Chapter 23
Drake
After everyone was done cheering for us, I grinned at Jimmy. 'I asked her to marry me down at the meadow.' He laughed and shook his head. 'I remember you laughing at me because you thought no one that special would ever come along.' I smiled down at Iris, wrapping my good arm around her shoulders. 'Well, she definitely did come along.' She blushed brightly, and apart from Olivia and Bastien, everyone exulted into cheers. Iris laughed happily and kissed my cheek. 'But guys, we really have to make sure the weddings will be in a month, what else I won't fit in my dress,' she said, her voice serious. I tried to keep a straight face, but a miniscule smile played on my lips. 'You don't even eat that much,' Tim said, confused, but then Emma cried out. 'YOU'RE PREGANT OH MY GOD!'
She pulled Iris into her embrace, and cheered into her ear. Now everyone jumped up for real and pulled us into hugs, me somewhat more careful than Iris, because Tim, Maxwell and Jimmy were sandwich-hugging her. 'Hey, be careful with her!' I joked. In the meantime, I had gotten down to Bastien, who was looking proud. 'Your old man would have been so happy, Drake.' I smiled and nodded. 'I believe he would.' Carefully, I pulled Bastien in a hug, who was struggling with his shoulder as well.
After discussing the double wedding some more, we were all quite tired, and decided to head to our rooms. When Maxwell, Tim, Hana and Olivia had gone their separate ways, Iris and I were left alone walking towards my room, which was closer. 'This has been a crazy day, hasn't it?' She said, as she let her hand slip into mine, intertwining our fingers. I nodded in response. 'It really has. We're engaged… we're going to be parents… double wedding, attacks…' I sighed as I looked into her eyes. 'Our lives will never be dull, I guess.'
She giggled and shook her head. Once we'd arrived at my room, I let her in, and closed the door behind us, locking it for safety. 'Are you really sure about the double wedding, Drake?' She asked, suddenly. 'Yeah, why, Valentine?' I asked surprised. She sat down on the bed and took her shoes off, seeming to map out her words carefully. 'You, and I say this in the most lovingly way possible, don't strike me as the big wedding kind of type.' I let out a laugh, and walked up to her, taking her hands in mine and pulling her against me. 'You're right, I'm not.'
She frowned. 'Then why would we-' I cut her off by kissing her passionately. I'd clearly caught her off guard, but she melted into the kiss immediately, deepening it. 'We're doing this for Jimmy and Cordonia. I couldn't care less whether I get married within a barn or in this palace… as long as it's you walking up to me down at isle,' I said, stroking her cheek. She smiled lovingly, her eyes as green as the meadow I'd proposed in. 'Maybe we could make a deal,' I said, mischievously. She raised her eyebrows, 'you have my attention.' I smiled. 'My birthday is in three weeks.' Her mouth fell open. 'Finally! I've never met anyone who was this mysterious about his birthday… ever!' I chuckled and wrapped my arm around her waist. 'That's because I never used to have a reason to like my birthday.' I smiled. 'Now I do.' She blushed slightly and bit her lip. 'What is the deal?'
I smiled bigger. 'Elope with me on my birthday. Just you and me.' Her lips parted slightly, and she looked incredulous, yet the corners of her lips were curling up. 'Honey, are you sure?' I nodded and lifted her chin to kiss her lips. 'I'd love nothing more. We'll just stick to the big wedding anniversary, but we'll know that we had a much more romantic one, before all the crazy.' She let out a soft tingly laugh and kissed me happily. 'I'd love that so much, Drake. Deal. DEAL!' I laughed and kissed her again. Our kiss grew heated soon, and our hands were roaming all over each other's bodies.
