Trey Stephens
Age: 22
Melissa Evans
Age: 22
Daniel Barclay
Age: 22
Callie Hemswood
Age: 22
*°*
"Why is the signal in this city so bad?" Melissa complained on her end of the line.
The angle of the call changed and I could tell she was now holding her phone up to the sky to get the signal back. She squinted at the intrusive glare from the sun before pulling her sunglasses down.
Melissa donned a white, sleeveless top and denim shorts. If it wasn't for the snow falling outside the palace walls, I would think it was sunny out. Well, it was very sunny where she was. The warm Caribbean island didn't experience the chill of winter, although Melissa did say it had been raining a lot more.
"Hi Liz." Trey's face popped into view as he snuck up behind Melissa and surprised her with a hug.
She turned around to glare at him but he planted a quick kiss on her lips and all her irritation faded away in a heartbeat. He was sporting a short sleeve shirt with patterns of palm trees printed on it.
"Hey Trey." I waved. "Are you enjoying the weather over there?"
"Am I!" He laughed. "Coming here with Em was the best decision ever. I'm wearing shorts in the middle of winter. How cool is that? Or should I say, how warm is that?"
The camera tilted as Melissa turned around to shoot him her trademark 'What-the-hell-just-came-out-of-your-mouth?' look.
"Please stop it with the puns already." She laughed. "We went to one stand-up comedy show and now he thinks he's the next Dave Chappelle."
"What do you say, Elizabeth? Do I have talent for it?" Trey grinned. "I've got lots more jokes where that came from."
"Oh you do, but I'd say you should stick to your military career," I teased.
"I figured as much." He pretended to heave a forlorn sigh. "How's your gummy bear addiction coming on?"
I pouted at the reminder that I still couldn't eat any gummy bears. Sweets just didn't taste the same to me anymore. Even the berry compote yesterday had tasted off- like bitter water. It was weird, but no-one else seemed to find anything wrong with it and I forced it down to be polite. The royals had the best Michelin chefs working for them. If anything, this was definitely a me problem.
My headaches had subsided considerably and as long as I didn't try to use the mind-link, I'd only get one or two a day. But now my shoulders felt sore. In just two more days, I'd have a royal medical exam and they were always very thorough. If anything was wrong with me, they'd definitely find out what it was.
"No gummy bears yet, huh," Melissa sighed. "Don't worry, Lizzy. When we visit this summer, you'll have gotten better and I'll bring a suitcase filled with gummy bears just for you."
My expression brightened at that and they both chuckled. A 'Connection Lost' warning flashed across the screen and Melissa groaned as she waved the phone about, trying to get a stronger signal.
"Liz, I'll call you when I get home," she sighed. "The connection in this city is not cooperating with my phone and my arm is about to fall off."
"Give it to me," Trey offered immediately. "My arms are longer anyways."
The phone traded hands but if anything the signal only got worse and they soon became blurry and black lines flashed across the screen.
"Liz... call... you back... home... bye..." The call crackled and came out in intervals before it got disconnected. I sighed placing the phone on the table in front of me.
I was in the private kitchen of the mansion and all the kitchen staff had cleared out at my request. I'd practically had to beg them to, because each of them insisted on staying in there to help me with whatever I'd need. Melissa was supposed to teach me a new pie recipe she'd learnt from her aunt while staying there. I pouted at all the ingredients I'd gathered. I suppose I could do this another day. Hopefully she and Trey would make it home alright without needing a signal to call a cab.
"What should I do now?" I asked the phone. It simply stared back at me without answering. Rude. My Android would have never.
"There you are, princess. I've been looking everywhere for you."
I looked up to see Ashton entering the room.
"Who are you talking to?" He asked, looking around.
"I'm vlogging," I joked. I turned back to my phone but Ashton peeked over my shoulder.
"I want to vlog too." Then he narrowed his eyes at me. "Your screen is black. You weren't even recording."
"Yes, I was," I insisted with a huff. It was so much fun to tease him. I nudged him away so that he wasn't looking at the phone.
"What's up, Lovelies? It's your girl Elizabeth and I'm back with another fun video for you guys!"
Ashton stared at me with an incredulous eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"
"Yes, now shush." I chuckled. "Now I'm going to have to redo my intro." I actually turned on the phone this time and started recording.
"What's up, Lovelies! This is your girl Liz and I'm-" I paused, realizing that I introduced myself as Liz instead of Elizabeth.
"Ugh, take two," I groaned and Ashton laughed beside me.
"I want to do this too," he said, restarting the video. "Do your entrance thingy again."
"You mean the intro." I snickered. After a few seconds I managed to compose myself and hit the record button.
"Hey, Lovelies!" I clapped, bringing out all the energy I could muster. "It's your girl, Elizabeth!"
A few beats of silence passed and I glanced at Ashton. He stared at the camera. "Is this thing recording?"
