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The Fourth Son

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Speaking of old feelings

There is no doubt in the new King’s mind that Ruth is the one, but all the old feelings are being stirred up now that he is back home, and it’s not just being home again.

In a castle that he grew up in, there is a memory both good and bad in every corner, every nook and cranny, in the paintings on the walls, in the rooms he used to play, weather, lounge, and entertainment in, and the people.

Talking about the summer palace long since shuttered, though no reason was ever given, was the place he stole his first kiss, with a girl he was soon to meet again.

She was as horrible to him as she was nice, and it was a short period that he could never reconcile in his mind and had never left but remained in the depths, waiting for the opportunity to resurface.

He was hoping it wouldn’t.

He’d got past Eleanor.

Now he had to get past Isobel.  Standing in the green room because of the green tapestries depicting the valley before the castle, when there were no village roads or farms, quite literally a sea of green.

The green room was the private reception room where the king met privately with other very senior dignitaries, and the first would be Queen Isobel of the other principality.

Isobel was a mystery to him and quite unlike any girl and later woman he ever met, and he put that down to the eccentricities of Royal blood.

He is both excited and filled with dread.