. Barda always knew when he needed advice and was always there to give it.

"Come in." Barda unceremoniously slams the door wide open and marched through.

"Lief, you need to stop sulking and act like a king. What happened out there, cannot happen again. You must defuse the situation before it rears it's ugly head again."

"Weren't you the one who couldn't stop laughing." Lief gestured to a chair and Barda gracefully sat down."

"Jasmine is one of a kind Lief." Barda smiles at the memory.

"I know and now she's leaving."

"Of course she is. What did you do his time?" Barda lets out an exasperated sigh and moved around to sit in a chair.

"Since Genevieve has arrived, I've been trying to quell any feeling I had for her. I can't start a marriage when I love another. But, Jasmine is persistent. When ever I refuse her feeling, she comes back with revenge."

"She makes you jealous?"

"Yes. I want her to be happy, but not with someone else. She's mine. I can't deny it anymore, I still love her. But I may have ruined everything."

"The thing I don't understand it why you are pushing her away if you love her."

"I'm the King of Deltora. It's my duty to provide for the needs of my people. Marrying Genevieve will help. The alliance between our to kingdoms will rectify the damage."

"There are other ways to form alliances. Ones where nobody you love gets hurt."

"But this is what my father wished for me."

"Your father arranged this marriage with hope that you would fall for her and be happy. He loved you Lief. He would never want you to enter into a loveless marriage. If he knew that you had fallen in love with another girl, he would have done everything in his power to destroy the contract. You know that. Stop using your father as an excuse, what is the real reason."

Lief ran a hand though his hair, trying to gather his thoughts. "She doesn't belong in a palace Barda. Jasmine is miserable here. I can't be the one to tie her down to a place she hates."

"She loves you Lief and would be happy anywhere as long as it was with you."

"I'm not so sure that's true anymore. I've pushed her to hard and now she hates me. I don't know what to do."

"Well, the first thing you can do is apologize. I'm sure after a couple of days she would forgive you. Love doesn't burn out like a flame, it stays for a while."

"I'll try. After the way I treated her, I don't expect her to ever want to talk to me again." Standing, Lief threaded his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Is that all?"

Barda rose to his feet. "One more thing. Lucian has requested to stay a few more months."

"Why?"

"He says that more contracts and documents are being delivered and he needs to be there to supervise. But we both know the real reason is to-"

"Stay with Jasmine." Lief finished Barda sentence.

"Exactly. What are you going to do?"

" I don't know."

"Whatever you do, remember that you are getting married. Any display of adultery will ruin any future relationships with her kingdom." With that, Barda walked out of the room, shutting the door on his way out.

Lief needed to find Jasmine and apologize. He just hopped he wasn't to late.

Sorry it's so short. The next one will make up for it... hopefully.