We enter the courtyard and walk briskly to the castle. Rya takes the box from the king and uses it to block her face. I’m sure they will address their people later on. First they need to reunite with the rest of their children and fill everyone in.
We enter the tower house and the guards immediately bow to the king. Inside the main dining room, Elliott quickly shuts the door behind us. He and Rya place the boxes on the empty table. He goes to her and they embrace.
“My son,” she says. “I can’t believe how big you’ve gotten.” His face crumples with emotion. A lump forms in my throat as I watch his tears fall.
They talk quietly when the door opens and Luke comes through. Addison and Ryland enter behind him. They both stop in their tracks when they see their mother.
“Mom?” Addison cries. “Is that really you?” Rya nods and Addi rushes to her, throwing her arms around her neck, and sobbing into her hair. Ryland approaches hesitantly. Rya holds out an arm and welcomes him into her embrace as well. Elliott is wiping tears from his eyes, along with King Azure. Luke steps up beside me and places his arm across my shoulders, pulling me close to him. We stand silent for a few minutes. The only sound in the room is Addi crying and the occasional sniffle from Elliott.
“Come, children,” the king says in a soft voice. “Let’s all sit and we’ll tell you everything.”
Everyone takes a seat. Addi refuses to let go of Rya’s hand and I can’t blame her. Had my mother come back I’d hold onto her with everything I have. Rya seems to barely be keeping it together. She takes the king’s hand in her other one and nods, as he begins.
“When I went through the portal, I didn’t know what to do or where to go. The key had disappeared. I wasn’t sure if we’d get it back or not. I had Alison’s instructions and found her phone to call your mother. She answered, then came to get me right away. I went with her to where she was living, since all of her belongings were there. We caught up and I learned a lot about the way things work on the other side. We hoped the key would return and it eventually did. But not until I got to see and experience some amazing things.”
He turns to me and smiles. “You have such advanced technology where you’re from. The cars and the televisions. Phones and computers. I was in awe of it all, but I knew if I did come back, none of it could come with me. I’ve seen what it’s done to your world. How when people eat together they don’t interact with one another. They drive with anger and are rushing everywhere they go. Our life may be simple here, but I like it that way.”
“Me, too,” I agree.
“What about the twins?” Luke cuts in. Rya’s eyes close and her head drops.
Solemnly, the king says, “They didn’t make it. Your mother was bleeding badly and there was nothing the doctors could do. She lost the babies.” Addi’s cries grow louder. My heart breaks for everyone. Rya left in an effort to save her babies, and in the end she lost them and everyone in her family. Twenty-four years she was without them.
Ryland speaks up. “Why didn’t you come back? Didn’t you want us anymore?”
With a shaky voice, Rya answers, “Of course I did. The key, it wouldn’t stay with me. Eliza tried giving it to me, she tried opening the portal with me beside her, she even tried opening it alone, but it didn’t work. Every time the key got near the lock it would disappear. We’d always find it back in my little pewter jewelry box.”
“The box you brought with you from our home,” King Azure interjects.
“Yes. The key liked it in there, even if it never let me hold it. Eliza was the only one who could, yet it wouldn’t work. It wasn’t meant for either of us. It laid in wait for Ali. There was nothing we could do. We were both stuck on the other side.”
“Could you foresee losing the babies?” Luke asks. “Then you could have stayed here with us; you wouldn’t have had to leave.” The other siblings stare at her with wide eyes. I guess no one knew she was a seer.
“No. I’ve never been able to see my own path. Since the babies were part of me, I couldn’t see theirs either.”
I’m chewing on my thumb now. “If you were so close to my mom, why didn’t you two live near each other? I wouldn’t want to be far from my best friend, if it were me.”
“We did live close to one another, even together for a bit. But with the babies gone and the key refusing me, I was depressed. I moved away in hopes that if I put some space between the door and myself I could move on. I never thought I’d come back here.”
“We need to address the people tomorrow,” Ryland says. “We also have to tell them about the peace treaty.”
The king quickly turns to face him. “The treaty? King Pine signed it?”
“Well, thanks to Luke, the king did, but not the one you think. Reid is now king.”
The king spins to face Luke. I’m surprised his head doesn’t swivel right off his neck. Luke’s face becomes tense, his jaw clenches. “He deserved to die.”
King Azure raises an eyebrow. “He has since Leo was killed, but what happened to cause you to do it now?”
“He threatened to kill Ali. He had his sword pressed to her neck and blood…blood was dripping from the blade.” His hands are in fists so tight on the table that his knuckles are white. I reach for one hand, rubbing it in attempt to relax him.
“He didn’t want me to stay with Luke,” I add. “He wanted me home with him and Oliver, and if not, then he preferred me dead. Luke, along with Elliott and Oliver, saved my life.” I turn to Luke. “I can never repay them.”
He reaches up to brush his thumb along my cheek. “If anything had happened to you, I wouldn’t have been able to go on. You’re my reason for living.”
“Oh, enough already,” Addi pipes in. “We get it. You’re in love. We don’t need to see it all the time.”
