Dissent
"Are you out of your mind!"
My father bellowed.
I stood there hands folded, trying hard not to talk back. I stood their shaking, biting on the inside of my cheek. He had raised me like that. He was the king and we were taught to respect him.
"He is gone. He left you. I gave you a month to get over it. You pined over him, moped around, ignored your princely duties. I let you do that. But now the second month is coming to an end and you will stop this fuss once and for all. Next month is the beginning of spring and I have invited kings and their eligible daughters to a party. I expect you to chose a wife."
"Father, I am gay. I don't like women. I have spent the past days explaining this to you."
His nostrils flared and his face reddened. I thought he might have an heart attack.
"I am heading to the lawyer's office to make my will. Make up your mind today else you will have no place in my will."
"You are forcing me father. I can't change what I am."
With those words I walked away. It was a losing battle from the beginning.
Father chose to stop talking to me in the coming days. He ignored me at breakfast. Ate his lunch in the garden (he knew I hated to eat outdoors) and had dinners in his room. He was being petty but I was not going to give in.
The day of his spring party arrived soon. I, like any obedient son helped him plan and manage the event. At the party I smiled and made small talk with ever girl he introduced me to. After two hours of putting up with the charade, I collapsed in a chair at the back of the ballroom, hidden by a potted palm.
"Tired all ready?"
My best friend and childhood companion Suman said as he handed me a whiskey. He lived on the palace grounds and assisted my father in the daily affairs. He was my father's best friend's son. Father took him in afte he was orphaned at 12. We both stuck to each other from then on.
"I danced and smiled to my father's tune. The princesses were either anxious to get chosen, nervous they would embarass their fathers or didn't care. The ones that didn't care were the pleasant ones."
"Oh come on! It couldn't be that bad?"
I patted him on the shoulder and said, "You don't know how lucky you are. No pressure to marry or climb the throne."
He sipped his drink and said, "Yeah! Lucky me."
I realized I had touched a nerve.
"Sorry I did not mean that."
"It is okay. I get it."
"So, tommorrow he i going to ask you who you choose. What will you do then?"
I gulped the remaining whiskey and put down my glass.
"I love Jiran and I stand by it. He will have to learn to accept that."
"You are still pining over him? He left you overnight."
"I know he hasn't been the best boyfriend. But I will not give up. Not till I hear the truth from him."
We both sat in silence and watched the party wind down. I wondered where Jiran would be at this moment. Would he be thinking of me the way I miss him?
