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

Chapter 2

Eden

The second my feet touched the ground I felt something awaken in me. I’m not sure how to explain it but it felt like a spark erupted in the depths of my soul and coursed throughout my body. I could feel the electricity crackle as it reached my fingertips. It didn’t hurt, it was actually… pleasant? Familiar? Regardless of the feeling, it was unexpected, causing me to gasp audibly and clutch at my chest.

“s**t,” mom said, guiltily. She moved closer to me, taking my hand in hers and brushing my hair out of my face. “I forgot to warn you.”

“That I was gonna be electrocuted as soon as I got out of the car?” I asked her, annoyed. “What the hell was that? Did you feel it too?” She shook her head.

“You’re the heir to the throne, Eden. Coming here, to Regal Ridge, you’re home. Your bond to the entire kingdom has been formed.” She explained. “Your grandparents told me that it might happen.” I raised an eyebrow.

“The bond is just more proof that this is where you belong, Eden. That being the Queen is your destiny.” Dad told me. I groaned and pulled away from them, rolling my eyes.

The old man who had come outside when we pulled up was coming down the stairs from the palace entrance. He was tall, slender, with bushy white eyebrows that matched the surprisingly still-thick hair on top of his head. He wore a dark suit, a dark teal bow-tie set perfectly at the neck of his white button down shirt. He stopped when he reached my mom and bowed at her.

“Princess Magdalena, a pleasure to see you again.” He said before turning to my dad. “Alpha Dominic.” He and dad nodded at each other before he turned and stepped towards me.

“Your Highness, my name is Ramsey,” he said bowing to me. “Your room has been prepared and the staff will be out momentarily to retrieve your bags. The head maid, Joanna, has assigned Phoebe as your personal lady-in-waiting.” I raised my eyebrows as mom stifled a giggle behind Ramsey.

“Uh… my what?” What the hell was a lady-in-waiting? Ramsey sighed.

“Your Highness,” Ramsey bowed at me. Again. “Your lady-in-waiting will be your personal servant and will attend to all of your needs. Drawing your baths, selecting your clothes…”

“Whoa whoa whoa Mr. Ramsey!” I exclaimed holding my hands up to stop him. “I don’t need or want a servant. First off, I prefer showers and nobody tells me what to wear.” I gestured at what I was wearing. Some people thought my clothing was odd, but I didn’t like following typical fashion trends. I wore what I wanted, what was comfortable for me. Today’s outfit was a bright purple t-shirt on with a big silver crescent moon and a pair of neon green leggings under a black skirt that fell just below my knees. I completed my look with a pair of red cowboy boots. Ramsey flicked his eyes over my outfit.

“Yes, Your Highness… I can see that.” He said bowing again. He raised an eyebrow before turning to look at mom. “I can also see that the apple does not fall far from the tree.” Mom giggled. What the…?

“Dude! Could you please stop bowing at me?” Ramsey stood, the hint of a smile touching his lips.

“As I said, Your Highness. Apple, tree.” Mom and dad both burst out laughing at that one. Clearly I was being left out of some inside joke. “Princess Eden, if you would follow me please.” Ramsey turned and made his way up the stairs into the palace.

The inside of the palace was amazing. As we walked, Ramsey explained that the first two floors of the palace were used as the packhouse. There was a game room, a gym and pool, a theater, ballroom, dining hall and a huge kitchen. The second floor held the ranked members offices, including Grammy Sarah and Grampa Greg’s. The top floors were, of course, housing for the royal family and surprisingly, the palace staff. Mom explained to me that Grammy and Grampa thought of their staff as family and treated them as such.

Suddenly a pretty brunette girl who appeared to be about my age came bouncing down the stairs. When she had about three steps left, she jumped, landing on her feet right in front of me. Startled, I took a step backwards, unsure what was happening. Before I could open my mouth to speak, the girl bowed her head and dipped into a curtsy, tugging the sides of her dark teal skirt.

“Your Highness!” She practically squealed, her dark brown eyes sparkling. “I’m Phoebe and I’m super excited to be your lady-in-waiting!” Oh Goddess. “Anything you need, you just let me know, Princess, and I’ll make sure you have it. Even if you want a snack in the middle of the night. I used to work in the kitchen so I can cook pretty much anything. Except bacon. I tend to burn bacon. I’m not sure why though. It really doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to cook bacon but for some reason I burn it. Every time.”

