With that behind you begin talking less as King and prince and more as father and son, something very rare for you indeed. You segue from brief talk on the upcoming marriage and into your beginnings at seeking political marriage, he seems surprised at this, and laughs.
"Father above, Is there nothing you havn't been doing boy? I hadn't thought you'd be pursuing girls just now, least of all for marriage!" he let's out another deep belly laugh, "and anyway I thought you... well I mean... I hear you've been meeting with some boy privately fairly regularly and... ah but it doesn't matter either way, long as you keep discreet and make sure to have children."
You blink. "Did... uh... what?"
Your father let's out another deep laugh and quickly changes the subject. Soon you turn the discussion towards your brother William.
"So, father, I know this is to be kept private, but I felt I must ask..." you take a deep breath. "why exactly was William removed from succession? I mean, I know it was something about magic, but I felt I should probably know more, if to better look out for him and the interests of the crown, if nothing else."
Lorin sighs deeply, and begins to pick at his nails with a letter opener on the desk. "It's a little bit more complicated than that, but magic was certainly part of it." he tosses the letter-knife back to the desk, and massages his brow, eyes closed in discomfort. "You must promise me you will tell no one, this is a royal secret."
"I promise."
"Good." he sinks back into the cushions of his chair, thinking deeply. "The Aikeen, the sorceror dynasty we Casars deposed, had deep ties to this palace, deeper than scholars know for certain, but some have guessed. Every single Aikeen King who has ever lived is entombed underneath the palace, it's a tradition they kept up for gods know why, I guess they were afraid not to do it. Your great grandfather saw no reason to deny the last Aikeen king that tradition, and sealed him up with the rest of them. Problem is that he couldn't figure out exactly how they sealed up the others, so he just had the mages toss every ward he could think of on the tomb, hope for the best, and leave the damned place alone forever. He even went so far to stick as many of the Aikeen dynastic artifacts he could find in with that last king." Lorin says all this in hushed tones, and at this last he speaks in a voice softer than you've ever heard from him. "That night, we don't know how he managed it, and he still hasn't said why, but he opened that tomb. Got passed nearly every damned ward too *every damned one*, can you imagine it? Save the last, it summoned a nasty spirit of some sort, nearly sucked him dry of will, and killed the gaurds who came to help with nothing but a look before going back to wherever it came from."
Several minutes pass, and neither of you say anything, until your father breaks the silence again. "I think you should go now, we can talk again later, some time after the wedding maybe. Goodbye Son, take care, and be careful of the vultures out there." with that he waves you away, and you depart his study, with a great deal to think about.