Chapter 18 - Honest Mistake

The day was long for the members of the royal family. The queen for one had not slept the whole day as she kept on thinking about her plans and how to put them to action. She almost succeeded in her plans of reducing Olivia's power but Olivia managed to pull one on her.

She had become overconfident and it cost her the first round of the war. But if Olivia thought that the fight was over then she was mistaken. The queen was determined to win at all cost as the game was far from over. The queen at sunset and rushed out of the room to meet Francis. She needed to find out from the boy whether or not Alexander spent the day with him or not.

She rushed down the corridors of the palace to the prince's palace. She took a right turn and hurried on her feet. "Someone is in a hurry," the Queen heard as she made another turn and stopped in her tracks. She hated that she had to hear that horrible voice first thing in the night.

She turned around and came face to face with the witch that troubles her so much she has to stay awake during the day to think of ways to get rid of her. "Good night princess," she said forcing a fake smile on her face.

"It is indeed a good night queen. I woke up feeling happy but it seems that some of us did not sleep," she stated.

"Yes, you are right about that. I had not slept a wink during the day."

"Defeat must be a hard pill to swallow."

"Shouldn't I ask you that?"

"How would I know my queen. The previous night was my victory and your loss," she answered confidently.

"That was a loss for both of us if you look at it from my perspective. More of a loss for you than me if I were to give my opinion," she responded.

"How so queen mother," Olivia mocked.

"You lost twice the previous night. One according to your rules as the head princess, the prince is not allowed to spend the first night of the month with anyone but you. I don't know why you failed to notice yesterday was the night of the month and it was spent with the new bride. Not just that, it is a rule from you that Alexander is not to touch any new wife in the palace without your permission on the night of their wedding and he did spend the night in Francis company on their wedding day and that too without asking you first," she stated.

Olivia's blood boiled in her body when she realized her mistake. Yesterday she had left the room and given Alexander the chance to be with Francis. She had not even realized that it was the first night of the month, not only that but for the first time Alexander had been with his wife on the night of their wedding and she allowed it.

"I would like to stay here and watch you suffer while realizing that you are a fool. But I have to see the new prince before he wakes up," she said and turned away.

"The game is not over yet my queen. I will have the final say," she announced with anger.

"I agree that the game is not over but you should also not underestimate your opponent. It is this mistake that will cost you the game."

The queen went to Francis's chamber. Arnie the king's servant was already at Francis's door with his breakfast in hand. "Greetings to the royal queen," he greeted when the queen arrived at the door.

"Has the prince woken up yet?" she asked.

"Not yet my queen," he replied with his head bowed to show respect.

The queen opened the door slowly as not to spook the prince in his sleep. The door came open and she stepped in, she was met with the scene that she had prayed for the whole day. Francis's clothes were scattered in the room and along with them were Alexander's clothes.

"It seems the two of them had fun," she whispered with a bright smile on her face. She moved to the bed and brushed Francis's hair from his face as he slept. "You've made me very happy."

Arnie came in with the other servants. He ordered them to clean the room as he set the food down on the table. He went over to the bed to fold the blankets and wake the prince up. Without warning, he pulled the blankets off of Francis and exposed the young man to everyone in the room.

Francis was without any clothes as Nayla had put him to sleep naked. The queen signaled the servants to leave the room and covered Francis up once again. She glanced out the window into the kingdom below, her eyes glowed with happiness.

"I am sorry my queen. I had no idea that he was..." Arnie tried to apologize but the Queen raised her hand to stop him.

"It was an honest mistake. Go attend to Alexander had should be up soon," she instructed.

Arnie left the room with his head bowed feeling ashamed for what he had done. He could only pray that Prince Alexander will be as understanding as his mother. He hoped that the prince will not have him beheaded for uncovering the new prince in front of people.

The news of the state in which Francis was found in his room spread like wildfire in the palace walls. The maids who were in the room made sure to gossip about it to their friends who further told their friends. In no seconds everyone in the palace, young and old had come to know of it.

The news made many of Alexander's wives happy but one particular princess hated the news. Olivia could not stand to hear the whispers in the palace but she couldn't block her ears not to hear them.. She gritted her teeth in anger, her eyes burning with hatred for Francis.