Chapter 27: Back to the Market Again
When planning a day to go to the market, there wasn't anything for Shelby and Sebastian to do as it was always arranged by their advisors. With freedom from planning, the two spent the day before visiting the market going horseback riding, passing the responsibility of taking care of Sadie to Joan for the day. At the end of the day, when Shelby and Sebastian returned from horseback riding, there were baths already prepared for them.
The morning of their visit to the market, Shelby and Sebastian woke to sunlight streaming into the room. In Sadie's crib, a larger and more stable version of her first bassinet, she stood and bounced up and down almost as though she knew of the day's excitement.
"Mama, Dada," she spoke when she saw them waking up.
"Morning, Baby Girl," Shelby said as she got out of bed. Sadie held her arms out to Shelby asking to be picked up. She picked Sadie up and made her way to the window to see what sort of weather the day would bring. Sebastian joined them a minute later.
"No clouds in the sky," Sebastian commented.
"There's one there," Shelby teased, pointing to a small wispy cloud with her free hand.
"You're right," Sebastian agreed with a laugh. "Now Saide needs to get dressed for the day," he spoke. There were outfits for Sadie in their room since Sadie didn't have her own room yet, so before either of them got dressed, Shelby and Sebastian made sure Sadie was dressed. Since neither Lucinda or Joan arrived yet, Sebastian went to get dressed while they waited. He also helped Shelby get dressed a few minutes later.
By the time anyone else arrived to the room, all three members of the royal family were dressed and ready to go to breakfast.
When they finished eating, they had a little time to themselves while the carriage was prepared. They waited in the great room where they cooed to Sadie and read in the extra time they had before they could leave.
Soon, Angus met Shelby and Sebastian to take them to the carriage. "Only a few more weeks until the wedding, Angus," Sebastian spoke. "How do you feel?"
"Well, I guess I'm a bit nervous," Angus admitted. "There's been time to think about it. Your wedding was sudden and you probably didn't have much time to stress about things. What if I do something wrong?"
"It's normal to be nervous," Shelby replied as they made their way through the halls of the castle. "Just relax and enjoy it. I'm sure everything will be fine. You and Rosalinda really seem to care about each other. Don't stress about it, because at the end of it, you'll be able spend your life with someone you care about and who cares about you."
"I agree completely with what Shelby said."
Angus let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That helps me feel better," he said as they fell into silence other than Sadie's babbling for the remainder of the walk to the carriage. When they got to the carriage, Angus stood waiting until after the driver helped them into the carriage before leaving.
As the carriage began moving a few minutes later, Sadie's eyes opened wide. "This is different, isn't it?" Shelby asked. "Where are we going?"
Sadie didn't answer but continued to look outside with wide eyes to take it all in. The curtains over the windows were thin and allowed those inside to see out, but would keep people outside from seeing in. Sadie seemed excited to see the world outside of the castle as they made their way farther away from it.
The sounds of the crowd at the market soon reached their ears. They were still a ways out, but the sound began growing as they got closer and closer. As they arrived to the middle of the market, they slowed to a halt. The first time Shelby and Sebastian visited the market, their driver helped them out of the carriage and he did the same thing this time as well. After helping them out, the driver announced the King, Queen, and now the Princess.
Sebastian reached to gently place his arm around Shelby's waist as they moved through the crowds. When she felt Sebastian's arm around her waist, Shelby felt her heart leap to her throat as her pulse quickened. However, rather than making her feel nervous, the action first surprised her, but then made her feel more relaxed and at ease as they began greeting and shaking hands with people.
Many of the people made comments about how beautiful they thought Shelby was. Some also commented on how big Sadie was getting.
"Queen Shelby, are you with child?" one woman asked as Shelby and Sebastian stopped to talk with some other people.
"No," Sebastian spoke in a light tone. "I know there were times my parents had a difficult time when me and my siblings were all young and so close together. We've decided to wait until Sadie is a little older to have another child," he explained.
The woman nodded, easily accepting Sebastian's explanation as she moved on.
"Was that a good explanation?" Sebastian quietly whispered to Shelby. "I thought since you––well, you know––that would be a good way not to raise suspicions."
"Yeah," Shelby nodded.
"Good. And whenever––" Sebastian cut himself off. "This might be a better conversation for later."
Shelby nodded her agreement as they continued moving through the crowd. Everyone was happy to see their King and Queen up close rather than from a distance and also able to talk to them as well as seeing their young Princess.
As the morning drew to almost the afternoon, Shelby and Sebastian made their way back to the carriage. They continued to greet the people they met even though they were feeling hungry because they wanted to be seen as benevolent leaders.
