Bodyguard part 3

She hesitated for about a minute, simply staring at him, as if waiting for some great prank to be played. Then, when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to move, she was in his embrace in an instant, breathing out of control. They stood like that for a while, neither wanting the contact to end, before Annabelle pulled back slowly, not meeting his eyes. Charlie was impressed to see that her face was dry, no tears had fallen during the exchange.

“I- I am sorry, Mr. Barkin. I should never have lost control that way.”

“Since when am I Mr. Barkin?” Charlie asked in mock horror.

Annabelle’s lip trembled, as if she wanted to show her mirth but wouldn’t allow it. “Since you became old.” She answered, backing away from him completely now. Glancing around the room, she smiled. “I trust you’ve gone through all of my possessions by now?”

“Indeed. It seems you have an admirer”. Charlie said, raising an eyebrow at her. He was disappointed, however, if he was waiting to see a blush. She met his gaze steadily as she said, “Oh, Harvey? Yes, we’ve become quite close, it seems.” Allowing her smile to grow a little in one corner, she turned on her heel and waltzed over to her desk. “Dear Harvey has been most anxious for our union these past few weeks, I’m afraid I can’t hold him off much longer.

This time, Charlie could not refrain from snorting. “Hold him off?  Come now, he can’t be that much of a nuisance to you! If he was, you could just have his head chopped off!” Although he spoke in a jesting manner, Charlie had to admit he was fishing for information. 

As she took her seat by the desk, she said, “Oh, Charlie, much has changed since you have gone. Harvey is not the boy you remember, rather, he has grown into quite the king.

Though surprised, Charlie quickly went through the letter in his head, recalling that Harvey had asked Annabelle to stay at his palace. At the time, he had thought he was merely attempting to be poetic, but now he seriously began to consider his station. There had also been talk of merging lands...Did he mean to say that he wanted Halidornia and Pearly to become one kingdom?

“Do you mean to say that our little errand boy is now a royal?” Charlie asked incredulously.

Annabelle nodded. “He was successful in his challenge to the last Halidornia King, Urqhart.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “I confess I never did keep up with the monarchy of that land. Kings change so often there that I no longer bothered to keep track. Last time I was here, it was...” here he scrunched up his face in thought, “Fawcette? The bald one?”

“Yes, he was challenged about year after you left.” Annabelle said with a sad smile. “Things were more peaceful under his rule.” She immediately snapped her eyes up to meet Charlie after saying this. “Not that Harvey is doing a bad job, mind you. Quite the contrary. It’s just that, back then, there weren’t any rebels. Everyone was happy...” Annabelle trailed off, gazing at the door in a melancholy manner.

Taking a seat on the bed, he faced Annabelle’s back as she stared into oblivion. “Annabelle, if I’m going to stay, then I’m going to need to be brought up to speed. What happened after I left?”

“Such a long time ago.” She muttered, absentmindedly thumbing through a book on her desk. Then she sighed, and turned around to face him. “I suppose it all started with my sister.” She said after a moment’s contemplation. 

                                                                      ***

“Of course as soon as you left, Donnabella began screaming to the heavens how much she adored you. She begged father to cancel your banishment, resorting to the first temper tantrum I’d seen her pull in years. Father was unmoved by her devotion, and eventually locked himself in his study just to avoid her screaming.”

“And what about you?” Charlie couldn’t help but ask.

“Me? Oh, I barely noticed you were gone.”

Charlie gave a low chuckle. “Impudent princess.” he muttered fondly.

“Weeks past before there was anything resembling peace in our home. Donnabella began to starve herself, only eating the bare minimum necessary for survival. A replacement guard was hired for me, some oaf by the name of Cogs, but he did not last long.”

“Oh?”

Annabelle’s face grew grave. “It was the night Donnabella left. At first we all believed that she had just gone for a walk, but it became apparent that she had no intention of returning when her note was discovered. Lightly put, it told my father exactly what she thought of him, and declared that she renounced the throne, thrusting the title to me. She was determined not to rule under Father, and vowed to find you by whatever means necessary.”

“But that was years ago. My dear Annabelle, do you realize that you have finally bested you sister at a task? She tries to find me for a decade, while you accomplish the work in a month!” Charlie spoke these words jokingly, but Annabelle never even smiled.

“That night,” she continued on, “The whole kingdom went into uproar. Donnabella was such a promising queen; and I was...well...I was weak. No one wanted sweet little Annabelle to take the throne, for fear that it should fall into ruins in my gentle hands. My father, pressed for a solution by the public, made a rather rash decision.

“Richard? Rash ? Never!” He smiled, but once again was met with her somber face. Sliding a little off the bed, he leaned forward and frowned. “Annabelle? What happened?”

