“Don’t worry. They’re being taken care of.” I said. “If you wanted to know.”
“Where’s Ruby?” Darius asked, looking around.
“She didn’t stay. You spent your night with someone else.”
“What? No I didn’t.”
“But it’s sadly true. You did. I’m not filled in with all of the details but you’re all in a serious amount of trouble. Out of all the stupid, reckless things you’ve done over the years that brought dishonor to the family, this has got to be the worst! You have wives now with sons on the way. If you feel you were never ready to take on that much responsibility and grow up then just say so and I’m sure at this point they’ll happily leave.”
They perked right up and spoke at the same time. “They’re leaving?”
“Have you not been listening? You can still fix this but you’ll have to want to.”
“Of course we want to, father.” Zayden said. “Last night is just a blur. We didn’t know—”
“You never do! What in your right mind made you think bringing them to a place like this was okay? You should have known of the consequences!”
“But we didn’t even know that they left.” Troy said. “They weren’t supposed to.”
“You should have expected it when you reached a certain level of drunken stupidity and they had to stay sober through it. For instance, like when you abandoned your wife to be with that other woman. How long did you think she’d wait around?”
“Oh, shit.” Darius muttered. “You didn’t.”
“If you haven’t noticed, Jaylyn’s not the only one that left.” Troy said to him with narrowing eyes.
“True.” I agreed. “I have no idea what you did, Darius but Jaylyn’s the one I talked to this morning and she said Ruby was first to leave and seemed upset in doing so.”
Darius shook his head in confusion. “I—I don’t remember her ever going. When did that happen?”
“How would we know?” Zayden wondered. “We were just as drunk as you. I don’t even remember Adele leaving.”
“She left last. Couldn’t tell you why. Jaylyn just confirmed she was alone in your room this morning.”
Zayden leaned his head on the back of the couch with a heavy sigh but a quiet voice. “Shit.”
“Shit is right but to make matters worse, we have a whole palace of royal guests that will be preparing to leave that you must firstly give your most humble respects to before dealing with this matter.”
“What?! No! We want to fix this now!”
“You’re not in any position to be doing that now without a plan. For now, we’re going to head back and you three are going to get cleaned up and changed properly before approaching the guests.”
“But wouldn’t we see our wives if we have to go to our rooms to do that?” Troy asked.
“I can’t be completely positive about the other two but I know Jaylyn doesn’t want to see you.”
“What?”
“She’ll surely make herself scarce until it’s time and I’m sure she already told the others of your soon return. Come. Let’s get you focused on getting back first.” I turned from them and heard their slow movements to get up after me. I smiled and continued going, getting up on my horse once we were outside. “You’ll have to walk back, I’m afraid. Hopefully the fresh air will do you some good.”
Not a word was said as I turned my horse back up the street towards the palace and they followed weary behind, hopefully thinking of what they have done wrong. I know they hated themselves for it but it would be fixed—soon.
“Perhaps you three should use the servant’s entrance.”
“What?” Zayden asked, almost as if he was repulsed by the idea.
“We have guests, remember? I don’t want them seeing how obviously messed up you look right now like you just crawled out of the gutters. What kind of an image would that portray on us, hmm? We’re the strongest country in the world and I intend to keep your uncontrollable weakness out of it. Understand?”
“We’re sorry, father. We were just—”
“No.” I cut in, holding up my hand to silence him. “Save your excuses for the ones you’ll need to beg your forgiveness from and get inside. Make sure you’re not seen.”
I continued to walk forward and entered the palace through the main doors as a King would.
Kathryn and Aleks were just walking through the main hall and they both turned off course from the dining hall to approach.
“You’re back.” Kathryn said. “Where are they? Are they okay?”
“They’re fine.” I assured her almost panicked voice by gently touching her chin. “They’ll have some work to do but that will be coming later. Did you do what I’ve asked?”
Aleks nodded. “Most everyone has woken and gathered in the dining hall for breakfast.”
I nodded back and walked with them towards it. “Good. Did either of you see the girls?”
“They’re inside.” Kathryn answered.
“And definitely faking their smiles, might I add. I’ve seen it before.”
“I suppose it’s good that they’re away. I advised the boys not to try and fix this until all the guests have parted.”
“And they will.” Aleks nodded.
“You go.” Kathryn said. “I just want to check on a few things. Old habits.”
I smiled and turned to her before I would have entered the dining hall. “Nothing to be ashamed of, my Queen. We’re all aware you’re still adjusting to this life.”
“Even still. Aleks.”
“Till later, Kathryn.” Kathryn nodded to him and walked away. “I don’t think she’ll ever fully get used to not having to do a thing.”
“She won’t need to. As long as it keeps her happy.”
Aleksander nodded in agreement and we entered the dining hall together where the table was full of food and our guests were placed chatting around it.
“And our host finally joins us!” King Gerald of Ledia smiled, redirecting all conversations towards my presence in the room.
“Forgive my absence.” I said, taking my seat at the head of the table with Aleks on my right. “Just taking care of a few things.”