“Wow, okay.” I wasn’t sure what to think of Phoebe other than she talked a lot. And this was the girl that they’d decided to have as my personal assistant. At least I wouldn’t be bored, I guess. “Um, well… do you want to show me where my room is?” I asked Phoebe. I guess if this was her job I’d let her do it.

“Oh Goddess! Where’s my mind at? Of course Your Highness!” She curtsied again.

“Uh, Phoebe, can you stop with the whole curtsy thing? Please? It makes me uncomfortable.” Phoebe’s eyes widened and she looked at Ramsey for guidance. He nodded at her, giving her the approval.

“Sure thing Princess! No more curtsies!” She smiled cautiously, as if I was about to already revoke my anti-curtsy policy. I smiled back at her, hoping it looked friendly. “Okay, let’s go on up to your room!” She started up the steps, motioning for me to follow her. I turned to look at mom and dad to see if they were coming along, but mom said that they were going to leave me to explore while they went to discuss things with my grandparents. I shrugged and turned to follow Phoebe up the stairs.

“I’m so excited for you to see your room, Your Highness. It’s absolutely gorgeous and has a beautiful view of the western woods! Oh and the sunsets in the evenings are simply stunning, Princess!”

“Phoebe… can we also ditch the formalities? Please? Can you just call me Eden?” She stared at me wide-eyed. “I’ve never been addressed so formally and I’m just really not used to it.”

“But Your Highness, I can’t… I mean…” she stammered nervously. I sighed.

“Okay how about this. When it’s just me and you together it’s Eden. If you need to address me by my title around others, I’ll live with it. Deal?” Phoebe tilted her head at me and smiled.

“You’re a different one, Princess. And I mean that in a good way. I hope this kingdom is ready for you.”

The bedroom my grandparents had set up for me was absolutely freaking stunning. It had an old fashioned vintage feel to it, but at the same time I could tell that everything in the room was brand new. My absolute favorite part of the room was one of those cubed storage units that was filled - and I mean absolutely stacked full - with yarn. I was completely and hopelessly in love with crocheting. My mom had taught me how when I was little and it was a skill that I picked up easily. Mom was able to make basic little throw blankets and shawls, but my love for the craft had grown to making my own hats, sweaters, stuffed animals, and massive cuddly blankets.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Phoebe said, walking over to a small desk and opening drawers on it. “There are crochet hooks and whatever else you need in here.” I followed her, peeking inside the drawer. Before I could get too excited, she closed the drawers and moved on.

After orienting me to the rest of my suite, Phoebe gave me the rundown of the meal and activity schedule for the palace. It sounded like a very busy place. Thankfully, I knew that my full schedule wasn’t set to start until the following week. Suddenly Phoebe looked up at the clock on my wall, her eyes widening.

“Oh shoot! It’s time to go meet your grandparents!” She looked frazzled for a minute as she glanced at my attire. “You really should have changed into something more… suitable… but there really isn’t time right now.” She said gesturing at my outfit. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored the annoyed look on my face. “Come on, follow me.”

~*~*~*~

Grammy Sarah was beautiful. She was tall and curvy, but muscular and was the type of woman who looked like she was always smiling, with naturally rosy lips, and bright blue eyes. Her long blonde hair fell down her back in the softest curls. She definitely didn’t look like a grandmother. She reached out, taking my hand and pulling me into a gentle hug.

“Eden darling!” Grammy Sarah exclaimed. “My goodness you’ve grown so much in three years!” She leaned back, taking my chin in her hands and turning my head side to side so she could examine my face. “You look like your grandfather. Poor dear.” She chuckled, pulling me into the room where my mom and dad were already sitting on a small leather couch.

“Your parents and I have already been discussing your training curriculum with not only myself, but also with the palace tutor and the warriors. It’s important that we get your fighting skills in tip-top shape.” I scowled, nestling in on the couch between my parents.

“Why do I need to train with the warriors? Isn’t it their job to keep me safe?” I asked. Back at Shadow Moon I had done some training with our warriors, but not much. It was my least favorite thing to do.

“Of course it is,” Grammy Sarah replied, frowning. “But you are a princess. You never know when or where danger may be lurking and you can never be too trustworthy. It’s always best to be over prepared, Eden, rather than finding yourself in a situation where you’ve trusted the wrong person and can’t protect yourself.”

A chill crept down my spine at her words. I hadn’t thought about the people around me not being trustworthy. Suddenly those training sessions didn’t sound so bad.