I checked the camera and sure enough it was. "It is! Now we have to start over. Let's just keep it going, we can edit it later. We're professionals, right?"
"Right." He bit back a smile.
"Hey, Lovelies!" I shouted again. "I'm Elizabeth!"
"...And I'm Ashton."
"And we're AshLiz! Welcome back to our channel!"
"I prefer AshBeth."
"But we're AshLiz."
"AshBeth."
"AshLiz," I insisted. "Our viewers decided it. They typed our ship name in the comments and everything."
"Oh, well in that case." He stole a kiss and turned back to the camera. "Welcome to our channel! She's mine and I love her."
"I love you too." I giggled. "When did this turn into a love confession?" I asked and we both burst out laughing.
We were going to have a ton of editing to do on this video before we were YouTube ready. Watch out PewDiePie. We're coming for you!
"Today we're making," I glanced at the ingredients, "something special."
"Mmm," Ashton chimed in. "What are we making?"
"Cookies." I decided. "You can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies."
Ashton and I bustled around the kitchen as we got to work on our cookies. I soon realized that his lack of cooking skills was going to bring my non-existent channel rating down, because he didn't have one clue how to make the cookies. Gordon Ramsay would be peeved.
I took the lead, measuring out the ingredients and Ashton got the task of dumping them in the mixing bowl when I handed them to him.
"Ellie! Ashie!" Brooke rushed into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"
"We're making cookies for the spectators," he told her as he carefully added some more water to the mix.
"He means our viewers," I corrected with a laugh. "We've become internet sensations."
"Wow!" Brooke clapped happily. "How many viewers do you have?"
"You're the first one!" I proclaimed happily. "And as a reward, you get chocolate chip cookies. Do you accept your prize?"
"I do!" She said, her eyes brimming with excitement. "Can I help make them?"
"Sure." I got her one of the chef hats and mini apron, that I guess the chefs just had prepared for a moment like this. "With these you're officially on the team."
"If you mess up, I'll fire you," Ashton warned her.
Brooke stuck her tongue out at him and he chased her around the kitchen for a minute before we got back to work. Brooke was animated and was happy to help with mixing the batter. She was too small to reach the counters, so Ashton got her an adjustable stool and elevated it to a height where she could reach. Whenever she insisted that she had to go into the cupboards for a special ingredient, Ashton hoisted her atop his shoulders so she could find what she wanted. He was so cute with his sister and I spent more time gushing over them than actually baking.
Her special ingredient was invisible and she claimed that only she could see it. She sprinkled it in with an excited smile and we all stirred it around together before we put it in the oven.
Of course, the baking session wouldn't be complete without a mini food fight with the bits of waste flour that had spilled over on the counter. While the cookies baked, Ashton and I messed around and made some more videos, while Brooke had gotten some blank cards and envelopes and busied herself with scribbling some things inside them.
She scrambled down from the stool and claimed she had to go deliver the letters. After forty-five minutes, our attempt at being Michelin star chefs paid off. The sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies enveloped the kitchen. They actually came out looking pretty nice. Brooke had used a variety of cookie cutters to cut hers into creative shapes and images.
We emptied them into a bowl and moved them to the dining room after Brooke announced that our guests were waiting. We were surprised to see Queen Indra, Prince Stellan and Empress Arabella there. Prin Odette and Emperor Caden were in a meeting but Prinarch Cole should be free at this time. Brooke stared at her shoes, sad that he didn't come. Her search for the hawk had proved futile and she wanted to apologize to the prinarch because she could sense that he was angry with her.
"I think he's in a meeting," Ashton lied. "We can take him some cookies when he's finished, okay?" The last thing Ashton wanted to do was see Prinarch Cole, but he was willing to put his feelings aside for Brooke's sake.
"Okay," Brooke chirped, her jovial mood quickly coming back. She excitedly took a seat at the table and invited them to have some cookies, stating proudly that the three of us had made them together.
Queen Indra and Prince Stellan took a cookie each and made a great show of tasting and complimenting us. Brooke beamed happily as her cookies were showered with compliments. Empress Arabella smiled at me and Ashton, the latter had his arm wrapped around my waist.
"I love the way the palace has come alive," she said and her eyes shone with happiness. "Thank you for bringing our family together, Elizabeth."
*°*
After enjoying our cookies and hot cocoa, Ashton and I were in a playful mood and we thought, what better way to wrap up the evening than with some karaoke? So that's what we did.
I clapped and cheered as Ashton sang his heart out, not caring that he was ad-libbing most of the lines and adding some very unnecessary riffs and runs. He chose a fast paced song, so I mellowed things down with a slower song when it was my turn.
I wasn't the best singer, but Ashton waved his phone in the air all throughout the song. The flashlight was on and it shone brightly in the dimly lit room. It was only one light, but it seemed as bright as a thousand stadium bulbs. It reminded me that I would always have a fan out there.
