A New Era: Kalparainia Chronicles Book One

Chapter Twelve

For the rest of the trip to the castle, Xander had seemed to be pushing everyone to move a little faster so that I could be in the comfort of our home. After a lengthy discussion about when to tell people about our child, we agreed to do it during the start of the Royal Court-as his mother had done when she was pregnant with him. Of course, he had called Sora into our carriage to thank her personally for saving not only me, but our child as well. Her response kind of shocked the both of us when she said that she already knew, she could smell the scent all over me, but it hadn't been her place to say anything. After that, Xander had told her that should I become with child again, it was her place to say something about it. Then Xander proceeded to make her title Williem and my Royal Guard had given to her a true title. The Queen's Shadow, and... to top it off, he knighted her in front of all of the men.

Once we had arrived back at the castle of Kyrain, Xander and I went into his steady and he ordered one of his men to go fetch Celeste so that he could have a word with her. While waiting, my hand went to where the locket had once been, and then I remembered that I had thrown it into the field about an hour before finding out that I was with child. I wasn't entirely sure how this little meeting was going to go, but I preyed that Xander's words held true and we'd show an united front with what we had agreed upon.

"You wished to speak with me, Xander?" Celeste's voice sounded strange, like she was trying to be seducing. As soon as she spotted me, her facial expression changed so quickly. She didn't look at me as she stepped farther into the steady.

"Your slandering and plotting against my wife stops now," Xander stated sternly. "Not only did you lie to me, you made me look like a fool when I tried to defend you, only to hear from countless others that everything in these," he held up the pile of letters, "were nothing but lies. Out of respect for my wife, you are not being dealt the usual punishment for such disrespect towards the crown."

Celeste glared in my direction, before turning her attention to Xander, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've only ever been honest with you."

"So," Xander picked up a random letter, "two days after I left, according to what this letter says-Alyse threatened your life if you told me what she was up to here, and that she was having an affair with Williem."

"You must have misread the letter, I've never once lied to you," Celeste pouted her lips out a bit.

"Alyse," Xander handed the letter over to me. "Please tell me what that says word for word."

"Okay... 'Dearest Xander,

'I'm writing to warn you. Alyse isn't who I thought she was. Once I figured out last night that she's been coming up with something to earn the trust of Damien Rysse, she threatened my life if I told you what she was doing, but you are a dear friend. I cannot sit idly by while she plots against you. I'm also sad to tell you that I accidently walked in on her and that Stewart of hers making love. I am deeply sorry that you're hearing this from me, but it needed to be said. I prey she doesn't figure out that I've written to you, for I do not know what she'll do.

'Forever yours, Celeste Thane'," I handed the letter back over to Xander.

"It seems as though I didn't misread your letter," Xander let out a sigh. "Do not continue to lie to me, Celeste." He stood and came to my side, "Alyse and I have agreed, that since you are no longer in mourning for the loss of Markus, she will be looking for a husband for you once Court begins in three days. You will not have a say in any of this. If you do not agree to this, then you will face the full wrath of the legal system of Kyrain for treason."

"Treason?!" Celeste gawked at my husband. "Xander-"

"You will not address me as though we are close," Xander stated coldly. "You will follow the laws of Kyrain or you can leave. During Court, the Queen has the say on who marries and who does not. If you do not like her choice for you, you can always go see if one of the other kingdoms will take you."

Celeste clamped her mouth shut and glared at me, "Of course, Your Grace."

"You may go," Xander waved her off. He turned to me and ran his hand through my hair, "Hopefully this will be a good fresh start to our marriage."

I nodded my agreement, "I believe it's a good start."

"Now, to deal with Riely and your brother," Xander sighed. "Did you get the deeds written up?"

"I did," I nodded again, "and the stipulations on which they'll get the land."

"Who should we deal with first?" Xander looked at me.

"Let's do Byron first," I looked down at my hands as nervousness settled in. I doubted that he was going to be happy with what we decided.

After going through and seeing what the two available lands held and how big they were, I had to sit there and debate on what to do. While I was debating, Xander was giving me information on the two lands. Both bordered Lady Grove's land, which kind of made my plan even easier. I had even informed Xander about helping Lady Grove out on getting her daughters married off. He laughed a little, until he realized that I was serious. I guess her land was a minor thought to Xander's family.

