The next chapter is here! Hope y'all enjoy this!
Several days later, they was all back in the palace. Ciara was relieved when she learned that Liam had gotten her a bodyguard - Mara.
She was now sitting in her room, her head resting in her hands. She felt like crying, but being born in New York, she was raised to be stronger than this.
There was a knock at the door, so she slowly stood up and walked over to answer it.
Hana was standing there, her hands clasped behind her back. "Liam sent me to get you."
Ciara glanced at her. "To get me? What does he have planned?"
Hana shrug. "Dunno. He just said that he was going to get Drake and Maxwell, and asked if I would come get you. So lets go and see what he has planned."
Ciara nodded, following Hana out of the room.
It didn't take long for them to catch up with the guys. Liam smiled when they joined them. "Now that we are all here, I wanted to do something for my friends to hopefully take your minds off everything thats happened."
Maxwell clapped excitedly. "Does this mean we can finally parrrty?"
Liam chuckled. "I guess it does." He opened one of the doors in the hallway, and led his friends inside. "Right this way."
Ciara decided to trail behind them, until they made it into what looked like a mini bar. "Wow.." she breathed softly.
A few moments later, she was sitting in a corner booth with a glass of whiskey in her hand. She was just glancing in her still full glass, lost in thought.
"You alright, Gray?" She jumped until she realized that Drake had joined her.
"You scared me, Walker!" Ciara said, putting a hand to her chest. She shook herself out of her daze. "How's your shoulder doing? We haven't really spoke that much recently since.." she trailed off.
Drake finished his whiskey before answering her. "Its getting better," he shrug. "Doesn't hurt as much."
Ciara rolled her eyes, then reached across the table and rested her hand on his. "Don't lie to me!" She scolded him. "And always remember, I know when your lying." She pushed her untouched drink away, then stood up.
She walked quickly out of the bar, then leaned against a wall. She didn't bother wiping her eyes as tears slid down her cheek. She slid down the wall until she was sitting in the floor.
A few days later, she was talking to her sister on the phone. "..I don't know what to do anymore.." She shifted the phone to her other ear.
Her sister, Callie, sighed on the other line. "Ciara, slow down. Now, whats going on?"
Ciara took a deep breath before answering. "There was an assassination attempt at the palace last month, and I thought that I was strong enough to handle this on my own.."
"Ciara.. Ciara, listen.. you are the strongest person that I know.." Callie spoke up. "Now keep going."
Ciara took a deep breath. "The assassin had his gun trained on me and I would be dead now if it wasn't for Drake. So he got shot because of me and Bastian is dead because of me.."
Callie took a deep breath. "You know what? I will be on the next flight to Cordonia. I might even see if Daniel wants to go with me. So I will see you soon."
Ciara knew there was no point in arguing. "Okay.." She stood in her place with the phone still at her ear long after Callie hung up, staring at a fixed spot in the wall.
"Ciara..?" A voice asked behind her. "You alright?"
She turned around to face Maxwell, not caring that her cheeks were tear streaked. She was only able to shake her head.
He wrapped his arms around her, then pulled her into a hug.
Tears slid down her cheeks. "This was all my fault.." Her voice was husky as she continued. "Drake was hurt because of me and.." she swallowed hard, but fell silent.
Maxwell pulled away. "No, Ciara. None of this is your fault. Is this the reason you have been distant lately? Because you blame yourself?"
Ciara opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, but just nodded at that.
"Nobody blames you. Not Liam, not Hana, and definitely not Drake." He informed her, then pulled her back into a hug.
Ciara wiped her watery eyes, then pulled away. "Thanks for the talk, Maxwell. I needed that." She smiled, then headed back to her room.
When she woke up the next morning, she had a new video message on her phone. She took a deep breath, then pressed play.
The video was taken in some room, then a second into the video, a chillingly familiar masked man stepped in front of the camera. "People of Cordonia!" He cheered. "The shooting at the homecoming ball was just the beginning! You will all bow to the rightful king, Anton Severus!"
Ciara took a deep breath, trying to control her growing anxiety.
The masked man gave a deep heartly laugh. "And I will finish what I started at the ball." Then the video cut off abruptly.
She put her hand over her mouth, nearly dropping her phone.
*
Not long after watching the video, Ciara had gone for a walk to clear her mind. She followed the hedge maze that Liam took her to one time, then found the swing and sat down in it.
She glanced at her phone, then dialed numbers on it and listened to it ring. Four rings then voicemail. She wiped the tears from her eyes, then hung up without leaving a message. Her sister was probably waiting in the palace for her. She heard a ding on her phone that signaled a new meassage.
It was a text in their group chat from Hana. "Ciara? Where'd you go? You have a visiter."
Ciara sighed, then texted back. "Coming!" After another moment, she stood up and headed back to the palace.
Once she walked out of the maze, she quickly spotted Callie surrounded by her friends. She flashed a weak smile. "Hey everyone."
Callie smiled at her. "Hey, Ciara.." she greeted softly, but her smile quickly faded. "Maxwell just told me everything that your going through. How are you holding up now?"
Ciara sighed. "I'm feeling a bit better now, I guess I just needed a walk." She took a deep breath. "But I am so glad that your here."
Callie exchanged a glance with Liam, then glanced back at Ciara. "You okay now?"
Ciara just shrug, but remained silent.
Maxwell bounced around excitedly. "We should do something fun since Ciara's sister is here! Like.. like a dance parrrrrty!" He snapped his fingers when he got an idea. "We could go somewhere that has snow and go skiing or something! You know, get Ciara's mind off things."
Liam thought a moment. "That does sound fun, but we don't have to go somewhere cold, we could go camping like we did before."
Hana put a finger to her chin, thinking. "Hm.. there's always an amusement park or the spa.. maybe to the beach!"
Ciara smiled at everyone. "Thanks, guys. I think the beach would be a great place to go!" She glanced over at Drake. "Hey, what's the deal? Why so quiet?"
Drake glanced at her in confusion at first, giving her a weak smile which quickly vanished. "It's nothing.. but the beach does sound fun."
Maxwell squealed in excitement. "Lets go!!!!"
Liam sighed. "I have meetings this afternoon, but I am free in the morning so we should go then."
Callie smiled. "Thats fine, that gives me the day to talk to Ciara and rest from the trip."
Thats a wrap!!!! Chappie 2 is completed, and just so yall know, this story has no set destination, so not sure where this is going. Anyways, follow, favorite, review or all three! Toodles!
