Chapter 97

Melissa

I woke up with a faint headache and the smell of coffee filling my nostrils. I tried to open my eyes, to understand what was going on around me but it was quite difficult to. Last night had been weird, and the only thing I could remember was preparing to leave the mansion for Alan’s coronation ceremony. A lot of things happened after that, but I still couldn’t remember what it was or how I ended up lying on a soft mattress which I could feel behind my back.

This wasn’t my room. I knew it wasn’t my room because after sleeping on a particular bed for more than ten years, I should know how my sheets felt and how they smelt. The sound of footsteps approaching me got me back to my senses and I used the whole of my will to snap my eyes open.

The view I met in front of me was quite deceiving, so I had to blink three times to be sure I was seeing right and not just imagining things. Zachary smiled at me as he lowered himself on the bed, making sure the cup of coffee in his hand didn’