#I think sister was like the sarcastic butler to the king and queen

[ourplaceinthecosmosphff]

Chapter 5. Truth or Dare

‘TRUE BEAUTY is not of the body or of the face, no, it is a thing of the soul - of fire and air, breath and spirit, something brave and unafraid.’ Segovia Amil

The door opened without a knock; I saw through the reflection in the mirror Cadie stop herself from walking straight in, instead fixing her posture and looking solemnly at us.

“Excuse me, Ma’am.” She said, formally.

“Don’t bother with formalities on my account, Cade.” Louis told her, grinning. “We’re all friends here. I won’t tell Auguste you usually call my sister by her name.”

The secretary grinned, but didn’t move. “There’s a delivery for you.”

“For me?” She replied with a nod. 

“I think it’s a dress.”

“Oh!” Louis exclaimed, jumping up from his seat in the two-seat sofa in front of my bed. 

I raised a hand in pause to Cass, who was just about finished doing my hair, and turned around to eye my brother suspiciously.

“What is it? And why is it in my name?”

“It’s for you.” He said, walking to the door and speaking to someone outside. “In here, please!”

The Prince of Wales’ butler walked in, solemnly carrying a garment bag over both his arms, which he laid over the couch where Louis had been sitting, before turning around to bow to the both of us, and leave as swiftly as he had come.

“If it’s for me how come I don’t know anything about it?!”

“It’s a surprise.” He shrugged, smiley. “Cass, are you done over there?”

Cass, who had been discreetly spraying my hair as we talked, pulled another couple of strands leading into my bun and took a step back.

“Look at me, please, ma’am? Oh, yes, I’m done. Beautiful!”

I looked in the mirror. My hair was pulled loosely to the back in a bun, with strands falling artfully to the sides of my face. Atop my head, sat Empress Eugénie's 1853 pearl and diamonds tiara, commissioned by Napoleon III to celebrate their marriage. It was adorned with 212 pearls and 1998 diamonds. After Napoleon III’s 1870 defeat, the tiara was surrendered to the Savoyen Royal Family and now it laid on my hair. It was one of my favorites from the Savoyen Crown jewels vault, and Maman had sent me with Georgian pearl earrings to match, which I picked up as Louis rushed Cass and Cadie out of the room.

“I already have a dress, Lou.” I told him, approaching the garment bag.

“How would you know it’s a dress?” He asked, teasingly, to which I only gave him a suspicious look with one raised brow. “Okay, fine, it’s a dress…”

He pat a chair next to the bag and I sat down, just as he sat in the coffee table in front and held both my hands in his.

He cleared his throat. “As I have expressed, I am sorry for the things I said when we were fighting.”

I watched him, silently, then nodded slowly. “Okay?”

“However, there is something I have been meaning to talk to you about, which may have transpired during our, uhm, bagarre.”

“...yes?”

“Maggie, you have to stop letting mom and dad walk all over you.”

“I do not-”

“You have worn at least three outfits this tour I know for a fact that you wouldn't even have purchased if it weren’t to make sure Maman wouldn’t have something to criticize.”

“Excuse you, I think my outfits were very cute!”

“I didn’t say they weren’t!” He clarified, pointing a finger at me. “All I said was… they weren’t you.”

I sighed, resting my back against the chair.

I couldn’t say I hadn’t noticed before that every time I had to do something regal there was a tiny voice in the back of my head wondering, what will mom approve of? before I chose an outfit. Her style had more of a conservative, 50s debutant vibe, while I tended to be more romantic yet modern. It was a fine line that separated both styles, and the advantage usually fell to my mother.

“She’s a very stylish woman.” I countered, and he nodded enthusiastically.

“She sure is. And you are twenty-five years-old! You should be allowed to wear things that are… out there, daring, iconic!”

I laughed. “I’m not exactly a fashion icon!”

“My point exactly. You could be.”

“Louis-”

“I know you have style! I have seen it! You just hold it back because you think you have to!”

“I do have to.”

“It’s the twenty-first century! The Swede Princesses show a lot more skin than you do!”

“They don’t have our mom breathing down their necks.”

“Maggie, fashion is supposed to be fun! But you need a little bit of courage to really shine in it.”

I sighed. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

He leaned back and crossed his legs, confidently. “Let me guess, the dress maman chose for you for tonight's of a light shade, probably blue to match your angelic eyes, with a simple silhouette that covers everything God gave you, am I right?”

I didn’t have to answer; he knew he was right, so instead he merely walked over to his delivery as he spoke.

“I have made some very good contacts since I moved to Britain, in part thanks to religiously attending London Fashion Week. So I made a call.”

He dramatically opened the bag, to reveal a strong, smooth red fabric. 

“Red?!”

“I looked it up, the Duchess of Cambridge herself has worn red to a previous state dinner.”

I bit my lip. It did look quite pretty. And much more interesting than the very conservative choice my mother had made.

“Okay, I’ll try it on.” He squealed as I got to my feet. “But just because I’m curious! If I feel it’s too much cleavage, or too out there, I’m putting on the blue dress.”

“Yes!” He threw the garment bag at me and ran to the door. “I’ll go get dressed as you do that, and send Cadie in to help you.”

As I rummaged through the bag, I saw another thing inside.

“Spanx, Louis?!”

He closed the door with a thud.

I needed Cadie’s help to get everything on without damaging my makeup, hair or losing the tiara in the mess, but at last, I was ready. 

Cadie approved it. “It’s perfect!” She breathed, amazed.

I walked out of the bathroom to the full body mirror in the room, finding Louis sitting in the sofa again. His eyes widened as he saw me. “Woah.”

“Strapless?!” I asked him, unfazed. “Lou, you know I can’t show cleavage on a state dinner!”

“Oh, no, mustn't let the British know you have arms!” He rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. “What will they tell the church?!”

“Lou!”

“Relax, look, it’s an upper neckline, you’ll be fine! Again, the Swedes wear strapless all the time”

“We’re not Swedish!”

“To be fair, the draping does cover much of your chest.” Cadie added, to Louis’ joy.

“Thank you, Cadie. Why don’t you go wait outside?” I told her, with an eye roll. She left, grinning.

The shape of the dress was almost a mermaid-cut, but the draping made it a lot loser in the lower-body, and added a very interesting detail to the hips; in my case, making it look like I had some.

I sighed. “It’s… beautiful.”

“But?”

“There’s a lot that goes into choosing a dress for an event like this, I can’t just change it last minute.”

“Your tiara matches, I made sure of it. The dress is tighter on your body, but not that much that Maman will have any right to criticize, the dress is red, which is new for you but not against the rules, and most importantly, out of your comfort zone! With the added bonus of the sexy factor!”

“This is the gayest you’ve sounded in your life.”

He put a hand to his heart. “Thank you!”

“I shouldn’t be looking sexy in a state dinner, anyway.”

Through the mirror, I watched him give the windows a look he seemed to be hoping I would see. 

“What?!”

“Well, you know, that is true… unless there’s a very handsome man in the state dinner who’s been shamelessly flirting with you for three days straight.”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled despite myself. “I was wondering if that had any influence over this intervention.”

“No!” He replied, quickly. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Although you gotta admit, it’s perfect timing!”

“Harry’s just being…”

“Nice?” He asked, sarcastically, before walking over to adjust the drape. “What’s wrong with nice? You deserve nice.”

He placed a hand over my arm and looked at me in the mirror.

“Chris didn’t deserve you. You know that, right?”

I wanted to roll my eyes at him for bringing him up again, but instead I just nodded, trying to allow the words to take root in my heart.

“But Harry might.” He shrugged. “He seems to at least know you’re way out of his league, that is more than Chris already.” We chuckled. “So wear the dress. Feel as powerful as I know you are and let him know it too.”

So I held his hand, took a deep breath, and said, “Okay.”

---- ---- ---- ---- 

Once you’ve seen one palace, you’ve seen them all: high ceilings, golden fixtures, red carpets. The one thing that changes is the art in the walls, the people in the paintings, the era of the vases. Buckingham Palace was not different, which is why I wasn't taking too much notice of it as we walked in that night; I had spent our first day in the country admiring Buckingham, tonight was about more.

Tonight was the ultimate opportunity we had to show the world how friendly our countries' relation was, so that the people might pressure their politicians into putting work into fixing the immigrant crisis. In a more direct way, the star of the night were the speeches by the Queen and King. In an indirect way, I had been informed by Cadie on the way over that the pictures of Louis and me with the Cambridges and Harry had become very popular online, and that it wouldn't hurt to look as friendly as possible.

That would be harder, though, because on state dinners the seating chart was made very carefully so that the main visiting royals can mingle with the hosts, and the spare royals can give their attention to the other guests, so they feel heard.

As we walked in, I suddenly felt absolutely wrong in the dress. Though there was limited photographers in State Dinners, they were definitely there. Particularly at our arrival. The flashes were so blinding I could only focus on walking without tripping over my train, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but wish I was wearing my comfortable, old blue. Louis had prepared me for it, though.

Back in Clarence House, as we descended the staircase, the last ones to be ready, he reminded me that everything new felt wrong until it didn’t. That was easier to say when all he had to wear was a boring tuxedo he had worn at least twenty times prior. 

When we walked into the living room, the conversation stopped. My father and our five person staff stared at me, head to toe, mouths opened, as my brother offered them a cocky look. 

“Well,” I said, “I’m ready. Shall we go?”

Though Auguste said nothing, he looked as though he wanted to, but reconsidered when my father merely smiled, offering me his arm, and we made our way out.

