Chapter 199: A New Beginning
Later that evening, Simon was finally allowed to meet his son. Before that, though, he was given a tour of the palace he already knew reasonably well and shown the apartments he’d be living in until such time as Seyom was grown or the Queen grew dissatisfied with his performance. While he certainly didn’t expect the latter to apply, he did note that she’d given him a room at the top of the tower, furthest from her own bedchambers, which was very clearly a message all of its own.
Don’t get any ideas indeed, he thought to himself.
He didn't mind, though. The space was private, out of the way, and unlikely to be spied upon. It was even fairly defensible should he ever require that, and there was ample room for him to work on several of his art and magic-related experiments.
It was only later that evening when Simon had unpacked his possessions and sent servants to the library and the bazaar to retrieve the things he thought he’d need for the upcoming lessons Simon was actually introduced to Seyom, he was stunned for a moment.
He could see plenty of the Queen in his dark-eyed features, but he could see something of himself, too, and it had more of an effect than he’d expected. Simon had tutored Gregor, Niko, and the Alexin children, but something about Seyom being his own flesh and blood, even if the child didn’t know it, changed that dynamic immediately.
He’d had a short speech prepared about discovering the wonders of the world together, but he only got a few words out before it was clear the boy wasn’t listening, which ruined the moment. At first, Simon thought that his son had just grown up into a precocious brat, but as it turned out, he’d simply been coddled within an inch of his life.
The boy clung to his mother’s skirts whenever possible, which wasn’t so unusual for a boy of eight, but even when he was apart from her, he was surrounded constantly by half a dozen servants to tend to his every need. He could not sneeze without being offered three handkerchiefs.
When it came to eating, he wasn’t even seated by Seyom; the boy was seated at a small table with three other servants, and he was put at the Queen’s left hand at the high table. “Well, what do you think?” she asked.
“I think that you do not want that answer,” Simon mused, drinking some of his wine.