The king chuckles. “Stop, my daughter. It’s nice that Luke isn’t so murderous looking all of the time. Besides, if you ever find your one true love you’ll be exactly the same.”
She scoffs and crosses her arms. “I highly doubt that.”
Rya rests a hand on her arm. “It’s in your blood dear. When an Azure falls, they fall hard.”
Addi rolls her eyes. “Can we change the subject please? All of this mushy stuff is getting on my nerves.”
“Yes, dear, we can. I have a lot to catch up on and want to hear everything. We also need to agree on a story to tell our people about where I’ve been since they’ve all believed I was dead. What did you tell them about Ali’s sudden appearance?”
“Nothing really,” Ryland says. “We only warned them not to harm her or treat her with hatred. You should have seen the looks they were giving her once they knew she was King Pine’s daughter. We wanted to be open, but the whole lot of them were rude. Luckily, she quickly won them over with her personality. Oh, and the fact that Luke killed her father. That helped as well.”
“We can say you were on a humanitarian mission that took you far from our lands. While there you fell and hit your head. You had amnesia and didn’t know who you were,” the king states.
“Why didn’t we go looking for her after a while?” Elliott asks.
“We did, but she had wandered off in her confusion and we couldn’t find her.”
“For twenty-four years?” he asks incredulously.
King Azure throws his hands up. “I didn’t say it was a good lie, but it will have to do. I won’t take any questions. I’ll say what I have to say and leave with my wife.” Their eyes meet. The love he feels for her is apparent.
We sit around the table and talk for an hour before I excuse myself and get up to leave. I walk out the door, gently closing it behind me, but am stopped by Luke’s hand on my wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“Home. I wanted to give everyone some time to catch up. You haven’t seen your mother in so long. This is time for you to be with your family and reconnect. Go back. Enjoy it.”
He reaches up to cup my cheek. “It still hasn’t sunken in yet. You’re my fam
ily. You and everyone in that room.” His hand slides from my face to intertwine with my fingers. “Come. Let’s go home together.”
“But, your mom.”
“It’s fine, Ali. My brothers and sister will keep her busy. Besides, our picnic got interrupted. Let’s go have lunch. We’ll be sure to be back in time for my father’s speech, and then we’ll have dinner with them.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to leave for me.”
He squeezes my hand and releases it. “It’s more than fine. I’ll be right back.” Stepping back through the door, I hear them talking, but can’t make out the words. I feel bad that he would leave them when he just got his mom back to come home with me.
When he returns, he’s holding one of the boxes King Azure and Rya brought back with them. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to call her queen. I’ve known her, vaguely as it was, on and off my whole life. She was always just Rya.
“You have a box to open.”
“I wonder what’s in it.” It could be anything. King Azure said they packed some things for me. I don’t know what will happen to the building, but at the same time, I don’t care. My mom had to have known I would go through the door and the chances of returning would be minimal. Maybe that’s why she was so insistent that I continue to run things after she passed. She knew eventually I’d find the key. Although how, I have no clue. It was tucked under a fake bottom of a drawer. Maybe that’s the reason the dresser was priced so high. But then again, if the key does what it wants, it could have found me eventually. Who knows? I can’t spend my time obsessing over that key and the what if’s in life.
My reality is that I’m now living in the Azure Kingdom with a man by my side who loves me as much as I love him. A man who would and has risked his life for me. Who loves with his whole heart. Who I’m lucky enough to call mine. Lucas Azure is the center of my entire world, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Lucas
Nervous is an emotion I’m unfamiliar with. That is until I arrived out in the field today on the back of Talethla, with my entire future ahead of me. You see, I knew Ali was special from the first time I saw her. I dreamt of her standing in the very field I’m in now. The azure flowers surrounded her. Her onyx hair blowing around wildly. She was a vision then, and even more so now that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her intimately. I knew the first day she appeared, she was mine. How? Call it intuition, or fate, or whatever you will, but I knew. Now I stand with my brothers by my side, waiting for her to give me her hand in marriage.
My mother had an arbor built and took some of the colorful ivy off of the cottage that holds the portal between our realms. She wove it through the lattice of the white arbor to bring even more color to our wedding. Teal, pink, purple, and blue ivy winds around it in a way, which makes it appear magical. Nowhere else in our land does ivy grow with those colors. Only on the cottage.
We have a small church within the castle’s walls, but Ali said she wanted us to marry in the field. It’s her favorite place, well, besides my bed. Or maybe that’s my favorite place. Either way, I told her we could get married wherever she liked.
On the opposite side of the arbor stands Addi and my mother. Ali and Addi have become close over the last year, and since her own mother isn’t here, she asked mine to stand with her. I still see the sorrow in her eyes when she thinks of her and knew this morning would be difficult without her here to help her get ready.
As luck would have it, one of the items my parents packed for her before they returned was an antique pearl comb. Ali said her mother wore it on her wedding day and wanted her to wear it when she got married. She cried when she saw it. There were also a few photo albums, jewelry, and other items my parents thought she would like to have in the box. It’s too bad we weren’t able to go back and bring all of her things here. The key hasn’t been seen since when my father opened the door with my mother behind him. Fickle thing it is.
