Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 30

I look at Eben, who nods, then slowly walk back over to the flowers I was sitting amongst earlier. I turn my back towards the men and take a shaky breath. "Take your time," Eben says as he sits behind me. "Just breathe." I look at the flowers and dig my fingers into the earth to help ground my emotions and mind.

"What's going on here?" Alun says from the doorway. "Why aren't you two working?"

"We are," Aaden says, handing Alun his coffee cup. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to make sure I didn't need to put out any more fires or arguments," Alun says looking around. "So what is going on?"

"We're helping Evette with her powers," Eben says, refusing to move from his spot behind me. He watched Alun take a drink of Aaden's coffee while watching them closely. "We were just telling her how emotions contribute to her powers."

"She was about to tell us about her ex husband and her relationship," Aaden nodded, "The full truth of it."

"I think I need to sit down for this," Alun says as I hear wood creaking, telling me that he was sitting on the bench. "Go on."

"I can't," I whisper, closing my eyes to avoid their looks. "I've already told you–"

"Start at the beginning, Evette," Eben says gently. "You told us he was different with your father than he was with you, how?"

I dig my fingers into the earth even more and take a deep breath. "You aren't going to lose us, Evette," Aaden says, his voice dropping deeper than it normally is. "No matter what you tell us."

"You're going to hate me," I whisper so soft that I'm positive they can't hear me.

"Never," Eben says, putting his hand on my back, making me jump in surprise. "Now tell us, please. It will be good to no longer be keeping everything bottled up."

Alun cleared his throat, "Answer me, Evette. What is Eben talking about in regards to your ex being different with your father than you?"

I take a shaky breath and barely open my eyes to look at the pink and purple azaleas in front of me. "I was my father's world," I say sadly as I touch the purple flower in front of me. The soft petals do little to soothe my shot nerves but it does help some. "It was just me and him growing up but he made sure I knew of my mother. He idolized her, the love he had for her was just magical. He made sure I knew how special I was to her. Their love was a fairytale."

Eben casted a quick glance to Aaden and Alun but remained silent, even though he was shocked to see Neven standing in the doorway. They remained silent as they waited.

"I was his princess and he was going to make sure I was taken care of no matter what," I say as I run my fingertips over the petals some more. "He met John at a village meeting. John worked with the mayor so he had a lot of influence in the village. He was seen as one of the most eligible bachelors at the time. The following night my father invited him to have dinner with us. He was so polite, he even found a book on rare flowers and gave it to my father. He seemed very interested in the fact that my father never remarried and instead raised me as a single parent. He even asked my father for permission to take me for a walk before it got too dark after dinner. He started showing up at the flower shop after that. Bringing us lunch or asking to take me to dinner or just to spend time with us. It was very sweet at the time. Within three months he asked for my father's permission to marry me. My father was ecstatic to welcome him to our family. John promised my father I could continue working in the shop after marriage."

"When did he change?" Alun asked.

"I don't know," I say truthfully. "It wasn't all at once." I try to explain. "After I was promised to him, he started making requests that he hadn't made before."

"Like what?" Alun asked. "The full truth, Evette."

"What if I'm just overreacting?" I ask scared. "What if I really am cr–"

"Do NOT finish that," he growled, making me gasp and look up at him shocked. "You are not that. He said that as a way to try and control you. Understand?" I nod and he clears his throat, "Now continue."

"He didn't want me working after five so we could have dinner together. He wanted my father to start closing. He would get upset if he came in and I was talking to a male customer. When we were alone he started making comments about me being unloyal by flirting with the customers and how it would disappoint my father. It broke my heart when he would say I was being a tease and unfaithful to him because I wasn't trying to be. I was just being polite to them."

"He was jealous," Eben sighed heavily. "You did nothing wrong."