Now, walking into the palace, I was reconsidering the choice myself. The dress was beautiful, my hair and makeup were perfectly in place thanks to Arnie’s flawless work, the tiara was a dream come alive; it was me. I was a pile of nerves. 

As Louis offered me his hand to climb up the steps, he looked at me, confused. 

“Why are you shaking?” 

I shrugged, and he grinned.

“Just you wait.” He replied when I questioned this.

Dad led the way, greeting Her Majesty with a kiss on each cheek, before taking one step to say hello to the Prince of Wales and his wife, just down the line. As the heir, Louis was next, so he stepped forward and bowed his head before kissing her as well.

“Your Majesty, is it 1956? Because you look barely a day over 30.”

The Queen let out a naughty giggle, caressing the diamonds in her bracelet shyly. 

He was going to make a fantastic King.

“Your Majesty.” I said, bowing down in a curtsey when it was my turn. 

“Princess Margueritte.” She greeted as I, too, kissed her cheeks. “You’ve been making quite a ruckus these last couple of days.”

I looked at her, feeling my head tilt sideways. “Have I?”

“I hope my grandson hasn’t bothered you too much.”

“Oh. No! Harry? No. He is… No!” I assured her, feeling my myself blush. “Uhm. He, he is-”

“He's always been a bit like a shark like that. If they stop swimming, they die. Well, he does if he stops flirting.”

I laughed, aware we were being filmed, hoping the press wasn't close enough to pick audio, trying to look as unbothered as possible.

"He's been very friendly and... Welcoming."

"I'm sure."

"What is it?" asked the Prince of Wales, drawing the attention of my father, brother and the Duchess. I shook my head, but the Queen told him merely, "Harry".

It seemed to be enough, though, as the whole group nodded, grinning.

"Oh, yes. It seems my son is a bit taken with your daughter." The prince told my father.

Though his mouth said "oh" in an amused way, I could tell it wasn't the first time he heard of this. 

“It doesn’t help she’s exactly his type.“ The duchess commented, making the group laugh again, so I‌ attempted to hold a steady, polite smile on my face.

We moved on to mingle and get in our positions to enter the dining hall; as the guest of honor, since Dad was here, there wasn’t anyone else to wait for. The rest of the guests were already in the dining hall, probably being told to find their seats now. The royal families - hosts and guests - were to enter later, so for now we could be ourselves and enjoy some privacy.

“Breathe.” Louis told me again, as we followed dad around the room. “You look about to pass out.”

“What did she mean by ‘his type’, you think?” I asked him, in a whisper.

“He’s probably dated someone who looks like you.” He replied, grinning.

“More than one... but ‘his type’, though. You think he just likes me because I’m blonde? He just likes my looks?”

“Great relationships have started with looks.” He said, turning around to face me, stopping me in my tracks. “How do you know he’s dated more than one person who looks like you? Have you stalked him online?”

I rolled my eyes, turning to look around the room. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You have a tell, Maggie. When you’re lying you look away so people can’t see your eyes.” 

Instead of dignifying his - smart - insight with an answer, I merely hooked my arm in his and walked off, having just identified the people I’d been looking for, and trying to ignore the smile on Louis’ face when he realized where we were going.

“Good evening.”

Though Harry had his back to me, I could watch the reaction of his brother and sister-in-law. They looked at me as I approached, unsurprised I was coming; almost as though they had seen me already. When I got to them, instead of greeting us, their eyes went to Harry. 

His shoulders squared back in a long breath, and then he turned around and looked at me. I watched his mouth open and his eyes widen, both so slightly it made me question if I’d imagined it, but also so obvious I wanted to turn around and go back to Clarence House to get changed immediately. It didn’t help he looked me up and down quickly and then gulped, before averting his eyes.

“You both look very dapper tonight.” Catherine said, smiling awkwardly between her brother-in-law and us. She was wearing a dark blue gown and a diamond tiara, hair half up, half down.

“Thank you!” Louis said, returning her smile with none of the awkwardness, and a lot of amusement. 

“Yes, we’re very happy to have you.” William said, looking equally as amused. “I’m afraid you’re at the boring table today, Louis.”

Catherine gently edged her elbow to her husband’s arm. “Don’t say boring.” She whispered, making Louis laugh. 

“Trust me, I understand what you mean.” He replied; I tried to smile, as it felt like that was the tone the conversation required. But it was hard when Harry still hadn’t looked back at me. “What is the party table, though? Does Harry get a round of Bubbly Pong going?”

They laughed, I mimicked. Harry looked around the room very still. There was an uncomfortable silence as the laughter died down, and suddenly there was a British aide telling us it was time to get to our places in line to enter the dining room. 

I gladly took the excuse to move away, feeling sick to my stomach. Had I been excited before? I hardly remembered it anymore. 

“I’m in the boring table, too.” Catherine told me, walking quickly to catch up to me as we moved to the middle of the line as the heirs went forward. “It was terrifying on my first time at one of these, but I’ve come to find you can have some interesting conversations, don’t you think?”

I smiled, remembering her nerves from the car the day before. “No, you’re right, it’s not that bad, actually. Though, it’s not as interesting as it seems to outsiders, either, I suppose. My sister is convinced there’s dancing, like in a ball in a Disney movie.” 

She laughed, looked back, and then added, whispery, “You make him nervous.”

“What?”

“I’m over there, I’ll talk to you later, I hope.” 

We exchanged a smile, even if mine was a bit confused, and she moved to stand next to the Prime Minister.

“You know, in Britain only the married women attend these,” Harry started, standing next to me in line. “And you wouldn’t be allowed to wear one of those until married, either.” He said, staring at the tiara in my head with - I was happy to see - some reverence.

“In Savoy, unmarried women can wear tiaras as long as they’re over twenty-one. Good thing I’m not British.” I said, on a low tone, glad Auguste couldn’t hear such an undiplomatic sentiment. 

He grinned. “Yes. I’m very glad about that.” 

I looked around, seeing the line basically done. “Are you not going to find your place?”

“I think I’m right where I belong.” 

“With me?” I asked, surprised; he returned a flirty smile.

“Yes, Mary, with you.” I rolled my eyes, grinning.

“Do you get all your pickup lines from Taylor Swift songs?” He laughed a bit louder than the current volume level in the room, and more than one pair of eyes turned to look at us.

Usually they wouldn’t pair the ‘lower royals’ together like this. The high ranking ones, yes; queen and king, heir with heir. My father and Louis were both ahead, and would be sitting at the head of the table, with William and Catherine, I supposed. But Harry and I should have been paired with diplomats or dignitaries. 

As we walked into the room, to the sound of their national anthem, I noticed two important things. One, Harry looked very handsome in white tie and tails, with his military medals pinned to his chest. Two, as we walked, he gave a grateful smile to a nearby aide, and I wondered if he had arranged to be seated with me. I felt… strangely flattered. 

As we got to the table, and the anthem finished, a staffer pulled the chair for me, and we were all seated in silence as, at the center part of the table, they prepared for the speeches.

“I don’t think I can stress this enough, Mary.” He said, whispery, leaning closer to me than it was necessary.

“Marie.” I corrected, now more teasingly than anything else, making him smile as he looked into my eyes.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

I didn’t have a teasing answer for that; I could barely think straight as he kept staring into my eyes from so close. 

Suddenly, however, his grandmother’s voice startled us both out of it and we stared ahead as she began to speak.

It felt as though the Queen and my father spoke for hours; I‌ kept my eyes focused ahead hoping to steady my breath and sweaty palms enough to be able to look back at Harry at some point in the night.

Luckily, by the time they started serving the entrees, I‌ had remembered that due to the dinner etiquette I was supposed to make conversation to the man by my other side before Harry. So I took in a deep breath, smiled politely, and asked him about his work.

By the time it was our turn to talk, he gave me a friendly smile and said,

“Dare.”

I sighed a short giggle. We had, now that I‌ thought about, left the truth and dare game unfinished the day before. I‌ had answered last, so I supposed it was his turn. I cracked my brain to think of something that was good, but not scandalous. 

“I dare you to,”‌ I‌ started, slowly, staring into his water glass, “tap you fork to your glass loudly to call the attention of the room to yourself, get up, and improvise a speech in honor of my father.”

He barked out a laughter that started louder than any of us thought was appropriate, and we quickly ducked our heads down to hide our playful grins and blushing cheeks; Harry was still laughing. Taking a deep breath, he looked around the room. 

“I can’t!”‌‌‌ He replied. “It’s not protocol, it’ll be too weird. It will make the news!”

I sighed, smiling. ‌“Alright, then. I‌ suppose you could… start coughing when the staffer comes back for our plates and then dramatically grab his sleeve and pretend to have an allergic reaction.”

This time his eyes widened as he laughed, leaning closer to me. “Are you trying to get me disowned?!” 

I‌ laughed.‌ “Too much? Okay. I dare you to…”‌ I looked around the room, thinking. 

The table was shaped like an upside-down U. The Queen and her guests were at the top, horizontal edge; Harry and I were at the start of one of the legs, close to the curve of the table, which was narrow and had no one sitting there. The person closest to the other gentleman on my side, was Catherine, and by her side, ‌my brother.

“I dare you to throw a pea on my brother’s wine glass.” 

He leaned closer to me in order to see around the tall centerpiece arrangement in the middle of the table. He smelled of… lime, possibly? And I‌ felt myself leaning back towards him to smell it better.

“Hm, how about Cath? She’s more in my line of vision.”

