Duty to the Kingdom Pt. 01

CHAPTER 1. KING’S MOTHER

It was a strange day. Ethel’s father, King Wilfield, died in his sleep. He was not yet old enough to die of natural causes. The kingdom was in shock, and Ethel’s grief was compounded by the sudden weight of responsibility that now rested on his young shoulders.

The king’s advisers immediately pointed out that Ethel should become king, as he was the rightful heir to the throne. One night he was only Ethel the Brave, son of King Wilfield of the Kingdom of Rangland, and the next morning he was already king.

But the strangest thing in all this was the last commandment written down by King Wilfield before his death. It obliged the new King Ethel to take as his wife… Queen Beatrice, his own mother. At forty-one, she was the most beautiful maiden at court, a black-haired beauty who exuded a seductive charm that few could resist.

It’s strange to consider his own mother as his wife, but in Beatrice’s case Ethel found himself surprised by the fact that perhaps, just perhaps, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The funeral had been a somber affair, filled with mourning and grief. After the guests had left, Ethel and Beatrice found themselves alone in the king’s chambers. He didn’t know where to look, and his gaze flitted awkwardly around the room.

“Um, do you mind if I change?” she asked, taking a step closer to a mirror.

Ethel nodded, turning away awkwardly and focusing on the intricate designs etched into the stone walls. He knew he shouldn’t look, but something inside begged him to turn around. As Beatrice’s light royal dress fell to the floor, Ethel couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her.

The curves of her large breasts were visible, as were the small folds of her back that moved into the roundness of hips and buttocks. He caught a glimpse of the roundness of her hips and the gentle slope of her back. There was something fascinating in a way an adult woman’s body looked.

Eighteen years old, he had never been with a girl before, and the sudden proximity to a woman body was overwhelming even though it was his mother. But the moment was brief, and as soon as he realized what he was doing, he turned away in shame.

“Now, as a king, you’ll have to sleep here with me, on the same bed. Just like when you were a child,” Beatrice said with a mixture of sadness and nostalgia.

Ethel nodded. He heard the slip of her nightie on her body and turned around.

“Yes, mother,” he murmured, hesitating for a moment before taking a seat.

“You’ll have to get used to be a king. Our marriage won’t be like everyone else’s, you understand,” Beatrice said as she patted the bed beside her.

Ethel hesitated. As a prince, he had been raised with certain expectations and responsibilities. “But, I was taught that when I become king, I must have offspring like a man. What are we going to do about that?”

“I’ve thought about that. We’ll adopt a child, and he or she will be our heir. We can raise our child together, and they will be just as much our heir as if they were born to us.”

Ethel’s face lit up with surprise. “You want to adopt a child?”

Beatrice nodded. “Yes, I do. Or we can do it the natural way,” she added with a suggestive grin.

Ethel’s face flushed with color as he realized meaning of her words. “You mean…?”

Beatrice replied with a coy smile. “I wasn’t serious. You can relax. But for now, let’s go to sleep.”

That night, Ethel tossed and turned in his bed.

“As a king, I know it’s my duty to provide a heir to the throne, but the idea of bedding with my own mother is…” The thought made his skin crawl, he shuddered. He had never been intimate with a woman before, let alone his own mother. “Still, I can’t deny that she’s a beautiful woman.” He cringed at the thought of admiring her in that way. “It’s wrong, so wrong.”

As he lay in bed beside Beatrice, he watched her sleeping form. The moonlight filtered in through the window, casting a soft glow over her features. She had thrown her arms up over her head, the straps of her nightgown slipping down to reveal the smooth curves of her shoulders. He couldn’t help but notice the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, the gentle rise and fall of her body as she slept.

The thought of climbing on top of her flashed through his mind. At first, it made him feel disgusted, but he couldn’t help the way his body reacted to her scent, the musky odor of her sweat that mingled with the fresh scent of her skin.

“I need to sleep,” he muttered to himself and finally fell into a restless nap, his dreams haunted by forbidden desires.

===

The next morning marked the beginning of Ethel I’s first day of rule. It was hard to imagine anything more boring: listening to information about the royal treasury, taxes, notifications about the state of the army. It seemed that the royal advisors expected him to have the knowledge and shrewdness of his father, but Ethel bitterly admitted that he was far from understanding his father’s ways. He needed time to get used to his new role as king and new responsibilities, and the queen helped him with that. Beatrice dealt with half, if not most, of king’s duties and made some decisions on his behalf, with his consent.

