I quickly stepped closer to him, bringing him to his feet with a smile on my face. “Of course you’re forgiven. I was hoping I’d see you here.”
Deven returned the smile and we hugged. “I couldn’t miss this. Welcome back.”
I pulled away first and slightly turned to my father. “Father, this is Deven Willis. I’m sure you remember hearing of my Senian cousin.”
“Yes, of course.” He smiled as they shook hands. “The family resemblance is clear. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten the chance to meet.”
“Well, under the conditions that we are, so am I. She’s always belonged here.”
“Deven.” I took his arm and lightly shook my head.
“I mean that in the most esteemed way.”
“Of course.” My father replied with his eyes seemingly fixed on Deven’s.
“Is Grandfather here?” I asked, trying to ease passed the tension.
“No. It’s just me. You know he would have liked to be but he’s on the road with the theater.”
“Oh, really?”
“It’s the time of year they do the world tour.” Deven replied, quickly flickering his eyes to my father. “You know, the better half.”
“Deven. Not here, okay? Please.”
“It’s hard to change how one’s been raised.”
“I know but please.”
“Well, I suppose I should just leave you two alone to catch up.” My father said, not wanting to cause a scene at my wedding.
I just nodded and he slipped away into the crowd.
“That was nice of him.”
“No. He chooses to just walk away rather than provoke a fight. He has others to do that for him—or at least he used to.”
“I see. Well, I’m still glad you’re here and I’m still glad you’re staying.”
“So am I. Come on.” I took Deven’s hand and pulled him with me back towards my table. “Look, it’s Deven!”
Darius turned his head. “Captain Willis! Welcome! Drink with us!”
“Of course, Darius.”
“You don’t hate her now, I hope. I wouldn’t want to have to kick you out of here.”
“Oh, no. We’re good. I happily say it.”
“Well, good. Then I’ll happily drink to it.”
“And let’s drink to you. The city’s greatest eternal bachelor has finally chosen a wife.”
Darius had to laugh. “Yes. Thank you. She’s everything I thought I’d never find and she knows it. Isn’t that right, Ruby?” We looked to Ruby but she didn’t respond. She wasn’t even looking. She kept her glance peering into the crowd. “Ruby?”
“Huh? Did you say something?”
“You okay? What are you looking at?”
“That woman. The one with Kathryn and Jaylyn. I think it’s Julianna but I can’t really tell for sure from here.”
Darius and I looked at each other with wide eyes and right out into the crowd. “Oh, fuck.”
“What?”
Kathryn was walking away but it was worse that Jaylyn was now alone with her.
“It is her. Troy is not going to be happy about this.”
Chapter 29
Darius
“Can you tell what they’re saying?” Adele whispered.
I laughed to myself just to keep it quiet. “The only one that could do that is the last person we want to find out.”
“I think he might.” Ruby muttered.
Troy walked back to the main table and asked the wrong question. “Where’d she go?”
We just looked at each other, speaking together but with separate responses.
“Haven’t seen her.” Ruby answered.
“Don’t know.” I said at the same time.
“Food?” Adele suggested.
Troy looked at us strangely and knew immediately that we were hiding something. “What’s really going on?”
We looked at each other again and Deven looked just as baffled standing by. “I honestly have no idea.”
“Forget it. I’ll find her myself.” He turned and looked out into the crowd, probably using his vision to look around all the people until he found Jaylyn.
There was a short pause while we stayed almost breathless and watched his reaction.
“Go find Zayden and bring him over there.” I whispered to Adele. “There’s going to be a problem.”
She nodded and Ruby slowly got up from the table to go with her, trying not to draw Troy’s attention.
I stood up as well and stepped towards Troy as Troy was still in a dead stare. He wouldn’t have noticed Ruby at all even if she jumped right in front of him.
“Troy.” I said calmly. Troy didn’t look over as he held his hands in fists and was leaning on the table. “Troy.” He still didn’t respond. Instead, he immediately stood up all the way and went around the table. “Oh, shit. Excuse me, Captain.”
“Of course.”
I went right after him while Troy tried making his way through the people over to Jaylyn. His eyes never moved from where they were and he didn’t stop for a second.
“Troy.” Jaylyn and Julianna were both surprised to see him but they really shouldn’t have been. If Jaylyn was going to be gone somewhere, he’d notice.
“What are you doing here?” Troy raged in a mellow tone. I stepped up behind him and gently pulled back his arm. “You’re not welcome here!” Troy ripped his arm away from me and a few people around started to look over.
“Troy, you’re making a scene.” I said quietly.
“I’m not making a scene. This would be making a scene.” He grabbed the edge of the table in front of him that Julianna was behind and knocked it over with one hand. Everything fell to the floor, making a loud crash that stopped the music and everyone in the ballroom looked our way.
“I think we should go.” Jaylyn whispered. She took Julianna’s hand and they started to back away.
Troy still had that look on his face and looked over at me with it. “Now I’ve made a scene.”