“No!” I‌ whispered, making one of his eyebrows raise slightly above the other. “She’s nice, I‌ don’t want to mess with her.”

“And your brother isn’t nice?”

I rolled my eyes. “My brother has been a royal since birth and is used to me. Your sister-in-law seems to still be trying very hard to… behave the way people expect her to. I‌ don’t want to make that harder.”

He smiled.‌ “How do you know that?”

I‌ shrugged.‌ “I’m observant. Stop stalling. If you won’t do that, then…”‌ I looked back, seeing the staffers come back around to collect our plates. “When they’re removing your plate, I‌ dare you to burp your thank you.”

“For such a pretty girl, you are… disgusting.”

“Ouch.”‌ I said, on a bored monotone, making him fight a smile. 

I‌ kept my eyes ahead as the poor staffer approached by his side to remove the plate, and then I‌ heard a loud and disgusting “thank you”, making me laugh.

We waited until they had left and broke down in a fit of giggles that made me feel very hot; I‌ took a long sip of my water, deciding I had had enough wine for the night.

Throughout the night, the game went on through each course; because I‌ didn’t want him to get any ideas about revenge, I‌ kept choosing truth, and as the first one traumatized him so much, so did he, and we ended up just having a regular conversation. Well, kind of. 

He asked how many people I had ever kissed; I did the quick math in my head and told him nine (Chris was my first everything, as he was a childhood friend, and other than one 7 minutes in heaven incident at 16, the rest were all casual dates during the one time when we broke up during University, and since the last break up). So I asked him the same, and he very quietly, blushing, justified his double digit as he stuttered through a lot of excuses, which I thought was cute. 

He asked what my pet peeve was, and I talked about wanting to scratch my eyes out when people chewed gum open-mouthed. I asked who was his favorite out of all the famous people he had ever met, and he told me about meeting Paul McCartney, which lead me to volunteer my experience in a Paul McCartney concert in New York a few years before, and soon we were exchanging our favorite Beatles songs, and what were our favorite bands as teenagers, which was particularly cringey for both of us (I had an insanely embarrassing obsession with Britney Spears, he had a gangster rap phase).

He asked how old I was when I stopped playing dolls (13), I asked how old he was the last time he peed himself (20, drunk). He asked what was the last text I sent, and I told him about confirming lunch plans with my coworker for the day after tomorrow. I asked him what was the last thing he searched on his phone, and he told me about googling how to tie a bow tie, which earned him a confused look.

“I know, I know. I ought to know it by now. But I told you about my terrible memory. I can never remember.”

“Okay, okay. Tell me one thing on your internet history you wouldn’t want me to know about.”

He stared at his plate, thoughtfully. 

“Well, in the name of our blossoming friendship, I feel I should come clean. After your brother mentioned it at polo, I did google you.”

I nodded. “Yeah, so did I.”

“You did?”‌ I‌ nodded. “Well, may I just say those pictures are low quality, and everything is actually much bigger-”

“I‌ meant I googled myself, you narcissistic piece of work.” I‌ laughed. 

“Oh, you googled yourself and‌ I’m narcissistic?!”

I‌ shrugged.‌ “I guess I wanted to see what you would see if you googled me.”‌

“Well, I‌ saw some adorable childhood pictures.‌ Bangs look cute on you.” I rolled my eyes.‌ 

“Shut up.”

“Found out you have three dogs, amazing. And Christopher looks like trash. You can do better.”

I laughed again, drinking more water just to have an excuse not to have to comment on it.

As we moved to the next course, we took some time to talk to the people on our other sides, so I did my best to focus on the questions the gentleman to my right was asking me.

In the back of my mind, however, something bugged me. I couldn’t stop thinking that he still didn’t know about the first time we met, and the longer I‌ took to tell him, the more uncomfortable it would be when I finally did.

“Truth or dare?”‌ He asked, without preamble, as soon as I turned to him again.

“Truth.”‌ I‌ smiled, hoping he would ask how we met so I could get it over with.

“Which of your siblings is your favorite?”

I‌ sighed; mostly because he had a very irritant, smug grin on his lips. 

“I can’t answer that. Also, it’s so unfair that you only have one so I can’t return this horrible question.”

“Yes, that’s why I asked. Go on, you can do it.”

“Fine. Louis. But I‌ have-”

“Oh, wow, Mary!” He said, mock-shock all over his face.

“You asked!” I‌ said, whispery.

“That is cold!”

“I have reasons!”

“Fine, what are the reasons?”

“I was eleven years-old when Lourdes was born! I love her, of course. But I‌ only had a couple years with her before going to boarding school. Louis is just a few years younger than me, we grew up together! We’re just… closer.”

He nodded. “You went to school abroad, right?”

“Well, I‌ had a year in Savoy, then I‌ transferred to Belgium.”

“One year?”

“Yes, and it was easier to see them then, I came home every weekend, spent as much time with them as I‌ possibly could. Even when I was living in Belgium, actually. I still did my best.”

“You came home often?”

“As often as I could.” I said. “Lourdes was three when our grandfather abdicated due to his age. She will never remember a time when she wasn’t the daughter of a king. I was already off at Belgium by then. I wanted to be… I don’t know, to be…”

“There.”

I sighed. “Well, yes.”

“You felt guilty you were away.”

I looked at him, but didn’t say anything for a while. 

“I don’t- I don’t know. It’s stupid. I know there was nothing I could do, I just… They were so busy, our parents. Busier than ever. And I just... ”

“You didn’t want them to feel alone.” I looked at him, surprised. He shrugged. “Will did the same for me.”

He reached over and took a sip of his wine. “When… everything happened. Not just the divorce, but everything that came after, I think he felt guilty leaving me.” 

I didn’t need to ask what was the ‘all’ that had happened. The entire world knew. For this reason, I think, I wanted to offer something vulnerable in return.

“I came over to Savoy every weekend.” I confessed. “I left school every Friday on a private plane, and went home to see my family as if I still was studying in Savoy. My father shielded me from it, but the press found out and he was under attack for the expense. They called me spoilt, and said my mother insisted I was educated in Belgium out of an unpatriotic whim.”

He gave me a sad look, but I shrugged.

“I just wanted to make sure Louis and Lourdes were alright. I didn’t want them to forget about me, or think I might have forgotten them.”

He nodded. “You want to know what I think?”

I smiled. “I know you’ll tell me.”

He chuckled, silently. “I think you sound like a girl who really liked her country, and her home, and her family, and really wanted to be there, but could not, for some reason, stay in school near them. I wonder why?”

I leaned back, sighing, a grin on my lips. “And what is your theory?”

“Don’t lawyer me, Mary.”

We laughed.

“Marie.”

“It must have been tough.” He added, seriously. 

He didn’t know; he seemed to just… understand.

The staff arrived to remove our plates, and we took some time to ourselves. When they left, I turned to him again.

“The girls didn’t like me.” I confessed, softly. “I see now where they were coming from. I was too… too much. Quiet, but I overcompensated a lot. I had… a lot of opinions, which I mostly shared with the teachers, in class, when forced. I was always called on and, of course, everyone knew, or thought they did, every detail about me, and my family. And they all seemed to think I needed to be… more.”

“More what?”

I shrugged. “Everything. Or maybe less of everything... I don’t know, I just wasn’t enough. I just wanted… for no one to know who I was.”

“So you moved to Belgium.”

I smiled, sadly. “No one cared who my father was there. They found out, eventually. But I already had a couple of nice friends by then. It was all I needed.”

He smiled. “I hated school.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everyone did-”

“No, I… I really did. I’ve never been smart.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m serious. I don’t mean it in self-pity, either. It’s just… I’ve never been good at it. I don’t have an affinity for academics. I never had… an affection for any subjects, at all. I always just liked… the outdoors. The conversations, the connections with others. The adventure. I hated being inside.”

I smiled. “People are different. The only problem is the system that convinces us there’s only one way to be.”

After dessert, as soon as the Queen and King stood up, we were allowed to, as well. We were then ushered to another saloon where drinks were going to be served, and guests could mingle with other guests other than the ones they had been seated with at dinner, and soon after say their official goodbyes to the Queen.

The gentleman that had sat to my right introduced me to his wife, and we talked about their children for a while before I felt the conversation die out and gave a secret signal (adjusting my earrings) for Cadie to rescue me. 

“Hello…” Louis grinned when I‌ joined him, where he was observing our father from a distance.‌ His tone alone got me to blush.

“Shut up.”

“Why? I was just going to say you and Prince Harry sure seemed to be having fun.”

I sighed, “We did.”

“That’s nice.”‌ The tone was different this time, more… honest. Less mocking. So I smiled in return.

“And I deserve nice.” I repeated his line back to him, making his smile grow.

“Auguste noticed it, too.”

I sighed again.‌‌ “Let me guess. Have I‌ behaved promiscuously?”

“He is not sure if anyone will have noticed, but he thinks it’s a bad match.”

“Ugh, what is this, the eighteenth century?”

He shrugged.‌ “He said something about both of you being spares, and none having a throne to inherit, it’s just not good politics.”

I gave him a flabbergasted look. “What?!”

“I’m obviously kidding!”‌ He laughed, but I‌ rolled my eyes. “Look, just don’t let him talk you out of it, okay? Harry is great. He’s funny, and polite, and according to Kate, seems to really like you.”

“What? What did she say?”

He grinned again. “She told me in confidence, I‌ can’t repeat it.”

“Louis!”

“He’s nice!‌ And you deserve nice!”

