Beka's POV-
After the crowning, a lot of men, I didn't know, insisted I danced with them. I was thankful for the lesson Liam had given me, because otherwise I would have had no idea what I was doing. I had been trying to find a familiar face within the crowd for a long time, but I couldn't find one.
The song, that was being played by the orchestra, came to an end, and I gave the young prince, I think his name was Timothy, a polite curtsy, before quickly walking off, pushing through the tightly compacted bodies on the dance floor, subtly ignoring the calling of my name as more people requested to dance with me. I was feeling extremely claustrophobic, so when I reached the outer wall of the hall, I let out a relieved breath. I wasn't usually opposed to being near people, but tonight I only wished for the safety of my family.
A bald man, with a curly moustache, who looked to be in his fifties, came up to me with a cocky expression. I gave him a once over and found him absolutely repulsive. His eyes were small and beady, with a nose that was too big for his face and slightly crooked. "Princess Rebekah, it is lovely to meet you. I am King David, from the Isles of Scilly, but it is far from lovely as you my young child." He said flirtatiously, kissing my knuckles softly. My eye twitched, and I realised that it was going to be the first of many times tonight that people would use my full name.
I gave King David a polite smile, but took my hand quickly out of his, wiping it on the back of my dress so he couldn't see. "You flatter me, King David." I said, uncomfortably.
"Well I only flatter the prettiest of women, my dear. Much like I did to my many wives." He smirked.
"D-did you say many wives?" I stuttered, blinking uncomfortably.
"Yes, I use them purely for my pleasure, but you sweetheart, being the very attractive young woman you are, would be my crown jewel." He said, stroking my cheek.
I slapped his hand away. "Keep your hands to yourself King David. I'd prefer if you stayed away from me for the rest of the night." I said sternly, walking away from the horrible man.
"Listen to me when I say this, young lady, I always get what I want." King David threatened. My steps faltered a little, but I continued walking.
I found myself on the opposite side of the room, where all the dining tables were set up. I sat down at the closest table, with a big sigh, looking at the beautiful centre piece.
"You're Jasmine's daughter, aren't you?" a sad voice said, with a hint of French accent mixed with it.
I looked up at the new voice, and stood startled, when I saw the blonde haired woman who had spoken to me. "Mum...?" I asked in shock.
The lady, who look exactly like my mother, smiled at me humorously. "Close, but I'm not Mum. I'm your Aunt Belle, your Mother's twin sister." She smiled.
"I was thinking clone, but twin works as well." I said, still in shock. "Please sit, I have many questions to ask you."
Belle sat in the chair next to me, and I sat as well. "As do I, do you mind if I go first?" she asked politely, and I shook my head. "How and when did my sister die?" she looked at me curiously.
I bit my lip, hesitant to tell her, but she deserved to know. "Mother, and the rest of my family died not too recently, so talking about their death is still a little hard, but it was an accident." I took a deep breath, and began explaining.
-
"So what you're telling me is that my sister's death was all because of the weather and a mix up between the Higgins man?" she asked with her head in her hands. I swallowed nervously, but nodded. Belle sighed sadly and I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry for your loss Aunt Belle." I expressed my condolences. Not only was she losing a sister, but a twin, her other half.
Belle smiled at me. "Rebekah, you have the same kindness your Mother had." She stated, giving me a gentle smile. My eye twitched.
"Please, call me Beka. I hate being called by my full name, and as much as it's probably hard for you to talk about her, can you tell me what my mother was like as a teenager? She would never tell me about her years while she lived in France, and I always felt like there was something missing. The only thing I know is that she was being forced into an arranged marriage, but she was already in love with my father, but there are holes in her story. What happened?" I questioned her.
"Your mother did that to. She hated Jasmine. She only liked to be called Jazz." Belle's eyes glazed over as she relived over the memory. "Jasmine was a good girl. She did everything she was told, when she was told, and for that my parents adored her. I was the rebellious type, so whatever I did wrong was expected. I was like excess baggage to my parents sometimes, and I didn't care. It meant I could do whatever I wanted. Father had arranged a marriage for Jasmine, to a Prince in Spain, and she agreed at first, until we came to King Simon's first wedding. Jasmine found her one true love. It was when our family returned to France, that she told father that she refused to be in this arranged marriage, and that she wanted to marry a florist instead. Father lost his mind. He was furious. His whole life revolved around image, and Jasmine marrying a person of much lower standards, would dramatically damage that image. So Father forbids Jasmine from seeing the man, and that night she ran away in that dress." She said pointing to the dress I was wearing. "Never to be seen again. There was search parties sent out for years, but there was no sign of her, and yet she fled to England, our closest neighbour. It was a smart thing to do really. After the wedding Simon and my father had a big fight, so hiding in London was probably the smartest thing to do, because Father would never come here." Belle smirked, and returned her eyes back to mine.
"So what happened to your family afterwards?" I asked.
"Father stepped down from the thrown when I married a man that I loved, and I became queen." She said smiling. "Father and I get along better now. He still helps me when I have trouble with different situations by giving me good advice. It's just a shame that he had to lose a daughter to realise that you can't force love to happen. He's not as concerned with the way he appears to others now." She sighed.