'You must be tired,' she said, breaking the kiss. 'Not anymore,' I said, my voice low. Stop kissing her was not an option. Her eyes grew somewhat darker. 'So you want me to continue?' She whispered in my ear as her hands started to unbutton my shirt. A soft growl escaped my gritted teeth. 'I want you to seduce me, Valentine.' She bit her lip, already smiling seductively. 'Won't be that hard,' she winked as she gently pushed me down onto the bed, and took a step back, slowly undressing before my eyes. My hands started aching, I wanted to touch her body so badly…
After a few minutes of pure torture, she was standing in front of me, naked. Her body touched by the moonlight. 'You don't feel seduced yet, do you?' She asked, a mischievous smile on her lips as she slowly climbed on top of my lap. 'I'm starting to,' I said, my voice slightly cracking as I let my hand travel down her back. 'Good,' she whispered as she started kissing my neck. 'Hell, Valentine,' I said hoarsely, and dug my fingers into her skin. 'Consider me seduced and come here,' I said, and pulled her face back to mine, kissing her roughly. She smiled and softly bit my lower lip, making me moan. 'That's it, baby.' I flipped her with my good arm, and crawled on top of her. 'I want you all over me.' She moaned slightly when she'd undone my pants, and saw how hard I was. 'Let's see how badly you want me,' she said, with a seductive smile. I lowered myself onto her lips, and kissed her while I entered her. She moaned into my lips and tangled her hands into my hair. 'Fuck, Drake,' she sighed contentedly, and let her nails slide over my back. I smiled. I was going to take it terribly slow, making her go crazy.
Which was exactly what I'd done.
The next day, we all had breakfast together in the kitchen instead of in the dining hall, because Regina was at the hospital visiting Constantine. Jimmy had told the staff not to set the table, and so we were alone. 'Okay, so today we'll start the press conference, telling everyone there will be a double wedding,' Jimmy started, then looked at Iris and me. 'Do you want to tell everyone about the baby already?' We shook our heads quickly. 'We want to keep it between us all for now, and we'll tell Cordonia later,' I said. 'And besides, what better a news to tell everyone about a baby should something else happen. The people of Cordonia will know that even while pregnant, we're willing to fight our asses off,' Iris said. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. 'That's my girl.' She smiled up at me and winked before taking a sip of her tea. Emma nodded agreeingly. 'Yes, save the good news for a rainy day.' She frowned. 'I'm pretty sure it doesn't end here.' Everyone shook their heads in silence.
'Hana and I are going to do some research on my aunt,' Olivia said. Tim nodded. 'And Maxwell and I are going to search information on the Liberation-Core.' Emma nodded. 'Then we'll cover the Sons of Earth topic.' Jimmy and I nodded, 'and besides doing the research, I think we should mark out a game plan for the Unity Tour,' Iris said, raising her eyebrows at Jimmy. 'Where to start, where to end, and make the necessary preparations to secure the palace once we're gone.' 'You're right. You and I will have to do most of the talking to the nobles anyway,' he agreed. 'Ah, what a shame,' I said. Iris and Jimmy chuckled.
'Okay team, move out!' Maxwell said, and got up. Tim, Hana and Olivia followed him suit. 'Bastien, could we have a moment alone, please?' Jimmy asked, his face serious. Bastien nodded, and left the room, standing guard outside, probably. 'Everything okay, Jimmy?' Iris asked. He nodded and smiled. 'More than okay, actually.' He divided his looks between us. 'First of all I'm extremely happy the two of you are engaged, of course.' I grinned and nodded. 'Yeah, that makes two of us.' He smiled bigger, 'and now the situation has even gotten better, you hopefully becoming parents…' Iris bit her lip and pinched my hand softly. 'It wasn't planned, but we couldn't be happier if it had been.' She smiled up at me. I shook my head agreeingly and kissed her forehead.
'Well… Emma and I were talking about this topic the night before our wedding,' Jimmy said, smiling at Emma. 'We really do want children together, but not yet. Emma has to get used to being Queen first, ruling a country, which is why we're not ready yet.' She nodded agreeingly. 'We discussed how Cordonia would expect us to start having children soon, and that's only if we will be so lucky to be able to have them.' Emma nodded. 'We discussed that we don't want to start having children yet, just because it's a Cordonian law.' Iris frowned, 'what Cordonian law?' Jimmy's cheeks slightly blushed. 'When a new King is betrothed, he must make sure an heir follows suit.' My heart started beating. I knew where he was going with this.
'Now that everything has changed, you know, with all the attacks… even though I don't even want to think about it, the harsh truth is that either Jimmy or I could die, during an attack,' Emma said, looking up at Jimmy. 'We may not be able to give Cordonia an heir at all.' Jimmy looked at us, a nervous flicker in his eyes. 'Therefor, we wanted to ask you if you would consider doing us the honour of having your child as our heir.'
My heart skipped a beat.
Fucking hell… my kid on a throne? I know, the kid's mom is Cordonian nobility… but me? Me, the father of a future King or Queen?!