“I know…”

“…he’s also super hot, which doesn’t hurt.”

“Shut up.”‌ I replied, but with a grin of my own this time. 

“What, you’re telling me you don’t think he’s super hot?”

“That’s not- I‌ don’t- Shut up!”

I‌’d seen Harry approaching out of the corner of my eye, and was desperate for him to stop talking.

“Hello.”‌ He greeted.

“Hi, Harry…”‌ Louis greeted him with the same teasing tone he had used to greet me.

“…Hi.”‌ Harry’s smile grew a bit more, and he blushed looking at the floor, uncomfortably.

“Stop.” I‌ whispered to my brother.

“Oh, look. I’m getting a call.” He returned, dead-faced. showing us his dark, silent phone, which was most definitely not receiving a call. “Talk to you later.”

Harry laughed as I‌ sighed. “Sorry, he’s…”

“Hey, do you want get out of here?” I stared, intrigued. His smile dropped as regret took over his face. “No!‌ I‌ just mean… To walk around, in the palace. See some cool closed wings and stuff.”

I‌ laughed. “Sure.”

“Really?”‌ He seemed genuinely surprised, and my heart ached.

I looked around at the room, enough people looking at us just because we were who we were. Our brothers looking away from us in a way that made me sure they were very aware of our movements. Auguste was standing by my father, but keeping an eye on me from the corner of his eyes. Cadie gave me a discreet thumbs up from the corner.

I remembered we were meant to be leaving the country tomorrow morning, and thought of how he still didn’t realize when we met. I remembered just how much he annoyed me only three days ago, and realized I didn’t know when I might see him next. Sure, it was almost time to leave, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I wanted to see this through.

And I deserved nice.

So as he watched me with expectant eyes, I felt my heart jump in my throat and smiled as I said, “…yes.‌ Lead the way.”

--- ---- ---

Margueritte’s State Dinner Outfit

[A//N: Thank you so much for reading!!!!!!! I’d love to know your thoughts, please drop me a message here or like this page? Again, it’s a privilege, thank you for reading! Next week: Harry and Margueritte go on a secret Buckingham palace adventure!]

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[mind-writing0]

~Chapter 10~

Don’t be afraid to ask if you want me to add you to the taglist!!

The food at the palace was exquisitely indescribable. With its multiple-course meals, the chefs seemed to know exactly what the Selected wanted.

Food was indeed the right motivation to stay. Virgil was practically groaning at the taste of such flavorful delicacies, though no one judged him as they felt the same way. After they were done with lunch, dessert was put out, and Virgil had never experienced finer pastries. These strawberry delights made the ones from home taste like plastic.

"Sir Virgil?" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. This voice was teasing, playful, and across the room. Virgil looked up to see Prince Roman addressing him directly. He nearly choked on his food, and he made a note to tell his new friend not to do that.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Virgil finally got out after what felt like forever, as he made a move to use all the unnecessary table appliances at his disposal.

"Are you enjoying the food?" Roman grinned, his features seeming more boyish than usual as a boy of eighteen.

"Oh, um, yes, Your Highness. I have a sister back home who loves sweets, and I'm sure these would make her cry, they're so good," Virgil replied, his heart pounding hard at the realization that everyone in the room was silently watching the conversation with heads turning as if they were attending a tennis match.

Roman raised his eyebrows, "You believe she would cry?"

"Yes."

"Would you care to wager on it? You seem good at making deals," He winked, and King James gave him a dark look, like he understood but didn't appreciate their inside joke.

Virgil hoped that wasn't the case. He rested his hands in his lap and looked down at them awkwardly. "With all due respect, I don't have any money, Your Majesty."

"How about we arrange something different, then? If she does not cry, as I will place my bet, then you owe me a walk across the gardens. You seem to like the outdoors. And what is it that you wish for on your side of the wager, Sir Virgil?" Roman asked.

Virgil's stomach twisted as everyone's eyes fell on him. What could he possibly ask of the man that could give him anything in the entire palace?

"I want to wear jeans for a week," he said, determined to keep a poker face, even when he heard laughter.

"Jeans?" Roman smiled uncertainly. "Alright. Justin," he gestured to a butler near his table. "Would you please pack a basket of pastries to send to the sir's family, and have an attendant stay to be sure if she cries or not? Sir Virgil may also write a letter for his family to go with it, if he wishes."

"Yes, Your Majesty," The butler bowed, and he hurried out of the dining hall. Virgil beamed after him, filled with bliss denial. In about an hour, he would be sending words about his trip to Valerie.

"In fact, you all should write to your families, and tell them about the trip. I'm sure they would love to hear from you." The prince announced, and the other Selected didn't seem so dejected after they were addressed.

After lunch, they all went to the Men's Room to write to their families. Virgil sat next to Lance on a love seat, and Bill took the TV remote selfishly.

Dear Valerie, How did you like the pastries? Aren't they amazing enough to make you cry? The trip here has been great, I think. The plane is cool, and, don't get your hopes up, but I hope you could fly here one day. The food is indescribable, and I'll try to send more. They're sending checks, so make sure you keep at least one of your amazing paintings. And, yes, I have met Prince Roman. Yes, he's handsome and polite. But he's also kind of posh, which I guess I expected. No, I'm not sure if he likes me. He said I was "interesting," whatever that means. He talked to me in front of everyone because he knew I liked the pastries. I think he's mocking me. Whatever. I hope mom's not giving you too hard of a time. I love you, Virgil.

Virgil handed the note to a nearby butler, and he left hurriedly. Soon, everyone else turned in letters. They were left to hang out for the day, and some explored the castle in the company of guards.

A few days later, shortly after a history lesson with Miss Emily, a letter arrived by maid to the Men's Room. Two letters, actually, both of which were addressed to Virgil. He opened the one with writing that was less familiar first:

Dear Virgil, Hello, it's Dylan. It's been a while since I've spoken to you, I know, but I've been very busy with clients. I saw on the Report that you became one of the Selected. Congratulations! I do want to ask, as your brother, that you tell the royal family about me and my successful business? Thank you in advance. -Dylan

Virgil crumpled up the note and shoved it in his suit jacket pocket. If Dylan cared about the importance of family so much, he should have done the right thing in the first place. Virgil opened the second letter:

Dear Virgil, Oh my gosh, the pastries were amazing, please send more!! The palace-person wanted to see if I'd cry for some reason, but I didn't. I'm glad to hear you're having fun, sort of. Things are alright, here at home. People really want to hire Mom and I know, because we're related to you, so there's a lot of money coming in! On another, more important note: has your affection for Prince Roman only grown since your letter? I'm sure it has, despite you probably acting all emo. Have you two danced like in the fairytales? Is he a good kisser? This is all for my research and comparing you to the other selected. I can't wait for the Report tomorrow! Anyway, Mom wants me to get back to painting. I love you, bye! ~Valerie

Virgil smiled at the note, though he blushed a bright pink at the mention of dancing and kissing. It had only been a few days, Roman hadn't asked any of them on a date, and Virgil was far from feeling that way for him!

"What are you blushing at?" Lance asked, grinning as he scooted over to poke Virgil's side. He glanced at the note. "Aw, that's cute! Is that your sister? Yeah, I have a lot of siblings and nieces and nephews writing to me too." He held up several letters that had been delivered to him later that day. 

Virgil was going to reply when a maid came by with yet another letter for him. He unfolded a small, fancy looking cream-colored slip of paper to read:

Looks like you lost this bet. Maybe you'll win the next one. I'll pick you up at your room at six for your first date. —Prince Roman❤

Drawn beside it was a small heart that made Virgil roll his eyes and scoff. Not wanting Lance to see the embarrassing note, Virgil got up and walked back to his room.

He informed his maids that he had lost the bet, which they giggled at, and they helped him get ready. There were several different variations of tuxes in his closet, all made his size due to him filling out such questions on the entree form. He decided on a dark purple suit jacket, close to the black he had to wear earlier. By then it was five, so he picked up one of the books on the expansive shelf and began to read.

At six PM sharp, there was a knock on his room door.

"I believe, Sir Virgil, that the person that knocked on the door is your boyfriend?" Katie smirked from her place at a small table where she was playing a card game with Allura. From the nice gestures a few days ago, Virgil and his maids were almost as friendly with each other as he was with Lance.

"Oh, yes, the many of my dreams." Virgil sighed in a dreamy and completely sarcastic way, and his overall dreading tone caused his maids to laugh again. He checked his hair in the mirror for good measure, his purple streaks nearly as bright as when he first got them done, and he answered the door. 

"The man of your dreams has arrived," Prince Roman announced jokingly, understanding Virgil's forever-sarcastic tone even on the other side of the door. He bowed and held out his suited arm, "Are you ready?"

"Yep," Virgil said, his act of being regal only going so far. He joined Roman in the hall and walked down a bit before Roman spoke up.

"For the sake of appearances, would you please take my arm?" Roman asked. Virgil complied and held the prince's arm as though they were a real royal couple. He was surprised that under the bulky suit, it seemed as though Prince Roman had muscle, unlike himself. Why would someone who worked at a desk all day have muscle?

A few of the Selected had their doors open or were walking down the hall, and they frowned at the sight of the prince and their competition together.

"So, Virgil, your sister Valerie didn't cry?" Roman asked rhetorically, grinning as he led him down another hall.

"No. I can't believe she did that to me, the little rascal! But yeah, she loved them. Thank you." Virgil said, nearly leaning into Roman.

"My pleasure, as I am positive it won your family’s favor."