“Where are your boys this morning?” King Viktor asked while the young Princes remain quiet in their chairs, watching the Kalu Assassins eat in even a greater silence. “We have yet to see them.”
My eyes casually glanced down the table at the girls. “They will be down momentarily. Later night than any of us, I imagine.”
Adele got up from the table without a word and approached her father. She leaned down in his ear to whisper something and he nodded to her. She walked off and Aleks turned his eyes to Ruby and Jaylyn as they met his. He moved his head in Adele’s direction for them to follow and they too started to get up from the table without a word.
They walked out, trying to stay as casually as ever while they were being watched by all the men at the table.
“Your girls are exquisite, Aleksander.” Young King Sedrik said. “If only there were one as beautiful for every man in the world.”
“Thank you, Sedrik but don’t let their innocence fool you. They can be quite a handful.”
Prince Oren laughed quietly. “As one with their titles should be. Assassins; I’d love to see them in action.”
Prince Wyatt was sitting next to him and returned the laugh as they bumped fists together. “No doubt.”
They continued to laugh for another second about it until they noticed no one else was and their fathers had their stares on them. Oren cleared his throat and looked down as if he bowed his head. “Sorry, father.”
“It would be appreciated if you’d keep that kind of stuff to yourselves.” I smiled. “Or my boys would feel they’re inclined to protect what’s theirs. We wouldn’t want any of that, now would we?”
No one seemed to plan to make any kind of reply to my comment. The last thing anyone wants was problems in my lands and they all continued with their breakfast, being a world
united as one.
Chapter 45
Jaylyn
We walked through the quiet halls of the palace side-by-side without a word between us. It seemed none of us had anything to say or it may have been a fear that stopped us from saying it until Ruby let out a long sigh and folded her arms. “This is stupid. Do you think I’m being too dramatic?”
“No!” Adele snatched instantly. “You have every reason to be pissed off at him whether he was drunk or not.”
“Maybe it’s not so much pissed as hurt.”
“Well, whatever the case this won’t just go away, I’ll tell you that. I don’t really want to but we’re all going to have that conversation.”
“Not if we leave.” I replied more so to myself in a quiet tone.
Adele and Ruby heard it and both looked over.
“You couldn’t mean that.” Ruby said. “Really just leave? You know he’d follow. Troy would give up a lot of things for you.”
I laughed with a sad breath. “Yeah. It goes the other way too.”
“Jaylyn!” Adele bellowed in a loud voice, making it echo through the halls.
“Okay, you know what, just stop. This is not the same situation you’re in. I’d give anything to have that but what I have is something worse. Something much worse and I’m not ready to face it just yet.”
I went to the closest door which happened to be entry to my room with Troy and just closed myself inside without another word to them. I leaned on the back of the door, trying to pull myself together and hold back my tears by taking a few deep breaths with my eyes closed. I became more mellowed and just wanted to forget about all of it but as I started to step away from the door, I heard a clicking sound and spun around quickly to see Troy locking the door with a small silver key and his eyes directly on me.
I didn’t want this to come now; I wasn’t ready. I turned from his gaze and swiftly walked to the balcony doors, shaking them repeatedly but they wouldn’t open.
“I’ve already locked those.”
I paused there for a moment and knew I was trapped. It was happening now and there was nothing I could do about it. I took a breath and turned to him, trying to act more mad than sad. “Let me go.”
“No.” Troy shook his head and started stepping closer.
“Then what do you want from me?” I asked, not being able to move a muscle in my body as if I was frozen there from his constant stare.
“Let’s talk.” His steps were slow but they were still getting closer to me and we both seemed to be doing things cautiously.
“I don’t want to.” I said as plainly as ever, trying to keep my emotions under control.
“Jaylyn, please.”
The soft, caring tone of the Troy I once knew came out and my emotions slipped away from me slowly. “Nothing you can say will help.”
“I’m sorry.”
I just stood there looking at him. My arms were tucked tightly around my body and I still fought from crying but the hurt and frustration was clear on my voice. “You should be. You’ve lied to me since the beginning of all of this and I was stupid enough to believe you.”
The look on Troy’s face became confused and he took another slow step towards me then held his ground. “What are you talking about? I’ve never lied to you about anything.”
“That girl?” A tear rolled swiftly down my cheek and hit my arms in front of me. “When we first met you said you weren’t involved with anyone.”
“Because I wasn’t.”
“Bullshit you weren’t!” I shouted it, letting out more tears with my violent scream that echoed around the room, almost capable of shaking the very stone of the walls. “You were with her! I saw it! How she cares for you and how you just simply pushed me aside to be with her. Why didn’t you ever tell me? It would have been a whole lot easier then to let you go than it is now.”
Troy took several fast steps to get in front of me and put his hands on each side of my head so I wouldn’t be able to look away. My eyes were sad with tears but he stared right into them with blazing passion and clear focus. “That’s not going to happen. You know you don’t want it to. I love you, Jaylyn and I truly wasn’t with anyone when we met. We broke that off before that mission when she told me she was leaving.”
