Chapter 138

Chapter 138 A little push for justice “I know what to do.” William said as he watched Doris pace their room. There wasn’t much room for her to get very far, but she felt as if she had been walking miles. Her feet would easily burn marks in the rug if she kept on, but her worry wouldn’t stop. How could she fix this? They had to do something He gripped her hand and pulled her to the bed. “I said, I know what to do.” He repeated more firmly to draw her back to the moment. She’d almost forgotten that he had said anything.

“What?” Doris asked after a breath. “If you’ve already searched neighboring towns and saw they have so little, what can we do? I don’t know how long they can all last on that amount of food, I thought I made enough to last them longer.”

“Near the edge of the border back into the kingdom, several officials from the palace live there in their home. We can pay a visit to them. I know that one of them is responsible for the goods that are distributed into the north once they pay their taxes. It seems they weren’t the only ones that weren’t given enough to last for the month.”

Doris widened her eyes. “Do you think they held back food to them? is that why they’re as low as they are? That’s… that’s pure evil, William!”

“It’s possible. We won’t know until we talk to them. I know one thing, they will make sure these villages are filled with food again by the end of tomorrow. I’ll make sure of that” William said with a dark glint in his eyes. Doris shifted a little beside him. For once, the look didn’t make her fear him. It made her… want him more than she would ever admit. 1 “Would we bring Enzo with us? Surely he could help convince them since he is the leader of the north.”

Doris said.

“I’m not sure yet if that will make the visit worse or better, but we can try.” William stood. She watched him leave to gather his men and tell them their new plan, but she couldn’t help but think of all the children in the village. There weren’t many, but even if there was one it would tear at her heart knowing they couldn’t fend for themselves out here. 1 Lately, her mind kept returning to one ruin after the other. She longed for the peace she once had back in the library at the palace. But-here she was helping people. Or trying her best to. Her good intentions weren’t always the wisest decisions, but she knew that her heart was pure. 3 Doris crept down the stairs to see William making his speech to his guards and the rogues. The only expression her eye caught on, was Enzo’s. He looked almost proud of William, as if he didn’t expect him to go this far just to help a village of rogues. In fact, they all looked that way. Perhaps this was a step in the right direction to truly show how much he meant his words.

“…I will have some of you stay to watch over the villagers and others join us. We most likely won’t be back for long once we settle this issue. We have important matters to solve at the palace.”

“Let’s head out, then. It’ll be evening by the time we get there, we can have a delightful dinner with them.” Enzo suggested with a grin. He shrugged on his coat and Doris hurried down to do the same.

“Are you sure you want to join us, Doris?” William whispered in her ear. Doris glanced up to glare at him and he held his hands up in defense. “I’m just saying, you might not like these men. They have no respect for women-or servants. They might not be very happy to see you.”

“Well, they can deal with it. I’m coming with you.” Doris insisted and walked out the door. She’d dealt with many sexist men in her life. A few officials didn’t scare her away in the slightest. Not anymore familiar, she could count the exact seconds before he lifted himself in front of her.

Night wasn’t far off. Many of the villagers had already gone to bed to rest more while others kept inside.

They kicked off into the snow and Doris held on tightly as they rode as fast as they could. Enzo was close behind with a handful of guards and rogues on his tail. Briefly, she hoped the men didn’t think this was an ambush.

Nothing good ever happened when dangerous men were backed in a corner.

An hour passed before their horses passed the border. Doris saw the differences instantly. It went from a blank land of snow with one road, to a lively posh village just feet away. When she glanced back, she noticed how unwelcome the north looked.

William pulled their horses off to the side road before anyone noticed them and set off an alarm. Even Doris had to admit that it wouldn’t have looked good to see a group from the north pull up into their village before nightfall. It would scare Doris enough to want to alert the palace.

“There they are.” William muttered as they came to a stop in front of a large, polished house.

“Do they share it?” Doris asked quietly. William slid off and helped her down.

“They do. It’s large enough for them to use when they don’t want to stay at the palace.” William shrugged. Enzo and the rest of the men dismounted as William went straight for the door.

His knock was loud and booming. Doris glanced around to see that this street was empty and for that she was glad.

The second the door opened a crack, William pushed it in.

“Hello, gentlemen.” William said almost charmingly. Two balding men stumbled back at the force of his push. Their eyes grew wide as if they were staring at a god.

“P-Prince William? We heard you had affairs in the north you had to deal with.” One of them asked as their eyes crossed over the rogues behind him. Doris stayed near the back.

“I did, but I thought we could pay you a visit.” William smiled with his teeth. It didn’t look remotely close to friendly. William inhaled deeply. “Is that a pot roast I smell?”

“l-uh, yes. Yes it is, your majesty.” The man cleared his throat. “Would you care to join us?” He asked nervously. She could hear in his tone that he hoped William would say no, but he clearly wasn’t very wise if he thought they were leaving anytime soon.

“We would love to join you. Mal and Edward, this is the leader of the rogues-Lord Enzo and some of his guards as well as my own.” William locked eyes with Doris for a moment and “Is this the servant I heard you brought along with you?” He asked with his chin raised slightly as if he was looking down at her despite him being the same small height as her.

“1-”

“Yes.” Doris said quickly before William called her something ridiculous like his lady. Especially when he still had a lady back at the palace that she was sure eagerly awaited his arrival. Doris was almost happy to think about the moment Melody would be called out for all of the lying she did. There was once a time when Doris willingly took the lies for her, but that time was long over. 2 The man sniffed in distaste. “Very well. Follow me, please.” He turned and led them to the dining room.

She couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t many servants around and certainly no guards besides the ones in their group.

William and Enzo’s guards stationed themselves at the door and didn’t follow them in. Doris hesitated-

was she supposed to wait outside the dining room, too?

William gestured for her to follow in further and she stomped on her own self doubt and hurried in.

The dining room was large yet intimate. There weren’t many chairs but at least there was enough to seat them all. Doris awkwardly sat near the far corner as the men crowded at the other end.

“Well, gentlemen. I didn’t think we would have had the pleasure of hosting a prince and a lord of the north tonight.” The man said almost bitterly. He covered it with a light smile and it made Doris think that she had imagined it. “What do we owe the honor to?”

“Well, Edward.” William straightened himself a little and landed his gaze on the man that stiffened. “We came here to discuss the starving villages in the north.”