Capítulo 140: Attacks and confrontations
-So Rudolph, say, please how you got here...- asked Juniper, who still incredulous from the past day could finally see his son again after five long years.
The baron was lying in his comfortable bed, his leg still aching from the day he was shot.
He certainly was able to move the rest of his body with ease, but since it was his lower body that was affected still the movement of his legs was tiring and painful for the man.
Sure, the doctor had assured the lord that one day he would be able to walk completely again with no major problems apart from a minimal and almost invisible limp of his right leg.
Yes, the bullet had slightly damaged the muscle in his right limb, but overall Juniper was still satisfied that he could walk again without pain.
Indeed, he was happy, given the medical conditions of that times of having survived the operation without his wound becoming infected and leading to his death.
However, at that moment the man had realised the biggest problem of all: to recover, it would take almost a year before being completely healed.
But certainly that time could never be restricted to two weeks, the time when the war was officially scheduled to begin.
How would he do it? His only heir was his adopted son, who in any case was still fifteen, too young to go to war and too dear to him to lose.
At that moment Rudolph was lying with his body sitting in a comfortable padded chair next to his father's body, the boy's dark auburn red hair almost falling over his forehead.
He held tightly to his father's hand, smiled faintly, it had been five years since he had left Scotland and it was so strange to see how his own father was in this condition.
Rudolph smiled weakly and wanted to give strength to the lord but in the same way he found it simply so strange that after five years he still had the same feeling of resentment and of belonging towards that man.
That man who was lying in his bed, as his curly blond hair fell uneasily on his damp forehead and whose blue and cold eyes were wet with joy but at the same time with fear.
-I ran away from home, father, I couldn't bear the idea that I could...never see you again... - the boy admitted as his grey and big eyes had started to burn with tears -...I just was expecting to find you in these painful conditions, what happened to you, father?-.
Juniper closed his blue eyes slightly, glanced briefly at his friend Michael, even that day the guilt-ridden man had visited his longtime friend hoping in some way that through his compassion Yaweh would forgive his actions.
The baron observed the man in the eyes, his brown wavy hair, he saw in his gaze the sadness and compassion, Juniper knew well that if only he had confessed the truth to his angry son, he could have killed the other for revenge, so he just changed the subject.
He smiled faintly.
-You know Rudolph, I will no longer be able to walk as before, by now, I will have to limp from the right leg but I hope this does not change your approach with me at all…-.
-It could never, father...- the boy admitted, smiling weakly and wiping his tears with the palms of his hands, thus preventing them from falling coldly on his pale cheeks.
All of a sudden the baron felt a sense of guilt, he remembered the terrible words he had addressed to his son before he left his homeland.
Certainly, not with pleasure, at that time he had to so that the young man was convinced to leave Scotland, to go to safety with Dorothea, but still, even if five long years had passed since that event those words still continued to echo in the his mind.
-Rudolph...- came out almost like a whisper from the thin lips of his father, almost as if to hide something -did you finally find out who your biological father was?-.
A silent air of mystery was created between the three present in the room, Michael observed away from the two, on the other hand that was not his thing and he did not even want to meddle in family affairs that were not his, although this aspect interested that man incredibly.
Rudolph lightly bit part of his thin and soft lips, the lower, outermost part, tearing away from them small parts of dry skin.
He didn't know if the news could have angered his father, but on the other hand given the man's conditions, he didn't even feel capable of lying, not anymore.
-Yes, father, I found out...- admitted the young Rudolph sinking his noble body even further against the soft upholstered chair of the bedroom -my biological father was General Gilbert Stanley, late Prince Consort of England...- .
At those words Juniper's eyes widened incredibly, plunging his pupil between the blue, icy colour of his big eyes, he knew one day that dialogue would have to happen between the two, he couldn't help it.
Juniper slowly pushed his curly blond hair from his pale, sweaty forehead and sank back into the soft and comfortable pillow of his bed.