"You being the Prince won my family's favor." Virgil rolled his eyes. 

Roman's look matched mock surprise. "Oh, really? Well, I'm glad. Do tell me, what is your family like?" 

"Well... there's my mom," Virgil frowned, "She's kind of a jerk, and she gives the worst advice, so... I don't really like her."

"I get that," Roman replied quietly.

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked, "Do you and the Queen not have a good relationship?"

"Oh, no. I love my mother. My father, on the other hand... he can be a little strict." He seemed tense. "Though I guess that's to be expected out of King James. Anyway, who's after your mother?"

"Um... after my mom... well, my dad left when I was little. He and my mom had had two boys, then decided to quit. When my mom became pregnant with Vally, well... he decided to quit. I haven't seen him since. It's not, like, a big deal or anything, though."

"I see," Roman nodded, "I am sorry to hear that. Now, is your brother older or younger?"

"Older," Virgil replied shakily, "I don't really like him either. See, he's a sculptor, and he was providing for us, but... one day he got a lot of money from a Two, and... he got a little high on the fame. You probably know him, too. His name is Dylan Singer."

"Dylan Singer," Roman mouthed, then he nodded. "Yes, a few family friends have his pieces, but I'll be sure to never even look at one, for your sake."

Virgil chuckled nervously, "Yeah, thanks. You know, you don't have to be all... posh and stuff. But, anyway my sister Valerie... she's thirteen, and a really talented painter—"

"I know." Roman grinned his eyes shining as if he held a secret.

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked cautiously.

"Well..." Roman sighed, not looking at Virgil. "I might have gotten a letter from a young girl who claims to be your sister."

"No," Virgil's heart dropped, and his eyes were wide.

"Along with a very beautiful painting." Roman smiled at Virgil's horrified red face.

"No!" Virgil laughed. "Oh my god, no, that's not what I meant when I said she could keep a painting! That's so embarrassing! Please don't kick me out because of her."

Roman gasped in mock offense, "On the contrary, I found it adorable! It would be an honor to meet her. Oh, here we are." They had reached the doors. A guard opened the door to the gardens, where they were met with cool fresh air and a calm night. A TV crew attempted to follow them, but Roman waved them away. They walked to a place of seclusion.

"I mean, I'm really grateful you're keeping me here." Virgil said, "But why? It just seems out of pity or something. What do you really want, anyway?"

Roman stopped. Being taller than the black haired boy, he leaned down a bit to brush a curl behind his ear. "I'll tell you exactly what I want Virgil..."

In hindsight, it was instinct. Instinct and advice from his mother. She had told him to do it if he felt in danger, and this time there were definite signs. The dark, secluded area, sending the camera crew and anyone in sight away. Making a move when Virgil had said no to his flirtations a few days ago... So it was instinct. But that didn't make it right.

In a fight-or-flight move, Virgil jolted his knee up and hit the Prince right in the—

"What the hell?!" Prince Roman shouted, and some guards who had heard the noise came out of the palace. Upon seeing the Prince injured on the ground, while Virgil looked guilty, they reached for their guns. 

"H-hold on, men." Prince Roman stood, grimacing. There was obviously a... a misunderstanding, right, Virgil?"

Virgil stood silently, his eyes welling with tears.

"Virgil, what did you think I was going to do?"

The black-haired boy shook his head, still too overwhelmed to speak. Roman understood the message.

"You thought I'd... you thought I would... in public?! Jesus, Christ, I'm a gentleman!" Roman brushed off his suit, his face flushed red. "Of all the things you've... that's enough. You'll be taking dinner in your room tonight. I... I need some time. Goodnight, Virgil."

Roman walked off furiously, leaving Virgil in yet another filling pool of regret.

Virgil stayed out in the garden for a while. Rocking in the same bench-swing where he'd met Prince Roman. He'd made a horrible mistake, but could he be blamed? Could he make up for it?

Dejected and tear-stained, Virgil walked back to his room. He felt as though all the eyes in the world were on him, though what he wanted most was to disappear.

When he got to his room, a package lay waiting on his bed. It was a large box with a purple bow, and a small note was taped on the top.

Here, I believe these jeans are now yours. In her not it read "my eyes watered, but I didn't cry" so I believe that makes both of us winners. You are... something else, Virgil. Something true, yet not in a pure or angelic way. I really do wish we could work everything out, Virgil. You are undeniably something special. - Prince Roman

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[imgilmoregirl]

The Dark Children (Chapter 4)

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It took Rumple and Belle five exhaustive days to decide that there was definitely nothing helpful on the Dark Realm, so they should go home and see how they could work from there. Mr. Cogsworth helped carrying the chests with their belongings to the archive where the imp was going to open a portal to their land, while Agathe finished carefully packing some important parchments inside a wooden box.

“We will need to call the fairies and report that we haven’t found any clue.” Belle said, taking one last look around the place to assure that everything was just the way she wished.

Those had been awful days for her, worried thoughts keeping the lady up until late hours of the night, unable to sleep even with her husband’s protective arms wrapped firmly around her waist as he breathed heavy in his sleep. She just kept her eyes closed and tried to remain as still as she could, not to wake him and disturb Rumplestiltskin with her extreme concern.

“I don’t like that.” He said.

“Yeah, I though you wouldn’t,” she said, letting a small smile pass through her lips, “but somebody is stealing from us and we need to do something.”

“I’ll open a portal directly to Regina’s place.” Rumple informed. “I want to know if she is aware of something strange happening around.”

“Out of Henry’s wife being kidnaped, the fairies’ orders being stolen, Rose predicting the death of a king and… Should I go on?”

“No. That’s enough.” He rolled his eyes offering his arm for her to take as he got his mother’s wand from inside his traveling cloak, opening the portal with a swift movement of his wrist. “There is definitely something bad happening.”

Mr. Cogswoth pushed the chests through it and waved for them as his said king and queen walked on its direction to appear in the Sherwood Castle followed by their maid. They materialized in one of the large hallways where a boy was just coming from one of the many doors, he got startled at the sight of them, his face going a shade paler.

“Oh, hey, Mr. Rum - ” he swallowed. “I mean, Dark One.” Roland tried to fix it. “I mean, my lord.”

Behind them, Agathe laughed.

The imp’s eyebrows narrowed. “What the hell is wrong with you today, boy?”

“Nothing!” Roland hurried to say, his cheeks getting a little flushed. “Did you come to see my parents?”

A smile stretched in Belle’s lips as she thought about Roland’s reason to be blushing. Her daughter. His interest on Rose wasn’t new for her, as she had always notice the subtle exchange of glances between them whenever they were around each other and she thought that it was really cute, because they were long-time friends and Roland was a really good boy.

“Aye.” Rumplestiltskin answered.

“Alright,” Regina’s son said. “Follow me.”

Gripping at her husband’s arm, Belle started to walk while Roland lead their way through the corridors.

“He is acting weird.” The imp whispered at her.

“You’re the father of the girl he likes.” Belle shrugged.

“What?” He asked a little too loudly.

Roland looked at them over his shoulder but the lady just waved a hand for him, assuring that they were fine, before rubbing her husband’s arm with a laugh coming from her throat.

“We don’t want to scare him, Rumple.” She said in a whisper. “But everybody knows he likes Rose.”

His eyes were wide and wild, glancing at Roland’s back like his eyes could be shooting daggers at him. She couldn’t believe that he had never noticed something happening between them, but he saw Rose as a helpless child and the fact that she constantly needed their comfort only collaborated to make it hard for him to understand that she was growing up.

“He can’t be with my baby girl.” Rumple said behind clenched teeth.

Belle raised an eyebrow. “Sixteen-year-old baby girl?”

“I’ll make sure that Regina and her thief keep him very far away from her.”

She had always loved how overprotective her husband was with their children, but sometimes he just took it to an extreme level, he barely let those children breath without his consent and even though she knew that his concern, was due to everything they faced in the past, plus the fact that he had a lot of enemies that could want to hurt them, she still wanted them to enjoy their own lives.

“Stop it, now!” The lady reprimanded. “You can’t and you won’t interfere in her life.”

He was about to give her an answer, when the boy in front of them suddenly stopped walking as they had reached the double-doors that lead to Regina’s main hall.

“Milord, milady be welcome to Sherwood Castle.” Roland said a little nervously, probably noticing Rumple’s deadly gaze on him. “I shall leave you alone with my parents now.”

“Wait.” The imp stopped him with a hand on his arm and all the colour left Roland’s face, before Rumple could point at the girl that was still quietly following them. “Take the maid with you.”

“Alright.” Roland nodded, visibly relieved. “Come on, Agathe.”

Shooking her head, Belle looked at Rumple with disapproval in her eyes, because she knew that as much as he wanted to get rid of Agathe, he also wanted to scare the poor boy a bit. Apparently, the day Belle gave him a daughter he took the mission of keeping every single man away from her. Poor Colette didn’t know what expected her when she reached her eldest sister’s age.

The butlers opened the doors for them and the couple entered the hall, where Regina and Robin were having a tense conversation, both facing each other with serious expressions, but whatever they were discussing ended with their arrival as the former Evil Queen – who was now Queen of Sherwood – turned around to look at her guests, with a sarcastic smile growing slow in her lips.

“Why do I have the honour to receive the Dark One and the Dark Lady in my house?”

“Hello, Regina.” Belle greeted hugging her and Robin while Rumple just kept watching in place, refusing to do the same. “It’s good to see you.”

“I could say the same, if I wasn’t for the fact that you two, look like trouble. What is the matter?”

