Royal 3 (Book three in my Selection Series)

Chapter 49

I dance a little that night and I drank a lot more. I'd come back after talking to Princess Tina, but I probably shouldn't have. By the time the night was over, my head buzzed with alcohol and the need to lay down seemed too extreme to ignore.

I sit at one of the tables, ready to leave, but I couldn't seem to focus properly to move.

"Lady Rosalyn." I turn and see Camden, innocently standing near me. "Would you like me to walk you to your room?"

I shake my head. I figured I was drunk, but I could think pretty clearly, at least I thought.

"Thank you, but I'll manage." I stand, but sway slightly. I look across the room and see North sitting with his fiancé and my heart breaks a little more. "None of this is worth it. None of this was ever worth it. Not the dresses, the money, the jewels, none of it."

Camden just watches me with sad eyes. I close my eyes for a moment and then begin to walk away. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I did it.

"Lady Rosalyn?" I turn and see Princess Tina, North right behind her.

"What?" I snap, figuring out I didn't really have a filter.

"I'm sorry for not knowing your entire story. I judged you too quickly when you said you went to prison." She tells me apologetically.

"Of course you judged me. Because since you're a princess, everything is divided into right and wrong for you, but it's not like that in the real world. I was nine when both my parents died. I was nine when I was convicted with murder. I was fifteen before I got out of prison, and I've been in orphanages and foster homes ever since." My words tumble out of my mouth and I turn around. I walk a few steps but then whip my head back. "But don't worry, now you have your second palace."

I fake a smile and walk away, up the stairs. I didn't get all the way up the stairs before I was stopped by a hand on my arm. In my intoxicated state, I sway slightly and nearly fall. My eyes meet North's gray ones and there were so many emotions just like there always seemed to be.

"I don't want a lecture." I tell him. He just stares at me for a moment longer before helping me to the flat ground.

"You were hard on her. She was only apologizing." North tells me softly. 

"I said I didn't want a lecture." I jerk my arm away from him.

"I'm not lecturing you." He says.

"You are. And I don't want it. I don't care if she's the princess and I don't care if she's the queen of the world, she'll never understand what I've lost. She'll never know because she has her parents. She has a place to live. She has money." I sigh and tears form in my eyes. "And she has you."

I turn and walk as far as he'd let me before he turns me back around.

"Let me just walk you to your room. You've drank too much tonight." He says and takes my hand gently. I was going to argue but sobs seemed to rack my body. I couldn't seem to function, so I let him lead me up to my room.

"Did Bailee leave?" I ask when my crying had subsided slightly. He nodded slowly and when I heard him my heart sank. For some reason I was emotional so I started crying again. "You need to go."

"I can't just leave you like this." North tells me.

"You're going to have to." I say, my voice barely strong enough for him to hear. I try and pull my hand away from him, but he wouldn't let me go.

"I can't." He says softly. When I look at his eyes, between my own tears, I see his. North reaches out and wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly and for a moment I didn't even care. Somehow I forgot he was engaged and I just relaxed into him. "I'm sorry it had to be like this."

"Me too." I say quietly. A few short minutes later, he pulls away and I quickly turn and go into my room. I leave him alone outside and I never heard him leave.

I sit on my bed crying for what seemed like forever. My head burns still and my room seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. My heart beat fast against my chest and I became short of breath.

Not long later my maids came in calmly, but panicked once they saw me.

"Lady Rosalyn? Lady Rosalyn, what's the matter?" Millie asks, trying to help me sit up.

I tried to respond but I couldn't form words and I couldn't breathe. All I knew was how hard it was to breathe.

"We need to get her to the hospital wing, come on." One is them says but I couldn't tell who.

I didn't remember anything that happened during the next few minutes until somehow I got in the hospital wing and I sat in a bed, surrounded by needles and doctors.

"Lady Rosalyn, can you tell me where you are?" One of the doctors asked.

"The palace." I answer slowly.

"Good, can you tell me where you are from?"

"Kent. And Likely." I answer.

"Good. Are you feeling better?" My heartbeat had seemed to slow and I could breathe better now. I nod.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"I think you had a panic attack. Drinking can trigger panic attacks sometimes too." The Doctor tells me. My head still hurt so I rolled away from the bright light above my head. I feel IVs in my arms. "I'll turn the lights off. I want to keep you in here for observation and keep meds in you."

I nod, but I wasn't listening. I just wanted to sleep to escape it all—

I wanted to forget it all.