Nolan swept me back into the safety of the tank. A dozen Gamma warriors piled in quickly behind us and we started our way back down the mountain.
At the base of the mountain, Nolan and I had the good fortune of changing into a new ride. A limousine was waiting for us. Once the door slammed shut behind us, I finally felt like I could begin to relax. Neither of us spoke for several minutes. It was not awkward silence. More like comfortable quiet. We were both still reeling from the intensity of the past few hours. Outside, the storm raged on. But the closer we got to the palace, the smaller and more distant it seemed. I cracked open a bottle of water, took a few sips and then offered it to Nolan. He chugged the rest. “What now?” I asked idly. I scooted my body close to his. “I can’t believe this is finally over.” He stared straight ahead at the closed driver’s cab partition. “It’s not over,” he muttered, frowning. TMy energy was already depleted, and that little dose of champagne tipped me over the edge into irresistible sleepiness. The servants had changed our sheets and re-set the bed while we were at dinner. I was out of my dress and tucking myself under the covers in minutes.Nolan changed into some black silk pajama pants and a tank top, and brought his laptop with him to bed. He sat beside me while I drifted off. He would type a little, then stroke my hair absentmindedly; type more, pet my hair… till I was soothed into a deep slumber.“Hey.”I woke to Nolan’s smiling face looking down at me.“Hey yourself.” I tried to reach up for him, but my arm was too tired and flopped right back down. “What time is it?”“It’s almost five a.m. I’m sorry to wake you up so early, but I have a favor to ask of you.”I rolled onto my back, rubbing my eyes awake. Nolan looked sharp, handsome and squeaky clean. He’d gotten a shave and a haircut,
Nolan kept hold of my hand as we passed from the car to the front of the building. A moving wall of Gamma warriors surrounded us on every side as we walked, helpfully blocking my view of the crowd and the cameras.And then we were there. Nolan pulled me along, coming to a stop right behind the podium, and I had to look right out at the biggest sea of people I had ever seen in my life.The reporters were all shouting out questions already. The crowd of civilians thundered with deafening applause when they saw us. My stately husband, unfazed by all of this, nodded seriously to the crowd in acknowledgement. After a few more seconds, he held up an open palm to the crowd, and the world began to quiet down under his command.“There have been many news reports already about the events of the past two days,” Nolan began. “I am here today first and foremost to officially confirm some facts about these events, and to formally announce that my hal
I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my watch and saw that Nolan and I had been speaking to the crowd for almost three hours.The adrenaline of standing in front of that huge live audience, with the entire world watching on TV or livestream too, was a new level of exhilaration.Back in the limo after it was all over, Nolan gave me a critical look with a curious little half smile. “So?” he asked. “What did you think? Easier than you expected?”“That was surreal,” I said. “I don’t think easy is the right word. But it was sure exciting. I hope I did okay.”He grinned. I loved to see Nolan smile brightly like that. “You did great.”I scrunched my face up, doubtful. “Really? I wasn’t rambling?” Nolan shook his head. “You were perfect. They appreciate your candor, I can tell. I imagine it’s a refreshing change of pace after listening to boring politicians like me all the time.”I had to laugh. “You, my dear, are the last pe
The three of us escaped quietly to my studio.“Oh, my goodness,” Cindy breathed as we walked in. I did a lap around the room, turning all the lights on. “This place is incredible.”“Isn’t it? Oh, Yena, I missed this place! We had a lot of fun times in here.”“Sit down,” I told my guests. “Wherever’s comfortable.”I grabbed a notebook and pen from my desk then met them over at the couches in the fitting area.“So what’s up Yena?” Lucy asked, dying with curiosity. “What’s this thing you wanted to talk to us about?”“Well, I need both of your help with something,” I started. “But I wanted to actually ask Cindy a couple questions first.”“Sure,” Cindy said. “Fire away.”Rafaela’s head appeared, popping through the doorway. I guess she had seen the studio door open. I waved her over.“My apologies for interrupting your party here, Miss Yena, but I wonder if I could bring any refreshments over for you and you
NOLANThe prince’s footsteps echoed down the stone chamber as he descended the stairs of the underground prison where his brother was being held.Nolan made his way down, down, down three flights of stairs, passing through caged security checkpoints at every floor. Each one was attended by at least two prison guards who shuffled Nolan in through one door, locked it behind him, then unlocked the second door to let him out the other side.Down he went, finally, down one more flight of spiral stairs. And there at the bottom landing, Nolan looked down a long corridor and saw Adan for the first time since their fight on the mountain.He was leaning against the back wall of his cell with his arms crossed over his chest.“You come here to gloat?” Adan called out. His deep, familiar voice carried, bouncing off the stone walls and vibrating into the cold, damp air.“Not really my style.” Nolan slipped his hands into his pockets and slowed
YENA Lucy watched her reflection carefully in the trifold mirror while moving around the layers of the skirt I was fitting on her. “I don’t remember how I had it,” she said. “Was it like this?” “Yes. That’s perfect.” I hurried over and knelt beside the pedestal, pinning the fabric into place at the most flattering angle over Lucy’s hip. “So Cindy couldn’t make it today, huh?” “Yeah, she was too busy.” I finished pinning the skirt into place and took a couple steps back to look at it from a distance again. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get her away from the orphanage. She said she’ll try again tomorrow.” “I had fun with her last night. She’s super nice.” “Yeah, I’m glad Nolan invited her to the dinner party. That was a fun surprise.” “He is super sweet, too, Yena.” Lucy met my eyes in the mirror. “It was really nice to finally get to hang out with the two of you together. I can’t believe I thought…” She darted her eyes away as her voice trailed off. “You thought what? I’m don
“I do have some good news to share, though.” I threw a glance in Lucy’s direction.She responded with a big, excited smile.Nolan was intrigued.Suddenly I was nervous. He and I hadn’t yet talked about anything related to my career since I’d come back.“I don’t know if you heard about the little business I started on social media a few weeks ago?” I squinted at Nolan. I wasn’t sure if he’d been following what I was up to while we were apart.He nodded.“I didn’t have any expectations for that little enterprise,” I went on, “but it’s really taken off. I actually already went ahead and filed for a business license. And I made Lucy a job offer.”“Oh. Wow.” Nolan looked back and forth between me and Lucy a few times. I saw the wheels turning in his head. He had a lot of questions. “And Lucy? Did you accept Yena’s job offer?”“I did!” She leaned forward, grinning. “Oh, I’m so excited! We’re going to have so much fun.
“This has been quite the experience already, Yena.” Cindy was looking in the trifold mirror, watching in amazement as Lucy and I adjusted her dress and pinned it into place. “I’m nervous for tomorrow though. I can’t believe I let you talk me into doing this.”Lucy smiled. “Oh, it’s going to be so fun. Just wait.”“Yeah, you’ll be great!” I took a step back to look at our work, and made eye contact with Cindy. “I’ve seen you command a room many times at the orphanage. You’re a total boss.”“Those are kids, though. They only listen to half of what you say. I’ve never stood up in front of a crowd of adults before – ever. And especially not with the focus on my clothes and body.”“Well,” Lucy said, admiring Cindy’s reflection. “You’ve probably never worn something this awesome before. Yena’s clothes are like magic. Zip yourself in and up goes the confidence.”I had to laugh at this. “That would make a good ad slogan.”“You’re joking,