C9 Good alliances

If Andy Al Haadi had known that a normal breakfast will turn into a fierce argument between his parents then he would have just had his breakfast in his room.

"You can't live just any life you want to live..." his father, the king barked at him.

"You're the prince and you have a legacy to uphold!"

"A legacy meaning that I should marry the woman you choose for me?" Andy scoffed. "Marianne is the princess of the Magnificent North..." his father began. Andy had heard him say this a thousand times now. "She's of good breed. She is very educated and she will support you. She's the kind of queen you want, not some commoner!"

"I'll pick the woman I want to marry when the time is right" said Andy.

"No, you will not defy me and your mother! You will do as I say... unless you'll lose the throne to your younger brother!" His father said and it felt like an explosive had been dropped.

"How could you threaten me with the throne?" Andy asked indignant. "I've put my blood, sweat and tears into becoming the perfect heir for you. I've learned swordsmanship, archery, even politics..." "I've done everything you want me to do. Can't I for once pick a woman that I love?" Andy asked, hating how unfair his life was.

"You need to form alliances" his father said "Good alliances will strengthen the kingdom. The marriage between your mother and I wasn't a love marriage, it was an alliance, an agreement to stay together and to strengthen the kingdom together" "Wow!" Andy retorted "That's why you guys quarrel all the time!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" His father barked. "You will do as I say and that's final!"

"You know what? I can't deal with this right now" Andy said and walked out of the dinning table.

He was so pissed off. The fact that he was a prince didn't mean he should live like a puppet with no strings. He was tired of this kind of life.

He did every single thing his father told him to do. He denied himself of the pleasures of the world and now his father couldn't let him make this one choice. His father had always been strong willed and strong-headed and the both of them clashed in several occasions but he always yielded because he didn't want to risk his position on the throne.

Now it was getting too much. He was too overwhelmed. As usual, he went to bury himself in work. He worked tirelessly from morning till noon and now, he e needed to cool off.

He had a usual bar that he frequented. He went there sometimes with his guards so in case he got drunk, his guards will carry him back home. He was going to go there today. This time around, he picked just his closest guard and went to the bar.

He thought about how things were choking for him. Sometimes it felt suffocating that he couldn't do what he wanted. He couldn't live the life he wanted. He couldn't just live a life of his dreams and still inherit the throne! He couldn't eat his cake and have it and the thought of it frustrated him.

He took a glass of vodka as he thought of he had sacrificed a lot for the throne all these years. And yet, his brother who had not done a single thing for the throne was there to take his position.

How could his father treat him like that? How dare he?

He thought about how unfair everything was as he took several shots of vodka. He just wanted to get drunk and forget about every single thing for now.

A young beautiful woman approached him as he drank. She looked like she wanted a drink so she took a sit near him.

"What's bothering you?" she asked.

She had the softest voice he had ever heard. He hadn’t heard such shooting voice in a long time.

"Weren't you taught to mind your business?" He asked

"Well, you look like you need somebody to talk to" she said

"And you want to be that somebody?" He asked

"Well I'm going through shit" she said. "So we can probably talk about the shit we're both going through, and who knows? We can bond that way" She said and he decided to bite.

What could the girl do by the way? She looked harmless and genuinely concerned about him. They started to talk and truth be told, he enjoyed her company.

It had been long he met a girl so easily and naturally like this. They clicked so well. He didn't know what possessed him but he leaned in and kissed her.