Chapter 118

Maeve’s POV

“Your Majesty, we didn’t find anyone around the perimeter,” one of the guards said an hour later. He stood at the entryway of our bedroom. I was lying in bed and Xaden was standing in front of the guard with his arms folded across his chest. “Could it be possible that it was only a shadow?”

“I know what I saw,” I said firmly from the bed. “I’m not making this up.”

“Of course not, mam,” the guard said, bowing his head. “I wasn’t suggesting otherwise. But it could be possible that you only thought you saw a man outside the window…”

“He was in a tree,” I told him. “Did you check the trees?”

“Yes; we checked every inch of the perimeter. There was nobody.”

My stomach twisted; could I have only thought I saw someone? No… I definitely saw a man staring at me through the window.

“Keep patrolling the area and let me know if you find anything suspicious,” Xaden ordered.

“Yes, sir,” the guard said, bowing one last time before retreating from the room.

Xaden shut the door and turned to look at me; my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. What if it truly was only a shadow and I made such a fuss about it? I hated that I made a commotion out of something that could have been my imagination, making everyone worry… especially Xaden.

“I don’t want you to worry about this anymore,” he told me as he made his way over to the bed. He wrapped me in his arms, pulling me close to him. “I’ll protect you, even if it was just a shadow.”

I peeked up at him, staring at his stoic face and feeling the light fluttering in my heart. He was incredible in every way possible. I was incredibly lucky to have him in my life.

“Xaden?” I whispered.

His eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not, but then he hummed his response, not bothering to open his eyes.

“Thank you,” I said softly, nuzzling into the side of his body. A small smile tipped the corner of his lips, and he bent down to kiss the top of my head before he settled back down. He didn’t respond with words, and I didn’t say anything more. We remained like that for the rest of the night, holding one another and basking in each other’s scents and comfort.

……

Days had gone by since that dreadful and terrifying night. No signs of that man appeared so Xaden dismissed the extra guards and told them to report back to their normal duties. I was fine with that because I felt safer knowing that the guards had searched every inch of the mansion.

“My mother is requesting for you this morning,” Xaden said, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me. He peppered a kiss down the nape of my neck, sending a shiver up my spine. “She wishes to have brunch with you. I think it’s another training exercise.”

I raised my brows.

“Brunch?” I asked.

He nodded.

“It’s one of her favorite activities,” he teased. “She’ll be in her garden waiting for you. I’ll have a driver take us both there. I have some business and might be a bit late this evening.”

“Is everything all right?” I asked, turning to face him.

“Nothing for you to concern yourself with,” he assured me, kissing the bridge of my nose.

“You would tell me if it was?”

He smiled.

“Of course,” he told me.

I spent the next hour getting ready for brunch with the queen. I wore a light-yellow sundress and curled my dark hair to perfection, pinning it out of my face with flower hair clips. I applied a little makeup and some perfume; once I was satisfied with my look, I joined Xaden in the waiting car and together we went to the royal castle.

Xaden walked with me through the backfield and towards the queen’s famous garden. When we reached the area where the table was set up, just outside the rose garden, I smiled when I saw Charlotte seated in front of the Queen. They both seemed to be engrossed in their own conversation.

“Hello, Mother,” Xaden said as we stopped in front of the table.

Both Charlotte and Queen Leonora looked up to spot us and they both broke out into grins.

“Xaden,” the queen said as she stood from her spot and walked around the table to greet her son. “How lovely to see you.”

She kissed his cheek lovingly and he returned the gesture.

“I see you’ve brought along my requested guest. Will you be joining us this morning for brunch?”

“I’m afraid not; I have some business to take care of today. I just wanted to make sure she got here safely,” Xaden said before turning to me. “If you need anything, call me.”

I nodded and I let him brush his lips across mine; my cheeks warmed almost immediately.

Without another word, he left the garden and went back to the castle, leaving me alone with his mother and sister. I took a deep breath and turned to the queen, curtsying as gracefully as I could.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” I said, lifting my gaze to meet hers. “It’s an honor to be invited to your brunch.”

Charlotte chuckled and patted the seat beside her.

“Come sit with me, darling sister,” she said eagerly.

I sat beside her; the table was adorable with the small white porcelain plates with small pink flowers painted around the rims; there was a matching tea set as well and different rays of sweeteners in the center of the table.

“The maids haven’t brought us our food yet, but here, have some tea,” the queen offered, motioning for a maid that stood nearby. She rushed over to me, grabbed the pot of tea, and poured the brown transparent liquid into the small mug.

“Would you like some sweetener?” The maid asked me. “Or perhaps a splash of milk?”

“That’s all right,” I told her. “Thank you.” She nodded and stepped back into her place in the corner, waiting for further instructions.

“You look very lovely, Maeve,” Charlotte admired. “You’ll have to tell me where you got that dress.”

“Oh, I believe Maggie got it for me during one of her shopping trips,” I admitted. “But I’ll be happy to go shopping with you any time.”

“I would love that. I’ve been craving a girl’s day. I was excited when Mother came up with the idea to have brunch with just the three of us.”

“It was thoughtful to include me,” I told them, genuinely pleased.

“We heard what happened the other night with that strange man in your window. You must have been so frightened,” Leonora said with a small frown marring her otherwise perfect lips.

“You’ve heard about it?” I asked, wondering who would tell the queen about the incident. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought much about it today, or even yesterday. I was feeling better after the ordeal and since the guards checked the entire place over, I felt safer.

“The guards talk,” the queen said.

“What happened?” Charlotte asked curiously.

“I was taking a bath, and I thought I saw a man standing at the window. He was gone quickly though. The guards didn’t see anything and thought I only saw a shadow. Perhaps that’s all it was,” I sighed, staring at my empty plate.

“Always trust your instinct, Maeve. That’s a rule we must always remember to follow,” the queen said, drawing my attention to her.

“As a royal?” I asked her.

“As a woman,” she answered, her eyes sparkled.

I smiled and nodded.

“I see,” I said.

Before any more words were said, a couple more maids arrived with platters of food. It all looked so delicious; there were soups, small sandwiches, and salads. They set up another table beside our small round table and placed the platters of food on top of the table. Then, they each grabbed one of our plates and started to put food on them. They took out small porcelain bowls and poured some soup into each of those as well.

“Would you like anything more, Your Majesty?” One of the maids asked, stepping back.

“May I get a glass of water with some lemon?” Charlotte asked.

“Of course,” the maid replied.

“I’m all set,” the queen said before glancing at me.

“I’m all set as well,” I replied.

They nodded and retreated.

“This all looked delicious,” I said thoughtfully.

“Brunch is my favorite time of the day,” the queen said as she nibbled on one of the sandwiches.

“What made you think to invite me to this brunch?” I asked her suddenly. “Is this part of my training?”

“Well, yes,” the queen replied. “Brunch is something you’ll need to learn to handle because not all of them will be easy. But as a Luna Princess, you will be invited to many of them, and you’ll be required to attend.”

“I see,” I said softly.

“But there’s also another reason why we wanted to get together this morning,” the queen surprised me by saying, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Oh, Mother! Can I tell her?” Charlotte asked eagerly.

Leonora chuckled at her daughter and nodded.

Charlotte turned to me, and I saw the fire in her eyes; it almost made me nervous about whatever she was about to say.

“Mother and I have been talking and with your baby on the way…” she started to say. “We would be honored if you’d let us throw you a baby shower!”