“Does this mean he saw me going or returning from my greenhouse?” She asked herself.
“You went alone to your greenhouse, your majesty?!” Rosetta exclaimed.“Keep your voice down. I just took a stroll.”It wasn’t completely a lie. She did take a stroll, just that she had a destination in mind.She didn’t feel like telling Rosetta about seeing Rhode Wales or her nausea which led her there.“Luna?” Rosetta called from the other side of the table.“Yes?”“Brianna and I have been talking and we decided to tell you.”Megan dropped her pen and looked at Rosetta, “I’m listening.” She said, wondering what Rosetta and Brianna wanted to tell her.“We will follow you anywhere!”“I don’t understand, Rosetta.”“If you plan on leaving the castChapter SixteenRhode entered the greenhouse. He must have heard wrong.“Rhode Wales, it may seem as though your physician here is in the business of telling jokes or making jest of a person and i’m not quite sure I appreciate being seen as a joke.”Doctor Ronda said, “I’m afraid I’m not telling a joke or making jest of you, Luna. Your presenting symptoms are without a doubt characteristic of early pregnancy.”Megan laughed and threw her head back. This doctor Ronda must be insane.“Pregnant?” Megan asked and laughed some more. She couldn’t help it.The barren queen suddenly pregnant? Hilarious!“If you’re not convinced, Luna, I have some sensitive test strips used in the West to confirm pregnancies. All you need is your early morning urine.”Doctor Ronda handed Megan a small bottle containing tiny white papers.“You can take as many as you need but let me be the first to say, congratulations queen.” Ronda said as she ex
Megan flushed down the remaining strips in the toilet and rinsed her face with ice cold water from the tap.She didn’t want to leave any evidence behind that she had been crying. In the mirror, however, her face still looked pink and puffy and she still felt the lingering nausea.Was this how pregnancy was like?After getting back in bed to try sneak in some more hours of sleep, Rosetta and Brianna entered the room.“Good morning, Luna!” They said, a bit too loud for Megan’s ears but she answered them nonetheless.Perhaps she was just cranky this morning. She was determined to look and act as normal as possible.Despite the fact that she abruptly made up her mind to leave the East after her divorce, she wasn’t sure how to break the news to either ladies that she would be leaving.She didn’t have a clear plan so she couldn’t ask them to come along, she couldn’t.Megan let them draw her a bath and she sat at her vanity as Brianna pic
What?”Megan asked, turning to look at Rhode. Clearly she heard wrong.“Marry me, my queen.” Rhode said again, holding her eyes.This was not the time nor the place he planned on proposing yet somehow he felt compelled to at this very moment.“Why?” Megan was finally able to ask.“Why what?”“Why would you want to marry me? What’s in it for you?” “Do I have to have some ulterior motive? Can I not just want to marry a beautiful woman?”“Who is broken goods.” Megan added, getting up.“You’re not broken goods, Megan. You’re the best of only your kind.”“You flatter me but I’m afraid your words fall on deaf ears. I could never marry you.”Rhode’s heart sunk to his belly.“Why?”“Because I can’t.”“That’s not an answer, my queen.”“That is enough, Rhode Wales. I will act as though this night never happened. I appreciate your help these past few nights but I will handle my situation a
Megan was suspicious of his answer but decided not to press any further.She still felt extremely embarrassed that he had seen her at her most vulnerable moments.She cleared her throat rather loudly, “I see. I suppose I should thank you.”“I apologize if you feel embarrassed. I did lie to you.”“That and we were basically courting through text. Quite the scandal.” Megan laughed in a fit to reduce how awkward she suddenly felt around Rhode.“I would like transparency. Considering you’re going to be my queen.”“I didn’t say yes.”“You’re right, you didn’t. I’m being optimistic.”Truth was, she didn’t have a reason to refuse him. If anything, he just offered her what she had been silently wishing for the past three months.She wanted someone to save her and she communicated those feelings to Mason.She obviously didn’t expect that her Kingdom’s greatest rival was the cub she had been confiding in and here he was off
A year ago in the Western Empire, now the Western Kingdom.“With all due respect, your highness, all you have done is travel, travel and travel some more! We are yet to see the spoils of all your journeys!” Lord Randolph said.“That and the fact that you remain unmarried! How do you plan on ruling with a spouse?!” Marquise Highborn said.“My daughter, Mirabel, has been waiting for you to formally ask for her hand!” Said Duke Fulher.Rhode sat on his oddly soft chair while all the members of the court hauled questions at him.He had assumed the position of ruler of their clan after his family’s untimely demise.The only piece of his family left behind was Mirabel Fulher, his late brother’s widow. It was Michael supposed to be getting the ear full, not him. Rhode was on his many adventures far South when he got the news of the disease that was spreading in the palace. He brushed it off, believing they had enough resources to employ the
Rhode and Wales sat on his center table for what felt like hours plotting his infiltration of the great East.“I heard that it is the Luna who is responsible for their strong presence in the world right now.” Brian said.“How so?”“The Luna, Megan Brighton trained for the position since she was just five years old!”“So did most women who were betrothed from a young age.” Rhode replied, unsure of what Brian was getting at.“You don’t understand, Rhode. The reason the former Luna of the Jared clan picked Megan Brighton and not her niece was because Megan was an incredibly bright child!”“She was five and was reading and writing exceptionally! Acing everyone in her class and even her seniors! Word is, the Eastern empire transitioned into a kingdom so smoothly because of her.”“So Richardson is just a figurehead.” Rhode said.“A dumb one, at that! Some of my men in the East reported that Richardson and Aspen Bridget, Megan’s child
Rhode remembered watching her retreat. She walked so light on her steps you could hardly hear her foot steps. Her scent was caught up in his nose. He had had enough of the castle for the day.When the coast looked clear enough, he returned back to the hole he used to get into the garden. He headed right back to him and Brian’s rendezvous point.“Rhode?!” Brian asked, shocked that he was back so early. Rhode transformed back to his human form and wore his trouser and his tunic.“That was really fast. Did something happen?!”Rhode shook his head. Brian would definitely have a field day if he said the reason he returned so early was because he was stunned by the Luna’s beauty.Brian had put so much emphasis on her brains and genius and didn’t once mention how beautiful she was. In a captivating way that felt good.What shook Rhode was the fact that he was never moved by women in particular. So much so that the rumor among members of his council was that he secretly liked men. Rhode never
Chapter 23The rest of the week went by quickly. Megan and Rhode didn’t see much of themselves that week. Megan was busy finishing up what was left of her duties and Luna. Rhode was communicating with his clan who were on his neck about returning and marrying Mirabel Fulher.Megan still had not told Brianna or Rosetta about her plans to marry Rhode Wales and leave the East. The only people who knew she was leaving were her parents and brother who were in great support despite what people would surely think and say.Megan was sitting in her greenhouse for the last time. It had been years of her life pouring into her kingdom, her people, her husband.It was all taken from her and by the man she loved the most. She hated that she never had a choice in the matter.She would’ve done anything for Richardson. Anything. Her dream of a happily ever after now felt like a fool’s dream.She was grateful for Rhode Wales and he picked her interest a lot, however, he wasn’t the one she had spent her