As I stand here waiting for her to arrive, I can’t help but think back to when I proposed to her. We went out for a ride on my horse. We decided to explore the woods. It had been raining on and off for days, however we saw the sun was out and decided to chance it. While out, the clouds opened up and we took shelter beneath the canopy of leaves, but were still getting wet.
Taking advantage of the moment, I started kissing her. I’m helpless to resist those plump lips of hers. She wanted to play, though, and took off running through the woods. No match for me, I quickly caught her, but in doing so slipped, and we both ended up on the muddy forest floor. I hovered over her and loved watching the heat build in her eyes. Her nipples puckered beneath her shirt. It took everything in me not to take her right then and there.
Leaning down, I moved to capture her mouth with mine, although I never got there. She took a hand full of mud and smacked the side of my face with it, then started laughing hysterically. There was no way she was getting away with that. I returned the favor, but instead of her face I smeared it all over her breasts. I wanted to touch her so badly, it gave me an excuse to do so.
She quickly bucked me off and tried to get away, but I wasn’t letting her. We ended up smearing mud all over one another, all the while laughing uncontrollably. It was the most fun I’d ever had.
By the time all was said and done, we were both covered from head to toe in mud. I had Ali beneath me again, and I knew it was the right moment to propose to her. I had no ring, no speech prepared, but I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
I looked down and even covered in mud, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “Marry me, Alison Wescot,” I said with humor in my voice.
She was still laughing. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m very serious.” I steeled my features so she knew I meant it. “I want you forever by my side. I want to spend every day for the rest of our lives with you in my arms. I want to wake to your gorgeous smile and luscious body. I want you to be my wife.”
For a moment, I thought she was going to say no or tell me how ridiculous it was to ask someone to marry them while lying on the forest floor caked in dirt, but she didn’t. She beamed with the most radiant smile. “Yes, Lucas Azure. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I kissed her hard for a moment before standing and bringing her up with me. Gripping her waist, I lifted her in the air and spun her. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and I ended up backing her against a tree to kiss her once more. I pulled away before we went further. The mud was fun, but I had no desire to get it in more delicate places.
We found the horse and rode back to the castle a mess. The sun had come back out by then and was drying the mud nicely. The looks on the two guards’ faces when we returned was that of worry. They thought we’d been attacked. I explained to them that I was indeed attacked, but it was by my dear fiancé, not someone who was out to do me harm. It took a moment for it to sink in that I referred to her as my bride to be. Once they caught on, they both cheered and helped us from the horse.
After saying their congratulations, they took the horse from me to return him to the stables while Ali and I walked through the courtyard back to our home. It was mid-day and with the sun back out, the vendors returned. They watched us pass with open curiosity. We stopped in the middle of everyone and I shouted, “She said yes! She’s going to marry me!” I was elated and couldn’t resist. I held her hand in mine as everyone around us clapped and cheered.
Now, here I am, waiting for her to make it official; to make her my wife. A few moments later, Storm touches down with my princess on his back. My father is with her and takes her hand once he’s on the ground to help her down. I’m able to see her dress and it sends a rush of heat through me. My dick is very appreciative of her appearance; however, this is not the time nor place.
Our weddings are similar to the ones Ali described that took place in her realm. She said her father would have walked her down the aisle, but since hers was dead, she asked mine if he’d do the honor. He proudl
y accepted. Do I regret killing Rafe? No, not in the least. It was a long time coming. Him holding a sword to my love’s throat was the final straw.
Her brother and Oliver are in attendance. Reid offered to walk her down the aisle, but she said she would rather my father do it. She’s become close to him and he, in turn, treats her like one of his own children.
Reid and Oliver are the only ones from the Pine Kingdom that came. Well, and guards for their king. Ali went back and forth about inviting Oliver, but I said inviting him is a sign of trust and alliance. We are two kingdoms united by blood now, and I may have wanted him here so he can, once and for all, stop pining for my princess. Although, I don’t know if even the wedding will keep him from desiring her.
All of the men in the wedding are dressed in formal wear. Black slacks, white shirt, black jacket. We also wear an azure sash over our chests, but beneath our jacket. My father has his crown on and a cape that matches the sash. On my and Elliott’s jackets are the crest that marks us as Elite, the lion head.
Ali spent weeks going back and forth with the tailor working on her dress. She wanted to combine her more modern style with an element that represented her life with me. I wasn’t allowed to see it before today. She said it was bad luck, but it was well worth the wait.
As she walks toward me with her arm looped through my father’s, I slowly look her over. Her hair is twisted up on top of her head, and she’s wearing the crown her brother gave her prior to the ceremony. He had it altered for her. It’s small, simple, and subtle. Perfect. In the middle of the crown it comes to a high peak with smaller peaks down either side. Each peak has a diamond at the top. In the center of the crown is a large, teardrop-shaped emerald to represent the Pine side of her. Evenly spaced away from the center, below each smaller peak, are square sapphires to represent the Azure side she’s marrying into. Teardrop shaped diamonds hang from her ears.
The Azure Kingdom (Skeleton Key) Page 15