Prologue Pt. 2

Flustered, the two pulled away. Gwen wiped her mouth and quickly straightened her clothes as she sat next to Ace. Just a few meters away from them were their two kids, Ella and Holland. They were twins only born a couple of hours apart. Ella was the older sibling and seeing how she acted as a four-year-old, she was sure to tease her brother about it a lot when they got older.

They both ran towards them and Gwen always stiffened when they ran, fearing they would trip. Behind them was their group of nannies who were looking rather sheepish and avoiding their gazes. They did allow the children to ruin a perfectly good moment but Gwen quickly got over it, there was plenty of time for that in the future.

"Mommy!" Ella ran and basically jumped on her lap. Gwen braced for the impact and then before she could even recover Ella was already wriggling in her lap and trying to stand up on it, using her hair as a way to pull herself up.

"Ow! Ow!" Gwen winced and pried her hair free of Ella's hands.

"Mommy! Mommy!" she bounced.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Gwen smiled fondly at her.

Ella looked exactly like her, with beautiful blond hair and deep brown eyes. She also acted like Gwen. She was a little too independent for a four-year-old and was always wanting things to be done her way. Gwen was curious to see how she would grow up and if she would be a good Queen.

Ella was the older one so the throne go to her in the line of succession, but if she didn't want it then it would be passed onto Holland, but that was only if she was of age to make that decision. She wanted her children to have the freedom of choice in their lives and would not force anything on anyone. Ace was more than willing to make as many heirs as needed for the throne but Gwen wanted to take it slow.

"We went and rode horses today! I went on the big one and Holly went on the smaller one! Because he was scared!"

Gwen held Ella steady with her arms and looked over at Holland who was sitting normally on Ace's lap. Ace held him under his arms and was swaying him. At his sister's words, Holland pouted.

"I just wanted to go on the smaller one. I wasn't scared," he stated.

"Mommy! Holly was scared! I saw it!"

Gwen chuckled. "No need to yell Ella, I'm right here. And if Holland says he wasn't scared then he wasn't, alright. Everyone goes at their own pace."

Gwen leaned over and pulled the neglected tray back. She took a grape and fed one to Ella before handing one to Ace which he fed to Holland.

"After all of that, I'm sure you're hungry, yeah. Let's eat some of this food." Ace let Holland off of his lap and Ella joined him as they sat in front of the tray and picked off the things they liked.

Gwen dismissed the group of nannies so that they could all spend time alone. She and Ace watched the kids have their own little discussion as they ate the food. Gwen would have to constantly stop Ella from throwing away the food she didn't like and just ended up eating it instead.

When Ella was born she had fair skin and even some hair on her head. Ace had wanted their daughter to look like him so he was obviously crestfallen when she didn't. But then Holland came out and he was a carbon copy of Ace. Beautiful brown skin and curly brown hair. Gwen was grateful that his looks were all he was going to get. If Holland ever developed the insufferable personality Ace had in the past she would put a stop to it immediately. Or she was sure that Ella would be able to straighten him out.

"Did you ever want kids, when you were younger?" Gwen asked Ace, not taking her eyes off their children.

"Not really, but as soon as I met you I knew that that would change."

Gwen gave him a look. "I'm being serious."

"So am I." he winked at her.

After refraining from hitting him, they both took the kids inside. Ella seemed to have a very interesting story to tell and so she kept them entertained the entire time they walked. Gwen could not fully understand what she was saying but nodded along nonetheless.

Because of her time outside she was able to clear her head and try again at her issue. Ace took the kids and left her to her devices. Gwen knew that the best thing to do if she had a problem was to walk away but in that moment she just wanted to get it done and burned herself out in the end.

She was not raised with the intend of her one day becoming the Queen and so when the position suddenly dropped into her lap she had to learn how to adjust accordingly. And after nine years she could definitely say that she had gotten better but was nowhere near perfect. Not as perfect as her mother would have been if she was Queen.

“But that’s not what I should be thinking of,” Gwen shook her head free of those thoughts and got back down to work.

It was late in the night when she decided to head in for the night. The castle was quiet and the only people she could see were the guards. And once she got to her bedroom she definitely wasn’t expecting to see that Ace, along with her kids were awake.

“Mommy!” Elle sprung up from the bed upon seeing her.

“What are you doing up?” she asked and looked at Ace for an explanation.

“They wanted to wait for you and so I kept them there. It seems like they had too much energy to fall asleep anyway.”

Gwen picked Ella up from the bed. “Well know that I’m here, it’s time for bed.”

Elle wriggled in her arm. “But I don’t want to.”

Gwen poked her nose. “That’s not your choice young lady.”

They took the kids back to their room and once they were in bed they both insisted that she stay with them.

“I have to go to my bed now so you guys can get some sleep.”

“Can you tell us a story?” Holland asked.

“Yes! A story.” Ella agreed.

Defeated, Gwen stopped down next to their bed and sighed. “What would you like to hear.”

“How about how we met. Ella’s been asking about that the entire day.” Ace spoke up.

“How we met? Why are you curious about that?” she asked Ella.

“Because Daddy mentioned that you didn’t like him when you met him.”

Gwen pulled a tight smile. “And did he tell you why I didn’t like him?”

“Did Daddy do something naughty?”

Gwen hummed and looked at Ace before she turned back to her daughter. “When I first met him, your daddy was so mean to me…”