“Let me show you.” I knelt to the floor where I stood and took out the two vials Trever had given me last night while we danced. I made a circle with the herb and added a drop of Zayden’s blood then a drop of my own with a small dagger. I took the flame from the closest candle and lit up the herb, all the while, Izin stood still. He didn’t say a word, he didn’t move, he only watched.
I stood up when the smoke rose into the air and I saw him while I was awake for another amazing time. Only this time, he was much younger like maybe four or five and he was running through the halls of this very palace with Zayden just being happy. There wasn’t anything being said but there didn’t have to be, the joy on their faces was enough.
“Mother!” They stopped in the main hall and I was there, looking much more sophisticated than I usually do in a dress of all things which I hoped helped with Izin’s portrayal of me.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Lunch!”
“Oh, your grandparents just went in. Go see them.”
Seth ran off with his innocent smile.
“And will you be joining us?” Zayden asked me.
“Soon. Just getting a head start on a few things.”
“You really try too hard.”
“I’m a perfectionist. I can’t help that.”
“I know.”
He leaned in to kiss me and the smoke started to fade the image until we were gone and I had a direct view of Izin. He was still standing still like he was still looking at the image but he was looking at me instead.
“How did you do that?” He asked me.
“A trick I learned from Trever. I have visionary blood. It’s key and mixing it with Zayden’s shows me Seth.”
“Seth?”
I had just realized that I hadn’t mentioned his name before and it was never spoken in the vision. “It’s what we call him.”
He was still being completely unreadable. I didn’t know what was going through his mind, if it was good or bad. I could only just stand here and wait for him to say something else but he didn’t. He did something completely unexpected and embraced me.
It was warming and true that it made me tear up to know he had just given me his approval.
“I was wrong. She is in you.”
He pulled away and I wiped my eyes gracefully. “I tried to tell you.”
“But it seems we still have more work to do to mold you into that image.”
“I know. I’m apologetically disrespectful but I’m willing to try if you are.”
“I’ve always just wanted to see Zayden happy and now I’ve seen he will be that and more with you in his life.”
“Who should tell him?”
“Another failure upon us?” He quoted himself from those months ago and we both laughed.
“I just thought you should have the pleasure again. He’s never going to believe it if he hears it from me.”
“I will. I’m sorry I’ve wronged you. Will you ever forgive me?”
His question was sweet and I took it in account that he had apologized to something I’d hope he’d never hear about. I no longer saw him as I did in my nightmare but as the noble King he is who just wanted to give his children everything he could.
“Of course you’re forgiven.”
“Then put your straight face back on and we’ll scare him a little.”
“Is that really a good idea?”
“You do know what fun is, don’t you, Adele?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then it’s okay to have some every once in a while.”
I sucked in a breath and took his arm so he could escort me back to Zayden. I was nervous but I wanted this. I just hoped Zayden wouldn’t be mad about how his father chose to tell him.
Chapter 17
Zayden
I was practically pacing while I waited, wondering how everything was going. Rift was asleep again since he got about as much as me last night and was concerned with my mood. Troy offered to check in but it wouldn’t mean we could hear anything and that’s the part I wouldn’t want to miss.
“What are you so nervous about?” Ruby asked.
“How could you possibly ask me that? This is my future and if Adele can’t even convince him then I don’t see how anyone can.”
“Relax. He couldn’t possibly be that cruel.”
“Then you clearly don’t know him.”
“Come on, Zayden.” Troy said. “You’ll figure out a way to agree. You always do.”
“Not soon enough.”
The door opened and Adele had finally came back. I was glad to see her until I noticed her expression was not what I envisioned and my father was a step behind her with his face still cold.
“Well, look how late it’s getting.” Troy said.
“Yeah, we haven’t even eaten yet.” Darius added. It was clear they were just making excuses to leave but my father wouldn’t even have that.
“No, you should stay. You need to hear this too.”
They still didn’t think it was a good idea and I honestly didn’t care if they were in the room or not. It would just save time by not having to tell them what happened.
They held their positions with Ruby and Jaylyn close and my father closed the door with Adele still near him. He wasn’t holding her there but I didn’t like to think that she wasn’t allowed to get close to me.
“Now, it’s come to my attention that you’re ready to blatantly disregard my will and proceed with your own way.”
“Father, I—”
“Do not interrupt!” His voice nearly shook the stone walls but went right back down immediately after. “And I hate that I have to be the one to come down here and remind you that this is far from anything I ever wanted for you—”
I was getting worried and couldn’t help myself. “Father, if you would just—” He held up his hand and waited like he was just telling me to be quiet but I didn’t know if I could be. “No, just listen.”
“I’ve listened long enough now you listen. There are a million things that need to be done. Do you have any idea what today is?”
“Ah—” I had no idea where he was going with this and no one else in the room did either.
