Connected to the King

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Gusts of wind picked up around Marcus’ men and myself as my father chanted something under his breath. His incantation pushed everyone but my mother out of the snow and back to Lyceiar. Even the horses and carriage had made their way back.

The room spun as we found ourselves back in the main foyer of the castle, causing me to fall to my knees holding my head in my hands. "Oof, that was a doozy."

"Oh, your highness!" Mariam’s sweet voice sounded in my ears as arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. "Oh, my goodness are you alright?" She asked.

Cascading waves of happiness pushed through me with every beat of my heart as I looked up at Mariam. "Mariam, I missed you!" I cried, tears pouring down my cheeks. I wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. My other hand instinctively moved to my stomach.

Mariam pulled away from me, wiping her own tears with the sleeve of her dress. "I was so worried. I didn't think you'd make it back." She sobbed.

"I'm here now." I sniffled as I rose from the floor. "I'm here I'm alive and I have," I pulled Marcus’ cloak off, revealing my twelve-week baby bump. "A surprise."

Mariam froze and shifted her gaze to my belly as she brought her hands to her mouth. "Oh my! You're pregnant!" She squealed for a moment before raising her eyebrow. "Wait, is it Marcus' child?"

I nodded, "Do you remember the night of my birthday? The blood exchange… it was uh, quite interesting to say the least." I chuckled.

"Oh, trust me, Aurora, we all remember that night. I don't think anyone slept a wink until you two were finished." She playfully batted my hand.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I facepalmed. "Yes… I do remember how long that night was."

"Aurora." Marcus called out to me. The both of us turned to face him as he quickly made his way over. "I have something I want to show you." He grabbed my hand and guided me to our chamber, leaving Mariam to herself.

My gaze scanned over the castle. To my surprise nothing had changed. If anything, the castle was spotless. "Marcus, did you have the girls go on a cleaning frenzy the entire time I've been gone?" I asked him.

"Actually, Mariam and Heather did. They figured this place needed to be in tip top shape before you came home." He replied.

"But Mariam just told me she didn't think I was going to come back…" I muttered as we passed by our chamber doors. "Wait isn't this—"

"You've already forgotten what Maxwell mentioned, didn't you?" He lowered his head, avoiding eye contact.

I scowled at him, "He wasn't kidding? I thought he was joking. Like a… spur of the moment sort of thing."

Marcus stopped in front of another door and quickly pushed it open. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up." He switched the subject.

"Marcus Kincaid, don't you think you've gotten away with-" I stopped and scanned the room after I stepped in. "That— Oh, my I haven't seen this room yet."

The chamber resembled my old one when I had first arrived except it was much bigger. The canopy bed was to the right of the room out of sight of the doorway with a black comforter and just a few pillows. The wardrobe was easily bigger than the previous one and held both of our clothing. There was a very lively fireplace against the furthest wall from the door and a large window beside a vanity that was laced in gifts of all sorts from brushes to hair pins, jewelry and even a selection of crowns.

My jaw dropped at the sight. My feet became heavy as I tried to will them to move. "Is this what you wanted to show me?” I instinctively placed my hand on my belly and looked up at him.

"Is it too much? I can have someone take these away.”

“You… did all of this for me?" I turned to him as tears brimmed my eyes. "Marcus, did you really think you weren't going to find me? You needed things to remind yourself that I was here?" I sniffled

“No, Aurora I was the only one who had hope. Hope that kept me going because I knew that you'd come home." He gently grabbed my hand and pulled me into his embrace.

I tucked my head into his chest as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would have made it."

"Well, you did, and you're home now." He kissed the top of my head. "But I do want to share something with you. Would you rather do that before or after your much needed pampering?"

I looked up at him, my chin on his chest. “I don't mind. But we need food too."

"Funny thing is. It should be here by now…" He chuckled, pulling away from me.

A knock sounded against the open door, I turned to see Mariam and a handful of maids standing with covered trays. Smiles plastered across their faces.

"Your highness you're back, you're really back." One maiden cried as she rushed into the room. "May I?" She asked as she set the tray down on a table that was tucked into the corner of the room.

I nodded and opened my arms to her. "Everyone, come here." I spoke between broken sniffles. The remaining maidens and Mariam set their trays down and rushed toward me.