At the evening gathering, one of the advisors, Krubach, brought up the issue of heirs bluntly. “I know it’s not a pleasant question, and we’ve been avoiding it as much as we could, but we need to decide now what will happen to the kingdom after you, Your Highness. Who will be your heir? It’s a difficult question, considering…” He coughed, and Ethel noticed his mother’s face tensing, either from anger at the foolishness of the advisors’ questions or for some other reason.

“That my wife is also my mother,” Ethel finished for him, sitting relaxed in the main chair.

“Yes, Your Highness,” the advisor nodded, lowering his head. His shoulder-length hair touched the edge of the round table.

“We have already discussed it and decided to adopt children,” Beatrice said, taking off her crown from her braided hair and placing it on the table. “There is nothing more to talk about here.”

“So, the royal bloodline will be broken by new blood? King’s blood had been pure for more than thousand years, Your Highness,” Krubach added briefly.

The other advisors’ faces showed noticeable concern and incomprehension.

“You have other suggestions? I guess we should thank my late husband for this, who for some reason decided that marrying our son would be a good idea and strengthen the kingdom,” she said discontentedly.

“I believe Father knew what he was doing,” Ethel tried to interject.

“So you approve that strange marriage, son?” Beatrice asked looking directly at him.

“King Wilfield was very smart monarch. I am sure that there is some unknown meaning behind this marriage,” Krubach added.

“Yes, of course. Some uknown meaning. He was just a pathetic hypocrite who decided to ruin my and our son’s life,” she said, still with a dissatisfied tone, leaning back in her chair and causing her chest to sway.

“I think we can consider this council meeting adjourned,” said another red-haired councilor after a small awkard pause. Everyone agreed and began to disperse after Ethel nodded in approval.

“My King,” Krubach suddenly approached Ethel, folding his arms into long sleeves, his voice a whisper. “I know how unpleasent can it be… But you shall consider all options,” he gave the queen a faint glance and then withdrew, lowering his head.

“Wow,” Ethel murmured, taking off the golden crown. “Gosh. It’s hard to wear this thing on your head all day.”

“You’ll have to get used to it, son,” Beatrice stood up from her seat. “I’ll go to my chambers and wait you there.” She approached him closer and, as Ethel stood up, hugged him tightly. He felt the touch of her breasts pressed against his body. He smelled her sweat and the pleasant scent of herbs again. Ethel nodded, still speechless, still lost in the embrace of his mother’s love. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her head, and their lips met. It was a fleeting moment, a mistake born out of love, but it was a mistake that would haunt them both in the days to come. The kiss was brief, but it sent shockwaves through both of them.

“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly, looking into her eyes.

“It’s okay,” she wiped his saliva from her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’ll go.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the council chamber.

====

The counselor’s words were still swirling around in his head. Would he really never be able to have true blood heirs? What was he to do now, as a man and a king? After all, a king cannot have mistresses or lovers. And what about his mother? She also has needs.

He walked around the garden, pondering over, and decided to go down to the kitchen.

“Yes, your highness?” one of the chefs asked.

“I’m looking for Alfred,” Ethel said and the same second something fell around the corner.

“Ah, there he is,” the chef said, stepping aside to continue his work. At that moment, a short, semi-bearded guy of about the same age as the king came out from the corner.

“Ohh, Ethel. I was wondering when you’d show up,” he wiped his hands with a towel and approached him.

“It’s King Ethel for you,” he said seriously, folding his arms over his chest. They looked into each other’s eyes. And Ethel, barely holding back a laugh, smiled. “I’m just kidding.”

“Of course, King Ethel,” they hugged each other like old friends. “You seem even taller with that crown. Hard to believe you’re a king now.”

“Our friendship won’t be affected by that. Besides, I need someone to watch over the kitchen so I won’t be poisoned.”

“Screw you. I’ll poison you myself,” Alfred said as they walked a little further, returning to the garden.

“I came by in the morning, but you weren’t there,” Ethel said.

“I was with a friend, I mean, a girlfriend I met at the port. Damn, you should have seen her, Eth… We spent the night together. So that’s why I was late in the morning. Sorry, hope you won’t sentence me to death?” he said, unable to contain his smile.