A Game of Crowns
Chapter 14- I forgive you

“The reality is people mess up, dont let one mistake ruin a beautiful thing.”

-www.livehappy.com

It was day four of not talking to Tobias. He had tried and I had ignored him. I needed to focus and that wasn’t going to happen if I kept thinking about him.

I spent the entire day after going over it in my head. Who could have possibly told Tobias about that kiss? The only person it could have been was the staff member who was present during the date. It made me so angry that his reaction was to drink and punch Lucas. Yeah, I was annoyed with his actions but his words were what hurt the most.

‘do you mess around with everyone like you did with me?’, he had said.

I couldn’t replace myself to trust him again when he asked yesterday. At least not yet. It was twice that he’d made assumptions and didn’t clarify them with me. I wasn’t ready for there to be a third time.

As for his anger towards me for not seeing who Thelonious was talking to, it was completely ridiculous. I wasn’t going to show myself just to get caught and probably killed in the process. It couldn’t be the real reason he was upset. Maybe it had been about the fact that this person who was working with Thelonious was more than likely directly involved with the murder of his father or maybe he just felt like he couldn’t do anything to get justice for him. The real terrifying thought was the traitor was still in the palace and living here was dangerous.

“Tate, hurry it up, will you?” Trixie called out.

It was our last sparring session before we called it a day. The sun had already gone down and all other girls had left. It was my new routine and new motto; first in and last out. It has been good for me. My early morning jogs helped with my endurance and my extra sparring time had helped me improve in close-quarter combat. Lunch and dinner time had been used to review different strategies and possible scenarios for the second trial.

I drank the remainder of my water quickly and wiped away the excess that trickled down the side of my mouth.

I was one hundred percent committed to this and nothing would keep me from helping my people.

I ran back to our sparring area and stood at the ready. This time instead of running straight towards Trixie I let her come to me.

Her braid swung menacingly behind her as she ran towards me. Her brown eyes gleamed with excitement. She loved this. I grinned. I was sort of enjoying this too. It was exhilarating. She pretended as if she was going to go straight for a punch to my gut but she squatted and swept her foot under me. I jumped just in time. My heart raced as the sparring continued.

I met her next few hits with blocks. It was gratifying to be able to fend off someone of her caliber for so long.

“Get ready to eat dirt, rookie.”

Wait. What?

She somehow maneuvered me onto the ground, face in the dirt, and arms pulled back behind me, firmly in her grip. That’s what I got for getting too confident.

She quickly let me go and I sat up. I rubbed the dirt off my face and spit out what managed to make its way into my mouth. Trixie helped me up and I dusted myself off.

“You’ve gotten better, Penelope. You’re not at my level and you won’t be without years of training, but you can handle yourself if you need to. I think you have a true shot of winning this trial,” Trixie said with a smile. “We have one more week to add a few more moves to your arsenal. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tate.” She walked off and left me speechless. I didn’t think I’d ever get her approval. She wasn’t mean or rude but she was tightlipped with her compliments.

I left the training field in great spirits. It was the best I’d felt all week. I rushed to my room for a shower. I was in the mood to replace Rowan. Maybe it was Trixie’s faith in me or plain stupidity but I wanted to replace out what he had to say, even if it meant doing it alone.

***

I found my way back to the older wing of the palace and stood outside of Rowan’s door. The hall was even darker now with only one lamp on to illuminate its entirety. Now was the time to turn back but I knew I wouldn’t. I raised my hand to knock but quickly put it down again. My heart threatened to rip its way out from behind my chest and a cold sweat was wreaking havoc on my body.

“You gonna knock?” asked a voice from behind me.

I spun around to replace an amused Rowan watching me. His raised eyebrow and crooked smile was a very attractive look on him and by the way, he chuckled it was as if he knew I thought so.

“Come on in. Like I said, you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

I stepped aside as he unlocked his door. He opened his door and allowed me to enter first. He switched on the light and it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. His room was still as white and clean as it was before.

He said nothing as I continued to inspect his room. The colorful vials from his dresser were gone and were replaced with different maps from all three territories.

A few stray pieces of clothing were strewn over his colored changing slide. His desk held more maps of the territories but those were topographic.

“Does my room past the test?” Rowan asked.

I turned to look back at him. He had sat down on the white loveseat. My eyes scanned him from head to toe. I disliked him as a person but I couldn’t say the same for his looks. He was appealing to my eyes. His hair was no longer in a low ponytail. He had cut it all off. How had I not noticed outside? It was more of a crew cut now with a fade at the sides. His dark eyes gleamed mischievously. That gleam brought me back to reality. I was in the room of one of The Trinity. He had violated my mind. I had to be careful. I could not be taken in by his looks.

He picked imaginary lint off his white shirt and pants. He kicked off his white loafers and stood up. He smiled smugly. “Do I pass the test?”