It wasn't that Rudolph knowing about another father should offend him or even hurt him sincerely, but it was as if a childish reaction appeared in him, as if he were afraid, that now his adopted son would become more attached to the idea of the deceased father more than of him.
At that same moment a light knock hit the door, it was clear someone was about to enter, even if the baron at that moment was not in the mood for visits, he had to let the guest enter, out of politeness.
Henry entered the room, his figure was tall, slender, composed and royal, holding in his hands a bouquet of flowers together with a small paper card.
It was clear that that gift was for him, on the other hand it was customary to bring flowers or other small gifts to loved ones who had somehow been injured.
The prince kept his golden hair tied in a short ponytail behind his neck and silently and cautiously kept his grey eyes on the pale face of the wounded man.
-Why all these flowers cousin? I still haven't passed away...- Juniper sarcastically joked, he slowly regained the strength to lift his head from the soft pillow, placing a weak smile on his pale and sweaty face.
The prince returned the relative's smile slightly and slowly and carefully placed the bouquet of flowers above the precious sill next to the comfortable bed where the baron was lying wounded.
-It is a good omen, hoping that you will recover as soon as possible...- resumed Henry, slowly moving his gaze towards the boy, whose presence had not yet been noticed -so, I see that you have been honoured by the visit of young Rudolph-.
Juniper went back to lying on the bed, he was tired but at the same time happy that even in that difficult times he was surrounded by people who cared about him.
-In short, completely heal will never be possible but I hope that at least, even if limping I can continue walking...-admitted the baron, squeezing more and more tightly and affectionately the sweaty hand of his son.
He was happy, Rudolph could read his father's feelings well and just in that moment, when his gaze mixed with the proud and happy blue eyes of his father, he realised that he would never, ever disappoint him.
The boy smiled faintly.
-I imagined to announce it sooner or later, my wife, lady Kara gave birth to a baby girl, my daughter, I suppose I can be quite happy and proud, the name Amber was chosen for the baby, I was only informed yesterday by letter- Henry admitted carefully finishing to place the majestic bouquet of beautiful flowers inside a precious glass container.
Juniper placed his gaze full of surprise on his cousin, he felt he was full of joy and pride and so he tried with his little strength to move his wounded body towards him trying to tighten man's hand.
-Congratulations, really, cousin, I hope you have the opportunity to meet your wife again soon and to meet your little girl- the lord wished him, shaking the hand of the prince in an action full of affection.
-I was hoping to be able to leave tomorrow morning, I admit- declared the man, returning to his composure, standing on his feet in front of his injured cousin.
Rudolph could not believe what he had heard, that couldn't be...not now, they barely had two weeks to finish planning the battle and the prince could not leave the field so spontaneously just for his daughter.
Obviously if he had been an ordinary lord he would not have dared to open his mouth about the fact, especially when the person he was about to contradict was a member of the royal family but the boy was not an ordinary lord, he was stubborn and when something did not seem right to him he admitted it without any problem of opportunity.
-You can't Henry! What kind of prince would leave his army without a captain at the very beginning of such an important war?!- admitted Rudolph raising his body full of anger from his chair.
It was true, Henry was the cousin of his adoptive father and therefore a relative of him but he was not afraid, he was sure of himself.
All eyes in the room rested on the boy, the scene had given way to a disturbing air of silence, in which the tension was not difficult to feel.
The gazes of the two met in a moment of anger, despite the fact that as an adult and father Henry was so much more mature and wiser than him, he did not immediately let himself be touched by the provocations of the impertinent boy.
-Rudolph, please...- Juniper resumed, asking him to sit down and calm down, back to himself -don't you understand that this situation is difficult for everyone? Let it be...-.
-Father, I understand and accept it but by already losing the French army we would risk losing the war and I could never accept to see your head on a pike...- admitted the young lord, placing his worried gaze on the baron.
As the lord met his son's gaze it was easier for him to understand and read in his big eyes what he really felt in his heart: he felt too much fear, anger and frustration gathered from the last years.
