Jude
It's been days since I last saw Rhea, even though my spies say that Rhea is in the palace and as I'm walking by the library, I pause when I hear voices.
The door is shut and locked as I place my ear to the door but the voices are muffled.
However, I can hear Rhea, and it brings me relief to know that she's safe if not okay.
Cardan's face is grim as he rounds the corner and I raise an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"Apparently, Rhea and Castien haven't left the library in three days except to go to the bathroom and grab other resources that Castien has messengers from Dorrenhid is receiving."
"So why's that a problem?" I ask, confused as to why Cardan looks so upset about this project they're working on.
It's been almost a week since I convinced Cardan and Rhea to not work on a cure to "cure" my age and I can see that it's breaking their hearts and they don't want to tell the boys yet, afraid that their reaction might send our family into a depressed depression or something like that.
"Because they're working on solving what Lord Jasce of Clintendon wants and specifically why he's going after Rhea through her friends and family," Cardan says coldly and I close my eyes.
That would explain the lock doors more than anything else.
"Three days?" I ask in surprise after a few seconds of silence and Cardan nods.
"I'm half tempted to ask a guard to break down the doors and carry them to their rooms so they get some rest if not sleep. The only other person in this castle who's seen Rhea was a maid who entered to bring them food. They look ghastly."
"WE CAN HEAR YOU, AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING," Rhea hollers and we snicker as we walk away.
"So... what happens when Rhea finds out the truth about Lord Jasce?" I ask worriedly and Cardan shakes his head.
"I don't know and I dread to think of her reaction. Hopefully our daughter understands and doesn't cast us away from her life," Cardan says miserably and I pause in the hallway before I look at him.
"You think she would over this?" I hiss and he nods.
"I do. I think when Rhea finds out, she won't just feel betrayed, she's going to be angry. With us, not with Lord Jasce."
We had told Rhea that he had been a conqueror and that had been true.
We had put an end to his life in hopes of saving Elfhame from his rule, but there was a darker side to the tale.
One that Rhea would never forgive us for.
I wasn't sure if anyone could for what we'd done.
As we walked, I felt rising shame within me, for what I'd done and what I'd have to do to calm my daughter when she found out.
Not if.
Rhea
I can feel my parent's concern for me and Castien, because it's true.
We haven't left this room in 3 days, pouring over texts, writing and discussing who Jasce was, what he was doing on the continent, what he wanted, what had happened to him, and why his son was after me.
"Okay," I say, leaning back in my chair and rubbing my temples, "I know you shot this down a few days ago, but I really think that if we wrote to him and I told him I wanted to meet, it'd do us loads of good to understand instead of looking at these books incessantly-"
"And I already told you that I already nearly lost you to the Undersea, which is a territory of Elfhame, and Lord Jasce of Clintendon's doing, so no, darling, I am not letting you write to that bastard and using yourself as bait to find out information that we are so close to finding," Castien says firmly and I roll my eyes.
"I've lost 3 days that I'll never get back because you claimed that answers are always on paper," I groan and he rolls his eyes in return.
"And I've lost 3 years of my life listening to you complain about reading said papers," he complains and I grin.
"Good. Maybe with 3 more days, I can get you to finally give up on these stupid books," I say, making a statement as I push away the heavy books and placing my arms on the table as I lean my head against them.
I am so fucking exhausted, I don't think I've ever been so tired.
"For the record, I think you're being ridiculous," I grumble as I close my eyes and I hear Castien snicker.
"And for the record, you're being lazy."
I immediately raise my head and look at him incredulously as I exclaim, "We've been working nonstop for 3 days, Castien! I literally do not remember what my bedroom looks like, and I miss my bed. We've been taking 30 minute power naps in these goddamned wooden chairs every 12 hours and you know that those naps do us no good either."
He sighs as he closes his own book and picks up the papers we've written our findings on.
"Do you think-"
"That we should stop and go to sleep and look at this again when we wake up? Good idea," I interrupt, rising from my chair but he grabs my wrist and I whine out, "Castien, I'm so tired I don't think I can even think about how bad I smell."
"Which is why when we find our answers a shower and a good sleep will feel like becoming a queen or king," he grumbles and I glare at him.
