..........Maia.........."What?" I whisper, looking at him as he continues shaking. Why would he be calling my mother’s name in his sleep? I told him I was adopted, but I didn’t tell him her name. "Kyros!" I call him again, and this time his eyes snap open. He sits up with a start, panting and wide-eyed, before looking around the room, looking confused and disoriented."It’s okay. It’s just a dream. It’s okay," I say softly, trying to hold him while he trembles, drenched in sweat, but he flinches when I try to touch him, looking at me like he’s never seen me before in his life. "It’s just a dream; you’re alright," I try to reassure him, but my bedside clock cuts me off, and when I turn around after turning it off, I find him off the bed and rushing towards his clothes. He puts them on while I get off the bed, holding the sheets tighter against my chest and walking up to him. But before I can say anything, he picks up his car keys and bolts out of the door, leaving me standing there
.........Evaki.........I sigh as I stand in front of my closet and look at all the clothes I could wear to Stefania’s party tonight. I’m not a very social person and have been dreading it for days, and even though I was given a choice, I know it’s not really a choice. Stefania would be disappointed if I didn’t attend, and it would give others the impression that we are divided, and I can’t have that. We must always show a united front, even if we are still trying to figure out how to unite. That is one of my responsibilities as the first queen. After several minutes of deliberation, I finally decide on a knee-length, green dress with a plunging neckline and strappy black heels that are comfortable.I catch a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror as I walk away, and I notice that my hair is still damp from the shower, so I quickly run a brush through it and pull it back into a loose ponytail. I don’t want to blow-dry it. I want to do a braided crown and leave the rest of the
.........Maia ........."I-I’m going back to the party," I stutter, my heart beating faster and faster, and there’s silence for a moment, his expression still in a frown before it slowly turns into a smile."Okay, but can I have a moment first? I have something to show you," he says, his eyes glancing at my bare feet, and I open my mouth to tell him I really have to go now, but he speaks again before I can. "I’ll ask Stefania not to proceed without you," he adds, and I scream no, turning his expression into a suspicious one, but I quickly add that the queen is there and I don’t want to seem disrespectful. I say it's okay; I have a moment, even though I’m screaming inside. He proceeds inside the room, and I head to the bed and sit down, wondering what this is about as his eyes start to make me feel weird, like they have been doing lately. He sits next to me, his gaze never leaving mine. "You know I care so much about you, right? You know I would never hurt you," he softly says, rea
..........Evaki ........."Oh, my God!" I gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth, and I follow Stefania, who’s now screaming to her feet before running towards the door, not even knowing what to do. It rips open just as I get to it, and the maid enters, her expression immediately turning into a frown when she takes in mine. But she also gasps, her eyes widening when she sees what's happening, and just then, Stefania collapses to the ground, causing me to run back to her. I take a pillow and place it under her head, my hands shaking as tears start coming out of my eyes, and the maid locks the door, saying no one must enter and see her like this. She is right, and I’m supposed to know that, but I’m so shocked and scared that my mind is not working. She checks her pulse while taking out her phone and calling the royal medical staff, and I take Stefania’s hand, who’s now unconscious, and hold it. I tell her she’s going to be okay, my tears falling on her face, and it’s not long before so
..........Evaki .........."Yes," I reply, getting to my feet, and he steps back. "If you could come with me, please," the man adds, gesturing down the passage, and I open my mouth to respond, but Paris’s voice cuts me off, and I turn my head to see him taking long strides toward me."She’s not going anywhere with you," he says, his expression grave, and I tell him it’s okay, but he cuts me off again, saying it’s not."What makes you think you can question my wife?" he asks, and the guy bows, stammering, and says it’s King Dimitris’s orders, but Paris tells him to leave. He scurries off while Paris pulls me into a hug. "I’m sorry," he says in the hug, and I pull back and tell him it’s okay. What happened here tonight is bad, and I know King Dimitris is just trying to get to the bottom of what happened to his daughter. She just lost his granddaughter, and it could have gone even worse. She could have lost her life, too. They deserve to know the answers. It’s not like they think I di
.............Charon............."What’s wrong?" I ask, finding my father pacing up and down, and he orders Julius, the man in charge of the investigation, out of the room. "Father, what happened?" I ask again as he leans on his desk, noticing he’s boiling with anger. He says Julius couldn’t question Evaki. Paris wouldn’t let it happen. "Somebody poisoned my daughter. Someone almost killed her, and that human was the only one in the room with her," he roars, and I understand his frustration; I am frustrated too, but that human is the queen. I warned him about having her questioned without going through Paris first."He’s the king, Father. I’m sure if you speak-""-I don’t care! Stefania is my daughter. She’s my daughter, and some filthy piece of shit dared to poison her! And what does he do?! Instead of being angry, he’s busy nesting that human!" He says, but we both freeze before quickly turning around when there’s a knock on the door."What?" I ask the guard, and he says the king
.............Charon ............."Hey! What is going on?" I ask one of the guards, seeing them running down the corridor, just as I take my phone out so I can find out if Maia was found. He says something is happening down by the Rose Walk. The Rose Walk is the passage leading to the palace’s secret entrance. I run after the guards, heading down to the dimly lit corridor, and I can hear the growls as I turn the corner, but my eyes widen at the scene in front of me. I see Dyson fall on his knees absent his head, and I take a pistol from one of the guards and fire three shots at the man who just decapitated him, sending him tumbling to his back. "Seize him!" I roar, horrified, looking at the blood splatters and my mem lying dead on the floor, some missing their heads like Dyson, some their hearts. But my heart stops when I look at the person lying just a little further from them."Oh, no," I scream a the guards, who are crawling on the floor, still alive. How the hell do they just l
.......... Maia.........."I don’t-I don’t know I was going to the party when he showed up and started dragging me outside. It all happened so fast, and I don’t know." I stutter, tears flooding my cheeks as I try to make up what happened, shaking, and Mother tells me it’s okay and holds me. She says I don’t have to talk about it, taking in my trembling state, not knowing I’m trembling out of desperation, not fear. I pull back from the hug and beg her to please tell Father not to hurt Kyros. I tell her he saved my life, and she says she will, but I see something change in her eyes, causing me to ask her what the matter is. She says she would have never expected something like this from Dyson and that it scares her because it’s making her question everything. "Dyson has been part of the family for so long, and now for him to have done something like this, it makes me wonder if we can trust any of the people surrounding us every day," she says, getting to her feet while my heart clen