Hey guys, thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this next chapter as well! I´m trying to upload each chapter soon, before I start school again. Read and review please
Chapter 21: Facades
"I had a change of heart
But don't know where to start
What I'm about to say may surprise you
But now I see it clear, life ain't always fair,"
Brandon´s POV:
Almost immediately I carry Stella into the palace and Queen Luna, and a doctor, friend of the family's, come in with us while King Radius and the guards, along with the winx, calm everyone down. We take Stella up to her old bedroom, the one she occupied before our marriage.
I lay her down on the bed gently and the doctor begins to examine her right away, as well as Ms. Faragonda, who is trying to figure out along with Queen Luna what could have gone wrong.
We hear the doctor click his pen and write something down.
"Well?" asks Stella´s mother. We all look at him expectantly.
"Your majesty, as far as her health goes, she's very weak, and very dehydrated, which could have been the cause for her passing out" he says, pausing to write something else down "But as for the enchantment going wrong, I can't say it had anything to do with any health condition whatsoever" He says, sternly.
"Wait a minute, so your saying that something completely different could have caused this? It has nothing to do with her health at all?" I ask him, if that's the case I know someone else is behind this, it wasn´t an accident!
"No Sir, not at all", he says with a shake of this head "This has absolutely nothing to do with Queen Stella´s health", he says, handing me over a small piece of paper. I can see Queen Luna and exchange looks, worriedly.
"On here I´ve written down a few remedies she can take for the dehydration, she also needs plenty of rest and she should have a full recovery within the next few days", he says.
"Your majesties, headmistress, it's been an honor. If you need anything at all, you have my number, please just let me know" he says to us. Queen Luna thanks him before asking one of the guards to accompany him to the door.
Queen Luna sits on the corner of Stella´s bed with a very worried expression, I know the feeling.
"I can't imagine who could possibly want to sabotage our celebration!" she exclaims, her voice cracking.
"Neither can I, but…" Ms. Faragonda starts to say, it looks like she onto something…
"But what, Ms. Faragonda?" I ask her urging for an answer.
"What if it isn't the celebration they want to sabotage, what if it's Stella?" she asks, the Queen only looks at her, puzzled.
"Stella? Who in Solaria´s name would possibly want to harm my daughter?" she asks, then she looks directly at me, as if she were waiting for me to answer.
"I have no idea who would do something like this" I tell her, taking her hand, "but I promise my Queen, we will get to the bottom of this" she smiles at me tiredly.
"Thank you my son" she says to me kindly, "and thank you Faragonda, whoever is responsible for this must pay", she says,
And I´ll make sure of it.
I open my eyes and look at the clock next to me. Its six a.m. I look at Stella, lying in her bed still sound asleep. I slept in a chair next to her bed just in case she were to need anything or awoke during the night. I get up and stretch, still feeling pretty stiff from sleeping in that chair.
As I open the door and walk out of Stella´s bedroom I´m greeted by Sky.
"Hey, morning!" he says walking up to me, "How´d you sleep, how´s Stella feeling?" he asks.
"I wouldn't know, she hasn´t woken up yet, but the doctor said she needed plenty of rest, to recover" I tell him, he just looks at me sympathetically.
"She´ll be fine, Brandon. She´s strong, she´s a winx, remember?" he says to me, patting my back.
"You were right, you know. Yesterday, about everything you told me. Seeing Stella that way and seeing everything that happened last night really hit me. I mean it really scared me to think that I could lose her in the blink of an eye. This is…she is…something I really need to fight for". I conclude. He smiles.
"I´m sure she feels the same, and I´m glad to know you´ve made your decision", he says to me. Suddenly Queen Luna arrives, looking pretty nervous.
"Good morning boys" she tells us, and without another word she walks right past us and into Stella´s room. Odd.
Stella´s POV
I manage to open my eyes. My eyelids feel so…heavy. I look at the clock on my bedside, 6:15 a.m. As I begin to sit up I look around. This is my old bedroom…in Solaria.
Suddenly it all comes back to me in a flash. Last night, the solar solstice, people screaming, I passed out, at least I assume that's what happened, because I have no more memories after that point. I hear voices outside my bedroom. It's Brandon's voice alright…and someone else´s. Helia maybe? No. It's Sky.
I hear a knock on my door and before I can even answer my mom opens the door and all but runs in, looking scared.
"Mom?" I ask her, still rubbing my eyes. She helps me to sit up, fixing my pillows.
"Sweetheart, we must talk about last night" she says, I sigh.
"Mom, I'm really sorry if I disappointed you, I-"I tell her but she doesn't let me finish.
"Darling I´m not mad at you. It wasn´t your fault at all!" she says, beginning to cry. Okay now she´s really scaring me.
"Mom, what is it? What's going on?" I ask, taking her hands in mine. She takes a deep breaths and looks at me.
"Stella, I think I may know who was responsible for this. Leander" she says.