"I hate you," I confirm as I sit back down and open my book again.
He smirks as he turns back to his book, "I'm sure you do," he says innocently.
Seriously, I might stab him with this quill if he has another witty remark about how tired we both are.
And less than 5 minutes later, Castien closes his book and shakes his head.
"Fine. 12 hours. I will see you back in here in 12 hours," he confirms and I jump from my chair, kiss his cheek and flee the library.
Jesus it smells amazing out in the hallways and the air is cool on my skin as I trudge my way to my bedroom and fall into my bed.
I hear a laugh and I groan as I look to see Mother sitting in an armchair, looking amused.
"I was wondering when Castien would finally crack and let you get some rest," she says and I growl out with my face squashed in a pillow, "He's such a hardass. I only have 12 hours. So please let me sleeeeep."
She laughs and I feel her kiss the corner of my head before she says, "I'll allow that."
I'm asleep in minutes and I awaken to someone jumping on my bed.
"I told you 12 hours, and 12 hours was what we agreed on," I hear an aggravating voice say and I snarl as I look to see who's jumping on my bed.
Trevan.
"Will you quit that you little cretin?" I hiss at him and Castien looks at him and nods before Trevan gets off and scurries out of the room.
"Did you sleep well, princess?" Castien teases sweetly and I sit up with a glare.
"I happen to have a wonderful collection of knives that'll look really pretty in your skin," I threaten and his grin only widens before he stands up from the armchair and helps me out of bed.
"Was that really 12 hours?" I ask sleepily as I brush my hair back into a ponytail as we walk back into the library, and I pause when I look at the setup.
"Did you do this?" I ask in amazement and Castien's grin makes my insides warm.
The library is clean and smells like honeysuckle, the fresh aroma of old book pages, and...
"Where did you get coffee?!" I exclaim as I look at the cups on the table and he grins.
"Your mother helped me for the most part. By the way, the machine that brews said coffee is a death trap and a torture device," he says and shudders which makes me burst into laughter.
All of the books are organized, the ink wells for our quills are refilled and I laugh.
Trays of food are on nearby surfaces and he shrugs. "I figured the thing you needed most was going to be sleep, so while you slept, I set this up."
I turn towards him and hug him, emotion coating my throat as I whisper, "Thank you."
His arms wrap around him and he says quietly, "There's nothing worse than trying to do research on your stalker and assassin with a dirty and unorganized library," to which I burst into laughter.
He's right.
And I'm incredibly grateful for him.
"Ready to get to work?" he asks as I pick up a sliced sandwich and I nod as I sit down in my chair.
He sips on his coffee and his eyes nearly fall out of his head.
"Are you kidding me?" he declares and I raise an eyebrow.
"You okay?" I ask nervously and his grin triples tenfold.
"This is the best thing ever! I'm having these every day."
I laugh. "Yeah, watch out, the caffeine dose might kill you if you have more than one every day as a new coffee enthusiast," I say as I sip on mine and he shakes his head.
"Worth it. Alright, last time we..."
Jude
When Castien had come to me after I had come from Rhea's room with a request, my heart had nearly melted.
This boy would move heaven and earth to protect and make Rhea happy.
Maybe this alliance between Dorrenhid and Elfhame had been a good thing, even if it had started out a little rocky.
I was happy she had someone she could trust so effortlessly and so freely.
But I was wondering if my carefree, independent, wily daughter who had always scoffed at the concept of marriage, might be falling for someone she hadn't expected to.
But what of their thrones?
Castien was the heir to the Dorrenhid throne and Rhea was the heir to the Elfhame throne.
Would one of them be willing to give up their crown to be with the other?
While I liked to see my daughter so happy and so in love, I didn't know if it could work.
Rhea had a duty to Elfhame like Castien had a duty to Dorrenhid.
Besides, Rhea was so committed to becoming queen.
Was Castien?
Would they have to lose one another if they couldn't give up something as large as their crowns if it meant they could have one another? Was the sacrifice truly worth it?
A/N: I think I've finally figured out how to write the next few chapters and what the plan will be so I'd say we're back on track with weekly updates (we'll see, considering senior year just loves to throw curveballs into my life without any warning). Hope you like this one!