by Nana Malone
Penny encouraged her to continue. "Go on."
"I wanted to run and tell my father, but Ashton said that nobody would believe me. After all, I had told everyone that I was in love with Prince Tristan and that I was going to look basically like a slut."
Ariel muttered a curse. Something along the lines of wanting to kill my brother. Penny rubbed the poor girl's back. "None of this was your fault. Prince Ashton is just the worst kind of human filth."
She nodded. "I know. I just didn't know what to do. Every time I turned around, there he was. He would just turn up in places where my father was, threatening to tell him, to tell my mother. I got a boyfriend once, and he threatened to tell him that I'd been shagging the both of you." Amelia shook her head. "It was awful. Then he wanted me to go public and tell my father that you had got me pregnant and that you refused to take care of the baby."
My eyes went wide. "Fuck. Were you pregnant?"
She nodded. "I didn't know what else to do, so I ran. I grabbed whatever money I had in my bank account. I emptied it. I had a friend from school. She was our maid's daughter. My father had paid for her to go to the same school as I did, but she knew people. Someone gave her a job under the table. I couldn't stay at home. Everywhere I turned, Ashton was there to torture me, so I ran. My mother was American, so I had an American passport. I could work. I got a job and then mostly just laid low."
Penny rubbed her back gently. "Where is the baby now?"
She shook her head. "I think it was maybe the stress. Ashton found me in months. He called and threatened me. I lost the baby the next day."
More cursing from Ariel and Jessa. Lucas was suggesting a party to go to Stanstit to kill him. Sebastian stared at her. "So, he has always known where you were?"
"When he found me, I moved again, but he had an idea I was in Miami. I still don't know how he found me. I think it's because I sent a letter to my sister. Given I hadn't known who I was chatting with for months, I didn't really trust email or texts and stuff, so my sister and I went old school with letters. Maybe that's how he found me."
Sebastian spoke up then. "So after all of that time, you've just been hiding. Why not come home? Why not try and talk to me?"
She sighed then. "About three years ago, a man came to Miami. Ashton had sent him. He told me that if I ever came back, he'd release the sex tape of me that night."
Sebastian covered his face then, scrubbing it. "Fuck. God, I hate my cousin."
Amelia squared her shoulders. "Yeah well, I'm begging your pardon Your Majesty, but you're going to have to get in line. I mean, I read the news. I knew that he was going to jail, but because of the fact that he'd still been able to send someone to threaten me, I decided to stay hidden."
Penny stepped forward, gently rubbing her back and giving her comfort. Sebastian started to pace. "Okay, well, at the very least, she's home. Amelia, we'll get you connected with your family again. In the meantime, we have to decide what we're going to do with Ashton."
Ariel stood straighter. "All that she said is circumstantial. Maybe we could prove stalking, but it's dicey."
Lucas pushed away from the wall. "Well, Sebastian, you made me a prince. Can't you unmake him a prince?"
As I glanced around. Sebastian nodded slowly. "It's possible. The whole Council has to vote on it."
Roone volunteered his assistance. "Well, I'm on the Council now, so you have at least one more vote in your favor.
I chimed in. "Sebastian, it's the only way. Then he will go to real prison. He ruined this girl's life. He had sex with her against her will. She didn't know who she was sleeping with. That's horrible. He needs to go to a real jail, Sebastian. After everything he has done, all his crimes, we need to make something happen."
"Okay, we'll put it to a vote. The vote on Tristan's exile is coming at the end of the week anyway. Until we get that vote out of the way, Amelia, we need you to stay out of sight. Roone, Ariel, I need you guys to protect her. Make sure no one sees her or even suspects she's alive."
Roone nodded. "Whatever you say boss."
Fourteen
Ariel…
Everybody was on edge.
Tristan and I just had come home from the hospital that morning. There was no avoiding the Council vote any longer. Were we doing the right thing?
No doubt.
