Catherine and Aaron slowly walked forward. "I can't believe I'm back." He whispered to himself. They were calm until Allie came down the stairs. She gasped at the unknown Intruders. Their eyes widened in fear when they saw the new Queen. "Guards!"
The royal guard immediately rushed to the throne room and held them down. Allie approached the Intruders. "Who are you two? How did you get in here?" She asked in a Stern voice. The blonde woman lifted her head and gave a pleading look.
"Your grace, my name is Catherine. I used to be your wife's governess when she was a child." Allie's eyes softened. "I thought you looked familiar. Release her." She ordered the guards and they let her go. "Catherine, my wife has told me many good things about you. How are your babies?"
Catherines smiled. "They're growing up faster than I ever could've imagined." Allie nodded. "That clears up one thing but who is this man? Is he your husband?" Catherine's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh good lord now. He's just a good friend." The man then lifted his head up and faced Allie.
"My name is Aaron Alexander and I have come to walk my daughter Reilly down the aisle on her wedding day. Where is she? I need to speak with her-" before he could finish, Allie walked towards him and slapped him in the face. Catherine gasped in shock. "So you're the deadbeat dad I've heard so much about. Well you know what? I'm not telling you where she is."
"I'll find her on my own. I know this castle like the back of my hand." Allie scoffed. "I don't think so. She's still mourning Amber and if she sees you, God knows what'll happen." Aaron looked at her stubbornly. "Well I'm not leaving."
"That's a first. I heard from my wife that when you found out Amber was pregnant, you ran like hell and she had to hog-tie you down." Aaron lowered his head. "That was the old me. I was young and afraid when I was with Amber."
Allie glared at him, raised her hand and slapped him in the face. She then grabbed his neck and forced him to stand up. "You don't get to say her name. She was much of a mother to me as she was with my wife and her sisters. You have no right to even speak of her!" She let go of Aaron's neck and he fell to the ground.
Catherine rushed to his aid. "Enough! Please understand your majesty, Aaron has come here to seek forgiveness."
"Allie? Is there something wrong?" Allie gave a panicked look. She knew I was coming down. "Shit. Guards, take him away." The guards pulled Aaron away from Catherine and started to drag him out. Aaron weakly fought against them. "No! I have a right to see my daughter! Reilly!"
As soon as I heard my name being shouted, I ran towards the hallway and what I saw shocked me. It was Aaron. My father. "Guards let him go! I'll take care of this." The guards let him go and I walked toward him. He smiled at me and first but when he saw the angry look on my face, his eyes turned from joy to fear. When I got close enough I reared back and punched him in the face with a strength I had never even known and he was knocked out cold.
We had taken him to the dungeon. I waited for him to wake up and when he did he fell out of his stone bed and gave me a look of confusion.
"What are you doing here Aaron?" I asked. "You're getting married. It's a father's duty to walk his daughter down the aisle." I sat up from my chair and got in his face. "It's also a father's duty to stay with his daughters and wife. Oh wait. Amber isn't your wife." Aaron held his head down and sighed. "I wanted her to be." I scoffed at him. My god, he looked pathetic.
"You wanted to marry Amber? So why the hell did you run the first time she was pregnant and why did you sleep with another woman!? Well you missed out on raising us big time. Kiara is dead."
"I know that." He whispered. I glared at him one more time then sat back in my chair. "You were never there for us." Aaron lifted his head. "Yes I was. I went to every birthday ball. I watched Natalia's coronation. I went to every funeral." I didn't even know that. I didn't even see him. He must have found a way to keep himself invisible in the crowd.
"Then why didn't you talk to us?" I asked. "I was afraid. At the funeral, I regretted everything I did that night. I was even afraid to come here because I thought you still hated me." I scoffed again. "I still hate you. We all do. Don't you remember the last thing you said to Amber before my birthday? "I'm not ready". Well Aaron, it's been twelve years. Are you ready now?"
He lifted his head up. "Yes." I crossed my arms at him. "You better be. In this wedding, my sisters and I run a tight ship. You have three days to convince us that you are committed to being a father." He nodded. "Is that all?"
"For now. Also, do not let Natalia know that you were here. The law states that if an exiled individual returns, their punishment is death. And my older sister is very strict with the law." To my surprise he smiled at me. "I know that law very well. Amber signed off on it when you were only three."
I glared at him again. "I hope you don't mind the cold. You're sleeping down here tonight. I'll let you out tomorrow morning. My sisters and I are going to dinner. Goodnight Aaron." I walked away from his cell and closed the dungeon door.
My then went to the throne room where Catherine was waiting. I rushed to her and ran into our arms. "Catherine." I whispered. I really missed her like hell. I was so damn happy to see her again. "You've grown up so much, love." She told me. We got out of the embrace and I took her hands. "My sisters and I are going out. Would you like to join us?" Her eyes widened and she nodded happily.
