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Panic
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Chapter 29: Panic (Ava's POV)
We've been home for nearly a week now and everything has been very normal. And that's not a good sign because we've spent all this time preparing for the worst but Liam hasn't done anything. It's been making Rhys and I both uneasy and what makes it worse is that his father was so excited to step down as king and let his son take over that he announced it the moment we came back. It's only a matter of a week and a half now, and then Rhys will officially be crowned prince, so he's spent this entire week, very, unfortunately, away from me.
He's been out working, visiting places, meeting important people, attending council meetings, and so much more. He found time to come drop by the dance class which I started teaching again and we managed to have lunch together on some days, but today, Mrs. Gemma asked me especially to stay home so we can choose dresses for the crowning ceremony.
Everybody's excited. Except for Rhys and me. I've been feeling insanely uneasy the past few days, a little more than Rhys has. He's been trying to take my mind off of it when it should really be the other way around. I should be calming him down because all eyes are on him right, all the pressure is on his shoulders.
I was heading to the living area but stopped when I heard Rhys coming down the stairs. "Hi," I grinned.
"Hi." He halted in front of me, letting out a breath. "You look beautiful," he mumbled.
I chuckled, "I look like this every day."
"That means you look beautiful every day," he sang mockingly, leaning in to kiss me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I put mine around his neck, pulling him closer and into another kiss.
"Are you working today too?" I mumbled against his lips before pulling away to look at him.
He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. "Yes, unfortunately, I am. I have a meeting with a new school we're building. I get to conduct teacher interviews. Despite the fact that I'm nowhere near qualified to be a teacher, how exciting, huh?"
I laughed, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "How exciting indeed. Choose all the nice teachers and reject all the mean one. It's insane how much stress they put on students," I frowned.
"Will do, my love."
"Hmm, I love when you call me that," I teased.
He stared at me for a minute and then let out an exhausted sigh, dropping his forehead to my shoulder. "I'm really tired, Ava. And all I want to do is kiss you and lay in bed with you all day, and have sex with you all day," he whined, keeping his voice down.
"I suppose your priorities should be different now that you're king," I mumbled, scratching the back of his head.
He relaxed, even more, going weak in the knees. "You turn me into goo." He pulled away to look at me.
My nose scrunched up. "What?" I laughed. "Okay. What time do you leave?"
"In a couple of minutes."
"You ate, right?"
He nodded in response while checking the time on his voice. "I'm going to come back early today. Well, I'm going to try," he scoffed, turning his attention to me again.
"Oh, yeah?" I raised my eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah," he nodded. "I have plans for tonight."
"Oh, I see," I grinned, "I'll be waiting then."
"I love you," he said softly.
"I love you too."
He leaned down and kissed me once more before pecking my cheek and then leaving.
"Ava." I looked over at Mrs. Gemma who was standing by the door, her arms folded across her chest, grinning in adoration. "Come on over, let's have a look at some jewelry, hmm?"
I nodded, walking over and sitting with her.
She had her personal jeweler coming in so we waited for him. "Things are looking good between you two. You both seem so happy," she chuckled softly, looking at me.
"We are," I breathed out, leaning back into the couch. "We really are."
"Did you expect it?"
I shook my head softly, smiling sheepishly.
She laughed, "Why not?"
I shrugged. "I just couldn't see it happening. But it did and I'm really glad." We both looked up in confusion when Mr. Phoenix and Rhys walked back in with the council members trailing behind them. I frowned, both Mrs. Gemma and I standing up. Rhys walked over, standing beside me. "I thought you were going to work," I whispered.
"I guess I have to go tomorrow," he said through gritted teeth.
"Have a seat, gentlemen," Mr. Phoenix gestured to the three men who were head of the council. They took a seat and immediately panic set in.
Rhys and I glanced at each other and he grabbed my hand, resting our locked hands between us. "What can we do for you, gentlemen?" he asked, clearing his throat.
