The Forgotten Princess Rose-Chapter 269

Zayne took Gage as far away from the dining room as he could so the others wouldn’t hear anything. Zayne entered the library first and didn’t hold the door open for his brother.

Gage held the door before it could hit him hard. "Who taught you manners? Mother should have paid more attention to your tutors."

"They raised me with plenty of manners to know not to go around speaking about my brother’s wife. You don’t ever hear or see me speaking about Yvonne to Paige. Who is the one without manners?" Zayne wondered.

"Paige wanted to know something about Rose so I told her what I knew. It’s not my fault that her background is a little messy. I heard today about how you placed a princess as the queen over there. As long as she listens to my orders then I can allow it. I’m starting to gather men to be in her court," Gage shared.

Zayne folded his arms, uninterested in the small talk. "Get to why you wanted to speak to me alone. You didn’t come here to talk about her.

"No, I didn’t. I was trying to have a small talk before it got serious. I am sorry for the way I acted when you came to the palace and for speaking about your wife to Paige. I know that it was wrong. I was trying to provoke you and it worked but now the family is in a strange place. Sorry," Gage apologised.

"Unfortunately," Gage started the hard part. "I cannot switch someone else to go in your place. I need you to handle what we already discussed-"

"I knew you were going to do this shit," Zayne cut in.

"Wait," Gage put his right hand up. "Hear me out completely first before you get upset. We already talked about this before you left and found Rose. You were to come back and then take a group with you to speak to him. He likes you the most and is reasonable with you."

"He likes that I was a prince not yet married and he has a daughter to marry off. That is why he liked me to be the one to visit. If you were not already married to Yvonne then he would want to see you. I’m married now so he’ll either lose interest in me or continue to push his daughter. I don’t want a mistress," said Zayne.

Gage didn’t want that for Zayne as well. "You know father or Zeek would come out of their graves to slap me if I pushed that on you. I don’t want you to take another woman into your home but I need you, Zayne. You’re the only one he will talk to."

Gage continued, "He respects your swordsmanship as well. If I could leave the palace to take care of this or send someone else I would but I can’t. All I have is you because I know you will get the results I need. It’s not like I brought this up now to take you from your wife. We spoke about this before."

"And now things have changed. You didn’t give off the impression that this was all because you needed my help. You were enjoying the idea of punishing me for having the kingdom speak about the victory. I am used to this and I am tired of it," said Zayne.

Gage walked further into the room. "You do not understand. I know you deserve to be applauded but then comes all the talk about how you should be king. We are compared to each other and with me confined to the palace to be kept safe, I just can’t keep up with you. Being compared to Zeek was already hard."

"Do you think I wasn’t compared to the two of you or my father? It is annoying and upsetting at times but knowing the relationship I had with all of you, I ignored it. You’ve done a lot as king which is why I haven’t pulled your ass off the throne. You’re terrible as a brother but a good king," Zayne described Gage as best as he could.

Gage laughed as he had heard this more times than he wanted to. "I remember quite well how you told me the day I was crowned king that if I drag this kingdom down and ruin it, you would kill me. It never bothered me that you said that. If I were to become a bad king, I would hope someone stopped me even if they had to kill me."

Gage was grateful he hadn’t lost himself yet.

"It’s just a chair but once you sit on it, I swear to you that your mind is never the same. Some people are good at handling the pressure but then are some like me who let what is said get to them. I’m sorry for the way I treat you when they praise you and I won’t have trouble with your marriage but I need you," Gage pleaded, lost without Zayne.

"You are asking me to leave my wife when I have just returned. She’s not properly settled in yet for me to be comfortable leaving her. I plan to help you when needed but I am uneasy leaving her side already," Zayne replied, needing Gage to see this from his point of view.

"I understand that which is why I would offer protection to Rose while you are away. I will get down on my knees to beg you if that is what will convince you. What I am sending you for is to stop us from getting involved in another war. Rose lives here now so she would be in danger if we don’t stop a possible attack," Gage tried to reason with Zayne.

"We have the men to win should they attack us but you’ll be worried about where to place her and have to watch many of your men die or be hurt. I will reward the soldiers you gather to take with you, so will you do it?" Gage asked, his fingers crossed that this time would have a different response.

There was a long moment of silence which Gage didn’t want to speak up first to break. He said his part and apologised to Zayne so all that was left now was for Zayne to say yes or no. If Zayne said no then Gage was left in a tight spot looking for someone who could come close to pleasing the leader as much as Zayne did.

"Get down on your knees to plead," Zayne finally answered.

"What?" Gage asked, puzzled why he needed to do that but then it came to him what he said. "You fucking bastard. I didn’t think you would make me do it. Must you be so petty?"

"Yes. You deserve it for what you’re asking me to do," Zayne replied.