My lips had slightly parted, and I was completely speechless. 'Oh my goodness, you want our child to be your heir?' Iris asked, surprised, and slightly hoarse. Emma nodded, and Jimmy smiled. 'We'd talked about it before the wedding, and we'd always considered your child to be a possible heir, because we love you guys so much… but for now, we're also concerned about Cordonia, and what happens to it if something happens to Jimmy and me and there won't be an heir,' she said softly. 'Again, we'd understand if you don't want that, but it would be our honour to have your child on our future throne.'
Iris caught my eyes, and she seemed to be torn between thousand emotions… which was exactly how I felt. 'Wow, Jimmy… Em… I'm honoured…' She said, also speechless. She shook her head and looked at me again. 'That you would want our child on a throne.' She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and looked at me again. In some way I was freaking out, my heart was rapidly beating and my breath was hitched… but in another way I knew that we had to do this for Cordonia. Iris' eyes seemed to show the same thing. 'Our child being a prince or a princess may not be our first choice,' I started admittingly, 'but maybe it's the best thing we could do?'
Iris nodded slightly, taking my hand in hers. 'Cordonia needs an heir.' Jimmy and Emma looked guilty. 'I'm really sorry we had to ask,' Jimmy said, shaking his head. Iris smiled, and looked up at me. 'No, Jimmy, it's fine. Maybe this is exactly what Cordonia needs, a change of protocol.' I rubbed my neck, 'the child of a simple commoner and a Dutch American Duchess.' Jimmy, Emma and Iris chuckled. 'Are you really sure?' Jimmy asked, and a shimmer of hope shone through his eyes. I nodded, and looked at my beautiful fiancée. 'I'm looking at the mother, she should have a final say.' She chuckled and shook her head. 'We're on the same page. We're honoured, guys, thank you.'
Before we could hug Emma and Jimmy, Bastien knocked on the door, telling us the press conference was about to start. We quickly hugged, Jimmy lifted Emma, and nodded fiercely. 'Let's go.' I took Iris' hand in mine, and pulled her back slightly. 'Guys, could we have a moment together before we go?' I asked. 'Of course,' Jimmy said with a nod, and walked out the door, to give us some privacy. Iris turned towards me, her eyes a little worried. 'Are you okay?' I nodded, and cupped her cheek, pulling her closer. 'I'm fine, I just wanted to check on you, see whether you're feeling okay.'
She smiled, and pecked my lips softly. 'I am, Drake. I feel perfectly fine for now.' She paused. 'A bit shaken up of course… I mean…' Her eyes grew wide and she whispered the word 'wow.' I nodded and looked into her eyes. 'You're sure you are up for that?' She nodded and smiled. 'This is going to sound cliché, but I feel like I could get through anything by your side.' She tangled her hand into my hair and pecked my lips. 'We are going to raise a prince or a princess, and we're going to do it together.' I smiled, and pulled her fully against me. 'You are some sort of addiction, Iris Valentine,' I said, and ran my hand through her hair. 'I cannot get enough of you, whatsoever.' She bit her lip and blushed slightly. 'Right back at you, Walker.' We smiled at each other and kissed once more, before walking down to join the press conference.
'Are you nervous?' She whispered as we took our places next to Jimmy and Emma. 'Totally. You?' I whispered back. She slipped her hand in mine, and pinched softly. 'Totally.' Jimmy had put Emma down next to him, and was supporting her waist, making sure she'd stay upright. I looked at all the reporters, and swallowed. Here we go.
'My fellow Cordonians!' Jimmy started with a smile. 'Thank you all for coming, thank you all for listening. A lot has changed since the last press conference. I have bad news to share, I have good news to share, yet I'll start with the bad news.' He looked down at Emma, and held her tightly. 'Yesterday, I found the King Father, he was poisoned. He is still alive, and he's being taken care of. It seems like the attackers do not want us to find out who they are, and they definitely do not want us to find out what the reason of the attacks are.'
