Megan and her ladies had thankfully, seamlessly left the guest quarters and were now walking back to the main building.“That was the most adrenaline rush I’ve had in years!” Rosetta said as the group of servants who walked past them were out of hearing distance.“You’ve really always been a junkie.” Brianna said, responding to Rosetta.Megan laughed, it truly made her heart happy that she did not have to leave her ladies behind.“Oh, you’re finally speaking Brianna. I thought I would have to tickle it out of you. What happened when you went to powder your nose?” Rosetta asked Brianna, ignoring her comment about her being an adrenaline junkie.“Nothing of importance.
Megan’s heartbeat picked up speed immediately. Who was there? Why were they at her door barely six in the morning?“Who is it?” Megan asked, getting up from her bed and approaching her door slowly. There ought to be guards outside her door so whoever was there was either someone the guards answered to or some burglar who somehow bested the castle security. She quickly dismissed the latter thought, there had been no break ins in the castle since she became queen. It was one of the many problems that riddled the Eastern then empire after the death of their former ruler, Richard Jared. Megan took her role as queen very seriously and successfully eradicated any major security issues and risks. There were still petty crimes here and there but nothing that the local police could not handle.Her thoughts were cut short when she heard the knock again. She grabbed a hand mirror from her vanity just in case and undid the bolt of her door. The handle was moved downwards and the door opened to r
Megan walked slowly, one foot in front of the other. One of the many differences between this day and her wedding day five years ago was that she was walking down by herself. Her dad was in the audience, looking at her with sad eyes, very different from the love-filled eyes he looked at her with five years ago. Another major difference was she was wearing black, not white.She kept her head up high, refusing to look dejected or sad in any way. She was going to be remembered as the queen who did not show any emotion on the day of her divorce. She was going to keep her ‘heartless queen’ role until she dropped the crown officially.Megan got to the foot of the small flight of stairs where, on top was Richardson and the Priest who looked as though he could pass on any moment. That was how old the priest was.
Everyone’s mouth was moving and Megan could barely make out one coherent sentence. She would be lying if she said she did not feel overwhelmed. All her life she had acted and done as she was tole, she was never the recipient of the majority’s displeasure.She found her mother’s eyes in the ruckus and they held eye contact. She knew in that moment that her mother understood and that was all she cared about in that moment, nothing else.Rhode squeezed her hand as though to get attention. She had forgotten that he was right beside her and holding her hand.“Do we leave now?” A disinterested Rhode asked Megan. Noticing how bored he looked she giggled, “I would need to sign the divorce papers. I will be with you shortly.”She turned b
“I’m sorry. I do not know why I am crying,” Megan said. She removed her hand from Rhode’s and tried to catch the tears streaming down her face. She felt embarrassed to be crying in front of him.“It is okay. You are probably crying because you will miss your home, your Kingdom. Anyone would.” Rhode said, trying to console her.Megan looked flush and her face was beet red, with her nose an even deeper shade of red. He had no idea that a person could become so red and here Megan was in front of him.She caught him staring and looked down shyly. Her reaction made Rhode feel a type of way as it felt like she did not want to be seen by him but he quickly understood. She had probably never cried in front of anyone before. It was a vulnerable thing to do for anyone, especially Megan.