"Excuse us, please, but we'd like to speak with Rhys and Ava alone," Mr. Gerard cleared his throat.
Mr. and Mrs. Archer looked over at us warily but then left, hesitating.
"We'd just like to start off by congratulating the two of you. We couldn't attend the wedding or the crowning ceremony for you, Ava, we were out at work, however, we would like to congratulate you still."
I mustered up a smile. "Thank you."
"With all due respect, may we know why you're here?" Rhys asked.
"We won't keep you too long, and I apologize since you had to postpone your work, Rhys. But we've recently gotten a letter," Mr. Carmen said, his British accent taking me by surprise.
"A letter?" Rhys questioned.
"It was written anonymously and submitted to us with... pictures."
Rhys went quiet.
"What kind of pictures?" I asked.
"They are some pictures of you two. They seem to be quite old, you two appear quite young in most of them. And the pictures are of your private moments," Mr. Carmen explained while Mr. Gerard put an envelope on the table, sliding it over to us.
Rhys picked it up, pulling it open and taking out the letter. I took the letter while he looked through the pictures and then we swapped them.
The letter was from nobody other than Liam. He was trying to turn the council against Rhys by using these pictures to prove that Rhys and I had been in a secret relationship three years ago. He said the relationship started when I was fifteen, a minor, and it should be counted as a crime. He talks about how Rhys would make for an extremely irresponsible king and how he doesn't deserve the throne. And he rambled on and on about this from an entire page, front, and back.
The pictures. They were all from my old camera. I gave that camera to Rhys when we broke up, which means it was in the palace, which means whoever helped Liam is here. And I know exactly who it is. In the pictures, we were in the backyard in most of them, some of them from the library, and that was it. We were kissing in one, so I guess that doesn't exactly work in our favor.
"Would you like to say anything?" Mr. Carmen lifted a brow at both of us.
Rhys put the letter back into the envelope and then took the pictures from me and did the same, sliding it back to them. "What do you plan on doing, sir?" Rhys asked.
"We plan on hearing you out."
"I don't have anything to say," Rhys chuckled. "Everything in that letter is true."
"Except for one thing," I said, glancing at Rhys. "It's true, I was a minor when we first got into a relationship," I paused, "but we did not break any laws. No line was crossed until I turned eighteen."
"Can you prove that's true?"
"Can you prove it's not?" I bit back.
They all nodded slowly, exchanging a look. "Very well. What we thought was true."
"Excuse me?" Rhys asked.
"There have been suspicions that you two have always secretly loved each other. The public talks about it all the time, quite frankly. They did at least, but it all stopped about three years ago, right, Gerard?"
Mr. Gerard nodded in agreement.
"They were only rumors. But you two have always caught the public's eye together. The people adore you. If you're worried about this little scandal affecting your throne, don't worry, Rhys. Remember, we work with you, not against you," Mr. Carmen smiled. "And if you're worried about this news reaching the public, I suggest you don't worry about that either. People support you here. Some say you're the best prince and princess they've had. They looked forward to your union. Don't fret. You two are safe from any possible threats in this matter. We just wanted to inform you of that and confirm things. You're free to keep the letter and photographs. They are, after all, yours to keep."
They all stood up and we rose with them, utterly confused. "Once again, we're sorry to have taken your time. Enjoy the rest of your day," Mr. Gerard said before the three of them left.
Rhys and I stared at each other, dumbfounded. "They won't..." I trailed off. "We don't have to face any consequences?"
He shook his head, staring at the letter and photographs. "No. But I know someone who has plenty of consequences to face. You want to come with me?"
"I most certainly do," I huffed.
So we left the living area and went to find Mr. Rufus. The one person who knew about us betrayed us.
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Chapter 29
well, Mr. Rufus is certainly going to hell in my world
This story probably has anywhere from 2-3 chapters left, including the epilogue you guys!!!
next chapter: interrogation