Robin raised an eyebrow for her, looking even more distressed. “Won’t you even serve wine for them?”

“Do you want wine?” Regina asked, snorting.

“No, thank you.” Belle replied.

“See.” The Queen said, as if she was proving her point and wining a fight. “Let’s get to the important things now.”

Gesticulating to a couple of armchairs that were set near the fireplace, she invited them to take a seat as Rumplestiltskin started narrate the events that took them there, starting with Blue’s report of an order that haven’t been delivered to how everything seemed perfectly normal at the Dark Realm, even when it clearly wasn’t. Belle had felt completely useless, making those infinite searches on the archive, in fail attempts of finding the tiniest clue to their ghostly dealer, but whoever he or she was, it was a very clever person that knew how to not leave any tracks behind.

Her fear of another evil being chasing her family like the Black Fairy did all those years ago, mixed with her anguish and frustration around herself for not being able to conceive another child, left Belle over the edge of misery and she just wanted to go home and be back to her routine, so she would have something to fill her thoughts. Stay there facing Regina and Robin’s tormented faces wasn’t helping in getting her to feel better, because she knew that they had their own problems and were also going through a hard moment with the disappearance of Henry’s wife and now his constant absence as he searched for her.

“So, you’re telling me that someone is stealing from you?” The dark-haired woman indagated with a laugh. “That’s impressive.”

“That sounds like a threat, don’t you think?” Rumplestiltskin replied, still impassive.

“Yeah, I do.”

The doors opened again and a young lady with dark eyes and an even darker hair passed through them, her red gown making her look older than she was, as she walked towards her parents.

“Mom, Roland said we had guests.” Veronica said before her glance fell to the couple sat right in front of Regina and Robin. “Oh, hey, aunt Belle! Hey, Mr. Rum.”

A frown took the imp’s face. He always disliked that silly nickname the children had for him, since when they were younger they couldn’t manage to speak his whole name. “Mr. Rum, doesn’t really fits me, dearie.”

“Sorry.” Ronnie muttered, pointing back at the doors. "I'll join Roland upstairs."

"Go on, darling." Robin said, kissing the top of her head and then, letting the girl take her way out of the hall.

What a funny thing to think, that Belle had been the one to introduce the thief, to the woman who was now his wife and the mother of his children. If Regina never asked for shelter at the Dark Castle on that particular bad night, she might have never ended there.

"So, what exactly do you expect me to do?" The Queen asked.

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Just keep an eye on things and inform me if you see something out of the normal."

"We don't even know what is normal anymore, mate." Robin chuckled.

"You understood me." The imp rolled his eyes, standing up and holding out a hand for Belle to take and stand too. "Now I think it's time to go."

Regina’s eyebrow lifted up with surprise, because Rumple liked to bother her as much as she bothered him with her visits and sometimes he would just appear there with his whole family and claim some of her chambers as theirs, saying that the children needed playmates and they were staying for a couple of days.

"So quickly?" She questioned.

"We are tired.” Belle explained. “There were rough days on the Dark Realm."

"Well, I hope you make a good trip." The Queen answered with a soft smile.

But before Belle could think about thanking her, they materialized on the entryway of their own castle with Agathe and their baggage right before them. A frown formed on the lady’s face.

"Do you know the meaning of trip?"

"Oh, don't pretend that you're not just as relieved as I am to be home." Rumplestiltskin teased.

Well, as much as she hated when he transported them around the realm with magic, she had to admit that she was really glad to be there too and curling on her bed seemed to be a really tempting thing to do right now. Maybe here, on her own home, she could get to rest a little bit.

"Actually, I feel like I could sleep for a whole eternity."

And she would, if she had the chance, but those things got to second place ever since she became a mother, because Colette came running from the hallway that lead to the left tower, and threw her arms around Belle, jumping to be caught from the floor.

"Mama, you're back!" She said, happily.

"No sleep for now, sweetheart." Rumple whispered at her, a grin passing through his lips as he reached to get their daughter from the mother’s arms.

"Hey, little girl, did you miss me?"

"A lot!" Colette replied. "Rosie played dolls with me and Lucy."

"That's great, sweetie." Belle answered, smoothing her curled brown hair.

The tall figure that was their butler, came from the same place their daughter had, probably looking for her, since somebody was already trying to keep the children on their sights around there. A shame that Chip and Colette were always too fast for most of them.

"Master, milady, you're back!"

"Say another obvious thing, Mr. Dove." Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes. "I hope it won't take longer until dinner. I'm hungry."

"You are sounding very bitter lately."

He shrugged. "I have reasons to."

Colette’s fingers played with the stripes of his hair as a strange look filled Agathe’s face while she watched them, Belle never saw it there before, but it almost resembled hate, what she thought to be strange, since they were always friendly to her, nothing else – at least, not her and the children, Rumple might be a little cruel with his words sometimes, but he never did anything to really bother her. The lady, however didn’t give much attention to that, as Agathe disappeared in the hallway that led to the dungeons.

"Papa, can you spin with me?"

"Yeah, let’s go, Lette."

Belle watched them leave with Mr. Dove following father and daughter, but all she could do was stand still at the entryway, her traveling cloak still heavy and warm around her shoulders, the black gloves still covering her cold hands.

"Milady."

Turning around, she saw her most beloved maid and opened her arms, asking for the maternal hug, only her and Belle’s deceased mother could ever give.

"Oh, Mrs. Potts I've missed you and I'm really in need to cry on your shoulder right now."

"Come on,” the redhead chubby woman said. “We can talk while I cook."

"Papa! I'm so glad that you're back!"

Rumple was spinning with Colette sat on his lap, her little hands running through the wheel as he turned the straw into gold for her entertainment, those bright blue eyes she had inherit from her mother shinning with the excitement of seeing the magic happening right in front of her eyes. Nobody was around, even though he could say that his family was spread around the big castle, too busy with their own matters to notice that the master and lady of this house had come back, but Rose sensitive as she was, appeared just some moments after he sat by the wheel with her youngest sister.

The girl had a giant smile on her face as she bent, to press a kiss on his cheek before taking a seat by his side, leaning her head on his shoulder as he kept spinning.

"How are your visions, Rosebud?” He asked full of concern. “Are they bothering you a lot?"

She denied with a wave of her head. "I only had one dream since you left and it was the very same from the last time. A King in his bed, dying while I sit there by his side and he looks at me with rage." Inhaling deeply, Rose stared transfixed at the windows, like she was lost on the maze of her own mind. "I can't see his face yet."

"Oh, sweetheart!" Rumplestiltskin mumbled, stopping his work to turn at her, one of his hands coming up to stroke her cheek.

"Maybe he is a bad King, Rosie." Colette pondered. "So, his death won't be that horrible."

Rose’s lips tightened in a thin line under her little sister’s watch. She worried a lot about the people who she dreamed of, because even when she had no idea of who they were, she still felt pity for them. Having tragic fates traced, was awful thing and she felt really bad for being the one to see it all, but there was one thing that had been truly disturbing her this time: Rose was in that place, for some reason, she was with the king while he died.

"I don't understand why I am there with him." She told her father.

That didn’t make any sense for Rumplestiltskin, but he knew that the details of her visions were generally blurry and confusing, so it was provable that it wasn’t exactly what was happening.

"Maybe you're not,” he said in an attempt to give her some comfort. “Maybe in your dreams you're just in another person's place."

"I hope so." Rose shrunk, then looked around. "Where is mama?"

"Probably gossiping with the maids."

Raising just eyebrow his daughter gave him a mistrustful glance. "She is not the kind of lady who does gossips."

Clever girl, that one, he thought to himself. Rumple didn’t want to tell her that Belle wasn’t exactly fine since they arrived the Dark Realm, too worried with everything, but the last five days had already been troubled for the couple, and he didn’t need his children to get concerned about all those problems with them.

"That's just a way of saying that she needed somebody to talk about life."

"She could have talked to me."

"I don't think so, darling.” He said with a small laugh. “Not everything you can share with a child."

Thinking that he might be talking about husband and wife matters Rose shooked her head, immediately backing away from wanting to talk with her mother, because this wasn’t a thing she was willing to hear about.

"Alright, I understood, we should change the subject."

However, they didn’t have the time, because Gideon, Chip, Neal and Emma came from the tower that led to the library, distracted while talking to each other, until they laid eyes on the imp.

"Your little snake!” Gideon pointed at Rose. “They came back and you didn't even tell us."

"How are you, my boys?"

Placing Colette on the floor, the imp stood up to hug his sons. "How are you, my boys?"

"Pretty good." Neal answered with a side-smile. "They didn't disobey me if that's what you want to know."

Both Gideon and Rose laughed, exchanging a glance that only the two of them knew what meant. Belle opened the kitchen's door, getting out of there to see the family reunion that was happening in the dining hall.

"Hey!" She said, looking at the ones she hasn’t had the chance to meet yet. "I'll change before dinner."

"Are you alright, mother?" Gideon answered intercepting her way to the staircase, his thumb stroking her temples. "You look downcast."

"I'm fine." Belle guaranteed with a smile, before pulling away from him to walk towards her chambers.

Rose narrowed her eyes, taking this attitude as an evidence that something was wrong, so she followed her mother through the corridors walking fast to reach Belle before she locked the door of her chambers.

"You lie as bad as me." Rose said, leaning against the doorframe to prevent her from closing it. "What is happening, mama?"

Belle made an inviting gesture to Rose to get inside the room. "There is a lot in my mind, sweetie, just that."

