Seeing her nephew was a huge relief and source of joy for Madeline. For two minutes, she was able to take her mind off the abomination sitting across her, and focus her eyes and her mind on her late elder sister's son; Reuben. Roxanne was one of the people to look up at the man. He stood tall, nothing less than six feet and six inches of height. His hair was crimson red, just like Arthur's and Madeline's and there was a calmness in the green color of his eyes. Even when he smiled, his smile seemed to cause everyone else to smile; including her. Lancelot's eyes rose up to look over his cousin. It had been almost three years since he last saw Reuben, he could only wonder what the man was here for. Not that Lancelot disliked him, but Reuben reminded him of someone he desperately needed to forget; Bran. And he did not need a constant reminder of his brother around him everyday. Especially not in this period. "I take offense to that statement." Bailey called out loud, referring to the y
The rest of dinner went by in a blur. With Roxanne's mind racing, she was barely able to force any meal into her stomach, or get herself to listen to any other word that was spoken at the table. She could think of one thing and one thing only: how to not disgrace herself in front of the entire Dankworth family tonight. It was not that she was scared or that she doubted her capabilities. What bothered Roxanne was what they would have to say about her style of playing. She had always gotten critisms about it before, most of them bad. But she had never really cared. But right now, it was the only thing she could bring herself to think about. Her eyes continued to glance over Lancelot once in a while, but their eyes never met. Roxanne found it strange. Whenever she looked away from him, she could feel his eyes on her. But when she looked at him, it felt as though she was a glass frame he could see right through. Did her presence really not have the same effect on him that his had on h
As Peter led Roxanne into her room, she turned to him and smiled weakly. "Honestly, Peter. I cannot thank you enough for everything." It was visible from the look on her face that she was tired, and he understood why. A genuine smile crept up to his face as she bowed in courtesy. "The pleasure was all mine Miss Harvey. Do make sure you get some rest." "Hmmm." She nodded. With that, Roxanne walked further into her room and Peter closed the door behind her. He turned his back towards her door and pulled his phone from his pocket. He clicked the home button to check the time. It was already 9:00pm. He made a mental note to check up on Lancelot before retiring for the night. Lancelot was clearly not in his Chambers, so there were only two places he could be in at this time; the king's study, or the salon. And with Reuben's presence, Peter was very sure it was the latter. So, he tucked his phone safely into his pocket again as he began his walk to the salon. The smell of booze and
Lancelot's reply darkened the mood. Madeline was not pleased to see him brush of Reuben in such a way, and Edward was worried about him. Richard and Bailey stared at him with pitiful eyes. Only Lady Marion and Eloise, who were sitted close to the window, admiring the night sky, did not partake of the sudden glumness. Reuben sensed the change of mood and chuckled lightly. "Would you look at that? Still the grumpy baby boy we all know." As he laughed, Madeline smiled as well. The effect of his contagious laugh spread across the room in less than thirty seconds. Everyone had their eyes glistering with happiness once again. "Aunty, please do remind me to give you what I got for Bran's grave." Reuben spoke, turning to the dart board and throwing the pin forward. When the pin touched the bulls eye, Richard cheered with excitement. "You've gotten better at this game boy" Bailey spoke up, seemingly impressed by his nephew's dart skills. Reuben turned to him and bowed. "Why, thank you
Roxanne flung herself into her bed after a very warm shower. Her bones were aching and she was trying to reduce her tension from the dinner. While it had ended on a fine note, with her piano performance, she still couldn't shake up the feeling that a major part of the royal family did not want her here. The side remarks, the glares, everything was glaring and confusing to Roxanne. However, her warm shower and a glass of milkshake was more than enough to calm her nerves. Her head rested on her pillow, she closed her eyes to sleep after letting out deep breaths. Just when she thought she had finally found her peace, her phone rang. Her pillow continued to vibrate. She groaned in frustration and raised the pillow up, revealing her phone and Peter's name on her screen as the Caller ID. Roxanne looked around, wondering why Peter was calling her at such hour of the night? Curious, she answered the call and pressed the speaker to her left ear. "Peter?" The tone of her voice must have ma
The next three days seemed to pass by quickly for Roxanne. The coronation of the soon to be Alpha king was only few days away, so preparations had begun in full swing. There was never a dull or free moment for Roxanne. She was always dressed in black suit pants and white sleeves, her hair held up in a tight bun like the rest of the palace staff; even though she was particularly here for Lancelot. Peter had asked her to play along anyway, she did not want to get on the nerves of anyone here. So, she was always at Lancelot's side. And when she wasn't, she was running errands for him. Roxanne found it very stressful, especially as she wasn't really given a warm welcome from the other staff. Apart from Peter, it looked like no one else was interested in speaking to her. She was not welcomed into any conversation and whenever she happened to walk in on one, they would stop talking and glare at her with stony eyes. It seemed as though no one else besides Peter and Lancelot wanted her to
Ten weeks until she no longer had anything to do with Lancelot anymore. As she thought about it, pain clutched her chest with sharp claws. Roxanne was confused; while she did not want to leave him just yet, she felt like it was the best thing for her. Within her, Roxanne couldn't wait. And she was sure Emily could not wait to see her again. Roxanne heaved a sad and long sigh whenever she thought about her best friend. She missed Emily so much. So, whenever she could, Roxanne found her way to the palace's art gallery to admire the exquisite and grand artworks from the best artists around the world. Whenever she stood in there, in the midst of so many beautiful paintings and sculptures, she felt as though Emily was there, while imagining what her friend would have to say about the place. Although, Roxanne was aware typical Emily would have A LOT to say. It was for this same reason that she rushed to the gallery immediately it was time for her lunch break. She had two choices; si
As she walked ahead of him, Roxanne could not help but wonder what it was that had made him sound so aggressive towards her. She raised her left arm and took a short glance at her leather wristwatch. Her break had only stolen ten minutes of her working hours. Surely, those ten minutes could not be enough to make him mad. But then, it was Lancelot, she thought. And everything made Lancelot Dankworth mad. Behind her, Lancelot's facial features has still not relaxed from the effect of seeing Reuben gush over her. It was plain irritating to see her eyes sparkle at him. Reuben, of all people. With his coy charm and cunning confidence. His cousin had no right to speak to his secretary, especially during working hours. "Go ahead Lancelot, convince yourself that that's the reason you're so pissed." Ziko whispered from within him. The taunting voice of his wolf only infuriated him the more. He frowned and looked down at Roxanne. "We're heading towards my study." He stated. Roxanne turned