Ashton had been torturing people for years. That poor girl. The problem was, she didn't have any incontrovertible proof that could help us. It didn't matter though. Sebastian was calling for a special vote. If we could strip him of his title, at the very least, he'd be moved from the cushy life he enjoyed at Stanstit, and we could pull together more proof. Zia and I had been working hard pulling the financials to back our claims that he was the one behind the attempts on Tristan's life. But so far, we didn't have enough. Nothing incontrovertible.
Sebastian seemed to think Amelia’s testimony would be enough. She had proof of Ashton blackmailing her to stay away. It might be enough to convince the Council members, but the fact that there had been guards helping Ashton was the most concerning part. Ethan was going to have to do a full house cleaning.
At the meeting I was once again Sebastian's guard. But this time Penny was present, as was Lucas. Roone was there as well since he was officially a Council member. We had back up in that room. Tristan wouldn't be called in until it was time for the vote on his exile. I just prayed that this thing against Ashton would stick. My brain searched for more information, anything that would help us, anything to connect the dots. I was having a hard time with motive. Why wait until now to kill his brother?
Why wait and not try earlier? It didn't make sense. I began to worry that I was wrong. That it wasn't Ashton behind this threat, but someone else. Someone we had completely overlooked. But who? Max was still in the Chilean jail cell, so it was definitely not him. And Ashton had actively threatened his brother.
Maybe the threat is closer to home.
I tried to shove the thought down. It could be Ella, but why? What was the motive again? Unless it was a plain old case of she saw the end of the line coming for her and she didn't want it to end thing. But again, wasn't that weak? No, Ashton was the one that made sense. I just had to bring together the missing links.
The meeting started much like the last one had. Sebastian attended to general business, and then Lord Gilroy became impatient. "Your Majesty, I can tell you're stalling. We need to hold the vote."
Sebastian nodded slowly as he glanced at Lucas. "Lucas, can you please bring in Prince Tristan and the surprise."
Lucas nodded, for once, quite solemn. When the doors were opened, Tristan strode in and right behind him... was Amelia. Her hair had been cut. She looked fresher, more confident and in control. We hadn't wanted to tip her father off in case he had a connection to Ashton, only because he'd been so adamant about Tristan staying away forever. When she slowly marched in behind Tristan, a hush fell over the room. There was none of the usual tittering. Everyone stared at her.
Finally, Gilroy stood on shaking legs. "Amelia?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes, father. It's me."
Emotion practically choked out of Gilroy's voice. "Amelia. What are you doing here?"
"Hi, to you too, dad."
Gilroy glanced around frantically. “Is this some kind of trick? Your Majesty, what is this?"
Sebastian sat back and gestured for Amelia to take a seat to his right. When she did, she didn't glance at her father. "Lord Gilroy, I understand you are having an emotional reaction to seeing your daughter again, of course. She has been on her own self-imposed exile for some time now."
"You knew where my daughter was, and you kept her from me?"
Gilroy's voice bellowed, ricocheting off the walls.
Sebastian didn't even blink, but all the other Council members shrank back. No one yelled at the monarch. It was an unspoken rule.
"Lord Gilroy, you are overwrought with emotion, so I completely understand. At the same time, if you think you belong on my throne,
you are free to come and try to take it from me, but you won't like how it ends."
Gilroy's face went a bright beet red, but he shut up then.
Sebastian glanced at each and every one of the Council members as he addressed them. "Amelia Gilroy, why don't you explain where you have been."
In her quiet voice, Amelia started telling her story again. She was just smashing it as if it happened to someone else. And maybe she needed to do that to come to terms with everything. When she finally looked up again, her gaze met her father's. "Prince Tristan didn't do anything to me. He didn't even know me. I'd been catfished by his brother, Prince Ashton."
Gilroy covered his mouth and shook his head. "No. No."
She nodded slowly. "Yes. I've been hiding for years because he threatened me. Threatened you and mom. He threatened to expose what had been done to me. Prince Tristan had nothing to do with it. He didn't know."
Lord Gilroy stared at her. "You don't have to lie, Amelia. If anyone has put you up to this—"
She shook her head vehemently. "Dad, listen. There was a prince who did this to me, but it wasn't Tristan. As it turns out, Tristan and I barely know each other. I was manipulated by Prince Ashton. And then I was controlled by him, all because I thought I was trying to help you and mom."