"I don't believe you."

"It's the truth." Belle insisted, entering the closet to take one of her gowns from there.

Back when Rose was a child, her best memories came from sneaking inside her parents’ chambers to take a look at her mother's gorgeous clothes and shoes. She used to walk around the closet, when no one was seeing and take the dresses, trying to fit them in herself as much as she was definitely too little for that. Belle found her there, a lot of times and she never reprehended the girl, only laughed, with a lovely look on her face.

"Well, then you shouldn't let problems take the best of you." Rose advised, taking a seat in one of the armchairs.

Lost in thoughts, Belle stopped behind her, pulling her hair up and down in different forma with a nostalgic sigh. "I used to think that I was playing dolls with you in the past. Dressing, hair-styling, just like a child with a new toy. And now you look all grown and gorgeous."

The tone in her voice was sorrowful and made Rose feel worried again. Belle was a joy person and if there was something great enough to make her sound so sore, then it was definitely bad and worth attention.

"Tell me what is the matter." She insisted.

"You have a lot to worry alone, Rosie." Belle said. "I won't take my problems to you."

Remembering about her brief conversation with her father earlier, Rose tried to think about something her mother wouldn't like to discuss with her, but she only found one subject and as much as she didn't like the idea of talking about her parents’ relationship, she would anything if it would make her mother feel better.

"Is it anything between you and papa?"

"No! We are fine." Belle assured. "The matter is a darkness different from the one I love."

"And we should get concerned about it?" Rose asked, biting at her lip.

"I don't know."

In the next morning, Rose woke up from one of those incredible good nights of sleep, totally out of any kind of dreams. Rested and happy, she dressed herself seeing that the snow outside was starting to melt, it was a beautiful sign that the winter was getting to an ending. She went downstairs, the amazing smell of bread being baked coming from the kitchen in the still silent castle, she was driven there by this, hoping to get something of the breakfast before the maids put everything on the table.

Opening the door with magic, as it was weirdly locked with a spell, the girl jumped at the sight of Gideon almost smashing Roderick against the counter as the two of them kissed roughly, hands traveling around each other's body and hair.

"Dear gods, put a sign on the door next time!" Rose exclaimed, making them pull away with red faces.

"The door is locked for a reason, sister." Gideon answered, impassively.

"This is the kitchen, Gideon, not your room, anyone can enter here. It could have been father and if it was you would have a lot to explain."

Now, he had admit that she was right, Gideon couldn't even imagine how bad it would have been if Rumplestiltskin entered there while he kissed his boyfriend. There was a reason why he was keeping this secret from his parents for so long and it was his fear of what their reaction might be, as they expected Gideon to get married to a highborn lady and give them lots of grandchildren, just like any parents would expect their son to do. Crashing their dreams was something he wasn't willing to make so soon, even though he knew that his mother had no problem with people's choice of lovers, since her friend Ruby lived with another lady and Belle herself had broken all the rules when she fell for his father, a man that was considered a monster all around the realms.

That just didn't stop him from feeling afraid when it come of himself.

"Sorry for that, little beauty." Roderick said, before pointing at the provisions Gideon had taken for him when the maids left the kitchen to start cleaning the castle's many rooms before serving the breakfast. "We just came here to pick some food, actually."

"Yeah, and you easily get distracted." Rose rolled her eyes.

Grabbing basket that contained the food, Gideon pushed it to Roderick's arms.

"Here, take it, Rod. The winter won't last but your family needs to eat."

"Thank you, Gid." He smiled, brushing his lips against the other boy's.

Roderick had just pulled away when the door was opened by Mrs. Potts, who was gladly too busy looking down at the duster in her hands to notice the closeness between the boys.

"Agathe have you - " she started, lifting her eyes to the three of them, looking at Roderick completely puzzled. "Who are you?"

"Mrs. Potts!" Gideon almost choked with his own words, without knowing what to do or what to say.

"I am - " Roderick swallowed. "I - "

"He is my boyfriend." Rose said holding the dark-haired boy's hand on hers.

"Your what?" Mrs. Potts and Gideon questioned at the same time.

"My boyfriend, Roderick. Please, please Mrs. Potts, don't tell my parents about that just now, I want to properly introduce him, but not just yet." Rose explained. "He is going home now."

The frown on the chubby woman's face told them that telling their parents about the visitor was exactly what she wanted to do in that moment. "He better be."

Waving her hand, Rose made Roderick disappear in a golden cloud of smoke as Gideon rushed to the dining hall, not wanting the maid to question him about anything or he might end up telling her his secret.

"Liar!" Mrs. Potts accused, pointing a finger at Rose.

"I'm not a liar, why would I be?"

"Your cheeks are red. You're lying, and I will find out what about!"

Rose shooked her head, walking out of the kitchen before she could say another obvious lie in an attempt to help her brother. Her family was already waiting for the breakfast at the dining table, except for Belle that was getting a letter from a bird and opening it to read.

"Look at this!" She said, much more cheerfully than she had been last night. "Prince Neal is inviting the two of you to his birthday party!"

"Prince Neal?" Gideon laughed. "No, thank you."

"You were friends!" Belle protested.

"When he was a cool kid, not a smug idiot."

She didn't agree with her brother completely in that matter. Yes, maybe Neal was really smug, but he was a royal and those things affected the way that he chose to act, but he wasn't an idiot all the time, with Rose he was a decent young man.

"Well, you are going, he is the brother of your sister-in-law." Their father said, what really surprised her, because he wasn't exactly a fan of those events. "And you can use the occasion to try to find a lady you like. Chose anyone you want, I'll make sure I'll offer her a deal she can't deny."

There it was, Rose thought, he had an interest in sending his children there. Poor Gideon, her excuse for Mrs. Potts wasn't going to last that much if he wanted to remain a single man, free to meet his beloved Roderick whenever he wanted.

"Father, I don't want to get married, and are you really suggesting that I would need a deal to do so?" Gideon pretended to be offended.

"No, I was simply easing your life."

"Really helpful." The boy mumbled, folding his arms against his chest. "I don't want to go."

"You will and you'll take care of your sister. She only dances with you and the ones you allow her to."

"This must be a joke!" Rose exclaimed. "Papa, I'm not a child."

"Yeah, Rumple, you're overreacting. She can dance with whoever she wants." Belle said. "And Gideon can keep an eye on the girls without you interfering on that."

By her side, her brother snorted. "Nightmare."

"Oh, no I know what a nightmare is and this brother, looks worse for both of us."

But, whatever the stupid birthday of Prince Neal could bring, it seemed that neither of them could get rid of it.

#rumbelle fic #writing #mine #rumplestiltskin #belle french #gideon gold #gideon x roderick #rose x roland #oc #rose gold #The Dark Children #fanfiction #ao3 #rumbelle #ouat

[nibsthebravelostboy]

talking to my parents [tj x nibs x misty]

@itslostgirlmisty @princetjrobinson

[TJ]

TJ was pissed. He had heard his parents were back only through the news of the couple giving birth to two new healthy babies. The whole kingdom was in celebration and the maids and butlers were setting up even more festive decor for the kingdom. There was talk of parties and a Christmas ball but TJ didn’t care about any of that. He didn’t even know his parents were back or that had siblings from them. He knocked briefly on their door before going inside. His eyes blazing red in anger as he looked at his parents.

“So when did you think the appropriate time to tell your children you were back was? Or that we had two new siblings. You both didn’t even talk to us about losing the four siblings we had before and now we are just supposed to accept these new ones and not feel like you are just trying to replace them? You guys are so selfish why do you even have kids? You don’t care about us. While you two were fucking nonstop, Hope lost a baby, there’s a dragon terrifying the sirens and mermaid, and I haven’t left the house since Liam. You would know all this if you stayed and protected us just like you promised you would. But no, if it has nothing to do with you or putting Nibs dick inside of you you don’t care. I fucking hate you.”

[Misty]

Misty had put the twins down for a nap and she knew Nibs was going to be pretty busy with his meetings he had scheduled so she made sure that before he left for them they could spend a few moments together. When she heard the knock on the door she assumed it was someone coming to let them know Nibs had to go but she was pleasantly surprised to see TJ walk through the doors.

She listened to him talk and the mood completely shifted as his words felt like a knife to the heart. Hearing his last words her eyes turned blue as she looked at Nibs. Misty was so at a loss for words she didn’t know what to say. Most of what TJ was saying was completely disrespectful and just untrue but if she had made her own son feel that way then she couldn’t ignore that. She was more concerned though that Nibs had the same anger as TJ if not worse when pushed to far and she didn’t want him to get upset. “TJ we have been incredibly busy, we haven’t had a moment to even sit down with the royals yet. We got back because I went into labor and then we just wanted to spend the rest of that day together because we knew that as soon as people knew we were back they wouldn’t give us that time anymore.”

“You are right we didn’t talk to you guys but your father’s memory was gone, I had to deal with the royals and the funeral and my father, I was trying and I knew you guys were safe and that was my priority. I wish I could go back and check on you but I didn’t have that luxury, we don’t have that opportunity once you become the ruler of a kingdom and you are married. That almost destroyed me and your father and that’s what our trip was for. Because without it we wouldn’t even be together and all those problems you listed wouldn’t have been dealt with. And no matter how upset you are disrespecting us will never be allowed. Ever.”