Rhode met Megan at the foot of the slope and stood beside her, “I would never get tired of this view.” He said, looking at the stream.“Neither can I.” Megan agreed with him, he turned his head to look at Megan. Her hair strands were moving across her face too.Her hair style was different today. It looked more natural and less regal, made up. Perhaps she had done it herself?Suddenly, the couple heard the sound of horses. The other carriages had arrived and stopped behind the last carriage that was parked.Megan turned her head to look, she was searching for her ladies, Brianna and Rosetta.Both ladies came down from a smaller carriage along with another lady from the West. Rosetta sighted them and wa
Rhode turned his head in the direction of the voice that just called his name. It was already dark out and the lampposts were not all lit. He could not exactly make out the figure of the person standing in the darkness.“Over here.” The lady said again as she stepped out from the shadows. It was a young lady with blonde hair and of a small stature wearing the clothes of the inn workers.Rhode stood, wondering who it was as her face had not yet come into view. When she was a few feet away from him, he finally caught the view of her face, “Melody.”“Hi.” The young lady said, smiling as she looked up at Rhode.“Fancy seeing you here.” She added, “It has been how long now?” She asked, trying to make conversation.“I am not sure.” Rhode responded, he was still surprised to have met her here.“I know it has at least been 3 years. You are King now, or so the rumors say.” Melody said.“So they say.” He said and paused before adding, “How long have you been here, Melody? You disappeared all th
She paused and said, “I couldn’t.”“I insist.” Rhode said and reached for his bag, bringing out a wrapped piece of pastry.Melody took one look at Rhode and Brian who gave a small nod, “thank you.” She said and took the food from Rhode’s hand.“You can sit.” Rhode said to her and she took a quick seat in front of both men. She unwrapped the pastry and the fresh scent of the pastry hit her nostrils, “it’s fresh!” She said excitedly and Brian smiled, “we use a special wrapper that traps the heat. It remains fresh for up to ten days.” He told Melody.“I see.” She said, “Thank you.”She bit down on the pastry an
Rhode could not contain his anger when he woke up the next morning. He had stirred up to find himself in Brian's bed, and that was not the only unflattering thing that happened.He could still feel the bitter residue of whatever drug he had unknowingly consumed the night before, and knew, without anyone telling him, that the drug must have been potent.And what's worse? He could still feel the weakness in his bones that came from denying his body what it had been forced to desire last night. Doing that had only been through sheer force of will, as was everything he did, but oh was he pissed off.He knew the gist of what had happened by now, his own court members, or one of them at least had dared to poison him, and he knew without the doubt that if he had stayed in his room last night, he would have been violated, but the court would not have seen it that way, and would have demanded that he took responsibility for the cursed woman.He knew everything, and that was precisely why he co
Aspen, although severely ungrateful with her lot in life, had never truly suffered in any way, at least not to the people around her, although that opinion would soon change when the western kingdom got wind of her less than pure movement.Richardson had been quick to dispel the rumors and dismissed everyone, but even his kingly presence, note the sarcasm, was not enough to rid the accusations from the people's minds and seal their lips.As a result, she had been extra careful not to go outside, partly because everybody seemed to look at her like a murderer, e.g the servants and ladies maids, but also because of the appearance of Duke Elric.She had seen the way Richardson went pale at the sight of him, and had begun to question if making a deal with such a man was wise at all. But it was too late now, she was already indebted to him, and he held the secrets that could bring her to ruin at the tip of his untrustworthy tongue.“Aspen!” Richardson barked as he slammed the door to her ch
Megan frowned as she stared at Rhode's face, and that was the moment something was not quite right with the Alpha. Why, sweats were dotting his forehead and he looked positively flushed, she wondered if he had too much wine.But it was more than that, wasn't it? Right from when Lord Fuhler and Aldrien seemed to want Rhode to stay back, but the friendly man she had met before had battled for the opposite.“I wonder if he is alright.” She murmured to herself, but the woman sitting beside her seemed to have no qualms for manners as she blatantly listened in, and turned to Megan.“Perhaps you should verify.” She said so softly and quickly that Megan was left to wonder if she had imagined the soft whisper.“You know something.” Megan turned to her with an accusing look, but she simply busied herself with cutleries as she ignored Megan and casted graceful smiles to everyone in the room instead, the picture perfect queen, but Megan was too in her head to put her properly in her place.Someth
