Chapter 51
King Derek
Derek woke up one morning to the light of the sun that went through the place curtains; it didn't bother him; in fact, when that happened, he just turned down to look at his wife.
Genevieve was still sleeping; she looked so peaceful; he loved watching her sleep; she was his angel to hold and protect.
He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and then heard a knock at the door; he quickly got up and put his robe on. He opened the door to see Gabriel, his trusted guard, with a card in hand.
"I'm sorry to awaken you so early, sire, but this note had just arrived at the palace, and they told me to bring it to you immediately." Said Gabriel as he handed the card to Derek.
"No, it's fine, Gabriel." Said Derek as he started to read the card Gabriel had given him; when he was halfway through reading it, his eyes already had a worried look, and he was growing more nervous.
"How did this happen? What do they mean he escaped?!" questioned Derek; he couldn't believe what had just happened yesterday; they were celebrating the injustice of Levi to only find out he was gone.
He escaped the night everyone was asleep as he was transported to his cell like the rest of the criminals.
"I want maximum security everywhere, a guard every place of the castle entries from the outside and gardens, windows, and please don't alert anyone yet. Just take it as an order and say you don't know why if they ask; I know Levi he'll try anything to get revenge; I won't let him harm my family," said Derek as Gabriel nodded and headed his way to complete Derek's orders.
Once the guard was gone, Derek headed to the wardrobe to change and quickly meet the rest but was stopped when he heard something.
"Derek?" said a familiar voice he knew; he turned around to face his wife.
"Derek, what's going on?" asked Genevieve again; he looked at him and couldn't bring it to tell her.
"Derek…... he…. He escaped, didn't he? Don't lie to me, Derek, please." Responded Genevieve.
"Yes. He did." Said Derek as he saw his gasp.
"But don't worry honey, we will catch him, and I alerted security no one is to leave and enter the gates without my permission, and every royal who leaves will be escorted by guards. We will catch him. I promise you he will not hurt any of us on my watch." Said Derek as he kissed his wife.
"I'll meet you for breakfast Gen; I have to take care of a few things before I go," said Derek as he kissed her one last time before leaving.
As Derek closed the door to the room he and Genevieve shared, he passed by Randolph and Edaline.
"Derek, my boy, where is Genevieve?" asked his father-in-law.
"She stayed behind with Henry to get him ready, plus I have to do something before breakfast." Said Derek, as he saw that Edaline seemed confused.
"Derek is everything all right?" asked Edaline, worried.
"I…. I should tell you all after breakfast, but for now, just don't…. don't leave the estate without telling a guard or me." Said Derek.
"Derek, you're scaring me now?" said Edaline.
"don't worry, I'll tell you everything after breakfast." Said Derek as they nodded and headed their way as Derek went to meet his right-hand guard.
Queen Genevieve
Something about Derek saying the truth about Levi sends chills on her spine. "We will catch him. I promise you he will not hurt any of us on my watch." Said Derek.
But she couldn't help but worry for her son and children to come afterward; a criminal was out; even though Derek had promised to protect them, how long would he be able to do it though.
It won't be long before Levi wants to make an army again and, this time, take her husband away from her.
Just then, Derek kissed her cheek and said, "I'll meet you for breakfast Gen; I have to take care of a few things before I go." After he left, she got up and made her way to Henry's nursery.
Henry was about to be one year old in one week; the time went by so fast it felt like just yesterday. I held him in my arms for the first time; I took him out of his crib and changed him into a cute blue and white long-sleeved shirt with tan shorts and some black shoes.
Henry couldn't walk yet, but at least he could stand for at least a minute before falling down, but practice makes perfect; I took him into my and Derek's room, put him on the rug, and handed him his block to play with while I changed.
Just as I had finished, I heard a knock at my door; I quickly picked up Henry and went to the door to answer it.
"Hi Genevieve, are you ready?" said Lacey; at this, Genevieve looked at her sister but couldn't help but smile and laugh at what she said; it was usually the other way around.
"What do you mean, Lacey?" she asked.
"I am here to escort you and my nephew, Henry, to breakfast, and before you say anything, the orders came from Derek, so you should just obey." Said Lacey.
Genevieve would have said something, but then Lacey would start asking questions, and she wasn't sure she was ready to tell her sister yet what had happened.
"Alright, then let's go." Said Genevieve as she walked with Henry in her arms and his feet at her thigs.
"By the way, you look beautiful, Genevieve." Said Lacey as Genevieve thanked her sister and admired the long purple flowy dress she had; the dress was long and had a tail in the back, and they were covering the front of her feet.
"Do you know what's for breakfast this time, Lacey?" asked Genevieve. As her sister walked while thinking.
