In Rhode’s carriage, he was thinking about how to break the awkward atmosphere between him and Megan.He thought that giving her the necessary information about Melody would help but Megan had not looked at him since then.What was she thinking?He hated to start on a bad foot with her, on their first day back to the Western Kingdom.“Penny for your thoughts?” He asked, trying to sound casual.Megan was in deep thought about a lot of things. It was farthest from her intentions to seem awkward or distant.She was just unsure about how to not be so affected by the Melody situation. Although Rhode had assured her that she was nothing but an old friend, memories of h

The silence that followed Rhode’s announcement was almost deafening. For a moment, Megan felt as though the ground would be very kind to open up and swallow her.Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone clapping, and one by one the sound of clapping grew more and everyone was standing.“Welcome, our future queen.” Lord Rosebud said, approaching her with outstretched arms.The gesture took Megan by surprise but she was very glad. She hugged Lord Rosebud and for the first time since she stepped out of the carriage, she left Rhode’s hand. “Thank you.” She said to him,Rhode took her hand back in his and she smiled back at him. He leaned and whispered in her ear, “the worst part is over. We’ll be back at your temporary quarters shortly.” She nodded in response.One by one, every person that was present came to pay their respects to Rhode and Megan.“I am glad the King has finally found a good thing.” One of the old men said.“Welcome to the West.” Another said.“It’s good to finally have

For what felt like hours, Rhode and Brian were in some sort of stare-down. The two men watched each other, barely blinking in the minutes that had gone by.Rhode was waiting for Brian to say that his earlier statement was a joke and Brian was wishing he had not said it outloud the moment the words left his mouth.He had just thought about it the moment he said it out. What he actually wanted to tell Rhode was that he needed some advice on how to relate with Brianna. He felt that for some reason there was always something that caused a misunderstanding between the two of them and between him and Rhode, Rhode had way more experience with women, for the sole reason that even though they flocked all around him, he dismissed them with care for their feelings. Brian on the other hand, froze at any interaction or contact with women so he really was winging it with Brianna and he was failing woefully.“You want to marry lady Brianna.” Rhode finally broke the silence and stare-down. The thing

“My lady,” Mary’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She was back to the very harsh reality. Although she was married to Rhode’s late brother, she always felt that as long as Rhode remained unmarried, she could bear not being with him. As long as no other woman got to have him, she was okay.She was shattered by the news of her husband succumbing to his illness, she was a widow at 28 years. She was not going to be queen anymore and that was what her father cared about most in the world.A grieving widow, she was surprised to be told to remain in the palace, afterall the throne was now empty and the next in line was Rhode. There was no way Rhode was going to marry her. He had already rejected her.“You will marry his brother, Rhode.” Her father said to her on one of the many pa

Mirabel approached the mansion, heart pounding in her chest. Children who grew up in a normal, functioning family would be glad to return home after so long but all Mirabel wanted to do was run away. Run away from the West if possible but she didn’t even have the strength to do so.The doorman opened the door and she entered the mansion, heading for the balcony where her parents always sat.She didn’t miss the lack of ceramic in the hallway. He must have broken them all. He would never change.She walked towards the balcony and as she entered she saw her mother and father. She had not seen them in months despite the fact that her father was a regular at the palace.“Mirabel, dear! How are you?” Her mother gleamed at her with that fake, plastic smi