"How long ago did you become queen?" I asked, brushing back a stray hair.
"Eighteen years ago. A year before my daughter was born." She said with a happy smile.
I perked up at the mention of a daughter. "Is your daughter here?"
Belle looked around us, searching for her daughter. "Yes, she is...walking towards us." She said with a laugh.
I looked into the direction where she was motioning a wave over to a small brunette girl. The girl gave me a glance over, but joined us anyway. I could tell she wasn't to certain about me, but I gave her a friendly smiled to try and erase out her uneasiness. She was shorter than I was, and was wearing a deep black coloured dress, with silver sparkles and diamonds spotted all over it, in different elegant patterns. "Marina, I'd like you to meet Princess Beka...your cousin." Belle informed.
Marina's blue-green eyes widened, and I laughed. "I...um...how..." she stuttered.
"Knowing my daughter she's about to explode with questions. I'll leave the two of you alone for a while so you can get to know each other." Belle stood, and hurried away, before disappearing in between the dancers.
I look back at Marina, who was now sitting in the seat Belle had just left, and was bouncing with excitement. "Hi Marina, I'm Beka-..."
"Hi, I'm Marina Carley Lee Ackland-Gay-Burgenmire, but you can call me Marina...or Rina...or Mar, but I prefer Marina. I love to colour in, and it's so amazingly cool to meet you. I knew I had an aunt, but never a cousin. Ahh! I'm so excited." Marina gushed, excitedly.
I let out a laugh, and straightened her crown on her red-brown hair, that had tilted while she talking animatedly. "I'm Rebekah Rosalie Linda Jasmine Wynters-Cowell, but I prefer Beka. One of my pet hates is being called by my full name. I love to read, but colouring in is fun to. It is very cool to meet you." I said enthusiastically.
Marina gave me another glance over. "I like you Beka. I can tell that we are going to be good friends." She smiled.
"I'd like that a lot." I smiled back.
Someone hugged my shoulders from behind, and I laughed quietly, when I saw a brown curl fall over my shoulder. Marina gave Harry an odd look, but I don't think he saw it. "And who might you be talking to, Sister?" Harry said amused, and stood beside me.
"Harry, this is my cousin, Marina Burgenmire." I informed him. Marina held out her hand towards him, and Harry looked at it, shocked, breathing heavily. "Harry...? What's wrong?" I asked, beginning to worry about him.
"I'm going to go talk to my grandfather. I'll talk to you later Beka." She said standing, smiling politely.
"I apologise for my brother. He doesn't usually act like this." I confessed, and Marina just nodded at me, walking off.
I made sure Marina had disappeared into the crowd, before I yanked on Harry's arm, and sat him in the chair in front of me.
I looked into Harry's eyes, and saw the glaze that was over them. "What is wrong with you? You just completely embarrassed me in front of my cousin. You look like you're under...a love spell...You like her don't you?" I asked incredulously
"Who...? Marina...? No, of course not, don't be silly, Beka." He denied, and I gave him and unbelieving look. "Ok, yes. Marina was born four months after me, and the two of us grew up being best friends." He admitted.
"Shut. Up." I exclaimed, punching him in the arm excitedly. "That's so cute. I had no idea."
"I had no idea you could punch so hard either." He mumbled, rubbing the spot in his arm that I corked.
I laughed, but apologised. "If you two are best friends, then why did you act so weird when I told you her name?" I asked.
Harry sighed. "You're going to think this is stupid, but when we were both six, we had an argument over a toy that got broken, and refused to see each other again." He explained, but I was still confused.
"But that still doesn't explain why you're drooling over her." I said pretending to wipe some spit off his chin.
Harry slapped my hand away. "If you haven't realised already, that over eleven years, people's appearances tend to change dramatically. I used to have the biggest crush on her when we were six, and now...she's hot." He said dramatically. I did have to agree with Harry. Marina was definitely a very pretty girl.
"Well why don't you go and talk to her? She's just over there." I said pointing to Marina when I found her talking to a blonde girl.
"Did you just see what happened before? I looked like an idiot. I can't talk to her." He exclaimed, looking over to her direction.
"Harry. You're my brother, I love you, and I'm only doing this to help you, but so help me, if you don't get your ass over there, I'm going to rip out your intestines and use them to strangle you." I said menacingly.
Harry stood from his chair quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok, I'm going." He said before walking towards his friend. He gave me a nervous glance back, and I gave him a demanding look. Harry took a deep breath a walked up to the smaller girl, tapping her on the shoulder.
Marina looked glad that Harry had come over to him, and took him into a hug. He hugged her back, and Harry caught my eye over Marina's head and mouthed a thank you. I gave him a wink in response, before standing, and leaving the table.
I wonder where the rest of my brothers are...
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Hey my little MSOD readers,
This is the first chapter with new characters in it. The character is a good friend on mine Marina. She been begging me to put hers up, so I did. As always, let me know your thoughts, or build a blanket fort, either thing is pretty cool, but it'd be easier to type a couple of sentences...just saying.
Love Always,
Beka
xoxo