Iris stepped forward slightly. 'You don't have to be afraid of the attacks. We're doing everything we can, and all we need is faith in our King. He will guide us through this time, and he will do what is best for his country and his people. I ask all the other houses to pledge their loyalty soon,' she said, then nodding at Jimmy. 'We will be travelling through Cordonia, and will be leaving in two days. we will be doing a Unity Tour, to unite Cordonia once and for all… with a specific purpose.' He paused and smiled. 'In one month from now, we will not be having one wedding… but two weddings.' Iris smiled up at me and nodded. 'King Jimmy is finally marrying his Lady Emma, and I am marrying Drake Walker.' I smiled as I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed the back of it. Many cameras flashed, indicating many pictures were being taken. 'In this way, we hope to show you that we are not afraid. We are ready to deal with whatever comes our way, and we can finally add one Duke and one Queen to our beautiful country,' Jimmy concluded.
'King Jimmy, are the attacks of such concern you will send out the royal military?' Donnie the reporter asked. Jimmy shook his head. 'For now, I'd have to say no. We're deciding what to do day by day, once the situation will change, we're not afraid to fight again. Definitely.'
We answered a few more questions, about the weddings, about the attacks, until there was a certain question for Emma and me. 'Mr Walker, Lady Emma… you were hurt, being shot during the attack, correct?' Ana de Luca asked.
Emma and I nodded. 'Yes, we were,' Emma replied. 'What happened during the shot?' Ana asked. Emma eyed me and I nodded. 'As we were fighting the assassins, I heard Lady Emma scream, and when I looked up, I saw that Duchess Iris and King Jimmy were being cornered, guns pointed at them. Queen Mother Regina sent the Royal Guard to save them, but they were too far away. Lady Emma and I started running, were right on time…' I pinched Iris' hand slightly, as I remembered the terrified look on her face when I was shot. I felt a lump in my throat as I finished my sentence… it coming out extremely hoarse. 'And jumped in front of them'
Iris pinched my hand much harder, and as I looked at her, I saw her eyes glisten slightly, but she looked proud. 'They were heroes,' she stated, looking at the reporters. 'Drake and Emma saved our lives. And they should be seen as heroes. They didn't think twice to save the people they loved,' Jimmy added. I felt a blush creeping up as Iris wrapped her arm around my waist lovingly. 'Don't go soft on me, you guys,' I warned, trying to mask my emotions. I was struggling keeping the lump from taking over. My throat was hurting, and my eyes were stinging. Iris and Jimmy laughed and shook their heads. After a few last questions, we went back inside. The first thing I did, was pull Iris into my embrace, tangling my hand in her hair.
Jimmy seemed to notice that he had to keep walking, so he took Emma towards the library, where we would be doing some research on Sons of Earth. 'Drake?' Iris asked worried, as she held me close. The lump started to take over, and I broke, somehow. A tear fell down from my eye, onto her cheek, making her gasp. 'Drake!' She cupped my cheeks and looked into my eyes. 'What's going on?' I shook my head, scraping my throat. 'The- uh.. the memory from the shooting took over… seeing you look terrified, the gun pointed at you.' I tried to swallow the lump but it didn't work. 'I was thrown back in.' My hands were shaking, and I tried to man up, but it just felt like I couldn't.
Not in front of her.
'Honey…' She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. 'It's okay, let it out, please.' She felt I was trying to keep some of it in, and as she started stroking my back, I buried my face in her hair, bending down to hug her. I needed her close. Closer than she already was. As my tears were falling down, I felt my chest getting wet too. I bent back, and took her face in my hands, my arm hurting as I moved my painful side, but I couldn't care less. 'Iris…' Her eyes were wet too, and she shook her head, pulling my face closer to hers and she kissed me. It was a desperate kiss, a dire one. It was salty, as our tears were now streaming down.
I'd never been the guy to let my emotions run high… but after seeing a gun raised at the woman I loved… I deepened our kiss, by searching for her tongue with mine, and she met mine immediately. She gripped my hair and we continued kissing for a while, the kiss growing more dire and heated by the second. 'I need you by my side,' I said, panting as I broke the kiss, putting my forehead against hers. 'I can't lose you.' She shook her head softly. 'You won't lose me, Drake, you saved my life.'
Another lump formed itself in my throat, and I just held her close, taking slow breaths until the lump had subsided. She stroke my cheek softly, and looked up into my eyes. Hers were clear, beautiful. 'Thank you for showing me how you feel,' she said softly. I tangled my hand into her hair and nodded slowly. 'I'm not used to it.' My voice was cracking. 'I know, honey,' she said, as she pecked my lips. We stood there for a while. Our foreheads together, arms around each other and just getting calm.
This healing process was going to take longer than I'd expected.
And I'm not talking about the wound.