“Father was advised that the best course of action would be to find me a husband who had enough strength to make up for what I lacked. I was to be married.”

“Well, that’s not too bad.”

“I was to be married that evening.”

“Ah. Allow me to retract my previous statement.” But something was missing. “Annabelle, you knew that you would have to have a marriage of convenience before. This couldn’t have come as a great shock to you.” Charlie said in disbelief.

Annabelle shook her head. “No, although it was rather...sudden. I understood right away why it needed to be done, but the methods used...” she trailed off again, not meeting his eyes. Charlie could tell that she was in a far off place, reliving the memories of her past. He waited for her to continue, not letting any trace of impatience cross his face. Eventually, she cleared her throat and began anew.

“It was a sort of contest, really. That evening, before supper, he announced a proclamation. Whoever could get past all of his guards and reach me in the north tower could have me as his bride.”

After recovering from the shock of the somewhat barbaric ritual, Charlie started to understand how Richard could see how it might work. Only those worthy enough to face the challenge could have the prize, thus ensuring that the kingdom would have an appropriate ruler.

“I see”. Was all he said, his fists clenching ever so slightly. It was difficult to fight the protective instincts he felt for Annabelle. He knew that the whole scheme was organised, but the thought of hoards of ambitious men charging towards his charge made his blood boil. She wasn’t some holy grail to be claimed, dammit!

“It was only a few hours time of waiting in the tower before the first contestant crawled through the window. Cogs was ordered to protect me with his life, and he gave it. My first husband, Frank Harris, was dubbed heir to the throne by midnight. Two months later, his title was revoked. I’ll admit I was disappointed, I had just gotten used to waking up beside him every morning. Unfortunately, he had not sired an heir, and as soon as my father had discovered that I was not pregnant, he stripped Frank of his title and re-instated the previous proclamation. 

Charlie had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, almost like a shard of ice that was quickly expanding. His anger had not abated, but now there was a great feeling of guilt to accompany it. If he hadn’t left, then Donnabella would never have left the throne to Annabelle, and none of this would have had to happen. Annabelle could have married who she wished; she might have had the chance to fall in love if it weren’t for him. 

But it only went downhill from there.

“My father decided...that in light of recent events, my purity was no longer priority. There was another task that the contestants had to complete.”

At this, Charlie stood up ramrod straight and crossed the floor to her in three quick strides. Taking their old relationship for granted, he placed a finger on her chin and forced her to look up at him. Instead of the tremor of fear he expected to see, her eyes were all but empty, completely devoid of any emotion. It was like she was recalling a fairy tale rather than something that she had experienced. But Charlie didn’t doubt that it had happened for a second. “What did he do?” he asked, his words coming out in a low growl.

She carried on as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “One of the main reasons why I was to be married was that we needed another heir to the throne, on the off chance that my ‘delicate health’ should jeopardize the monarchy.”

“Your father believed you incapable of reproducing?” he asked in disbelief. Why did the court have so little faith in this girl?

She nodded as well as she could, as his hand was still on her chin. Apologizing, he released her head from his hold, but didn’t take a step back.

“The next task the contestant had to go through was proof that he could impregnate me. The champions had three months each, and if no heir was produced, then they had failed. There was no consequence for not completing the task, save the loss of their perspective title. It was imperative that the monarchy was secured.”

Charlie was furious. This woman- no, she had been merely a girl at the time, had been through hell and back, and at the hands of her own father. Any lasting respect Charlie had for Richard died a painful death as he thought of the trials his daughter had to endure.

“How long did it take?” Charlie asked through grinded teeth.

Annabelle raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Charlie, but I have no husband, nor do any children walk the halls. For 7 years, I’ve endured husband after husband. I have had 28 annulments since that night. None of them bore the kingdom any children.”

There was a silence while Charlie processed this. A thousand images passed through his mind as he envisioned just how he would seek his revenge on Richard. Boiling him in a vat of oil seemed too cliché. Smashing his head against a wall? It had its prospects. Or maybe he would draw it out slowly, pinning him with poisoned needles, just one a night...

“Of course all of that’s in the past now.” Annabelle said, waving her arm off-handily. “It has been three years since anyone has tried their hand at succeeding.

“And what was the cause of their cease-fire, so to speak?”He managed to choke out.

Annabelle’s face, which had been blank up until this point, took a rather clouded look. “Donnabella came back.” She said simply.

This also made sense. “So with her back, you were no longer obligated to be the next queen.”

Annabelle shook her head. “No, unfortunately I was still next in line to the throne. When Donnabella came back, she had...changed. It had been years since I had seen her last; and she had made new acquaintances since then. 

