At World's End

Chapter 5

The Hastings had moved into the castle. Their things were packed, and they moved quickly, leaving their old house vacant. Spencer knew her parents were happy. They had always been looking forward to moving into the castle, and that was why they were so upset when she broke things off with Andrew. But now that she was back in the castle, David expected her to be with Andrew again soon. Everyone thought that she was going to be with him again, and happily become the princess of Rosewood.

That was not what she wanted, though. She loved Andrew, she truly did. But she loved the Andrew that was not power hungry. She could not marry him until she knew that he was free of his obsession. David was working on a way to coax Andrew into accepting the fact that he would be prince, and not king. But she knew that he would never get past the fact that Jasper was going to become King.

And even if she found a way to get comfortable with the idea of Andrew again, how would she ever get past the guilt of sleeping with Toby? She would have to see the poor knight around the castle all the time, and she knew he would be angry if she was with Andrew. Besides, imagine her revealing to Andrew that she slept with Toby! Hanna knew, and she was no help at all.

"Hello."

She turned to her door, and saw Toby Cavanaugh standing there. He handed her a silver tray with cookies on it, and offered her a warm smile. She did not understand his sudden change in attitude, but he definitely seemed too nice. She touched one of the cookies. What was he trying to do?

"You are speaking to me again?" Spencer asked curiously.

"I figured that since you are moving in here, I might as well be your friend," he told her. "I am sorry about how I treated you in front of your friend Hanna, as well as the ice cold treatment when you have been walking by me. I suppose I just felt lost. I had you for one second, and then I lost you the next."

"It feels like a selfish decision that I have made," Spencer told him.

"No, it would be selfish of me to ask for you to give up your title, and your opportunity to live here, just to be with me," Toby said. "Besides, I was a one time thing. I know your heart is truly with Andrew. I should leave before I have the urge to kiss you."

"Toby..." she mumbled.

"Goodbye, Spencer. Enjoy the cookies," he said, and exited her bedroom.

There was a great, big, festive party being held at the Campbell castle. With everyone settled and moved in, they were celebrating. Margaret and her family moved in for Jasper, and Spencer and hers moved in as well. Along with that, Toby had moved in as the new knight. Spencer had invited her girls, and the rest had invited their own guests.

"Why are you here with Ezra Fitz instead of Wesley Fitzgerald?" Spencer asked, folding her arms. "Does Wesley know you are in contact with his brother?"

"Spencer, Ezra has never been to an event like this, and Wesley is not in town, he's travelling," Aria told her. "I still love Wesley. I always will. He is my one true love. Ezra is a nice man, and I want to ask him about his brotherly relationship with Wes."

"Hello, ladies!" Emily exclaimed, holding hands with her man Casey.

"Emily, Casey, you both are looking lovely," Aria commented with a sweet smile.

"Oh, thank you, Aria," Emily giggled. "Is Wesley here?"

"No, I am here with his brother Ezra, since Wesley is out of town, but please do not ask, because I do not want to explain again," Aria pleaded.

"Alright, we can do this later. Emily, perhaps you would like to meet Margaret McCullers's younger sister? Margaret is Jasper Campbell's wife, and she has a very nice younger sister named Paige," Spencer told her. "Margaret said that Paige is into athletics, just like you."

"Casey, would you like to go meet Paige?" Emily asked. "I think she sounds lovely."

"I am fine," Casey said. "You may go speak with this lovely Paige lady, I am going to go look for something to eat. I will speak to you later, my love."

Casey kissed Emily's lips briefly before letting her go, and walking away himself.

"Look, I met a peasant on the street, and I did not have a date to this event, so I decided to bring him!" Hanna Marin exclaimed, walking up to her friends, linked arms with a brown haired male. "This is Caleb Rivers II, and he is a complete bum."

"Excuse you, I am just an aspiring inventor who has not found success yet," Caleb told her.

"Okay, he claims that he is an inventor, but he is a total failure," Hanna laughed.

"I may be poor right now, but when my inventions become a total success, you will be nothing but excited to know that you brought me as your date to this event, and you will long for the time that is now," Caleb said with a smirk.

"Way to bring a poor boy to the king's event, Aria and Hanna..." Spencer muttered.

"Don't judge my decisions. What about you?" Hanna smirked. "I cannot remember if you are here with Toby or Andrew. I am guessing Toby."

"Toby?" Aria asked. "Who is this?"

"The handsome knight!" Hanna exclaimed. "Perhaps you want to tell her, Spencer."

