The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 44. She’s just desperate.

Chapter 44: 44. She’s just desperate.

"So, what kind of devil did you meet to make yah succumb to drinking this piss?" Rug asked.

"Probably the most wicked, the most treacherous and damned be the ones who made her but also the most beautiful of them all." Barak emptied his mug and Botch instantly filled it up once again.

"What she do to yah?" Botch asked. As he served beer to a man who just sat in front of the counter.

"I think I can figure that out myself." Rug sniggered. "Seeing that he looks so fancy, he must be an important Tragonian. Might be the prince even." Rug grinned with his brown teeth and everyone around him gasped at his words.

"What gives that away, Rug? The fancy clothes?" Barak asked and the old man shrugged.

"Nay, not the fancy clothes, but the eyes." at the words of the man, Barak’s gaze shifted to him. He could see a kind of seriousness upon his face. Almost hostile too. "They are fancy eyes!" Rug cheered and that hostile expression disappeared from his face.

Barak could not tell what the old man was thinking, but he decided to ignore the hostility he had sensed.

"So is it true, are you a prince? Are you the one in the stories? Merciless and brave Tragonian warrior prince?" Botch asked with very very curious eyes.

"Well, I do not know about being a prince, but I know I can afford the drinks of every man here right now." Barak shrugged and dumped on the counter a bag of gold coins. You could see Botch’s eyes open wider with happiness as the gold dazzled before his eyes and you could hear the cheers coming from the happy customers in the bar.

Even old Rug was happy to get more free drinks.

"So, tell me. Did she pretend to love you and then run away with your money?" Rug continued and Barak sniggered at his conclusion. "That is usually the most common among them women." He shrugged.

"I think not." walking out of a door beside the shelf of drinks was a woman with dark hair parked in a rough bun and dressed in simple peasant clothes. She had two plates of food that Barak could not identify.

"Darling!" Botch hugged the woman as she placed the plates on the counter and two men picked them up and went to their table.

"I do not think your guess is right, Rug. The man still has money to pay for everyone’s drink. You think he will look this bitter because some little gypsy duped him and stole his money?" She scoffed and Barak sniggered; she seemed smart.

"Then what do you think is the reason my darling?" Botch kissed her neck and she pushed his head off her body as she picked up the used plate on the counter.

"It is obvious. She stole no money, she had stolen something even more valuable than that." She smiled and eyed Barak before walking back through the door which she had Com through before.

"Mileka you cannot say something half way and leave us to finish it!" Botch cried after her.

"Botch better focus on serving the booze and stop disturbing the dear customer, milove!" She retorted.

"Well, no matter what she stole," Rug continued, "Did yah at least have a good time?"

Barak stared at the man for some time. If this was a different setting he might have gotten angry at the man’s question. But right now he had no idea why he found the question funny for her chuckled, albeit dryly, "That is the painful part. I had the best time." He confessed.

Botch slammed his hand on the desk again and poured himself a drink, "Aye then, all is well. Nothing we can do about them little devil’s messengers. So, a toast all of them. Those little witches that can bring men to their knees. Those little destroyers of kings. Cheers!!" He slammed his mug with Barak’s and Rug’s.

"Botch!! Stop disturbing the customer. If you do not have any more beer to serve then come help me here in the kitchen." Mileka ordered from the kitchen and Botch flinched.

"See what I am saying? They have you wrapped in their tiny little fingers. Like that one has a big man like me. Never get married I tell you. Never. Or else, it is centuries of her nagging for yah. You can never get out of it."

"Botch!!"

"Coming milady! Coming."

"Hey! Better get in there Botch, or Mileka will have your balls crushed like her eggs." Rug said and Barak chuckled.

Though their lives seemed hectic, Botch and his Mileka, they looked happy. He said it was centuries of nagging and yet he looked like he enjoyed her nagging. Was this love? Barak wondered. And once again his mind drifted to her...

The sweet little liar.

...

On reaching their assigned castle, Barak thought of seeing his father before turning in for the night, but he just could not bring himself. He hardly had any reason to be embarrassed or ashamed before his father, but today he was filled with embarrassment and the same was still fresh.

He could not do it, so he went straight to his room.

"When you said she reminded you of the story of your mother," Barak flinched as he heard his father’s voice as he stepped into his dark room. He needed to turn on no light to see the man standing near the balcony in the night. He was trying to not face him but as expected, the man knew him better than anyone so here he was, waiting for him. "I really wanted to see what she looked and acted like to make you say that."

"Father please," He said dryly as he took some steps closer to the man. "Do not mock me." He said with his head and shoulders down.

"Had some drinks, I see."

"Tasted like piss. Nothing like Tragonian beer."

"Aye, no place in the world with better beer than Trago." Bashan agreed.

"Aye."

"You know, she does remind me of your mother in her younger days." Bashan suddenly said.

"Father, please. She is nothing like mother. She is—" Ah he had no words to describe her. Actually he had plenty of words to describe her, but only the vilest would escape his mouth now so he kept quiet.

"No really. She does act like your mother. Albeit a little too much and a little more dramatic, but those fiery eyes, that unwavering pride, that boldness to stand firm even when being completely wrong. Those were attributes you dear mother, my lovely wife had."

"You said had." Barak pointed out.

"Ah yes. That is because like you said, your mother is not like that anymore. Well, she is as stubborn as a stone, as prideful as always and as bold and brave as the queen she is. But not when she is wrong. That is because she learned, she grew and she realized her mistakes and worked to mend them."

"What are you saying father? Are you saying there is redemption for Neriah? I do not believe mother had a heart to do what she did today."

"Aye your mother might not have been as wicked as princess Nariah, but she is a child. She definitely knows wrong from right yet because of the childish selfishness within her she chooses the wrong."

"Father, you saw her today. What child would do that?"

"Aye, I saw her and I saw a desperate young girl willing to do anything to get out of an arranged marriage."

"You seem to have taken a liking to her."

"On the contrary, I do not like her one bit." Bashan confessed and it shocked Barak because he had not expected that answer. "If she was my daughter she would have been very sorry for her actions. But just because I do not like her, does not mean I do not understand her actions."

Barak just stared at his father. He still had a lot to learn from the man. The more he got to spend time with him, the more he got to learn new things and new ways of thinking. How was it possible to understand a person you did not like?

"All I am saying is do not resent her too much for what she has done. I am certain she will definitely learn from her actions. She is probably crying and begging forgiveness from her father as we speak. That slap would have reconstructed her way of thinking." Bashan sniggered.

But for some reason, Barak felt like his father was wrong about this... That she would be feeling sorry, was an image he could not conjure in his head.

"As a just King that Gerald is, he would want to call off the engagement as a means to apologize for his daughter’s actions. What will you do?"

"I have no idea, father. For once I have no plan. At first I was going to call of the engagement for the sake of Ria, but finding out that Ria is actually Neriah and she is more despicable than I could have ever imagined. I do not know what to do... And the worst part of it all now is..."

"You have marked her."

"Aye father. I marked her."