“She had requested a private audience with my father, which was immediately agreed upon. We had never suspected...We thought she had come back to take her rightful place! After a few hours though, I decided that they had been in there a long time. When I went into the study, it was to discover that Donnabella had left yet another note. My father had a dagger stabbed through his chest, he was barely alive. There was such confusion for the next half hour that nobody seemed to know what had happened. But eventually the contents of the note were revealed to me. Donnabella said that she had found people who hated our father as much as she did, and this was their way of warning the kingdom that things were going to change soon. This group of people who she met, we soon found out are called “The rebels.” They find the (insert Royal family’s name here)’s rule is old fashioned and tyrannical, and believe that a more democratic way of life can be reached. In short, Donnabella still wants her throne, but she wants to earn it, not be born into the privilege. She intends to fight me for the kingdom.”

Although he knew that Donnabella had caused Annabelle much grief, he felt a mounting pile of respect form for the older sister. She hadn’t been afraid of her father’s wrath when she had stormed off, she was working towards a goal of a more modern future, and she had obviously not lost her passion for leadership. And he had a rather guilty pleasure in knowing that she had caused Richard a vast amount of pain.

“After her brief return, news of her challenge spread like wildfire, though we tried to contain it. Nobody quite knew the whole story, and no one knew that my father’s life was in jeapordy. Whispers of a new form of government began to form. More and more people began to see things Donnabella’s way, and the monarchy was considered to be ancient news. So many of my subjects would rather live in Halidornia now. Uprisings have started, caused by followers of my sister, who call themselves ‘rebels’. I have had several attempts on my life since claiming the throne from my father, and the most recent one was almost a success.”

Annabelle’s voice, which had been calm up till now, grew slightly shriller at the last part. 

“What exactly happened last month, Annabelle?” Charlie asked. “Everyone’s been talking about some ‘accident-“

Annabelle shook her head. “This was no accident. My guards grew lazy. All attempts on my life have been thwarted with ease up till then. A new guard was hired recently, he was supposed to replace one of the six that were my own personal guardians, because he was retiring. His background checked out fine, and nothing caused us to suspect that he might be a spy. But last Sunday, when he and Rasule were guarding my room outside while I slept, he over powered Rasule, and came in for me.”

Charlie gulped, but nodded his head. “I trust you dealt with him?” he asked in a toneless voice.

Annabelle gave a quick nod of her own in return. “I managed to stab him before it was too late, I’ve never been more grateful for all of your lectures on being prepared, Charlie.”

Charlie cautiously lowered his hand to rest lightly on Annabelle’s shoulder. “Well, I’m just glad you were listening. After all, you never know when someone’s going to sneak into your room and try to rib your guts out.” His attempt at cheering her up with a light attitude failed abysmally.

“He wasn’t trying to gut me.”

Charlie stared. “I beg your pardon? What else would he be trying to do in your room in the middle of the night?”

Annabelle gave him a look that clearly demonstrated what she thought of Charlie’s mental capacity.

“You don’t mean he-“ Charlie began to stutter, not one of his normal characteristics.

“My father’s law was still in place.” Annabelle answered. “As he is not dead, his laws cannot be undone, and he is in no state of health to retract his law. Thus, technically, I’m still on the marriage market.”

“Do you mean to tell me”. Charlie said, frustration rising as he realized just how vulnerable his charge was, “that anyone, anyone, who can bed you and have a child to show for it can not only claim you as his wife, but also claim the kingdom as well, to this very day? “

“I believe that just about sums it up.” declared Annabelle with a cheerless voice.

Charlie glared at her. “You are never, ever leaving this room.” And then as an afterthought, “At least until your father dies.”

                                                                ***

 

Later that night, after a cot similar to the one he used to sleep in was brought into the room, Annabelle and Charlie lay down in their respective sleeping areas, quietly talking.

“Charlie?” Annabelle asked as they were just drifting off.

“Mmmm?”

“Will you....Tell me about Donnabella?...And you?”

Charlie considered this for a while before answering. “I suppose I can, after all, it’s ancient history now.” Despite his words, Charlie felt a certain reluctance to share this bit of his life with Annabelle. It seemed that his fling with her sister was a great error in his judgement, and he didn’t want to talk about why he had been banished from the castle in the first place, unleashing a chain of events that lead to Annabelle’s current precarious situation. But he owed her the truth, especially after how honest she had been with him.

“Thank you, Charlie” Annabelle said with a sigh, and went to sleep. Unfortunately for Charlie, Annabelle would be plagued by many unsavory dreams that night. She would cry out often, and Charlie would wake up every time, terrified that she was being attacked. In the end, neither of them got much sleep. 

                                        ***