Rhode sipped the wine sitting in front of him in an effort to clear the strange feeling in his throat. He had no idea what was going on, only thing he knew was that he had started to tune out the conversation slash confrontation going on around the table.Tried as hard as he might, he just could no longer pay attention to Megan, he was beginning to harbor a terrible kind of suspicion.“Alpha,” Brian concerned voice shook him a little from his stupor, but for some reason it felt like Brian was yelling at him from a place he could not quite reach, under the ocean perhaps.“Brian?” Rhode whispered, something was quite wrong, but he could not pinpoint what it was. His hands shook as he tried to pick up the knife in front of him.“I am here Alpha, what is going on?” Brian asked behind him, he could hear the muted panic in his voice. Brian was worried, and that informed the strangely inebriated Rhode that perhaps he should be worried too.“I feel drunk.” He confessed slowly to his best frie
Mirabel hurried towards the dining room, she needed to talk to her father physically, to put an end to his craziness.If Rhode finds out what she did to him then it would be well within his rights to put her to death, and no one would bat an eye, people have been condemned for less.She needed to speak sense into her dad, he was becoming too reckless with his ambition and it would result in tragedy, Mirabel was sure of it.Her dad wanted the throne, he had coveted the position of Alpha for a very long time, and Mirabel knew that from a very tender age he had viewed his daughter as a stepping stone to his great ambition, but this had gone too far.“My lady, you have not gone to the dining area since Alpha Micheal, why are you doing so now?” Rose asked with apprehension as she led the way to her father, and Mirabel grimaced.“As much as I don't want to see the People, I want to die even less.” Mirabel answered with a wry smile.She was not afraid of dying, far from it. She was afraid of
“The cheek of that woman!” Rosetta gritted angrily as she paced in Megan's suit, and Megan shrugged, biting her lips in deep thought. Mirabel Fuhler, the dethroned queen. She had the perfect motive for vengeance, didn't she? But yet, Megan could not help but feel like she was missing a very important part of the puzzle.There was a chasm when it came to Mirabel. If Rhode was to be believed, then his claim that Mirabel had been the perfect wife to his brother should be believed too, right?If she had been faithful and loving to the late Alpha, then there would be no reason for her to wish to jump the wagon so soon. Something was definitely fishy, and Megan was determined to find out what it was. The former had been silent since her arrival to the palace, she had ignored the whispers about being dethroned that floated around the court like smoke. She had been perfectly polite when they met, so why on earth would she do something like this? It just did not make any sense. Unless she wa
Mirabel had only said what she did as a joke, but seeing the stiffening figures before she could not help but wonder if she was right after all, and if so, what exactly was she right about?Megan was a very intelligent woman, she was formidable as well, with the dangerous ability to sniff out enemies from wherever they were hiding.Now while Mirabel herself might not have had anything to do with Megan's incident, thus absolving her of guilt, but she could not say the same for her ambitious father, and that made her want to creep into Megan's mind, to see if she had come to the same conclusion, and to snuff her out if she had to. It was her duty to protect the Fuhlers name, and she could not let anyone that might proof to be a danger to said name, walk around freely.But she was finally evenly matched, she could see the intelligence in Megan's eyes, and the cunning of her smile, she could not be caught off guard before such a woman, she needed her wits about her.So she had said what s
Megan was definitely harassed at this point, she was definitely not ready for guests, and she knew that Rhode knew this, but for some reason he was insistent on barging into her safe haven with Mirabel Fuhler! The Mirabel! Her betrothed supposed fiancee! She couldn't do this, nobody would make her. This was shitty.“I will have nobody question your sanity!” He insisted, and while that warmed her heart, she could not help but balk at it. She was not looking her best, she decided, staring at her reflection in the mirror.Why, she was looking positively pale this morning, she could not meet her so-called competition like this! She looked positively horrid.“Please don't do this Rhode, I'm not ready!” She yelled at Rhode through their mindlinked. The mindlink was becoming really useful at this point, she could talk to him about things without anyone being none the wiser.“We are coming in Megan,” He told her resolutely. “Prepare yourself.” Sighing, Megan brushed down her already slick ha
Mirabel fuhler walked through the hallway in deep thoughts as the long black skirt she still insisted on wearing to mourn her late husband Michael Wales, trailed behind her. The husband she never knew she needed. It pained that she spent years pining for another when the real love of her life was seated beside her and praying for her to look at him.And now she was being forced to marry the younger brother of that perfect man? It didn't make sense to Mirabel, not even one bit. She loved Michael, and the resemblance Rhode shared with him was also a punch to the gut every time she crossed his path.“My lady, are you sure you want to do this?” Her maid Anne asked as she led the way to the room of Rhode's bride to be from the west.“Exactly my lady, it does not really make sense. You were supposed to remarry Alpha Rhode, but he chose some wench from the west over you, why should you go to visit her?” Lily, are other maid questioned and for the first time in a long time, Mirabel was tickle