I blushed. Stupid cocky son of a...

He interrupted my thoughts. He palmed his forehead and silently cursed. He held up a finger to his mouth for me to not say a word. He went to his desk and pulled out a necklace. It was a silver chained pendant with a stone at its heart, a moonstone. He slowly walked up to me and gestured for me to move my hair aside. I was too stunned to do anything different.

He stepped behind me and clasped on the necklace. His fingertip brushed against the skin of my neck and I tensed. I had expected a repeat of the other day but I felt nothing but a soft touch.

He sighed. I turned to face him. He stood a foot away looking down at me. His dark eyes were unending pools of darkness with specks of silver grey, reminding me of stars in the night sky. His lips were pressed tightly together. He raised his hand to push a strand of stray hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry I did what I did to you.”

I had no doubt he was talking about the attack on my mind. I simply nodded.

He shook his head and stepped back from me. “We have some matters to discuss and then I would like to introduce you to my sisters. We thought it was best if I spoke with you first before they meet you.”

His sisters? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to meet them at all.

“Okay.... So, why the necklace?” I asked looking down at the pendant that now lay between my breasts.

“It is so the Priestess can’t witness this discussion. I screwed up last time we spoke. I didn’t think to give you a charmed stone. She will know you met with me. She won’t know what we talked about last time since I had my own stone on but she will see the gap in your mind.”

“Uh...what?” I didn’t know what to think.

He continued, “The reason I wanted to talk with you is that I know you are one of the chosen. She has chosen to use you as her tool. I’ve no doubt that you could rule this kingdom but I think she is using your purity for her own purposes.”

I was sure my face was showing the shock I felt.

“Penelope, when I was in your mind I saw that you met with Xandra, you and Tobias. She said that we were corrupted but that was a lie. It is she who has been corrupted. She has turned on her sisters and everything they stood for. She wants to use you to resurrect her essence into your body. She wants to rule all the territories in human form. She chose Tobias to be her consort. He doesn’t know any of this either. We need your help to defeat her. The Trinities in the other territories say their priestesses have gone missing. Her sisters are the only ones that can defeat her. We need you to replace them.”

“How?” I asked. I didn’t know why but I wholeheartedly believed him.

“I’ve been looking for the entrance to the Hidden Realm. It’s in an old temple from when they used to roam the lands. They resurrected it to return home at the end of their one-thousand-year reign. You will enter the Hidden Realm through there and replace her sisters,” he said, gesturing towards the maps on his desk.

I moved to sit on the now empty loveseat.

“Why do you need Tobias and I to do this? Why can’t you?”

“She knows we are on to her. It is why she tried to turn you and Tobias against us. She will feel it if we enter the Realm.”

“Okay, then why did you violate my mind? What purpose did that serve?”

At this, he blushed.

He hesitated before answering. “I had been watching you and waiting for an excuse to speak with you. When you scoffed at wanting to be our mouthpiece you gave me an excuse. My sisters were livid. They yelled at me through our telepathic link but I couldn’t help myself. I had an act to put on and I just let myself get out of control. The power you felt in you was my power reacting with the power of Xandra’s. You were drenched in her essence. You must have visited the Hidden Realm previously to that day. It magnified her wants and mine.”

He blushed heavily at that. Xandra’s feelings were of power and greed. That left lust. It was my turn to blush. I swallowed roughly. He was sure to give me my space. He now sat on his bed. I tried not to look at him. The noises I made in front of everybody were humiliating. I moaned and panted in front of them, for crying out loud.

“Why are you putting on an act? For who?” I asked, finally looking at him.

He turned to face me as well. “For Thelonious. He murdered the king and his family. We are trying to replace out why. He has a plan in motion and we are trying to get in on it. We are trying to stop him. This kingdom has threats coming in from everywhere. Everyone has their own agenda. We have Xandra at one end and Thelonious at the other.”

I told him about the secret conversation I’d overheard between Thelonious and someone who resided in the castle.

“It confirms our suspicions,” he said.

I leaned back into the soft cushions of the seat and sighed. I rubbed my temples trying to ease the throbbing.

“So, will you meet my sisters?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said looking up at the white ceiling.

“When?”

“Tomorrow after dinner.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Penelope?”

“Hmm?” I asked standing up from my seat. It was time to go. I had to get back before curfew. I didn’t have much time.

He came to stand near me, though not as close as before. “Do you forgive me?”

I sighed. I stared at his starry eyes and came to a decision. I walked the few feet that kept us apart. He looked down at me with wide eyes. He had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched. The pleading in his eyes was genuine. He wasn’t a bad guy.

I slapped him fully across the right side of his face. His face turned left with the force of the hit. He slowly turned back to face me. His eyes blazed with fury and heat. One of his hands went up to cup his cheek.

“I forgive you and next time just say hi,” I said and walked out of the room.