Chapter 19
Chapter 19
I was embarrassed and I was hurt. It wasn’t just my ego that had taken a beating but my heart as well. I had done the exact same thing that I ran away for and I had gotten myself into the exact same position. I was hoping that something would have changed but it seemed like I was the one who hadn’t changed. I was still a naïve child and it showed because I kept letting myself fall back into the arms of a man who couldn’t care less about me.
For the past day, I had successfully avoided him once more. I had only left my room to sit with Nadia and Kiara and once Kiara was asleep, I was back in my room. The flowers had kept coming and it didn’t matter that I threw them out, by evening; a new set was sitting by my bedside. I had my meals in the comfort of my room and away from prying eyes and people who could see through my façade.
The one thing that made it all worse was that Jaxon hadn’t even tried to find me. It was like he didn’t even care for me. It was frustrating and it was annoying but I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that I didn’t mean as much to him as he did to me. Regardless of how hard I tried, Jaxon was my mate and he had lodged himself deep in my heart. It didn’t matter how many times I tried to take
him out or remind myself that he was a horrible
person, he was there to stay.
There was a knock on my door that snapped me back to reality and I slowly stood to my feet. Leaning against my
door in a plain grey tee and dark blue jeans was Aiden. He gave me a wonky smile and I could feel the corner of my lips tugging upwards as he looked down on me. Something about Aiden was very
approachable and he
genuinely seemed like a nice person from his interactions with Kiara that I had witnessed a few times.
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“I heard you’ve been in here all day,” he began as he stared down at me, “Are you down with something?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine, I just want to be alone.”
“Well we can’t have that,” he held out his hand to me and I analyzed it carefully before raising a brow at him. “Come on, why don’t you have a little fun?”
There was something mischievous lurking in his eyes and I don’t know why, but I took his hand. He’smiled widely and practically pulled me out of the room. He held my hand tightly and I was sure it was so I wouldn’t run away becausell had thought about it. He snuck along the walls like some spy trying to find hidden treasure. It was amusing and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud.
u’re going to ruin our plans,” he frowned at me. “Have you never watched a spy film in your life?”
This made me laugh harder and I swear I saw annoyance cross his features. By the time I had managed to calm -down he was staring down at me like I had kicked his puppy.
“Now that you’re calm, we can finish our mission.”
He led me through the walls and down the stairs and then we turned down a hallway I had never seen before. I had never been in this part of the castle before and it looked like I had stepped into a medieval settlement. The walls were made of stone and the doors looked old and worn. My m*uth was wide open as I took it all in, I could feel Aiden smiling in glee next to me as he pushed open a door and I was met with a massive ball room. It was spacious and there were literal knights lining the walls.
“Has this always been here?” I asked and he hummed. “You could hold an entire kingdom inside here. Why doesn’t anyone use it?”
“According to history, Jaxon’s grandfather used to hold the largest balls ever He would have people from all over the world come over for the slightest achievement. It was an honor to be invited and it was an insult not to
come.”
“I can imagine how extreme those parties were.”
“No one really uses it much anymore but I come here to pretend I’m a knight on the round table or the son of a lord,” he added the last part with a wink and I smiled. “Jaxon can be an asshole sometimes,”
I instantly shut down and my smile fell. I turned away from him and pretended to be interested in one of the statues. He let out a sigh behind me and when I felt him approach me, I spoke.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Aiden.”
“You’re his mate, anyone with eyes can see that,” he began slowly and I started to leave but his hand wrapped around my wrist and he kept me in place. “I can’t tell you what’s happening with him but I assure you that it isn’t what you think.”
“Did he set you up to this?” I asked and he shook his head. “If he isn’t bothered about me then why are you? There is nothing to it and there is nothing to us, Aiden. Please, leave it alone.”
“Freya, I need you to listen to me,”
Before he could say anything else, the door opened and Jaxon walked in. His eyes immediately found me and even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel the weight of his stare on me. It threatened to swallow me whole and I hated how my body reacted to it even though I was trying desperately to hate and ignore him. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
He walked the length of the room and I felt him stop directly beside me but I still kept my eyes on the status in front of me. Ther was some writing on the bottom but I couldn’t make it out because it was worn with age. Both men exchanged a look behind me an
men exchanged a look behind me and then I felt Aiden leave. I wanted to tell him to stay but I couldn’t do that
without admitting that Jaxon’s presence affected me.
Once the door had clicked shut, I felt Jaxon reach out to touch me but I shied away from his touch.
“I want to show you something.”
“I don’t want to see anything,” I said simply and he sighed.
“I know you hate me and with good reason to but I just need you to trust me this one last time.”
It was incredulous how he was talking about trust when that was the one thing I had given him that he had broken over and over again. I wanted to walk away and leave him standing there but some part of me kept wondering if I would regret not going with him so I turned to him.
“This is your last chance, Jaxon.”
He smiled softly and he held out his hand for me but I refused to take it. When he realized I wasn’t going to, I saw a sad expression cross his face but then he quickly retracted his hand and walked in front of me. I followed quietly behind him and to my shock. We went up the stairs of the palace. I had never given though to how many floors there were until today.
We walked past the guards and the maids to a floor that was almost completely deserted. He led me through the hallways lit by torches and finally we stopped in front of a pair of double doors. They were locked with a huge padlock and he reached into his pocket to produce a key. As I noted how deserted it was, I couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted to get rid of me without any witnesses.
He finally unlocked the door and he went in ahead of me. He flicked a switch and when light filled the room, I cocked my head to the side in confusion. I expected more to the room than a bare room with a simple book lying. on a dais in the centre. I looked around the room wondering if there was something I wasn’t seeing but the room was completely empty.
Jaxon walked straight to the book and pulled it open. “This is the book of our history. Every single Eaton who has ruled has had their history written down between these pages.”
“What does that have to do with me?” I asked. “Jaxon, what the hell is this?”
“My grandfather was loved by everyone. He was kind and he loved to party. He was devoted to the kingdom first and unfortunately that made him neglect his family. My father grew up spiteful and angry. When he took over the kingdom, he treated everyone like slaves. He was selfish and he cared about only himself.”
He flipped the pages and moved closer to see a picture of a man who looked exactly like Jaxon. He had a scowl.
on his face and he was lounging on a throne made of pure gold.
“Why are you telling me all of this Jaxon?” I asked.
“You need to know the truth and that means telling you the story of how I was cursed.”