"I don't know…... I think maybe it's eggs. Genevieve, I can't believe Christmas is in three weeks." Exclaimed Lacey with joy.
"Yes, it's so close by. Did you hear the heavy snow we had this night? It's almost 4 ft of snow, very deep, and the lake turned into ice." Said Genevieve.
"Maybe we can later go ice-skating?" asked Lacey; as Genevieve remembered what happened this morning, she smiled and told Lacey she would see.
As they reached the dining room, they saw that the twins had arrived at the same time.
"We'd thought we would be the late ones." Said Hadley, as she and Isla entered and took their seat like everyone else and then started eating, it felt like a feast because the table had bacon and eggs, pancakes, waffles, cereal with grains, fruit, soup, juice, milk, coffee, tea, and just simple water.
"Genevieve, can we go play outside, please?" asked Janessa.
Genevieve didn't know what to say; she only looked at her husband, who gave her a soft nod.
"Yes, you may, but…. Only for half an hour, it's too cold out, and you girls could get sick; after breakfast, wait 30 minutes before going out. I will ask one of the available guards to go with you." Said Genevieve, as the triplets were confused about this.
King Derek
After breakfast, the triplets went to get ready for the snow while Derek made his way to the study room to wait for the rest of the adults.
"What has happened?" asked Cortney, confused.
"This morning, I received news from the court stating that Levi has escaped as he was being transported." Said Derek.
"How can this be?" stated Randolph.
"We don't know exactly what happened yet, but one thing's for sure we are in danger." Finished Genevieve.
"How badly is it, Derek?" asked Hadley.
"Were up to the point where I need better protection and more people on guard; that is why I am adding new officials to the castle, so the staff doesn't feel overwhelmed and want to resign." Finished Derek.
"What do you mean?" asked Isla.
"There will be a doctor living with us for now." Added Genevieve.
"Do we know him?" asked Courtney.
"Of course, he's right outside as well as the rest." Said Derek as he left to open the door to reveal two men and a young gentleman.
"This is Doctor Philip; you all know him; I have talked to him, and he has agreed to take a position here; to his left is my right-hand guard, Phoenix. He will be circling the palace and gardens; if you ever need him for anything, just call him; he will be a station with the rest of the guards." Said Derek.
"Lastly, this is hunter Cole. He was my father's friend's son, just like Phoenix; I hired them because I believe and trust these men with my life and to protect you all. Although Cole won't always be around during the day, his job is mostly to hunt down Levi around the woods near us with his crew; he will always return in the afternoon with any news." Said Derek.
"Times are difficult, so we must keep our eyes and ears open." Added Genevieve.
"No one leaves and enters the estate without my permission; we can't risk losing any more people." Finished Derek, as he turned around from the Glass windows towards everyone as he finished the last sentence.
"Derek, what if he tries to go to Thraas? I think I should leave?" asked Tobias, Derek knew that it was a matter of time before Tobias had to depart back to his own kingdom, but he knew that would not be possible right now.
"No, Tobias, you are barely a young man; you don't know the first thing about ruling a land, son." Said Randolph.
"He's right about that, Tobias; you should stay here till things get sorted out." Added Genevieve.
"Besides, I don't think he'll try to go back; everyone Knows what he did, and he is also banned from Thraas. If they see him, they'll kill him." Finally, said Derek.
"I don't know; there's no one I have left. I'm the only one in my family that can take over for a while; it's just me." Said Tobias.
"Tobias, if you Leave and Levi knows you're on your way back, he will try to kill you, and then legally, he can get his place back because there won't be any rulers left unless…...," said Fallon.
But then stopped, and without making a scene, she rolled her eyes at Isla, and then Derek understood what she meant.
"Unless I would have a wife who travels with me back on the carriage." Finished Tobias.
"Tobias, you are like a brother to me. You helped me escape from your brother and saved my sister and then stood up against your own brother; for that, I owe you gratitude. Please, I beg you to stay; it will be safer for you until we find your brother; you aren't safe." Said Courtney.
"Tobias, if you want, we could write to the council in your hometown explaining the situation, and you could write back to let them know what orders you want them to do." Said Derek as he looked at the boy.
"But what if they don't want to listen to me? After all, I'm a lad." Said Tobias.
"If you want, I could help you; I am the closest ally and king next to your kingdom; they'll have to listen to me." Said Derek.
"You'd really do that for me?" questioned Tobias.
"Of course, I would; you helped my family and kingdom when I needed it; I think it time I return the favor to you." Said Derek.
As he looked at Tobias, he smiled and said, "Thank you, Derek, you truly are an amazing person." Said Tobias.