I turn back toward the window, watching as Messalinagrows larger before my eyes, the snowcapped mountains a reminder of winter despite the warmer climate we were just in.
“Come here.” Sebastian pulls me in tight, tossing his arm around me and tucking me into his chest. “Je t’aime. C’est pour toujours. Tu m’as libéré.”
I smile, my heart fluttering. It’s the same words he said to me the first time he told me he loved me. For a man who was nothing short of a grumpy beast when I first came to work at the palace, he’s anything but now. His heart is a beautiful, dynamic place, filled with layers and complexities I’ve only just started scratching the surface of.
He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel loved. He makes me feel worshipped and somehow always seems to know what I need, oftentimes even before I do. His touch is electric as his large hand holds my much smaller one. And I sink into that. Taking the comfort he’s giving me and allowing it to slow my racing heart and tumultuous thoughts.
His mind is reeling as well. For as stoic as the king of Messalina can be, this new development has shaken him. How could it not?
I can only hope it leads him and Rowan down a road to peace instead of tragedy.
The plane lands, and not even ten minutes later, we’re driving through the high wrought iron gates and imposing shrubbery of the palace. It’s a beautiful day in Messalina. The sky is a cloudless pale blue, and the air is cool without being too cold. This palace sits at the base of the Alps, though it is still more in the valley than the mountains, which keeps much of the snowfall and frigid temperatures away.
The moment my feet hit the gravel of the driveway, the front doors of the palace fling open, and three small bodies come racing our way. Phaedra is forever in the lead, followed by Sabrina and, of course, little Zayer following everywhere hissisters go. At not even four, I can already tell he’s going to be every bit as large and commanding as his father.
I crouch down, arms spread wide, and one by one, they slam into me, hugging me as fiercely as I’m hugging them. “Queen, princess, my little prince…I missed you all so terribly much.”
I smother them with kisses and squeezes, holding on as tight as I can.
“Gentle with Bellamy’s belly,” Sebastian admonishes, and I stick out my tongue at him, making Phaedra giggle.
“Don’t ruin my squeezes.”
“Ah, but you’ve hogged them enough.”
Sebastian scoops Zayer into his arms and tosses him high in the air, only to immediately set him down and start hugging and kissing the girls, stealing them from me one by one, and I can’t help but smile as warmth spreads through me. His heart has always belonged to his children. They’re what’s kept him going all these years. The love and affection he gives them is what first thawed me to him.
“We missed you,” he says, peppering each with hugs and kisses. My heart clenches at how he sayswe. Our wedding happened exactly six days ago, and before that, I was their nanny. We hid much of our relationship from the children until shortly before we got engaged.
Now I’m their stepmother, but the way Sebastian speaks, there is no division between us as parents. I’m a mother to three going on five children at only twenty-two, but I can’t imagine it any other way now.
“Papa!” Phaedra cries. “It’s Friday. Can we make dinner and watch a movie the way we always do?”
Sebastian and I exchange looks just as Althea and Rowan exit the front door, both wearing serious, stringent masks.
“We can, my darlings,” I tell them, offering a smile I hardly feel. “First, I have to check on my father.”
“Grandpapa fell,” Sabrina tells me, her expression full of sympathy. “He got hurt. Phaedra says it’s a broken bone and that’s why he has the plaster on his arm.”
“I know, kiddo. But don’t worry, his wrist will heal, and he’ll be better.”I hope. I stand and immediately Althea drags me in for a hug. “You’re going to make me cry,” I tell her, already sniffling. Damn pregnancy hormones.
“He’s okay. The doctors have him a bit sedated as he already tried to tear off the cast they have him in, but he does not require surgery.”
“That’s a relief.” I pull away and find Sebastian and Rowan off to the side, conversing in hurried, hushed tones. “Did something else happen?” I whisper.
Althea’s grave eyes meet mine. “They found the pajamas Princess Desta was taken in. With blood on them.”
I gasp, my hand covering my mouth, but work to keep my voice quiet. “Oh, god. How awful.”
Sebastian picks up both Sabrina and Phaedra, holding one on each hip. “Come now, let’s go inside. It’s cold out here. I want you to tell me all about the trouble you’ve gotten into while we’ve been gone. And Sabrina, don’t bother lying and saying you didn’t get into any. I happen to know trouble is your middle name.”
The girls immediately launch into stories, and I lift Zayer, who tucks into me, and we all head into the palace.
“Do they know if it’s her blood?” I question Althea quietly.
She shakes her head. “No. Just that they found it beneath the mattress of a broken crib. This cottage…” She shakes her head again. “Mon dieu. It is a disaster. But I think at this point it is clear this is where Desta was first taken after she was kidnapped.”
“Althea…” I trail off. I can’t even finish that.
