Rule of a Kingdom (Kingdom Duet 0)

Maybe that’s why he keeps losing to me.

There’s a small knock on the door that could only be a child’s. I stare at my watch — nine, which is way past Aiden’s bedtime. It couldn’t be Alicia because for once, she said she’ll take her meds. Whenever she does, she passes out for the entire night.

My nephew, Levi, is on a trip with my brother James to some exotic place in Asia. He wanted to take Aiden, too, but I disallowed him. I don’t trust James with my son. I don’t trust him with his own son either. That’s why I sent security to keep an eye on them from afar in case he got too engrossed in his sensory world and lost my nephew.

“Come in.”

The door slowly opens, and Aiden stands at the threshold, wearing his plain blue pyjamas and staring at me even though there’s doubt in his dark grey eyes. I taught him that — to never look down, to never bow his chin, to always walk with his head held high. He and Levi are the future of the King household and they’re not allowed to be weak.

Aiden is a replica of me, looks-wise. We share the same eyes, though his are bigger like the shape of his mother’s. Our black hair is similar, though mine is thicker. His fair skin tone is a mixture between me and Alicia.

The similarities don’t stop there, though.

We both are silent but aren’t calm. Behind the façade, a whole world lurks inside — a world we keep exclusively to ourselves. I have a picture from when I was his age and I had that same look in my eyes — the doubt about everything.

Aiden is so different from Levi. While my nephew is constantly encouraged by his father to be chaotic and say everything on his mind, Aiden prefers to not speak unless he absolutely has to.

Pushing back in my chair, I fix him with my signature blank stare. “You should be in your bed.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Go to bed, close your eyes, and you’ll sleep.”

He’s silent for a beat then whispers, “Mum sings or reads for me when I can’t sleep.”

“Your mum is tired today. She had to go to bed early. I’ll call Margot so she can read to you.”

Aiden and Levi like our housekeeper because she cooks their favourite food and spoils them in every way possible.

He shakes his head. “I don’t want Margot.”

“Then what do you want?”

He stares at me, swallows, and although he’s almost the same age as Ethan’s daughter, I can’t help noticing how lonely he appears right now compared to her.

My son rarely laughs or smiles but when he does, it’s either with Alicia or James. Forget about giggling like other children. That’s foreign to him.

“Can you do it, Dad?” His voice is so quiet, I can only hear him because the room is eerily silent.

Aiden doesn’t come to me when he can’t sleep. He goes to either Alicia, James or Margot.

This is a first.

I consider sending him back to his room with the housekeeper, but the desperate look in his little eyes stops me. I know it took him a lot of courage to come and ask that, and he deserves to be rewarded.

Standing up, I head to the lounge area, “Come here.”

A small smile grazes his lips as he slowly closes the door and quickens his pace towards me. I sit on the sofa opposite the glass chessboard on the table. Aiden hops beside me, his feet dangling on the high sofa, but he keeps a distance between us.

“Do you know what this is, Aiden?”

“A war board.”

“You can call it that. How did you come up with that name?”

“Because you and Uncle James go to war when you sit around this.”

“That we do. How about I teach you how to win a war?”