“It’s the first day of summer and what better way for the country to celebrate it than with my son’s wedding.”
“How when I sent Bianca away? You couldn’t possibly have someone else in mind.”
My father turned his eyes to Adele with a raised brow. “It seems being in Kalu for so long has made him stupid.”
Adele glanced at me, showing the first sign of a smile. “We can work on that.”
“See that you do and stay on schedule.”
They leaned into each other with a gentle kiss on the cheek and that was a sign that something had changed. My father walked out with one last smile at me and naturally everyone was trying to get answers.
“What was that?” Ruby asked.
“What does that mean?” Jaylyn asked.
Adele looked at us and shrugged with this cute grin. “I guess I magically changed his mind.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to react yet. I think I may have been in shock. “About us?”
“About all of us.” She came to me and tucked two vials into my hand. One I recognized as the herb I’ve seen before and the other, blood.
“You showed him Seth.” It wasn’t a question because I knew the answer. She did and somehow it made my father agree to my terms. I had to speak to him, thank him. I rushed passed her into the hall and Rift was instantly awake to follow. “Father!”
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to let you know you won’t regret this decision and to thank you.”
“No need. I’ve seen how everything will work out and you deserve nothing less.”
“What did you think of him?”
He paused while we walked but he sounded very pleased. “Fitting and you didn’t look much older either so it could be soon.”
&nbs
p; “What do you mean? What did you see?”
“Haven’t you seen?”
“It’s different each time. The first time he was nearly a man and the last time he was about twelve.”
“Well, I would say he was much younger than either of those. About five maybe younger. You were with him. Adele was seen briefly at the end and might I say, quite the cultured flower she blooms into.”
“Is that why you approved because she won’t always be the poisonous kind you thought she was?”
“It was a factor but Seth did it mostly himself. Seeing you together and happy, it was the greatest joy.”
“You know his name?”
“She told me and I know her grandfather quite well. It’s an honorable name.”
“Thank you, father.”
“Congratulations.” We rounded the corner and Aleksander was standing with my mother, both with wide grins. “We just heard the news.”
“I bet.” My father said, narrowing his eyes like maybe Aleksander knew the outcome all along.
“I best see to her.” My mother said, slowly slipping away.
“Yes.” My father agreed. “Much to do today. The guest will be arriving this afternoon and we need to get this place ready.”
“What?” My happy mood was suddenly gone. “You mean today? You’re planning on it happening today?”
“Yes. I thought I already mentioned that. I see no need to reschedule just because you’ve changed the bride. The people won’t know any different. They’ll just be happy that you’re finally married.”
“But shouldn’t I discuss it with my bride before you just go ahead and force it?”
“Don’t worry about a thing. Women love weddings and your mother has been waiting for this day since you were born. Her own was private due to some obvious circumstances so she’s been waiting to make up for it through your wedding. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?”
I sighed and looked down at the floor. “No.”
“Great and what about you two?”
He turned around and Darius and Troy were just reaching us—alone. They didn’t seem to know what they were walking into and spoke as one. “What about us?”
“Aren’t you going to ask me?”
“Ask you what?” They chorused.
“For permission to marry your girls.”
They looked to each other again, keeping their responses the exact same and at the same time. “Who said that was going to happen?”
“Oh, come on.” I smiled, stepping between them and putting my arms around each of their shoulders. “You know it’s inevitable. Don’t want them to think you don’t love them.”
“Ruby knows I love her.” Darius said, being first to remove my arm. “We don’t have to openly express that in front of hundreds of people. Why do you have to be such a girl about it?”
“Mmm. Don’t want to marry her?” I wondered with a smile portraying sarcasm. “Guess that means you don’t love her enough.”
Darius took a step towards me like he was ready to hit me but my father stepped in the way. “Come on, boys. That’s the last thing you need, an imperfection on your big day.”
Troy laughed. “Darius is pretty sensitive if you talk about Ruby, jokingly or not.”
“So, what about you?”
“I’m nothing like that.”
“I meant about marriage.”
“Oh—ah—I don’t know. Trever left last night. Don’t you think he’d want to be present at his sister’s wedding?”
“I think he’d be all right with it.” Aleksander replied. “You know how he feels about you being with her.”
“Okay but how do you know she’d want to?”
My father sighed. “Oh, now you’re just stalling.”
“I think a trip down to the vault may be in order.” Aleksander suggested.
“An excellent idea. Can you continue here for me?” Aleksander nodded and my father turned to us. “Come on. Follow me.”
We obeyed and followed him all the way down to the vault located securely underground.
“What are we doing here?”
“Your brides are going to require rings.”
“Our what?” Darius asked quickly.
“The girls we’re going to marry.” Troy answered with a smile.
“Oh, no. You’re going to make us do this too, aren’t you?”