Byron entered the steady-his mother and our father came in with him. That was okay, because they were going to be going to Byron's land with him once everything was settled. I straightened myself as I handed the deed of Evercrest Estate, which had belonged to the late Lord Jennings. While it was slightly bigger than the Jade Hill Estate, Evercrest Estate didn't have the same income that Jade Hill Estate did. I handed the deed over to Byron.

"You are now Lord of Evercrest Estate," Xander told my brother. "There is a catch though, and it is stated on the deed as well-you will get married to Terisa Grove, the eldest daughter of Lady Elenore Grove. Lady Grove and her daughters are on their way here to join us for Court. You'll be married within the week of them arriving."

Charlotte glared over at me and opened her mouth, but Father bowed his head slightly, "Thank you, your Grace. You are too kind."

"This was your daughter's idea," Xander waved my father off.

"Of course it was," Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"So...I have to marry this girl in order to get this land?" Byron asked.

"Yes, and the title of Lord," Xander nodded. "If you decline the marriage, you decline everything that you gain with it."

"We deserve-" Charlotte started.

"I accept," Byron said quickly. "Right now, we have nothing. Only a fool would decline this offer."

He shot a glance at Charlotte, who must have realized that he was right. She clamped up immediately and looked away from Xander and me. Father looked as though he was thinking that their luck was turning around, Charlotte looked as though she wanted to demand something of us but she didn't, and Byron seemed to be thinking logically about the whole thing. Probably after the long talk he possibly had with our father. Once they left, Riely stepped in so quickly with his sister, Veronica, that I didn't have time to think about anything.

"You wished to speak with me?" Riely asked.

"I'm sure you already know about what, given your unusual hearing," Xander chuckled.

"I chose not to listen in on your conversation with your wife's family," Riely Caynar stated. Then he turned to me and bowed, "It's nice to see you again, my Queen."

"It's nice to see you again as well," I nodded back at him. "Please do not hate me for this... I tried to be fair."

As I said that, Xander handed Riely the deed to Jade Hill Estate, "It's a pretty small estate, but it's income is pretty large. We do have one requirement before it fully becomes yours."

Veronica started to laugh a bit, "I bet it's an arranged marriage with a Kyrain girl."

"You're not wrong," I stated. "It's to be fair and help one of the Ladies here in Kyrain. You'll have the choice between Susha or Maryanne Grove."

"I'm assuming I get my pick after your brother?" Riely asked.

"We picked for him," Xander told Riely. "You don't have to worry about stepping on anyone's toes."

"Oh, I wasn't worried," Riely smirked. "Immediate marriage, or do I get a week or two to woo my future bride?"

"A week," I was starting to wonder if Riely really didn't listen in on our conversation.

"No offense to either of you, but that's better than a few hours," Riely's smile widened. "You didn't have to do this. Yet you did, and Veronica and I are eternally grateful to the both of you."

As they left the steady, I relaxed a bit. There was one more thing I had to fully worry about with my family, and that was finding a husband for Celeste that she wouldn't make miserable.

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With the arrival of the "early birds" for Court, I was kind of thrown off a bit. Yes, I had nearly everything figured out, but they had kind of made my plans to take time to relax and spend time with Xander before he went back out to defend Kyrain from the looming Dragoonian threat. It seemed as though everything around had other plans though, even though Xander kept on saying that he was going to remain by my side until our child was born.

"You've been overly busy, my Queen, you should try to relax some," Jillian advised me. "The King has informed me that you don't have to worry about anything. Lady Ingrid has insisted that she has mostly everything covered for you."

"Jillian is right, Your Grace, you need to relax a bit," Williem joined in. "Lady Ingrid's husband is even helping her, though with him being a few years older than me... I don't see him being very useful in terms of helping Lady Ingrid plan things out. He's going on fifty-six this year, I believe."

"Perhaps being married to Ingrid makes him feel young," I pointed out.

I didn't want to tell them that I was keeping myself busy to distract myself from the fact that my own sister had tried turning my husband against me... that she had been trying to do so since we arrived in Kyrain. I had promised myself that I wasn't going to allow any of my family to trick me in such a way ever again. Not only had I been made a fool of...I had been made out to be the villain by the one person in this world I loved more than anything. My father-even with him trying so hard, had lost all respect that I had for him. I couldn't stand Byron any longer, and Celeste... I was resisting the urge to just have her "accidently" fall down a flight of stairs.