Adele and Ruby quickly reached us with Zayden before something else happened and Zayden grabbed Troy’s arm, pulling him close. “What are you doing? This is not the place for this!” He turned with him and we followed as they started to walk to the door. Zayden signaled for the music to start playing and we left. The noise level in the ballroom picked back up and Zayden continued to drag Troy into the main hall with a furious tone. “What the fuck was that?!”
Troy took a breath of anger and looked away only to see Jaylyn and Julianna walking to the door. He got madder and left Zayden’s side without a word to him.
Chapter 30
Jaylyn
My arm was grabbed and suddenly I was pulled away from Julianna. I didn’t even know Troy was following us and we were both startled.
“Troy, don’t.” I said.
“Get out.” Troy muttered as he looked at Julianna. “I don’t want to ever see you near her again.”
“Troy!”
“It’s all right.” Julianna assured me as she kept her eyes on Troy. “My son knows what’s best.”
“I am not your son!” Troy raged as he took a step closer. “And you are not my mother.” Julianna’s eyes started to water. “She’s dead!”
Julianna closed her eyes at that moment and a tear ran down her cheek from hearing his words. Troy put his hand on my shoulder and turned me around, making sure we walked away.
I still felt bad for her because I knew she was sorry for their past and looked back but Julianna was gone like she had just disappeared.
“How could you?” I asked in disgust. “She’s your mother!”
“No, she’s not.”
“But you know she is. Why else would you force her to leave?”
“I’m not talking about this. So leave it.”
I still couldn’t believe he was acting this way and stopped in my tracks but he kept going.
“What?” The others were all looking behind him at me and he turned around to see me standing still. �
��Can you leave us alone for a minute? We’ll be right in.”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded. They headed back inside the ballroom and Troy waited until they left completely then walked right up to me.
“Jaylyn.”
He reached for my hand but I pulled it away before he touched me and walked around him. “I still can’t believe you. You should be grateful to even have a mother. I would do anything to know what that was like.”
“Jaylyn, you have to understand what I went through. I don’t care what she told you or how sorry she is, she might as well have abandoned me. I was always alone when I was just a kid but lucky enough that I had Zayden and Darius to keep me sane through it. She acted like she didn’t want me whenever I was around. You were lucky to never have known that because that’s not what a mother is supposed to be like and I wish I hadn’t ever known it.”
He looked away and I started to see his point. What was I to say after that? I hated seeing Troy this way and I put my arm around him and rubbed his back. “Troy, I’m sorry. I should have never judged your decision.”
“It’s okay.” He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. “And you’ve never needed to know what a mother is like. There’s a strong one living in you. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen.”
I smiled and leaned my head on him. “And I thought I was supposed to be the one to make you feel better?”
“You did but I don’t want to dwell on the past. This is our wedding and I want to celebrate it the right way. It’s the beginning of our future together.”
“All right. I was almost worried that this was going to effect the private after party I have planned for us but things just might have turned around.”
“I would never let anything get in the way of that. You can count on it.”
The guests easily forgot about the recent event and went on with having a good time with everyone else. It lasted into the early hours of the morning until the music finally died down and the last of the guests settled in.
Everyone shuffled up to their rooms afterwards and I closed the door behind me while kicking off my shoes.
“Finally.” Troy muttered. He immediately pulled me close and started kissing me.
I smiled at his enthusiasm and knew he’s been waiting all night for this moment. I backed off him and he only tried leaning in for more. “Wait.” I put my hand on his chest, keeping him back.
“I’ve held this off for too long.” He moved my hand and kissed me again.
I laughed and moved away. “I said wait.” Troy obeyed and stayed where he was. I walked over to the bed with my back turned and looked back at him. “Do you mind?”
Troy quickly took off his coat and shirt, just dropping them on the floor. He walked up behind me and leaned me forward as he put his hands on my waist, pulling me into his hips.
I quietly laughed and Troy moved his hands up my back and started to unlace my dress. Once enough, I turned to him. We looked at each other and started kissing while I began to inch my dress down off me. Troy helped get it done faster and it fell to the floor. He put his hands on my body and I stepped out of the dress, still kissing him and moved back onto the bed.
Troy anxiously followed, taking off his boots with his feet while he was being pulled toward me. I’ve waited for this too and we celebrated our union that night on the eve of our wedding the way I felt Fate had highly intended.
Chapter 31
Zayden
The sun had risen over the hills far to the east and hit the palace first, waking me slowly from my peaceful night. Adele batted open her eyes next to me and I had to smile to it.
“Morning.” I muttered, stroking my fingertips on her smooth cheek. “Princess of Seni.”
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes and leaned her smiling face towards my neck under my chin. “Morning, my husband, the Prince.”
“That’s sweet.” We quickly pulled away from each other and looked at the end of the bed. My father was standing with his arms crossed. “But time to get up. Come on. We’ve got to go.”
