Royal Runaway

Chapter Twenty-Two

The sun poured in through the large bay windows, letting in the warmth and the glow of the morning. The light cascaded across the bedroom, making little patches of warmth fall onto parts of the room. Some of the sunlight hit directly in Madeline's face. She bolted upright in her bed, squinting her eyes as she did so.

Madeline glanced around the room, forgetting for a moment what day it was. Then she remembered. It was the day of her wedding. The day she would have to be married to Duke Quinten of Waterstone. She shuddered.

Two weeks had passed since Madeline was taken back to the palace and Jaylin was arrested. When she had first arrived at the palace, everyone had fussed over her. Both of her parents were furious, which was to be expected. Her mother was probably the most furious.

"Madeline Dianne, how dare you runaway!" she'd said. "You leave in the middle of the night, with no note or anything when you know you have a responsibility here. I'm very shamed in you." The tears were streaming down her face before she had finished yelling. Then she'd pulled Madeline into a huge bear hug, not letting her go.

Madeline's father hadn't been as angry. He'd always been a man of little words, if he could help it. So when Madeline showed up in his office dirty and tired after having been dragged to the palace, he'd stood up from behind his desk and had come around to give Madeline a hug. "I missed you pumpkin," he'd whispered in her ear.

"I missed you too dad," Madeline had said, the tears and full weight of what she'd done streaming out of her. She'd apologized for running away and leaving without so much as a note. She apologized for being so selfish and not willing to do something that would better her kingdom.

"I will marry Quinten, if that's what we truly need," she'd told her father, barely able to get the words out.

Jeffrey sighed. "Darling, I hate making you go through this and if we were in a different situation I wouldn't be making you do this. But we are so desperate. I'm so sorry." A small tear had been seen escaping his right eye and Madeline knew how sorry he was.

"It's okay dad. I know. I will marry Quinten."

Looking back on that conversation, Madeline wished she could take it all back, but she knew she couldn't. In the two weeks she'd been back at the palace, Quinten had made her life a living hell. He definitely played the arranged marriage cliche. He was an absolute dear to his future in-laws/the king and queen of Osprey, but a total ass to Madeline. He kept taunting her, telling her she wasn't good enough to be queen and that the only reason he was marrying her was to get the crown. Madeline tried to not let his words affect her, but it was still hard. Plus, he wouldn't give her any information about Jaylin, so she had had to take matters into her own hands.

The first week she was back, she'd gone to see Conrad. She wasn't necessarily sure how he'd react to her visiting him. It wasn't exactly like they'd had been together when she'd left, but she had left without telling him. However, they had always been good friends. Madeline just hoped he'd be able to help her.

"Hey stranger," she'd said, when she'd visited the stables.

Conrad turned around from his work. "Madeline," he whispered, coming over to her and giving her a hug. "It's so good to see you. Are you okay? Did that jackass hurt you?"

Madeline looked down at her feet. "No, not physically. How do you know he's a jackass? I mean, I'm denying it but-"

Conrad chuckled a bit. "Yeah, he's a pretty big one. While you were gone, he walked around like he owned the place and kept bragging to all the staff that someday we'd be under him. Yet when your parents were around, he was a complete little angel. It sickens me. I'm just glad you're here now, so you can kick him out of here."

Madeline gulped, not daring to look back up at Conrad's face. "You are getting rid of him right? You can't possibly still be marrying him?" Conrad said.

Madeline sighed. "I have no choice Conrad. His father is willing to help us out so much financially and we really need it. The kingdom is almost bankrupt. It's not my father's fault, it's because of all the foolish leaders before him, but still all of their mistakes are now placed on his shoulders. This marriage, no matter how much it sickens me is to help our kingdom. And that's my job and I have to do it. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, but if it will better someone else's life, then it's worth it."

Conrad stared at her. "You're really brave Madeline. I know I could never go through with something like this. I'd runaway-"

He stopped. Madeline chuckled. "Well, I learned my lesson. Actually, I had something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay, shoot."

"You have a friend in the security guard here at the palace right? Do you think you get some information for me?"

"What kind of information?"

Madeline gulped. "Well, I have this friend, Jaylin Brant, who I met when I ran away and he got accused of kidnapping me and Quinten did something to him. I don't know what and I didn't know who to ask."

Conrad thought for a second. "I'm pretty sure I could get some information for you, but I don't know what I can do with it. I mean, he's probably in the palace's jail system and that is going to be crazy to get him out of."

"I know and I know this is so much to ask, but I really don't have anywhere else to turn. My parents are just eating up everything Quinten said about him being my kidnapper, so I can't ask them and all the servants in the palace are on my parent's side. You're my only hope Conrad."

After what seemed like forever, Conrad said, "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

Madeline smiled wide. "Thank you Conrad. You're the greatest!" She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before heading back to the palace.

This was nearly two weeks ago, and now as Madeline sat in her bed on a sunny September morning, the day before her wedding, she still had no news about Jaylin or his whereabouts. It was driving Madeline absolutely insane with worry. She'd tried to go visit the jails in the palace, but some of Quinten's guards had stopped her and escorted her back to her part of the palace. Madeline didn't know what to do now.

There was a knock at her bedroom door. "Come in," Madeline said.

Nancy entered the room carrying her breakfast tray. "Good morning your majesty. Here's a nice hearty breakfast for you on the big day," she said, as she sat the tray down on the table and went to open her window curtains.

"Nancy, please don't say anything pleasant about this day. Let's just pretend this is a funeral, for it might as well be." Madeline sighed, as she slumped back on her pillows.

Nancy had been about the only person Madeline had been able to confide in about Quinten and all his wrongdoings. Nancy believed Madeline whole heartedly and Madeline was so grateful for that. But there was nothing Nancy could do to stop the wedding and Madeline knew that. "I'm sorry my dear, but it has to be done." Nancy said, pouring Madeline a cup of coffee. One thing Madeline liked about being back, was the amazing food.

Madeline took a sip of her coffee, when there was another knock on the door. "Come in," Nancy said, and another maid popped her head into the room.

"It's time your majesty," she said.