“Oh my god, Jade it’s you” The girl yelled and hugged me tightly.“You know her?” Rodor asked and I nodded.“My sister’s friend” I answered. It was Bridget, Juliana’s friend back at Eldamore. I hugged her back feeling happy to see a familiar face around here. “Oh, I see. I’ll leave you two to catch up then” Rodor said before leaving.I released her from the hug and she took a step back to take a good look at me. With tears in her eyes, she said “You look good. What are you doing here? What about Juliana?”I wiped the water in my eyes and shook my head. “It’s a long story but to make it short, I ended up here while I was looking for her. I don’t know where she is” I sniffled.“What about you? How did you all end up in the woods?” I asked.“Why don’t we go in and I’ll explain, my legs are killing me” She pointed to her ankle that was wrapped up in a white bandage.“I sprained it while we were running from those other wolves,” she explained as we in and sat close to her in her bed.“I’
I woke drenched in sweat and panting very hard from a nightmare. My hands were trembling as Keanu took them and drew me to his chest.Drawing circles on my back and feathering kisses on my face he soothed. “It’s okay. I’m here. It’s just a bad dream”It’s been so long since I had dreams like this and I knew it was triggered by the rogue attack in the woods. It was still very early in the morning and I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I stayed up with Keanu as he calmed me till morning fully came. We skipped training because he wanted me to get some rest. I remained in bed watching him get ready to leave.“Can you stay with me for some time before you go?” I asked and he stopped to look at me.“Of course, are you okay?” He walked to where I was lying in bed.“Yeah, I just want to stay with you for more minutes”“Do you need me to call Rodor?”“No, I’m fine, I'm just shaken by the nightmare,” I answered.He tucked my hair behind my ear and gave me a light kiss on the lips.I held his hand
His mouth crashed on mine instantly and he kissed me with a burning hunger. I moaned as his tongue licked my lips and slipped into my mouth. My hand curled upwards into his hair and I tugged on the strands earning a growl from him. His mouth left my lips and came down my neck, then I remembered we were in his office and the door was open again“Keanu” I pant and he moaned “Keanu” I called again and he hummed not listening to me, he must have thought I was moaning his name.I smiled and said “Can you lock the door”He stopped and then pulled away to look at my face “Come let’s go to our room” He said and I nodded.He guided purposefully back to the room and locked the door. His hands were back on my body after that.He brushed my hair away from my shoulder and lowered his mouth to my skin, tasting it, biting lightly. His hands went round me, finding the zip of my dress and pulling it down. He slipped the dress down my body until I was left in my bra and panties. His eyes skimmed down
I could feel his presence within me and all around me. I can’t explain the feeling but for the first time, I felt the bond, our bond thrumming inside me. He told me he loves me and that took me by surprise, I didn’t reply because I was caught off guard and never imagined that Keanu would fall in love with me. I love him too and wanted to say it back when my confusion cleared but he must have taken my silence as a sign that I didn’t feel the same. His face was in my hair and I turned around in his arms to look at his beautiful face. His eyes were closed and his face relaxed, making him look at peace.“Good morning little human, how do you feel?” He said with his eyes still closed.“A little bit sore,” I answered.My body felt sore from all the activities we engaged in last night and I just want us to remain like this. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him too, but bringing it up now would seem a little too awkward.“Come, I’ll help you bath”He stood up from the bed and lifted me
I practically ran out of the hall after the last girl sat down and I noticed Eliana from my peripheral stand up and come after me. I only slowed down when I was away from where the girls were still loitering. Leaning against a wall, I took deep breaths. Being in that same hall with not just Imelda’s eyes that was centered on me but also her hair that reminded me of Grey and how he died suffocated me and I couldn’t breathe properly.“Hey, are you okay?” Eliana asked as she finally caught up to me.I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good”Imelda will never forgive me, and now I’ll be seeing her everyday. Why is she even here? Keanu was still paying them, why then did she apply to work in the castle? This was what I wanted to ask but it’ll be rude of me to ask.Eliana cupped my face and my eyes focused on her “You did the right thing and Grey will be very happy” I took steady breaths and reminded myself that this was for Grey. His sister probably wants to earn doub
The guards at the palace gate looked confused as we came down from the wagon. They bowed as we got closer but didn’t step aside.“Tell Ezra that we’ve arrived” Keanu’s voice held so much authority that the guards wasted no time in doing what he said. One of the guards left to get Ezra and soon Ezra appeared from behind the big gates.“Keanu, Jade” He bowed, “I didn’t know you were coming this soon”“Me too,” Keanu answered.I’m a little confused about what’s going on but I’ll ask him later. “Welcome then, please come with me” Ezra smiled but it was strained.He turned around and led us into his palace. I’ve never been to his palace before but I never imagined it to look this big and beautiful. I could see how lavishly he was living while his people suffered. Even his guards and servants that loitered around looked so malnourished like they’d drop dead any minute from now. How does Ezra even expect these guards to protect him or the villagers? There was a big difference between Ezra’s
“What’s that?” Keanu asked, coming to stand beside me.With quivering lips, I looked up at him and answered “It’s a letter from.. from Juliana”I shifted my gaze back to the piece of paper in my hand and when I saw the date on it my hand flew to my mouth. It was dated back to her birthday. It was a very short message and it said ‘Today is my birthday Jade but no one is here to celebrate with me. I’m scared, I don’t want to be alone. I don’t know where you are but I won’t give up on my search, I promise to find you. I hope you’re safe and I hope you see this letter and know how much I miss you. My wish for this year is that you’re okay and we see each other soon. I love you”My knees buckled but Keanu caught me before I could connect with the floor. He turned me around and pulled me to his chest as I sobbed. She was really here like Bridget mentioned. Juliana was here and was alive and looking for me. Oh my god. She must have been the one who locked the door. Why did I never think ab
It was night by the time we arrived back at the castle. Noir met us outside and left with Keanu who still looked furious. I walked up the stairs heading to the last wing when I met Eliana.“What’s that in your hands?” She was referring to the painting that I was holding close to my chest. I rolled it open to show her.“It’s a painting of my parent”The upper part of the painting was burnt but the picture of them was still good.Eliana studied the painting and my face. “You look just like your mother” “Yeah, I get that a lot,” I replied.“So how did it go, did you find anything?” She asked and I nodded as I pulled out the letter that was hiding inside my bra. I handed it to her and when she went through it her mouth dropped and she gasped.“She was there?” She asked and I nodded again, holding back the tears in my eyes. “Oh dear, how do you feel?” Her voice dropped to that of concern.“I feel like I didn’t do enough. After reading that letter. I feel like I failed her.”“Don’t say th