Multiple arms wrapped around me in a group hug as we all cried out in happiness. I never knew I had such a big influence on these women.

"I missed you all so much." I sobbed as tears flowed from my eyes.

Well, uh. This is a little weird for me so… I'm gonna—

I extended my arm to Marcus, beckoning him to come closer. "Come here, you need some love too."

"That's going to be a no from me." He grumbled and stalked out of the room.

I pouted my lip as he walked out. But quickly returned my attention to the girls and let out a long breath. "Ladies. We have some things to do tomorrow so let's get everything we can situated, and we can go back to how things were."

"We can do that!" One jumped with joy, releasing her hold on me.

"That sounds like a splendid idea." Another one said as she pulled away, wiping her tears.

"Alright ladies let's leave these two be. They need their time alone. Whenever Marcus comes back." Mariam instructed them. "We will be back in a little bit to get your bath ready." She and the others bowed their heads as they dismissed themselves.

Sighing I turned around to face the fireplace and sashayed over with excitement. I don't know why fire brought me so much comfort, but I did not question it.

Marcus’ heavy sigh sounded from behind as his quicken footsteps approached. "They're finally gone huh?" He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me, his hands resting on my belly.

I nodded and placed my hands over his, "For now. They'll be back in a little while after we eat." I leaned my head back against his chest, my eyes never shifting from the flames.

He let out a low growl as he brought his lips to the crook of my neck. I gasped, closed my eyes and gripped his hand.

“So, what is it you wanted to tell me?” I asked.

“I guess that can wait until after we eat and get settled in.” He replied, "You don't know how much I missed you." He whispered huskily in my ear.

"I think I do. But we need food. As much as I would love to do this right here and now neither one of us has eaten a decent meal since we've been out." My breath hitched as Marcus’ hand brushed against my thigh. "The girls will be back soon." I whined.

Marcus chuckled, grabbing my waist and he guided me to the table. "Fine. You win this round."

"Oh? The mighty king of the north submitting to little ole me? You're bluffing. There's something up your sleeve." I wiggled my hips as he pulled a chair out for me.

After pushing my chair in he quickly pulled out his own and plopped down beside me and flipped open the lids on the trays. "I feel like it's been years since we've had a meal together. Without any prying eyes." He smiled, piling food onto our plates.

I couldn't help but smile as my heart fluttered. "Marcus, slow down, it's not going anywhere I promise. Just take your time." I chuckled, grabbing my fork and I began eating.

"Mm," Marcus gulped down his mouthful of food before turning to me. "So, what was your father talking about in regard to this bird?"

I froze with the fork still between my lips. I raised my eyebrows at him and pulled the fork out of my mouth, clearing my throat, "When I was little, I had a sort of pet. Kind of like how most fairy tale witches have black cats and those obnoxiously large hats."

He placed his elbows on the edge of the table, moving his food around on his plate with his fork. "And what was this pet for? Hunting or something like that?"

I shifted my gaze to the wall and nodded, "Something like that. But I haven't seen him around since— oh goodness when was the last time I saw him…"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders, "Hmm, maybe if we can find him, he could lead us to that warlock."

"Yeah, maybe. If he's still alive. I don’t know why you want to find him. He surely will find us soon enough, again if he’s still alive." I muttered.

A soft knock sounded from the doorway causing the both of us to turn our heads in its direction. Marcus rose from his seat and straightened out his tunic. "You may enter."

The door quickly opened as Mariam and several maidens filed their way through the doorway, each bowing their heads as they made their way to the bathing room with steaming water buckets in hand.

"I wonder what herbs they'll be using tonight. I could really use a proper bath." I muttered to myself.

A comforting warmth radiated on my hand causing me to shift my attention to Marcus, eyebrows raised. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He gave me a soft smile before shifting his gaze to anything but me, "It is now that you're back. I'm just really happy you're here."

I could feel a throbbing sadness in my chest, I knew this emotion was not my own. "Don't cry… please don't cry, Marcus."

"I'm not crying." He huffed and turned his head away from me. I could see him wipe away what might have been tears from his face.

It's okay, you can cry your happy tears. I ran my thumb over his knuckles.

Can I tell you something?

Of course, you can. Once the ladies leave.

I had completely forgotten they were here.

"Your highness, my King. Your bath is ready." Mariam’s voice chirped from behind.