Whatever I wanted to say about Gilroy, he really was torn up about his daughter. He really hadn't seen her before she entered the room.
Sebastian spoke up then. "The issue here, Gilroy, is that your investigation into my cousin has centered around the idea that he did something to her. Clearly, she's here, alive and well."
Gilroy's brows drew down. "Yes. I—I don't know what to say. How did you even find her?"
Sebastian glanced back at me. "As it turns out, though she was in hiding, she wasn't all that difficult to find. I know you have employed private detectives to find her, but it should have been the police. Which begs the question, what sources did you use? Who told you your daughter couldn't be found?"
Sebastian looked around the room. "As Lord Gilroy's daughter is returned to him, the question does stand, why couldn't he find her? While I had the best tech minds available to us on the case, a PI worth half his salt could have found her."
Lord Gilroy's gaze shifted around. "When I inquired about her whereabouts, there was a gentleman that came highly recommended."
Sebastian sat back and crossed his arms. "What gentleman?"
"A PI, Peter French. He was referred to me by one of the Royal Guards. He told me Amelia had gone to ground and that she hadn’t left a trail."
"That's interesting he said that. Have a seat, Lord Gilroy. Amelia, why don't you head on over to your father?"
The girl looked lost, as if she wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't seen her father in ten years, and after telling her story, it was bound to be uncomfortable.
Their first hug was tentative, neither one knowing if they were allowed to throw their arms around each other.
Sebastian took the focus off of them quickly. "While Lord Gilroy and his daughter get reacquainted, we have another matter to discuss. Lord Gilroy, do I have your permission to ignore your request for the exile of Prince Tristan?"
Gilroy still frowned. "I'm still not convinced, Your Majesty."
With a sigh, Sebastian threw up his hands. "Fine, let's put it to vote quickly."
It was tense. Tristan's gaze met mine, as if he wasn't sure who to trust, what to believe, or if we were going to be able to pull it off. Luckily, as the votes went around, now with Lord Gilroy's daughter present and accounted for, it was hard for anyone to suggest that the prince had anything to do with it.
When we had fourteen votes for no exile, we knew we'd won.
I could feel the brush of Tristan's hand against mine as he stood there, silently waiting. He knew we'd won. But he couldn't show it. At least not publicly yet. And finally, it came to our side. Ethan, Queen Mother Alexa, Sebastian, Roone, and Penny all made their votes, and it was official. Suddenly, the weeks of concern and worry were gone as if they had never happened in the first place. As if all along, Prince Tristan was where he was supposed to be. When Sebastian had everyone's attention once again, he cleared his throat. "I'd like to make another call to vote." There were whispers in the room. "I call for Lady Amelia Gilroy to speak, to finish recounting her experience and tell us exactly what happened."
Sebastian gestured for her to step forward and to speak. Lord Gilroy tried to hold her back, but she shook him off. "No dad, I need to do this."
She told her story with quick efficiency. She spoke of dancing with Tristan at the ball and her belief that he was who she had been speaking to via text messages in the weeks that followed. She then gave her account of the evening in the bungalow, even though the room was mostly men. She detailed Ashton’s blackmail, the threats to her family, and the man he had sent to ensure her silence.
There were more than whispers. More than soft chatter. They were listening to her with full knowledge of Prince Ashton’s other misdeeds. Sebastian sat forward. "I know my cousin is already in exile, but I will call for you all to think, to focus on what's been said just now. The pain that my cousin has caused cannot stand. Not only has he gone unchecked for these many years, he still has Royal Guards who are willing to help him. Guards who I expected to entrust with my life, with the queen's life, the life of our future children. Lord Gilroy, that man you hired, Peter French, is a brother to Samuel French. He's a Royal Guard, and he was Ashton's man, and he never once intended for his brother to find Amelia. Ashton Winston has been the one keeping you from your daughter, not Tristan."