"Yay!" I grabbed your hand and we started walking up stairs where everyone was. Back in the conservatory, Lynn and Allie were talking about what happened on the beach.
"I can't believe I drowned. I am a grown ass woman. I feel so stupid." Lynn said with disappointment. Allie, trying to find a positive told her. "Well at least you had a sexy savior." Lynn smirked, thinking about Nathaniel and his chiseled abs. "Yeah I guess you're right. I could've lied there all day with him on top of me and let him do whatever he wanted."
Natalia's jaw dropped. "Little sister, have you no shame?" Lynn rolled her eyes. "You and Allie make out every ten minutes. I am allowed to talk about my fantasies." I overheard the conversation as I walked in. I told Catherine to stand in the hallway until I introduced her. "All this boy talk is making me miss Charles."
Charles was away with his bachelor party. Having a bachelor vacation. Natalia and Allie told him if he looked at any woman, they would blind him. I talked with them for a half an hour about how violent that threat was. Being the amazing guy he was, Charles completely understood and swore to himself that he would never hurt me or betray my trust.
Girls, I have a big surprise for you." I said with a smile. "What is it?" Lynn asked with anticipation. "Catherine! Come on out!" I called her and she opened the door.
Lynn and Natalia screamed with excitement and ran over to embrace her. After five minutes of happy tears, we were all helping Catherine get ready for our outing. I admit we looked at the extra, but we were Zodious royalty so we could wear whatever we wanted.
Lynn flew us to a restaurant at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. We took our seats on the balcony and got comfy. Honestly it's been a minute since I was so relaxed and hanging out with my girls. I turned to Natalia and placed my hand on hers. "Thank you big sis. You don't know how much I needed this."
She smiled at me. "You know I'd do anything for you little sister. Also as your maid of honor, it's my responsibility to see that you are calm and collected." I laughed at that. She really was the best maid of honor I could have had.
After an hour of conversation, Natalia stood up from her chair. "I need to go to the ladies room because this wine is going through me."
After she left, I turned to Lynn. "Okay we need to tell you something. But Natalia cannot know." Lynn cocked her head. "What?" I took a deep breath. "Aaron is back." Lynn's eyes widened. I knew she had a million questions. "Where is he?" Allie sighed. "He's in the dungeon right now." She said. Lynn scoffed. "Wouldn't be the first time he's been in the dungeon."
"What do you mean?" I asked her. "I mean when Amber first got pregnant with Kiara, before Aaron could escape, he got locked up." I smirked. "And now he's back in the doghouse." I crossed my arms. "But, I'm giving him a chance to prove himself." Allie gave me a serious look.
"You really think he's changed?" Allie asked. Catherine nodded, obviously trying to stand up for him. "He has changed. I've seen it for myself. He came to me and I saved him. He told me that this was his last chance." Lynn shook her head.
"I don't believe that shit for a minute. He never proposed to Amber. He had so many chances to propose and be a husband and a king but what does he do? He fucks another bitch in Amber's bed. That is beyond disrespectful." Catherine placed her hand on top of Lynn's.
"Lynn, he's your father." Lynn pulled her hand away from Catherine. "No he's not! We're not blood related and he never did shit to raise me or my sisters. Amber was more of a father than he ever could have been." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I need to catch my breath. It's getting too heated in here." She got up from her chair and hastily walked away.
As Lynn was walking she wasn't looking where she was going and bumped into someone. When she looked up, she saw the smiling face of Nathaniel. "You look good dry." Lynn smirked at his offhand compliment. "So you save people and dish out compliments?" He chuckled. "Something like that. Where are my manners?" He then bowed. "It's lovely to see you again, Crown Princess."
Lynn rolled her eyes. "I've had enough of that Crown Princess bullshit. Call me Lynn." He nodded in understanding. "You know, I keep replaying the moment when you dragged me onto the dance floor at Queen Allie's coronation." Lynn blushed. "I just didn't want to dance alone." Nathaniel then took her hand. "Then why don't we dance again on the beach? I bet you look dazzling under the moonlight."
Lynn smiled widely. "Give me a minute." She then rushed back to our table. "Girls! Nathaniel is here and he asked me out for a dance on the beach." I gave her a straight face. "You obviously said no." She shook her head. "Reilly I said yes. That man is fine, plus it's been a hot minute since I've been with a kind gentleman."
I gawked at her. "You are insane. You are the Crown Princess of Zodious. If you get killed, then I have to be Queen when Natalia dies and I'm not ready for that." Natalia smacked me across the head. "You're talking as if I was on my deathbed. I'm not going anywhere for a long-ass time. Let the girl live Reilly."
Lynn nodded. "Yeah what Natalia said. I'm going." Before I walked away, Natalia grabbed my arm. "Wait. I want you to be safe." She then gave me her purple dagger. "Take this little sister. It'll calm Reilly's nerves." Reilly scoffed at that. I concealed the dagger and my top. I knew I wasn't going to need it anyway.