"I would hope that I make my dear husband feel young," Ingrid interjected as she walked towards us, her arm linked with a man who looked old enough to be her grandfather.

"My love, you make me feel thirty years younger," the man...Lord Rosewall smiled at Ingrid as though he worshipped the very ground she walked on.

"Queen Alyse, I would like for you to meet my husband, Lord Harry Rosewall," Ingrid smiled proudly at her husband. "Unlike some of the softer Lords in Kyrain, my husband was out fighting alongside the younger men against Dragoon."

"It's nice to meet such a patriot like yourself, my Lord," I couldn't help but smile at the couple.

"You honor me," Lord Rosewall smiled happily. "I understand that your newfound friendship with my wife means the world to her."

"It means the world to me as well, Lord Rosewall," I looked over at Ingrid, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"So what's going on over here?" Ingrid asked.

"We're advising the Queen about getting more rest," Jillian answered quickly. "She's been going nonstop the last couple of days."

Thanks for telling on me, I frowned as I looked at Jillian, and I could feel Ingrid's eyes go to me.

"You do need to rest," Ingrid stated. "How will you enjoy Court without being rested up?"

"I have things I have to do," I argued.

"And I'm here to take that stress away from you, my Queen," Williem reminded me. "Just relax a bit more than you have been, and you can worry later. Or do I have to bring the King into this?"

I stared at Williem. Is he threatening to tell Xander I haven't been getting much rest? I was having nightmares at night, making it hard to get the rest they wanted me to get. Not only was I dreaming of what had happened with Damien... I was also having nightmares of Xander taking Celeste as a mistress and Charlotte giving me that tea she was going to give me to make me baron.

"All we're saying is that you need to relax a bit more, Your Grace," Jillian placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Fine," I shook my head. "I'll go relax as much as I can. Just let me know when Lady Grove shows up."

"If course, Your Grace," Williem bowed.

"One other thing, Queen Alyse," Lord Rosewall smiled happily at me. "Ingrid tells me that you're looking for a husband for your sister. A friend of mine will be arriving within the week, and he happens to be looking for a bride."

"I will have to meet him first, but that's very kind of you to offer, Lord Rosewall," I returned the Lord's smile.

I had to force myself to the gardens, where I could "relax". I found a little nook where I could be left alone with my thoughts and looked up at the blue sky. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Deep down, all I wanted was for Celeste to apologize to me for everything that she had done, so that we could start over, but with how she looked at me now... I didn't see that ever happening. It was as though she hated me, and I had no clue how long this had been going on for. She had been such a wonderful older sister to me since I was too small to remember, but now... now she was someone I didn't even know. I had wanted to hold onto hope that everything could be fixed, but the reality was that Celeste-the real Celeste-was someone who wished to see me fail. There was no hope for fixing that and I had to accept that.

"So, does she know?" a woman's voice whispered somewhere in the gardens.

I opened my eyes and sunk deeper into my spot, while trying to figure out who that voice belonged to. It being whispered...it was hard to pinpoint who's voice it was.

"I don't think so," a man's voice replied in a softer whisper. "There's eyes and ears everywhere here, we need to be careful. I cannot lose you all because of a squabble between sisters."

"You'll never lose me, my love," the woman whispered. "No matter where I end up, I'll always be yours and yours alone."

I was trying hard not to reveal myself, but that would look bad...especially since I had managed to sneak away without my Royal Guard noticing me. I was truly alone-save for the couple who were more than likely servants. I thought that it was sweet, like a story-book romance. I tried to peak around a bush to see who they were, but one of the branches next to me moved.

"I'll try to make time for you later tonight," the man whispered. "We need to go before we're caught."

With the silence that happened next, I could tell that I was alone once again. I came out of my little secluded spot and looked around. That was interesting to say the least, and I wanted to find out who the couple was so that I could help them... I moved onto the path and noticed a handkerchief on the ground. I frowned as I picked it up. Why does this look so familiar? I stared at it a long moment before I remembered where I'd seen something like it. Celeste had at least four exactly like this...two of them were given to her handmaidens from Silverwood. Is it possible that the woman was one of Celeste's handmaidens? The couple had seemed fearful of something, and while I couldn't see Celeste being afraid of being discovered... I could see her handmaiden, Gwen, being very fearful of my sister. I should return this to Gwen.