Lord Gilroy's pale face went ashen. "But that's impossible. Your cousin has no power."
"And still he pulls his strings. I am tired of it. Not only did he have a direct hand in the death of my father, but he has caused pain to several people in this room. I call a vote to strip him of his title."
Lord Gilroy stepped forward and met Tristan's gaze directly. "Your Highness."
Tristan inclined his head. "Lord Gilroy."
"It seems I was wrong about you."
Tristan shrugged. "It would seem that way."
Gilroy shuffled on his feet. "I know I don't really have any right to ask, but perhaps with time, you could forgive me. I judged you harshly on incomplete information."
Tristan shook his head. "You were going off of the information you'd been fed. You had no choice but to trust it. I don't blame you."
Lord Gilroy stepped back. Sebastian met the gazes of the men and women in the room. "If we do not stop my cousin, this will continue. He was able to manipulate one of you, a Regents Council member and a high-ranking lord who was an advisor to my father. Ashton's schemes have hurt too many people, so I call for a vote."
One of the Council members shook his head. "You cannot vote to strip his title if he is not here."
Sebastian gave him a sly smile. "Who said he is not here?" The moment he spoke, the door opened again, and Ashton was shown in. He had his prison uniform on, the black one. His hands and feet were shackled, and he grinned when he saw us. Myself, Tristan, Sebastian... as if we were all part of some play he'd arranged for his pleasure. "Cousin, brother, lords, my beloved aunt, Her Majesty herself. Wow! To what do I owe this audience? I've been petitioning for one for months to discuss the cruel treatment I've been receiving at Stanstit. I have a list of demands if you're willing to hear them."
Sebastian inhaled a deep breath and leveled a gaze at his cousin. "You are here because I'm calling a vote to strip you of your title."
Ashton coughed a laugh. "My title? You can't strip me of that. I'm a fucking prince."
"And I'm a king. I can strip you. You caused too much pain and destruction along the way. You can't be allowed to reap the rewards of royalty. You have shown time and again that you don't deserve that."
"It's not about who deserves, cousin, is it? No one deserves any of what we have, but you have a responsibility to uphold it all. A responsibility you can't seem to comprehend."
/>
Sebastian didn't even look at him again. His guard to the left shifted on his feet. I glanced at Roone, and Roone glanced at me. The shorthand we’d developed over the last year or so coalesced in one single thought. Watch that one.
Sebastian addressed the Council members again. "Gentlemen, you know what I'm asking. The subject of the vote is present. I'm asking you with a majority vote available to me, but I will only vote one of my seats. It is time to strip my cousin of his title."
Ashton wasn't going to be ignored though. "For what? Because I interfered with some dumb, basic girl?"
"Because you manipulated my cousin. I also believe you are behind the threats against Prince Tristan's life."
There were sharp gasps, and Sebastian continued. "We don't have the proof yet, we're still gathering the evidence, but that's not what I'm asking you to vote on. I'm asking you to vote on the damage that he has already done to those in this room. The attempt on the queen's life, my own, and now, Lord Gilroy's daughter, Amelia Gilroy. I ask you to put things that have been torn apart right. I ask you for actual justice. Not the version we knew before the conspiracy." Then he sat back. I held my breath as I watched. The Regents glanced around, unable to fathom which way they would go. But one by one, they came up to the dais to make their vote. The tension rolling off Tristan was so hot it scorched my skin.
Ashton wasn’t going down without a fight though. "You aim to strip my title. I am the true king. I have always been the true king. Who here thinks they can strip me?"
It didn't matter how many times Ashton jerked against his chains. Next to him, his Guard furrowed his brow. Ashton kept jerking, but one by one the Council members stepped forward and made their vote and finally, it came down to Sebastian.
He stood slowly as if deliberately drawing it out. "My cousin, I vote to strip you of your title and any privileges it may afford you. You are no longer a prince of the Winston Isles. And as such, without those privileges afforded to you, you will no longer remain at Stanstit prison. You will join our maximum-security hold on Prince's Island with the worst of our offenders. You'll be one of them."