My father just smiled and began unlocking the large elaborate steel door.
“It’s now or never.” I said. “And she already said we’re a family.”
Darius sighed again while the door opened and we were brought inside. The vault was split into sections and my father brought us to the lineup of a half a dozen drawers. “Here we are. Now, before you pick one, let me give you a little back history about this tradition.”
“Women like shiny things?” Darius guessed.
“Yes. That’s true but that’s not why we do it.”
“Then why?” I asked.
“Okay, yes. A woman gets a ring from a man and she sees it as his love for her and she’s happy. We even may feel that way but what we’re really doing is telling other men that she’s taken. The philosophy is, the bigger the rock, the harder the man behind it will fight for her.”
“Really?” Darius asked. “Because Ruby would have to be angry to carry around a stone that big all the time.”
“Not like that. Small enough to fit on their finger but big enough for everyone to see it and know she’s taken even at a distance.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s see them.”
My father walked in a straight line and opened up six long drawers filled with sparkling rings of every design and color of every precious stone imaginable.
“Wow.” Troy muttered. “This is going to take us all day.”
“It won’t.” Darius argued. “Your eyes just need to scan them and find the biggest one.”
“Also keeping their personal tastes in mind may help them love it more.”
“Okay. Thank you, father.” I said. “No need to wait with us, I think. We can close up.”
“Yes and be sure that you do.” He walked out and we stood in front of the open drawers.
“So, since this is obviously happening, what’s the protocol on this sort of thing?” Darius asked. “Just give it to them and hope they know what it is?”
Troy laughed. “No! I’m sure you’ll have to explain.”
“What? You mean like a speech?”
“Your complaint makes it sound like it will be hard.” I said. “This is Ruby. You know how to talk to her and you’ll do it alone. You won’t have an audience for that.”
Darius let out a long breath. “All right. I’ve got mine. Now what?”
“Go talk to her. We’ll meet up in my room after.”
Chapter 18
Darius
I walked the quiet halls looking for Ruby. All of the servants were downstairs around the ballroom so the palace elsewhere seemed empty. I didn’t know where to look.
Where would Kathryn have taken them because they clearly weren’t in the room we left them in? The thought crossed my mind but I still didn’t know where that would be. I started with the most logical places just by opening doors and checking each room.
I came up to yet another door, opening it and saw no one again. I was ready to turn back but heard voices farther in. I walked through the first part of the room that just had a few chairs sitting around and approached the open arch on the other side.
“Perfect as always.”
I stood in the open space and saw Adele standing up on a platform in a white collared ball gown with a huge skirt that draped out the back with the train wrapping up in itself on the floor.
Ruby, Jaylyn and Kathryn were standing around her, their eyes focused up, not seeing me at all.
“She can wear anything and still look good. It’s annoying.” Ruby sighed.
Jaylyn laughed. “Like you care! You hate dresses.”
“It
doesn’t have to be a dress. I said anything.”
“Well, this is just the traditional ceremony gown.” Kathryn replied. “It’s centuries old. She’ll be wearing another for the banquet. She wouldn’t be able to get around very easily in this one.”
“Tell me about it.” Adele muttered. “It weighs a ton.”
I smiled to her tone that I’ve learned expressed how she hated something and kept a comfortable stance leaning up against the entrance while whistling flirtatiously. “Is that Adele? You look like a different person every time I see you in one of those.”
Adele smiled while trying to turn. “What are you doing here?”
“Ah—continue. I just want to steal Ruby away for a minute.”
I walked back into the other part of the room and waited for her to come to me.
“What is it?”
When I turned and met her golden eyes, I was suddenly nervous and didn’t know where to begin. “Ah, I’m not really good with words so—”
Ruby laughed and touched my chest. “It’s all right. It’s just me. You should know by now that you can say anything you want around me.”
I paused and slowly started to nod my head. “Okay. Then I’m just going to say it.”
“You want to get laid?”
I was caught off guard by her remark and smiled. “That’s not what I was going to say but you know I’d never turn that down in the middle of the day.”
Ruby laughed. “Well, say what you wanted to first then we can.”
I took a heavy breath, regaining my nervousness. “Okay. I’ve been thinking about everything that has happened lately—with us and despite all of the downfalls, negative comments and death surrounding us these last few months, they’ve been good to me. Meeting you has definitely been the highlight of my life and I honestly thought that I would never have this opportunity to be with such a beautiful woman—” I got down on one knee in front of her since I guess this was how things were supposed to be done and elegantly took her hand like I was afraid of breaking it. “And ask her to consider the possibility of spending the rest of her life with me.”
Ruby brought her other hand up to her mouth to cover it because she was shaking all over and began to shed tears of joy. “Is this your way of asking me to marry you?”
Forgotten Days (Fate's Intent Book 6) Page 6