We finished the singing and not surprisingly, the karaoke machine gave me a higher score than Ashton.
"I think that thing's biased," Ashton grumbled, glaring at the machine.
"It's not that surprising. You missed half the words and made up the other half." I laughed. "And it's karaoke. You have literally no excuse for getting the lyrics wrong."
"It's all about feeling, young one," he said, tapping his heart. "Not about singing the words that judgemental machine wants you to."
"I'll remember that the next time I want to get the losing score," I teased and he lightly ruffled my hair.
Ashton put a song on in the background and we sat on the floor among the cushions we'd taken from the couches. I rested my head on his shoulder and he had his arm around me, holding me close to him and rubbing circles on my arm with his thumb.
He was quiet for a while and his mind seemed to drift further and further away with each passing second. Today had been incredibly fun, but days like this were a rarity in the palace. I decided that I'd have to find a way for us to have fun more regularly. It was better for our mental health too.
"Ash, is everything okay?" I asked him. "You can tell me anything you know."
"It's... fine," he said, a little too hesitantly for my liking and I decided to press the issue more.
"Something's bothering you. I can tell."
He sighed and turned to me with a small smile. "I love you."
"Don't you change the subject." I glared at him and he raised his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay. I want to ask you something but try not to freak out, okay?"
"What is it?" I frowned, completely curious now.
"What do you think... about us having a child as soon as we get married?"
I stared at him for a moment, shocked still by his question, and then laughed. "I see you haven't recovered from your baby fever yet."
"Elizabeth, I'm serious," he said softly. He stared at the wall in front of us, not daring to look at my expression.
I leaned off him and framed his face in my hands. "Hey, look at me," I whispered.
His dark gaze slowly met my own and I stared back at him, searching for the answers in his eyes. "What's this about, Ash?"
"It's not something you have to worry about right now," he murmured, bringing his hand up to clasp the one I had on his cheek. "It's just something to think about."
"Did you your dad ask you to do this?" I asked. "Or your granddad perhaps?" I added on that last part because I remembered that Emperor Caden wasn't the only one pressuring Ashton's decisions.
"No. I would never do what they ask me to." He sneered at the thought. "I wouldn't make you go through what my mom did."
I frowned, my eyes asking the question for me. Then why was he suggesting we do that?
"Emperor Caden would want that, but Prinarch Cole won't ask you to have my child." He paused for a moment, his brows knitting together, and that same worried look reappeared in his eyes. "It's because he doesn't want that why we need to do it. There's a reason for it all, I promise," he sighed. "But don't feel pressured about this. If you don't want to do it, then that's that. I'll find another way. I swear I will."
"Another way to do what?"
"Elizabeth." He shook his head forlornly, begging me not to question the situation too much, but this was all too suspicious to me now.
Ever since the royal family meeting, I could sense that something was amiss-something that made Ashton worried; something so bad that it would cause him to side with his father. Kevin was busy in the Reedawn Kingdom offering them everything in his arsenal just to ensure that the meeting of the Big Ten didn't get postponed. What was so important that had to be said during the meeting?
"Ashton, what is going on?" I looked at him directly and I could see his expression wavering because he could tell that I was not going to back down from this. I needed to know and I needed to know now.
"Remember that night when we said if we ever had another situation that called for drastic measures we'd discuss it with each other?"
He nodded.
"This is one of those situations, right?"
He nodded again, more slowly this time.
I took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly. "Okay, tell me everything. I can handle it. Everything that's happening to make you so worried... Just what is going? What is all of this about?"
"About you and me and the empire," he replied hesitantly.
"Okay." I nodded. "What does this have to do with me? You manipulating the meeting and asking me to have a child as soon as we marry... what is all of that to accomplish?"
He was silent for a long while as he stared at me, his eyes now completely sad and distraught. In that moment, he let down his guard, his defenses, everything. I could suddenly feel the crushing weight, the immense heaviness that was resonating from him and I had to fight back the urge to cry. He was in so much pain and his pain was my own. What was the heavy burden he'd been shouldering alone all this time?
I licked my lips as my mouth suddenly went dry. This was more serious than I'd thought, but I needed to know. We could do this together.
"Ash, tell me. What is all of this to accomplish?"
His voice came out choked and broken and he rested his forehead against mine. "To keep you alive."
*°*
Hey, lovelies! Thanks for reading!
This chapter had some more AshLiz/AshBeth interactions, featuring Brooke. Thoughts on it?
Have you ever vlogged, baked cookies or been to karaoke?
His voice came out choked and broken and he rested his forehead against mine. "To keep you alive."
What could Ashton mean by this and what does it mean for Elizabeth?
Leave a comment and a vote ☆ if you'd like and I'll see you in the next chapter ❤