I turned to face her and gave her the biggest smile I could muster, "Thank you, Mariam. I really appreciate you."

She clasped her hands in front of her and bowed her head as she took her leave. "Don't wait too long, it'll get cold." She whispered before shutting the door behind her.

"That woman is so thoughtful." Marcus chimed in.

"Oh? How so? What has she done for my king?" I rose from my seat.

"Nothing like you may think. The entire time you were gone I had all sorts of women trying to approach me. I don't know what she did to get them to stop trying to bed me while you were gone." He lowered his head in shame as I turned to face him.

Anger swept over me as I released his hand and placed mine on my hips. "So that explains the drops on your end of our connection granted my end was always open. Yet you try to claim that I was bedding another man when these women were at your beck and call." I shouted at him before pivoting on my heel and stalked off toward the bathroom.

"Aurora, wait! It was nothing like that!" He hollered my way.

I rolled my eyes and stripped my gown off with enough force to tear the silk. "Arggg, curse this dress, curse everything here!" I grabbed the remnants of the gown, tearing it into pieces.

"Aurora, please calm down." Marcus' hands wrapped around my waist, pulling my naked form to him.

I grabbed his arms and unwrapped them from around me and pushed him away, "Get out of my sight. Get away from me. After everything… after everything I've done for you." I cried.

"Nothing happened, I swear. If it wasn't for Mariam and Rose, things would have gotten out of hand." He tried to reason with me, but I didn't want to hear any of it.

I raised my hand up to silence him and climbed into the tub and lowered myself into the steaming water, "Leave me be. I don't want to see your face right now. I can't even believe you couldn't tell me about what happened while I was gone until this."

"I’ve been trying to tell you… I really want to…but–"

The overwhelming feeling of dread pushed its way into my head as I leaned against the siding of the tub. "Then why didn't you? Hmm? How hard was it to communicate that to me?" Tears welled in my eyes, and I tried my best not to cry as I brought my hands over my mouth to muffle my sniffles.

I let out a shaky breath, "I really wished you would just trust me, Marcus." I lowered my head into my hands and silently cried.

The water around me shifted, spilling over the sides as a pair of arms wrapped around me causing my muscles to tense. I pulled myself away and turned my back to Marcus.

Marcus scoffed, "Will you just come here? I told you, nothing happened. I didn't do anything wrong." He grabbed me by my hips and gently pulled me into his lap. Marcus let out a heavy sigh as he moved my hair to the side, exposing my back to him.

"The reason I didn't want you to see that is because I didn't know how you'd react. But nothing happened, Mariam made sure of that. I even had a new lock placed on this door the moment it started up. Once we got an idea of your location, we left the castle." He explained.

I lifted my head, wiping my tears only to soak my face with my wet hands, my voice shook, "You tell me nothing happened, yet the first conclusion to my pregnancy is I took another man to bed. I did what I had to do to survive in that place, but I never stooped so low as to take a guard let alone Nedget to bed. You will never look at me the same until I prove it to you because deep down inside you will always doubt me. You've lost your faith in me and now… I don't even know what to do."

"Aurora, you know Mariam explained everything to me. I saw everything you did, heard every word you said—"

"Then you know how hard I cried for you!" I screamed at him. "You would know how I felt, what I dealt with, how things were when I was there. You saw everything and yet… you still…" I clenched my fists and shook my head in anger, "There's no use in explaining a damn thing to you, is there?"

I rose from the water, not caring to dry myself off and stomped out of the room and into bed. Being confined with fabric was not an option as I needed a new wardrobe that would fit my ever-growing baby bump. Throwing the comforter back I climbed into the plush mattress and pulled the comforter back over myself.

Wet footsteps plopped around from the washroom to the main bedroom, stopping on the opposite side. The mattress shifted as Marcus climbed in. "Aurora…"

"Marcus…" I hissed at him and turned around to face the other direction. "Don't touch me." I sneered as I shut my eyes and snuggled into the pillow. "What is there to explain? You took another woman to bed? There is nothing I need to listen to. Especially from you." I growled at him, tucking my head further into the pillow.

"Nothing happened. I promise you nothing happened."

"Broken promises are all you can give me. And right now, you can keep your own words. Choke on them if you will…"

Exhaustion had finally caught up to me as the darkness consumed my every thought.