Eden’s Destiny (The Royal Quads: Book 1)

Chapter 3

Eden

After discussing every boring possible aspect of my upcoming “transition to royalty,” as Grammy Sarah put it, and lunch with Grampa Greg, I said goodbye to my parents and watched as my mom and dad waved at me until the SUV was out of sight down the cobblestone driveway. I turned around and looked at the palace, my new home. Suddenly I felt very homesick. I sat on the steps out front and pulled my phone out of my pocket, unlocking the screen. No messages. I frowned. I opened up a new message to my boyfriend.

Eden: Hey babe, I made it to my grandparents okay. What are you up to? I miss you.

I watched as the alert changed to read and the three bubbles popped up to show he was replying. Smiling at my phone, I waited impatiently for his message to pop up.

Tucker: Hey gorgeous. Glad u made it safe. N I’m just hanging out with Robbie and Kyle. Tryin to find something to do tonite.

Eden: Hold that thought. I have an idea. Text you in a few.

I stood, racing inside to find Phoebe standing just inside the door, waiting for me. She immediately dipped into a curtsy when she saw me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her upstairs to my room.


“Phoebe, we talked about the curtsy thing remember? Knock it off.” As soon as we were inside my room I closed the door and locked it, checking carefully to make sure that all of the staff had left my room before turning to look at Phoebe again.

“What’s wrong Your Highness?” She asked me, looking concerned. I gave her a look. “I’m sorry, Eden.” I smiled genuinely at her.

“How old are you Phoebe?” She looked taken aback at my question.

“Um, I’m 17? Why?”

“What’s there to do for a couple teenage girls in this town on a Friday night??” Her eyes widened. “I want to go out and do something! Regal Ridge is going to be my new home and I want to get to know it better.” I told her, giving her a half-truth.

“Well, um, let’s see. There’s a movie theater, but I’m not sure what’s playing. And there’s bowling.” I wrinkled my nose, making her giggle. “Oh! What about The Howler?!” She asked me, suddenly excited.

“What’s The Howler?”

“It’s fairly new, but from what I’ve heard it’s actually pretty incredible. It’s kind of like a night club but for teens 15 and up! I’ve never been there, but some of the girls that work in the kitchen have gone and said it’s fantastic.”

“That sounds perfect!” I told her, pulling my phone back out.

“Excellent! I’ll get ahold of the head warrior to arrange for a car and security detail…”

“No!” I cut her off. “I don’t want this to be a big thing. Can’t we just like, sneak out?” Her eyes widened again. I took her hand and pulled her over to my bed to sit down. “Phoebe, listen. I have a boyfriend back home and I want to see him. I’m pretty sure my dad gave strict orders to Grammy and Grampa that he’s not allowed near me so I have to be discreet about this.” Phoebe looked slightly distraught over what I was telling her. She’d been loyal to my grandparents since she had come to the castle to work. Now her loyalty was supposed to be with me and I was asking her to break the rules.

“Please, Phoebe. So far you’re my only friend here. I’m not going to do anything wrong or break any laws or anything. I just want to spend time with my boyfriend.” She sighed and hung her head.

“Okay,” she agreed quietly. “Okay, we can go. Discreetly.” I squealed with excitement and grabbed Phoebe into a hug, surprising her.

“Does 10pm work for you?” I asked her. She gave me a look, making me laugh. “Okay, okay. Be back up here then. If anyone sees you, just tell them you’re coming to make sure I’m settling in okay. You can wear your uniform. I’ll give you some of my clothes to wear when you get up here.” I gave Phoebe another hug and she left the room to finish off whatever tasks she had left to do for the day. Pulling my phone back out, I texted Tucker again.

Eden: Want to meet up tonight?

Tucker: Hell yes! How and where?

Eden: My lady-in-waiting is going to help me sneak out. Meet me at 10:30 at a place called The Howler here in Regal Ridge.

Tucker: ur what??? LMAO Dude. U r really embracing this whole Princess BS aren’t u?

Eden: I didn’t have a say in it. I guess she’s my own personal servant but she’s my age and she’s sweet. She’s coming with, and she’s super pretty. Bring a friend.

Tucker: Ok babe. I’ll see u tonite.

Eden: Yay! I love you and I’ll see you tonight.

Tucker: U 2

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes it annoyed me that Tucker wouldn’t ever tell me that he loved me. It was always “you too.” I tried not to take it personally. I just figured it was a guy thing.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 2:30. I had plenty of time before I needed to get ready. I went over to the stash of yarn and selected a few skeins that I thought would look nice together. Grabbing my go-to size J hook, I settled into the squishy brown chair and began to work on a striped blanket for my bed. The yarn flew through my fingers and around my hook as I stitched. Crocheting was such a therapeutic thing for me. The way the yarn could start off as a simple strand and turn into something beautiful was just magical to me. The time flew by and before I knew it, I was setting aside my work so that I could get ready for my night out.

I showered quickly and dried my hair. I pulled a straightener through it, knowing that Tucker liked my hair when it was smooth and shiny. Once I was satisfied that it looked okay, I put on some light makeup, just enough to accentuate my blue eyes, and made my way into my closet so that I could pick out outfits for myself and for Phoebe.

I figured that Phoebe’s taste was probably far different from mine, so I pulled out some simple grey leggings, a black mini skirt, and a sleeveless red crop top. I grabbed my red wedge heels, hoping that she could fit in them. Satisfied with the outfit I had chosen for her, I turned back to my clothing to find something for myself.

Since I hadn’t been allowed to see Tucker the last few days that I was at home, I decided to tone down my usually colorful appearance and just look nice for him. I opted for a pair of black leather skinny pants with a loose white tank top that had a plunging v-neck. I slipped on my favorite shiny black heels. I eyed my reflection in the full length mirror on my closet door, satisfied with how I looked. A soft knock on my door sounded, and I ran to the door, opening it and pulling Phoebe inside.

“Did anyone see you?” I asked quietly.

“No! Not a soul!” She promised me. I showed her the outfit I had laid out for her and her eyes lit up. She took the clothes into the bathroom and changed quickly. When she emerged, my eyes nearly bugged out of my head.

“Phoebe! You goddess!” I exclaimed. “You look hot as f**k!” She giggled, blushing. I grabbed my body pillow and shoved it under the covers, making it look like I was sleeping in bed. I turned out the lights and carefully made my way to the sliding door that led out to my private balcony.

“Um, Eden? What are you doing?” Phoebe’s voice came from behind me. I turned to see her looking at me very confused.

“I’m sneaking out Phoebe. Remember?” I asked her, giggling. She rolled her eyes and pulled me back into the room.

“Oh Princess,” Phoebe smirked. “What kind of lady-in-waiting would I be if I didn’t have a route planned for us to sneak out safely? Follow me!” Very quietly she opened my door, peering out into the hallway and motioning me to follow her. Impressed, I tiptoed behind her as she led me down the hallway to a locked door. She reached down into her shirt and pulled out a necklace with a key on it. Using the key to unlock the door, she opened it, revealing a narrow stone staircase. “Secret staircase!” She whispered. “There are two of them, and lucky for us, one of them is right here!”

I carefully pulled the door shut, hearing the softest click as it latched back into place. Using our cell phone flashlights, we crept quietly down the stairs until we came to another door leading out into a back part of the kitchen. Phoebe pointed and I went that direction. We had finally made our way to the back door of the kitchen, which led outside into a large grassy yard. Once we had the door closed behind us, I grabbed Phoebe into a hug.

“Girl, you are amazing!” She beamed happily.

“As I said, anything you need Princess! Now, let’s get going!” I took her hand and we raced across the yard towards the lights of town.