Chapter 176

Hannah

“You married Dr. Davis?” I gasped; I knew she had a huge crush on him and often referred to him as “her man”, but the last I remembered he didn’t want anything to do with her.

It was hard to believe that he caved and married her.

She nodded though and stared down at her ring.

“A year after you disappeared,” she explained. “We started dating officially and then he proposed after another year.”

“What did you mean when you said that they have him?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “What happened?”

“He went against orders when they told him to cease and dismiss the hospital. He refused to leave. He didn’t want it to get shut down, so he continued working in protest. Eventually, the king had him removed by force and I haven’t seen him since…”

“How long ago was that?” I asked, staring at her intently.

“A few months ago,” she answered. “I know he’s still alive. I can feel him…”

She pressed her fingers to the back of her neck and that was when I saw the mark. I couldn’t help the gasp that left my mouth; he marked her. She was his chosen mate, which meant that she would be able to feel him if he were dead or alive. He had to have been alive and being held somewhere.

“Have you tried mindlinking him?”

“Of course, I have,” she answered. “But it’s not going through. “I’ve been trying every day since he disappeared, but I can’t get a hold of him…”

I could tell by her face how serious she was.

“What about the king’s jail? Have you checked there?”

“Yes,” she answered. “That was the first place I checked. But they don’t have him. They let me search the cells myself. He wasn’t there…”

“Where do you think he is?” I asked. I could feel my heart’s quickening pace as I thought about the dangers Dr. Davis could be in.

“I know the palace has a dungeon,” Nancy said, staring around at everyone who formed in the room. “I think they are holding him prisoner there…”

“We will do what we can to get him back, Nancy,” I assured her, softening my tone.

“I went there yesterday to investigate. I was pretending that I was there to catch up and rekindle my friendship with Amy. But once Jack saw me, he recognized me as Leonard’s wife and kicked me out…”

“That was incredibly dangerous,” I told her. “You shouldn’t have gone alone. You could have come here sooner.”

“I should have,” she admitted. “But I was scared you would turn me away. I wouldn’t have blamed you. After how I had treated you. I deserve everything coming at me. But Leonard doesn’t’ deserve any of it. He’s an incredible and kind man; he only wanted to help people. He doesn’t deserve this…”

“No, he doesn’t” I agreed. “We are going to get him back,” I assured her.

“We will get this entire kingdom back,” Sebastian said from behind me. “You have our word.”

She seemed to have relaxed slightly at our words and she nodded, giving me a faint smile.

“I’m really glad you’re back. Despite everything that happened in our past; you were missed around here.”

I couldn’t help but smile; I felt appreciative of those words.

“When I was at the palace, I came across something I think you should have and wanted. I managed to swipe it before they kicked me out,” she said, reaching into her coat. “I admittedly saw you at the cemetery a couple of days ago and I heard you speaking to that ghost.”

“What?’ I gasped. “What did you hear?”

“I heard you talking about your daughter and how she’s the goddess’s chosen daughter.”

“Please, Nancy. Try to forget everything you heard,” I pleaded.

“No, you have it wrong,” she said with a head shake. “I want to help. So, I grabbed this.”

She pulled out a little black book from her coat and I gasped. That was Gemma’s black book; the one she mentioned could help Wrenley with her powers. She handed me the book and gave me a small smile.

“I heard her saying that this might help. When I saw it, I knew I needed to grab it…”

I hugged her, stopping her words before she could say anything more. She seemed surprised by my sudden display of affection. But after a moment of standing frozen, she eventually loosened up and hugged me in return with a light chuckle.

“I’m glad I could do some good,” she said as I released her. “Even after I’ve done much wrong.”

“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” Sebastian said, staring at the book from over my shoulder. “This helps a lot. Thank you, Nancy.”

She beamed at his words and bowed her head slightly.

“Of course, your majesty.” She paused for a moment, and I could tell she was thinking about something. “Are you going to try and get into the palace?”

I looked up at Sebastian who looked back at me before turning his attention to Nancy.

“We are going to use the Bluemoon ball as an opportunity to get inside. We will keep you updated as the plan progresses,” Sebastian explained.

She looked relieved to hear that.

“The ball is tomorrow evening. Do you have everything you need for it?” She asked, staring between the two of us.

“We still need an outfit if we want to blend in,” I told her. “I was thinking of shopping this afternoon if you want to join us.”

She looked eager about that idea.

“Oh my goddess, I would love to!”

“Great!” I said in return. I looked at Raya. “We can make it a girl’s evening.”

…

Raya, Nancy, and I went into the king’s city. Sebastian stayed home with Arnold.

We went to the boutique that Sebastian had bought years ago. We were greeted by a couple of the workers who cooed and shrieked as soon as I stepped into the door. Everybody was shocked to see that I had returned and was alive.

“Your highness! You’ve returned!!”

“I can’t believe you’re here! You look beautiful as always!”

“What can we do for you?”

I chuckled at their eagerness; I didn’t feel like much of royalty these days because technically the throne wasn’t mine right now. But that didn’t mean we wouldn’t get it back.

“I need a dress for tomorrow night’s ball,” I told them. “Do you think you can help me out?” I asked staring amongst them.

“Of course! We have new additions that just arrived in the morning. Perfect for a queen.”

She went into the back and resurfaced with a handful of dresses. I took them and brought them to the changing room. I placed one on and I already hated it; it was too gold and shimmering. It hung off my body loosely and revealed too much of my cleavage. I left the changing room to show it off and I could see the look on Nancy and Raya’s faces, indicating that they hated it too.

I laughed at their expression and did a twirl.

“Next!” Raya said with a laugh.

I tried on another dress; I hated this one too. It was too purple and fluffy and didn’t show enough of my cleavage. It was cut off on my neckline.

“Ew,” Nancy said, staring at it. “That’s seriously your best designer dress?” She asked one of the workers.

“Not all of them look great,” the worker tried to explain.

I laughed and went to change into the next dress.

This dress was okay, it was red and was cut off right above my knees. It was strapless too and hugged my curves perfectly. There wasn’t too much shimmer and there wasn’t too much puffiness. I left the changing room and Raya and Nancy rose their brows as I did a twirl.

“What about this one?” I asked, staring at them both. Their expressions were hard to read.

“Uh…” Raya tried to say; Nancy finished her thought for her.

“Maybe something less slutty.”

I felt my face redden. I guess it is a little short and revealing. Okay, back to the changing room. I grabbed the last dress that they gave me.

This was another loose-fitting dress, but it still managed to hug my curves perfectly. It was all silver and only had a little shimmer and a little puffiness around my waist. The dress expanded to the ground and covered my feet. The straps were noodle straps that went around my neck, revealing just the right amount of cleavage. Even I had to admit, I was in awe of this dress.

I left the changing room and they both gasped.

“Yes!” Nancy said with a clap.

“That’s the one!” Raya agreed. “Oh, Hannah… you look beautiful!”