Shelby and Sebastian waved to the crowd as they climbed back into the carriage when their time at the market came to an end. The crowd cheered for them once again. Sadie giggled and waved as well when she was prompted to.
Even as they began the trip back to the castle, they could hear the crowd continuing to cheer for their King, Queen, and young Princess.
"I noticed you didn't bring your sword this time," Shelby observed as they got farther away from the market and closer to the winding road that led back to the castle.
"No, not this time," Sebastian said. "There was no use for it last time, so I decided not to take it. There were still people around in case anything did go wrong." Shelby nodded. "I also thought it might be more relaxing not to have to worry about it," Sebastian finished with a shrug.
They rode in silence for several more minutes following. "The rest of the conversation you wanted to have later," Shelby began slowly. "Is now a good time for that conversation?"
Sebastian hummed in thought. "I guess it could be, but maybe tonight would be better."
"All right."
The conversation for the rest of the ride turned to Angus and Rosalinda's wedding. Although it was originally planned to be sooner into the new year, it was pushed back further in hopes that the weather would be better for travel.
The date of the wedding being pushed back also meant that there hadn't been anything for Shelby to do to help. However, Rosalinda and Elinor were soon going to arrive to the castle to finish the final things that needed to be planned.
XXX
When they returned to the castle, Shelby, Sebastian, and Sadie immediately headed to lunch. During the afternoon, Shelby and Sebastian had some meetings to attend to, so Joan and Lucinda took care of Sadie.
Before anyone knew, it was evening again. "Would you like me to help you change?" Sebastian asked after they got Sadie to sleep.
"Yeah, sure," Shelby agreed. They headed over to the other side of the room where Sebastian carefully helped out of her dress. Shelby could tell Sebastian tried to be careful and unlike at the beginning of their marriage and didn't try to make her feel uncomfortable. When his hand did grace her skin, Shelby tried to ignore the feeling of good tingles it sent through her whole body. There was no way she could be attracted to him or have feelings for him. She did her best to ignore the lingering feeling of his fingers gently grazing her back as she headed to sit down on the bed.
A minute later, Sebastian finished getting ready for bed as well. As he sat down on his side of the bed, Sebastian cleared his throat. "I guess since it's night and we're alone, it's time for that conversation from earlier. I think we've already had a similar conversation, but I want to reiterate it."
"Right," Shelby paused. "That began when someone asked if I was pregnant again, right?"
Sebastian nodded. "The only other time I think we've had this conversation was right after Sadie was born."
"Yeah," Shelby trailed off.
"Then, um, what I wanted to say or say again was that I want anything else that happens to be in your time––I mean, when you decide you want to," he clarified.
"Sebastian," Shelby said. She waited for him to make eye contact before she spoke again, "Thank you." She took a deep breath as she paused. "I'd like to wait until Sadie's a year old at least before . . . anything happens."
"Absolutely, of course," Sebastian agreed. "If you aren't ready, nothing will happen. If you are, then maybe things can happen."
"Thank you, Sebastian. I really appreciate it."
Sebastian shrugged. "I know how much it does mean to you––especially not that I'm not as stupid as I used to be––thanks to you." He offered Shelby a genuine smile. "Ready for bed?" he asked a few seconds later.
"Yeah," Shelby replied.
Sebastian got up to begin putting the torches around the room out. There was a slight knock on the door. "Are you awake yet?" Joan's quiet voice asked.
"Yes," Shelby began. "But we're ready for bed."
"Okay. Good night Queen Shelby. Good night King Sebastian," she finished. Her footsteps soon retreated down the hall as the remaining torches in the room were put out.
XXX
Though the torches were out around the room, Sebastian found that sleep wasn't coming to him. It wasn't like he hadn't done anything that day. He had gone out to the market––he should have been plenty tired; however, his eyes refused to let him sleep.
He knew Sadie was still asleep and he rolled over to face Shelby and saw that she was asleep as well. It made sense as they had laid down about an hour before. Not feeling sleep coming to him, he decided to go by the window where he could read using the moonlight that came in through the window until he was ready to sleep.
As he walked, Sebastian made sure to be quiet so he wouldn't wake Shelby or Sadie. At the window, Sebastian opened the curtain to allow more light to enter the room as he began to read.
Before Sebastian realized, the early morning light was beginning to shine into the room. It was still much too early for anyone else to be awake and Sebastian had only dozed off while reading a couple times during the night. However, his eyelids finally felt heavy with sleep. If he could get to sleep soon, he'd still be able to get a couple hours of sleep.