It was precisely the knowledge of his son's so angry and vindictive character that worried Juniper immensely, it was precisely the boy's honesty and poor sense of opportunity that made the him fear his future as the lord of those lands.
-Father, you are wounded, you cannot fight in those conditions, please accept that I fight for you in the front rows for our army...- Rudolph asked, trying to convince his father to let him fight as a representative of the their House.
Knowing the boy's fighting genetics and Juniper had always tried to keep him out of any situation that might have had to do with planning, weapons or warfare.
On the other hand, Rudolph was the biological son of a general, so temperamentally and genetically predisposed to self-confidence and to battle, together with success.
For this, looking into the grey eyes of the boy, he was almost frightened to see what the young Whiteblossom had transformed into.
-Cousin, Juniper, for God's sake, you won't let a boy of just fifteen fight in the trenches...- Henry sought an explanation in the words the young lord was saying at that moment.
Juniper did not answer, he lowered his gaze, his cold blue eyes until it met the white and cold marble floor under his precious and large bed.
He was saddened that at that moment he couldn't get out of that place, feel the coldness of the floor, walk, try to make try to get his son back to reason.
But he couldn't, it was as if he were exclusively a guest, a judge, a silent ghost, a spectator of that scene, he didn't have the strength to decide either for the best or the worst, nor to talk.
The light mid-afternoon sunlight illuminated the pale face of the lord, made the many blond curls shine on his head, the cold colour of his eyes and reflected in them a kind of sad melancholy.
- At least I would fight, Henry, how do you pretend to become king if your feelings command you more than you command them, you are depriving us of more than half of our strength without any warning...- protested Rudolph, this time getting closer and closer to the man, confronting him -grow up Henri! You are a nobody...-.
-Instead you, Rudolph, let me guess...you pretend to be a much better ruler than me but you are just a cheeky little bastard...- the prince spoke, taking the boy by his shirt, clenching his fist strongly against his neck, starting to tighten.
Although Rudolph began to feel pain from the man's grip, he was not the kind of person who simply or out of fear would have expressed his fears.
If fate decided that this would be the end of him, he would fight to the end as long as he did not die a slave to others, he would fight to his own death if necessary, the strongest would survive, the weakest would perish.
-You are your own enemy, Henry, the only person you are fighting against, you are so insecure that you don't even know what you want, you will end up falling under your genes and maybe your head will be the one to be cut off and attached to a pike...- admitted the boy whose breath was running out from the strong grip on his throat.
The prince did not understand why Rudolph was so obsessed with the idea of taking over the government of an army of thousands of men, he was so keen to provoke him in this way but it was as if by now the prince could no longer command his feelings.
He watched in the void, his eyes had begun to cloud over, filled with tears, it was like fainting while remaining with all his senses inside his body.
It was a horrible feeling, maybe this was what he himself feared so much, maybe it was what he felt at the moment when his madness would begin, maybe this was what his father had left him: madness.
On the other hand, half of his paternal family suffered from that condition and that was perhaps the moment in which it would all begin.
He heard the words of pleading of his own cousin to let the boy go from his grip, he felt everything around him but it was as if Henry was now unable to react.
He felt the boy's neck in his hands, felt his veins with his touch, his heartbeat was accelerating, suddenly felt a strong pain on one of his cheeks.
He found Michael Hayes in front of him, he found him in a defensive position towards the young Whiteblossom, he was ready to attack and it was the first time he actually noticed how powerful that man was, despite the fact that he himself had never seen him in action.
Michael placed his fists firmly closed, the surface of one of them was red and cracked from the previous attack and his eyes were aggressively aimed at the prince himself.
Henry did not seem to remember much of what had happened despite having experienced it firsthand: the young Whiteblossom lay unconscious on the floor, a trail of fresh and red blood came out of his lips.
What had he done?
He retreated a few steps back, he was amazed at himself, negatively, had he really beaten a teenager boy? Was this seriously what had happened?
-Henry...- came out almost as a whisper from the baron's dry lips -go away and never come back ... -.
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