[Nibs]

His eyes blazed bright red as he heard TJ's words. “That is a shit ton of assumptions coming out of your mouth. How dare you speak of things you don't understand anything about. Your mother and I left for couples counselling not just ‘to fuck’ as you put it. You are right your mother and I lost children, more children then you even know about. I brought her away from the castle and the stress because I wasn't going to let us lose more children. You aren’t a fucking child anymore TJ and if you want to be king you need to grow up. I am not babying you anymore so you deserve to know. Your grandfather was a bad man, he almost caused your mother to miscarry you and he even did cause us to lose kids before you came along so I am not going to sit here and let you insult your mother and myself over things you don't even know about. Hell even your grandmother tried to get her to miscarry.”

“And if I remember correctly, you came to the vacation house and we dropped everything to comfort you when Liam and you broke up which I can’t even fathom why you would bother doing that when everyone fucking knows Stiles and Liam love each other and you going after him while knowing he loves your brother is just setting yourself up for heartbreak. We raised you to be smarter than that.”

“And another thing, you see how fucked up Liam got when his parents were going through their divorce and how stressed he is about being King, you could imagine why keeping our marriage together would be in your best interest. We went to therapy to talk about what happened when you lost your siblings because Jack killed them and how we would move forward. How we would honor their memories and make sure that we can be in a stable enough mindset to help you and your sister through what happened. How do you expect us to be there for you if we don't even have our own lives put together? If we don't have our shit together there is no way you would take any of what we say seriously.”

“If you really think that we are trying to replace your siblings you are crazy because we value both you and your sister so much and ever since you have both been born we have been fighting for your birth rights. Do you know the shit I had to put up with from the royals about a hybrid as king? Hell they wanted us to never have children and force your mother to have a pureblood child with someone else thus removing you and your birth right of being King so don't you dare disrespect your mother and I ever again. I get you are upset but if you are to ever be king you need to learn to talk to people before you start throwing accusations around.”

“The fact you would regard your mother as some kind of whore for me instead of as my wife, your mother and as queen is just so incredibly insensitive and I raised you to respect your mother with the most utmost respect and you just...how dare you.” He hissed beyond angry as his eyes turned black as he stepped protectively in front of Misty.

[TJ] TJ didn’t back down from his father and step closer to Nibs, “So what you didn’t fuck her downstairs while I was upstairs crying my eyes out? Of fucking course if I’m not Stiles it doesn’t matter but when he was walking around here like a pussy because Liam broke up with him you gave him your full attention. Don’t tell me about who I shouldn’t fall for and who I should you are not someone I ever want to take advice from. I don’t have to go through the whole island before I actually settle down. I don’t have to have kids with people I beat and hate before I find the person I love. That’s you dad. Not me.” “You don’t get it. You didn’t raise me. You gave me a second of your time while most of it was Misty. You didn’t even know your daughter was basically being raped by guards. She was what 13? Having sex with 21-25 year olds? You only notice when it’s Misty going through it. And when you weren’t there for her miscarriage I was and how do you think I felt dad? I didn’t have anyone to teach me what to do. I felt so helpless and I saw that and you couldn’t give me a second of your time to check on me. You put your dick right back in her like someone would do with a whore and got her pregnant again. You don’t care about me or Hope. Stiles you do but us? Oh yeah no we don’t matter. And I feel sorry about the twins because they will realize they don’t matter either.” “I would rather you two divorce. At least then I know you would care. So no what I say stands I hate you both and I wish for just a moment you could admit that you are a shit father and she’s a shit mother. Because you are.”

[Misty]

Misty felt Nibs pushing her behind him and she grabbed his hand trying to get him to calm down. Nibs I’m fine. Really it’s okay. Just calm down for me, please. She said before flinching at TJ’s words. She never imagined her son would ever feel this way about her or Nibs. She didn’t know if Nibs would calm down after hearing TJ’s response. There was so much sadness radiating off of her, she couldn’t even respond. She couldn’t make the situation better. There was no way she was going to divorce Nibs and she couldn’t go back in time and be the parents TJ clearly says he wants. So what were they supposed to do.

[Nibs]

“Shows how much you know. I didn't pay attention to Stiles when he was whining his eyes out Liam. You know what TJ when you meet your imprint and they reject you to the point where your body starts physically dying then you can come bitch at me about it. I have spent more time with you than I have Stiles. I comforted you when you broke up with Irene after she pulled the same shit and you know what, you and Irene are perfect for each other.”

“Both of you are so selfish, making assumptions and not taking time to talk to people about an issue, throwing your family under the bus. You don't think you and your sister are in our best interest and you don't want to be in our family anymore then I am not stopping you from leaving. If you really think we don't care about you, there is the door. Now if you are done making everything about you and talking about how much you hate us. We need to go and check on your sister then figure out what all this stupid dragon shit is about. Until you can carry a respectful conversation this is over, now get out.” He could feel himself digging his nails into his palms until they bleed.

[TJ]

“You know what dad, fuck you. My whole life I have wanted to be you, I idolized you. But now I know that you are nothing. And you aren’t even half of the man I thought you were. You don’t have to worry about how selfish I am, I’m gone. You don’t have to worry about me at all. If I could I would give you your name back just so I have nothing to be associated with you.” He growled.

“Good day, your highness.” He said sarcastically as he bowed and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

[Misty]

Misty heard TJ’s words and she moved in front of Nibs to grab TJ’s hand before he could leave. Once he turned back to look at her she slapped him. “I don’t know who you are. You are not the son I raised. You father loves you more than anything in this world. Stiles grew up watching Nibs be the father he wanted to you because you came from me. You have no idea how hard it was when we lost our first child together, and then Hope came and Nibs was wrapped around her finger. And then we had you and you...you were everything I saw in Nibs. That is why you have his name, because you have so much of him in you. You father would die for you. He would leave me and go to you in a heartbeat if you needed him to. Your father is everything you wish you could be. And he doesn’t deserve what you said to him.”

“I love you TJ but I will not accept this type of behavior. You will go to your room and stay there until me and your father decide what to do with you. And thanks to your big sister every room is literally impossible to sneak out of. So apologize to your father and then get out of my face.”

[Nibs]

Nibs eyes turned from black to bright blue as he heard TJ's words. It was like a hit to the heart each word hurting more than the last. He was shocked that that was what his own son thought of him. Everything went rather slow as he found it hard to breathe as he took a few steps back.

[TJ]

The sting radiated off his face and his eyes turned black as before he could even control himself he ended up slapping his mother back. He froze as the slap echoed through his ears and his eyes immediately returned to normal as he looked at his mom. He knew it was hard because of his strength power and he brought his hand down in disgust. “Oh my god…mom I didn’t...I am so sorry I didn’t...I didn’t mean to do that. I couldn’t...I wasn’t thinking.”

[Misty]

Misty didn’t even see the slap coming before a sharp pain hit her and before she knew it her body was hitting the ground. Her neck completely broken.

—————-

[Misty]

It took a moment for Misty to realize what happened before she heard TJ apologizing. She took a step away from him and just nodded, “It’s fine. I know you are sorry.” She said. She stopped as she realized how many times she had had to say that exact thing to people in her life. “Just go to your room TJ and Nibs go to work. We can finish this later.”

[Nibs]

Hearing the slap caused Nibs instincts to kick in. He couldn’t control himself as he shifted and tackled TJ to the ground and bared his teeth at the younger. YOU DON'T DO THAT. DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN DO YOU HEAR ME. SHE IS YOUR MOTHER. He snapped before realizing what he was doing and his face fell before he got off TJ. Walking over to Misty he licked her cheek affectionately before nuzzling against her and then shifting back as he turned to look at TJ. “No, it's not fine. Go to your room. Now.”

[TJ] TJ was going to head to his room before his head hit the floor as he was tackled by his father. His eyes turned blue as he nodded over and over again. “I won’t I’m sorry it was an accident.” He cried before seeing his father moving. He got up, still shaking in fear as he nodded, “I’m really sorry mom.” He said before leaving the room.

[Misty]

Misty saw Nibs tackling TJ and wasn’t surprised, his first instinct was to protect her no matter what, but she could feel how scared TJ was. Nibs quickly snapped out of it like she knew he would and she flinched when he licked her cheek but smiled softly regardless so he knew she was really okay.

When TJ left, Misty took Nibs’ hand and kissed it softly before licking away the blood. “Stop hurting yourself Nibs. You know I hate it.” She said looking at him.

[Nibs]

Seeing TJ go out, he sent the guard to tell Jay to make sure TJ makes it to his room before turning his attention back to Misty. “I didn't mean too. I should have known he was going to do that. I should have protected you.” He sees the bruise already forming on her face as he frowned.

[Misty]

“Stop Nibs, he is our son you don’t have to protect me from him. I am okay. You need to go, you have meetings and I have to see the twins. I can put ice on my face later. It’s be fine, at most just swollen.” She shrugged trying to not make it a big deal as she moved to grab Nibs’ crown. “Go. Or you’ll never hear the end of it.”

[Nibs]

“You and I both know you can't walk out of her with that mark on your face or they might find some way to blame me for it. I will check on our daughter first before I handle the royals. Maybe she knows something about this supposed dragon.”

[Misty]

“Maybe but Nibs, just be sensitive about the whole miscarriage thing. Hope doesn’t love talking about things that really affect her. She’s like you when it comes to that.” She replied before sighing, “I am not staying in here to avoid people seeing my face. This isn’t the first time Nibs, I know how to cover it. I’m pretty good at it. Just go and I’ll see you tonight.”

[Nibs]

“I know. I will let her bring it up. You shouldn't have to cover it because he never should have done that.”

#ntjm004 #nibsxmisty #nibsxtj