I was confused and was first to sit up when my father turned to leave. “What? Go where?”
“Just get up. Dress to travel. Come on. Pack your things. Both of you. Horses are ready and waiting.” He walked out and only left us in an even more confused state.
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know but it’s best not to keep him waiting. Come on. Rift, wake up. We’re going.”
Naturally, he jumped awake from his chair and hopped down. He hated being left up here during the wedding and clearly didn’t want to be left behind again.
We both got ourselves out of bed and began to dress how my father had advised. Still unsure of what we were doing, we headed out with a single packed bag, our weapons of course and each other, hand in hand.
“Think he hates me now?”
“He does not hate you. We’re not getting kicked out. Don’t worry. We’ll get the answers.”
Adele kept close to me even when we finally made it outside. The other four were there just getting on their horses with my father and Aleksander already on theirs.
“Finally. Didn’t have to take all morning.”
“I didn’t think we did, father.” I got up on my horse and Adele got on hers right next to me. “Now, what exactly is going on?”
“Don’t ask.” Darius sighed. “They’re not going to tell us.”
My father smiled. “Well, not directly. Aleksander and myself, with some mild encouragement from your mother, have agreed on combining your wedding gifts all into one. Since you really have no need for riches, this was the next best thing.”
“Well, where is it?”
He glanced at Aleksander and they both started to turn on their horses. “Follow us.”
We were taken through the city where we received cheers and the citizens were still celebrating the marriage. We enjoyed some of the festivities from merely passing through and continued to be led out the western gate towards the military base stationed at the wall.
“Father, where are we really going?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.”
My eyes rolled and Adele swiftly hit me in the leg with a quiet voice. “Zayden! Shh!”
I smiled to her reaction and remained quiet through the military base. The soldiers welcomed us but I didn’t feel I deserved their welcome. I wronged them and tried my best not to make long periods of eye contact until we made it out the last gate.
“There yet?” I asked with a sigh delivered with my words.
“Not even close.” My father smiled.
We headed off to the west with our horses in a steady gallop, still unsure about where we were being taken. I made Rift ride with me for a bit, worried that he couldn’t keep up or would tire out faster than the horses but we remained quiet most of the time while traveling on the familiar road by another familiar place.
“Mmm, this brings back memories.” Ruby smiled.
I laughed. “What? You mean like a couple months ago?”
“Has it been that long?” Adele asked sarcastically.
“Is there something funny about this place?” My father asked.
I was trying to avoid answering but Adele had to notice and smiled. “This is where they decided to change their minds about us.”
“Oh, I see.” My father moved his eyes towards me.
“Okay.” Aleksander cut in to step away from the awkwardness of the past. He was good at getting out of conversations just like Adele was. “Let’s keep going so we use all the daylight we can.”
I was fine with that. It was best to keep the travel quiet so nothing would come up that my father would feel sour about. I still had no idea where we were going but I knew I didn’t want him to be angry in any way. I can’t even remember the last time we actually traveled anywhere with each other. I didn’t want to make it into a bad experience.
We didn’t stop until the sun went down and by then,
everyone was ready to rest.
“Adele, do you mind?” Aleksander asked.
“Of course, father.” Adele stepped away from me and created the gateway to an underground shelter with just a few movements of her hands.
My father stood by and watched with a raised eyebrow. “For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me.”
“I told you what she can do. It shouldn’t surprise you.”
“Just still trying to take it all in, I guess. It’s a lot to handle to see a group this big capable of weird things.”
I smiled and we unpacked the horses and headed down. We got comfortable sitting around a fire for a little while, Rift at my feet and we listened to Aleksander and my father reminiscing openly about their past or more like eavesdropped because we didn’t have anything to talk about.
“I remember.” Aleksander laughed. “And she hated it every time we had to go back.”
My father sighed while he thought about it. “I know but it was safer that way. She knew that. I never wanted her to stay here because I knew what would happen if anyone found out and I couldn’t risk that.”
“Then what did you say to her when she showed up? I mean, she wasn’t herself for the longest time until she actually decided to give it all up and come here.”
My father stared into the fire, his eyes focused. I was unsure if he would answer but he did. “I told her she shouldn’t stay.” We were surprised by his answer but kept our reaction to ourselves. “I didn’t want her to get close to me. I wanted her to remember me the way I was and not how I’ve become. My body was still in its healing process and I didn’t want her to see it but she refused to think that she could see any different of me and promised she wouldn’t turn away. I ended up giving in. I’ve always have a thing about saying no to her so I showed her.” There was a pause as he thought back to that night more deeply and everyone waited. “She was completely—horrified. She didn’t say it but I could see it. It was written all over her face. I figured she would have turned away when her eyes started to water but instead she got closer and wrapped her arms around me, not wanting to let go. She stayed since then. I couldn’t turn her away after that, knowing she was going to be the only one that would see me for me no matter what.”
Forgotten Days (Fate's Intent Book 6) Page 11