A minute later, when he climbed into bed, Sebastian's eyes landed on Shelby. She looked so relaxed, peaceful, and beautiful. It wasn't something he noticed for the first time, but rather something he noticed in a new light. She trusted him now when she had hated him at first; however, that wasn't what made her beautiful.
She was simply beautiful––something he hadn't paid attention to at first. Her expression was relaxed and her hair fell away from her face. He felt angry at himself for not realizing it at first. Sebastian shook those thoughts from his head. He couldn't let himself dwell on those thoughts. They were in the past and he needed to get to sleep. Finally, sleep did overtake him as he lay down.
It seemed that Sebastian had only been asleep for a little while when Sadie's cries woke him and Shelby up. Though it didn't feel that it had been very long since he laid down to sleep, Sebastian could tell it was mid-morning. While he took a minute to wake up, Shelby quickly made her way over to Sadie. Shelby held Sadie in her arms and comforted her.
While watching Shelby's interaction with Sadie, Sebastian realized that he had feelings for Shelby. Not hatred, not resentment, not any of the other negative feelings he used to have. The feelings he had for her weren't just because of her beauty, but because of her personality. He realized he'd had those feelings for a while but had chosen to ignore them. He cared for Shelby. Almost as soon as Sebastian came to the realization that he cared for Shelby, he realized he also loved her.
All he wanted from her at first was a way to be king and to have his descendants rule for generations to come. He'd resented that she wasn't really Daisy and the trouble he needed to go through to become king. Now he had someone he genuinely cared about and wanted to spend time with. Not only that, but they also had a daughter together.
Shelby could and should have treated him worse than she did. Instead, she'd mostly just stood up for herself and tried to resist him when he did things to her he shouldn't have done. Somehow, she was still here when she could have done so many things to disappear. She treated him with respect now, but he was sure she'd never care about him or care for him the way he realized he cared for her.
"Do you need me to take her?" Sebastian asked as he came out of his thoughts. "I know she gets heavy after a while."
"I'm fine," Shelby shrugged. She continued to hold Sadie as she walked around the room for a couple minutes before settling on looking out the window. Sebastian joined them and they all looked out the window for a couple minutes until there was a knock on the door.
"Are you awake?" Lucinda's voice asked.
"Yeah, we are," Shelby answered. She turned to Sebastian so he could take Sadie while Shelby went to let Lucinda in to help her get dressed. Sebastian and Sadie remained by the window for the next couple minutes while Shelby got dressed. They traded who held Sadie a few minutes later while Sebastian got dressed, then worked together to get Sadie in a dress for the day.
After helping Shelby change, Lucinda went to the kitchen to let them know the royal family would soon be ready for breakfast since the three usually ate breakfast together.
A short time after Lucinda left the kitchen, Shelby, Sebastian, and Sadie arrived for breakfast. From there, the remainder of the day carried on as it normally would. One difference was that Sebastian found himself fighting off sleep––something he wasn't used to, but the rest of the day was normal between meetings and caring for Sadie.
In the days following, Sebastian was able to catch up on sleep as things returned to normal.
Although things returned to normal for a few days, they would soon need to begin the final preparations for Angus and Rosalinda's wedding.
A/N: First, I'd like to say happy three year anniversary to when I first began publishing this story. I really wanted to update today for the anniversary. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this since the beginning and for everyone who's begun reading since then.
For some reason I decided to make the title of this chapter a little bit of a pun/reference of the song 'Back in the Saddle Again' which I only know because of Guitar Hero.
So, the world is pretty crazy right now, and I'll just leave it at that. I hope this helps distract you from whatever might be going on that you could use some distraction from. Personally, I enjoy watching my favorite movies, TV shows, or YouTubers/ listening to my favorite artists as a distraction.
Anyway, all that aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd love to know what you thought. As always, I appreciate constructive criticism because it helps me become a better writer. Thanks for reading.
Reviews:
sweetsimplegirl: It was an interesting chapter. I wasn't sure how to expand on some things without it being repetitive, so it ended up having a lot going on. As I've said before, I really enjoy writing those moments and the dance is meant to show how Sebastian has changed and grown. I hope you enjoyed the insights into his thoughts in this chapter.
Ansy: While I love Lucinda (especially since I've mostly been able to write her as I wanted) I felt that it was logical for them to look for a new nanny and have her train under Lucinda. Making sure Shelby was involved in the process was one thing I did want to have Sebastian do in part to show he wants to make what he did up to her. Sebastian's also trying to make things up to Shelby in the way he carefully answers the question, and then checks with her in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.