"I trusted you, Hanna," Spencer muttered. "We can discuss this later, but for the record, I am here with neither of them. This is just a castle welcoming event."

"Oh, come on, I am sure Aria and Caleb want to know all about your time with Toby," Hanna teased.

Spencer was refilling her glass of wine when she turned around and saw Andrew standing there. She sighed. Maybe David or Cynthia had spoken to him, and got his head screwed on straight.

"Andrew," she mumbled.

"Spencer," he said with a smile, "I have been meaning to speak to you. My father and mother have made it clear that you are my love, and I have been making mistakes with my decisions. I am glad that you are here in this castle, because I love you. I want to make things right. Will you meet me later tonight for a talk? We can fix this."

She smiled and said, "Oh, of course. I am so happy that you finally are taking the time to do this. I missed you, Andrew."

"I missed you, too," he said, and hugged her. "After the dinner, meet me in the grand hall, and we may talk. I am going to fix us, I promise."

As Andrew walked away, Spencer felt happiness. Toby had forgiven her for their slip up, and Andrew wanted to fix things. She was going to have a perfect life, marry her man, and still keep Toby as a friend. Everything was going her way for once.

She happily walked towards the balcony, ready to admire the town of Rosewood while sipping on her glass of wine. Outside was Toby, and she felt relieved to see him. They could speak as friends, and she could be with Andrew. No problems. No hassle.

"How is the party?" Spencer asked.

"Horrible," he answered, setting his own wine glass down.

She sighed and asked, "What happened, Toby?"

"My father brought a new woman as his date for the party, and I saw a ring in his bag," Toby explained, frowning. "The woman has a daughter, too. I hate her. I do not want my father to remarry! His heart should forever be with and respect my blood mother."

"Toby, you must let him be happy," Spencer said.

"He does not care if I am happy, and I am his son!" Toby yelled. "This is the first time he is happy for me. Actually, he is not even happy for me, he ia happy for himself because my success in this castle means that he gets to live here, too, and he can tell all the women that he lives in the royal castle, and they will instantly want him so that they can live here, too. Daniel is a bastard."

Spencer hugged him, holding onto him tight.

"It is going to be fine," Spencer assured him.

Toby did not usually want to share his feelings, but seeing Daniel with a new woman was hard. His own father wanted to bring someone else into their life? He did not ask for a new mother, or a new sibling. How did his father just expect him to understand and deal with it? Plus, the information was sprung. Daniel showed up to the party with a lady by his side, and a ring in his bag.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Toby asked.

"But this is a celebratory party for us and Margaret," Spencer reminded.

"Breaking rules every once in a while cannot be a bad thing," he said with a small smile. "Come with me to the tavern."

"Why would we need to go there when King David has provided us with all the wine and drinks that we could ask for?" Spencer asked, scratching her heard. "Are you sure leaving the king's party is a very good idea, Toby?"

"Well, it is better than being here where I have to see my father with his nasty new woman," Toby muttered, sighing. "I cannot stay here and watch this lady have a good time with my father!"

"Then let's go to the tavern," she agreed.

"Where is Spencer?" Aria asked. "I thought she would be around for her own celebratory party. It does not make sense for her not to be here when we are honoring her new life in the royal castle!"

"Oh, she probably is sleeping with the knight again," Hanna joked, drunk and uneasy.

"Again?" Aria said confused. "What are you talking about, Hanna?"

"Maybe I should go somewhere else for a moment," Ezra mumbled.

"No, just wait a second, Ezra, I am sorry," Aria told him. "Hanna, please."

"Well, I promised her that I wouldn't say anything, but when she and Andrew were over, she hooked up with Toby. They slept together," Hanna explained. "But now, King David wants her to be in the castle, and to be with Andrew, so she is all conflicted and everything. Someone get me another wine. CALEB!"

"Hanna, are you joking me?" Aria demanded.

"Aria, this is not your place to do anything," Ezra told her. "You should let the woman handle everything herself. Meddling is the worst thing you can do. Just wait for her to return, and calmly ask her about it. Trouble does not need to be started."

"Trouble started when she slept with the knight!" Aria cried. "How does she expect to marry Andrew when she is not even a pure virgin? He probably expects her to be."

"Not everyone is a Virgin at marriage," Ezra reminded. "Please, do not say anything you might regret. She did not ask for you to say anything. The worst thing you could do is tell one of the royal family members, so if that is what you are thinking, then do not do it."

"You are right," Aria said, shaking her head. "Spencer is one of my closest friends, and she will discuss this with me later. Do you want to get more wine, and help me write a letter for Wesley? I cannot wait until he returns!"