“And now that she’s back? I could tell you care about her.”
“That was a long time ago and it’s long been over between us.”
“But you want it back. I saw it.”
Troy shook his head. “Don’t think that’s what I want. Last night I wasn’t myself. Yes, I was happy to see her because it’s been so long but I can tell you, there’s nothing between us now. Just memories.”
I looked into his eyes just for a moment longer and moved his hands from me so I could turn away. “I really want to believe you but I don’t know if I can. You completely forgot about me to be with her. You chose her over me.”
“I would never. I was just caught up in the moment of seeing her. Even if she never left and I was with her when we met, I still would have chosen you. There was something inside you that I couldn’t get enough of. Being around you, hearing your laugh, seeing your smile, that quickly became the world to me and I couldn’t let it go. I still won’t and that’s because there’s something else inside you now that strengthened the bond between us and it has nothing to do with responsibility or doing the right thing. It’s always been part of our future and I want nothing more than to share that with you—and our son.”
There was a long pause even after I had stayed silent through his speech and I turned around, lowering myself down on the bed. “I want to share that with you too but you didn’t come home and it still hurts to think of what you were doing. I don’t know if I can. I’m not strong enough.”
Troy’s face saddened and he dropped to his knees in front of me. “Jaylyn, please. I’m begging you. You are strong enough.”
I was shaking my head as tears continued to fall. “I don’t think I am.”
“But you are.” Troy leaned his chest against my knees and put his hands around my back while he was still on the floor in front of me. “I can assure you that I was not with her last night in the way you think.”
“You can’t be so sure.”
“Yes I can. Knowing from past experience, if I had, I would have woken up in a completely different manner than I did. All clothes were still on—for both of us. That I know but I can’t go as far and say that nothing at all happened because I don’t fully know that myself and I don’t want to lie to you. You have to believe me, Jaylyn. I could never share with someone else what I do with you.”
“But there’s still that possibility that you have and you just don’t remember it. It shouldn’t matter how you woke up. It could have happened hours before and she had time to get redressed. I know you wouldn’t have to take off much if a thing at all.”
Troy put his head down on my lap with a sigh before he started to speak again. “I didn’t. I know I didn’t but if you don’t want to believe that then I’ll find out and tell you every truth. I love you, Jaylyn and I deserve whatever punishment you come up with. Just don’t talk of walking away. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I won’t lose you because of this. Please. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just tell me and it’s done.”
I sat still, tears almost dried up as I looked down at Troy. His eyes, like looking into the deep green of an emerald crystal, sparkled and glimmered with a sorrowful regret. I couldn’t look passed it to see anything else and wanted nothing more greatly then to trust his words but I was still hurt by them. Just thinking of actually knowing the truth forced out more tears and I slid my hands along his arms that rested around my legs. “Maybe I don’t want to know.”
“Jaylyn, you know somewhere you do and this won’t be over until then. I want this to be behind us. We have a future to think about and I won’t give up on that. You’re the one I want, the one I chose to be with. That’s never going to change for me and I hope it hasn’t for
you.”
A tear fell from my eyes and I shook my head while sliding down to the floor with him, throwing my arms around his body. “No, it hasn’t and it won’t!”
I was crying hard into the side of his neck and Troy held tightly around me. “It’s all right, Jaylyn. I’ll get the truth just so we both know and together, we’ll put it behind us.”
Not another word came from me as I continued to cry while being in Troy’s arms. He carefully got us both up off the floor and I was completely supported in his arms as he walked around the bed and tried to set me down on it.
“No!” I tightened my grip around him through the stuttered breaths from my tears. “Don’t let me go!”
“Okay. I won’t.” Troy kept his hold around me and turned around, lowering himself down on the bed in a sitting position. He waited there just for a moment, long enough to get his boots off his feet then lifted us up onto the bed and laid himself back with me still in his arms. “Rest. We’ll fix this. I’ll fix this. Don’t worry about a thing.”
His words comforted me but I still knew what needed to be done. No one would have been able to change my mind on the matter.
Chapter 46
Ruby
“She’s right, you know.” Adele said.
I looked down at the floor when we started stepping away from Jaylyn’s door. “Words can hurt as much as actions. I guess I better prepare for yet another wonderful conversation with my husband. Good luck with yours.”
Adele just nodded and I walked into my room, the next door down. The door closed behind me and I walked right over to my stuff and started putting a few things around it away. I was ready to just go back home.
In a brief pause of silence my head turned towards the closet when I heard a sound and Darius was standing in the doorway, holding a shirt he planned to put on. He paused from seeing me just as I did and we just stared at each other.
“Hey.” He said in a low casual tone.
“Hey.” I replied just as casual.
I got back to putting some things away again and Darius slowly stepped out towards me. “Ah, sorry about not coming home last night. Things must have gotten a little crazy and—”
Broken Road (Fate's Intent Book 7) Page 20