Um…..What?!
"Mom!" I say, nearly choking on her confession, "Where did you get that idea!? Why would you say that, I mean I know he´s a bit severe with Brandon and all, but-", I try to say, but she interrupts me yet again.
"No Stella, he isn´t just severe with Brandon, he´s become sinister!" she says, whispering angrily. I can't do anything more than just stare at her, bewildered. Leander would do something like this, why? I guess my mom notices my confused look,
"Stella, do you remember what I told you about Brandon´s mom and the corporation she left him?" she asks me. I nod. That was the hidden reason behind our marriage, of course Brandon never found out…
"Well, let me explain to you the rest…" she says, grimly.
"So your meaning to tell us that Brandon´s father is still stealing from him?!" Bloom asks me bewildered. I nod. She came in this morning along with the other girls to see how I was recovering. Everyone else is currently downstairs having breakfast.
"That's terrible!" Flora says, shaking her head in disapproval.
"Of course it is! I mean maybe if it were an outsider…but his very own father?" Musa says, astonished.
"So when are you going to tell him Stella?" Layla suddenly asks me. I look at her, confused.
"Tell who what?" I ask her. Now all five girls are staring at me as if I were missing something.
"She means Brandon, honey" Flora responds softly. Oh! Well…
"Actually…" I begin slowly,
"You're not going to tell him?" Musa asks me looking a bit shocked. I sigh.
"Guys I´ve known about this situation since before the wedding, and I couldn't tell him the truth back then because I knew what it would do to him! What would the difference be now? On the contrary, everything's so much worse!" I almost shout, exasperated.
"What can possibly be worse than this?" Bloom asks me.
"Well, that was just the beginning…you see, my mother explained to me that she and my father had a deal with Leander. With my marriage to Brandon, my parents would save the corporation from going bankrupt, with the lone condition that Leander was to give the company back to Brandon afterward", I tell them, then continue,
"The problem is, that never happened. My parents have given him numerous opportunities since the wedding, actually. But he just won't budge! My mother told me that the last time they spoke, my father gave him an ultimatum. Either he gives Brandon what's rightfully his, or my dad will tell Brandon everything, apparently Leander just laughed it off…and then last night's disaster happened…" I say to them, concluding.
"Yikes…" Tecna almost whispers. We´re all quiet for a moment. Until Flora speaks up.
"Honey forgive me but I still feel you should be the one to tell him. After all, he is your husband. I think he´d much rather find out about something this hurtful from you, than to hear it from someone else" she says, hugging me comfortingly.
"Flora´s right Stella" Bloom responds, the other girls simply nod.
"Just think Stella, the longer you wait the harder it´ll be. But first things first, you need to recover, if everything we´ve discovered about Leander is true, Solaria needs you, there's no telling what else he can do!" Layla says, and she is absolutely right. I need to get back on my feet as soon as possible
"We´re all with you on this" Bloom tells me, "Don't forget you're not alone" I sigh, have I ever mentioned how thankful I am for these girls?
Another day has gone by, it's evening now, and I still feel pretty weak. Although my mother and Brandon insist that my skin color has gone back to normal and I no longer look like the ghost I appeared to be a few days ago. But I still can´t make it across the room without tumbling or needing help from someone. There´s a knock on my door.
"Come in" I answer.
"Room service!" Brandon says, laughing. I roll my eyes. He´s been bringing my meals in so that I don't have to be taken downstairs.
"So," he says, sitting in the chair next to my bed and setting down the tray of food, "How´re you feeling?" he asks,
"A little better I guess" I tell him. The girls told me he´s been by my side since the incident at the festival the other night. I guess he really was worried.
"Well, you need to eat everything on your plate if you want to recover soon, doctors' orders" he says smiling and pushing the tray towards me. I shake my head.
"I´m not really hungry, my legs feel stiff, I really just need to walk a bit" I tell him pushing the food away and pushing the bedcovers off me.
"Absolutely not!" He says, sternly and pushes the food toward me and pulling my covers back up over me. But I push them back off and stand up at once. I regretted immediately. My head started spinning, and suddenly I´m so unsteady that I can´t stand any longer. In the blink of an eye I feel Brandon's strong arms around me. He looks at me seriously.
"Stella, no" he says, still holding me, "You can't even stand! Now, you're not going anywhere until you finish your food, the doctor was very clear when he said…" he continues saying to me. Without realizing it I´m staring into his eyes again while he talks. He just goes on and on about how hard-headed I am, still holding me tight in his arms. But standing here, reminds me of how we danced the other night at the festival, of how we danced the first time. Being here with him, just, makes me feel like I´m home. I smile while he continues ranting on. But I can´t fully trust him. Not while Chimera is still in the picture. Not at all.
Read and review please! Next chapter´s soon to come, any guesses on what´ll happen? Will Stella tell Brandon or will she choose to keep it all a secret?
XoXo
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"I´m Coming for you"-Jojo