WOW it's been a couple months since I've updated this.
It's been a couple months since I've updated anything that doesn't somehow include Josh and Alex. :/
Okay...I'm working a few things, and I'm hoping to finish everything up soon!
I've got an "A Love Like War - Inspiration Playlist" up on Spotify now!
Enjoy!
(Though you probably won't because I have no idea what I'm doing with this story anymore...)
Jerome took Mara's hand and helped her dismount her horse. After they left the horses in the care of a stable boy, they made their way down the streets lined with houses, shops, crates, and animals. Citizens bustled across the street, laughing and hollering. Jerome pulled Mara into a shop and smiled at the woman that was pulling a loaf of bread out of a brick oven.
"Oh, you're Majesties," she breathed, bowing her head respectively. "What can I do for you?"
"Are you hungry, darling?" Jerome asked Mara.
"That bread smells divine," she replied.
"It's a gift," the woman said when Jerome tried to pay her, wrapping the freshly baked bread and handing it to Mara.
"Thank you," Jerome dipped his head. "Actually, I was wondering if you could help us. We're looking for a man by the name of Sweet. Do you know him?"
"Sweet…. No, I'm afraid I don't know him, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." Jerome said. "Thank you for the bread."
"Anytime, you're Highness."
Mara and Jerome left the bakery and Mara unwrapped part of the bread, breaking a piece of it off. She hummed in approval. "This is delicious."
Jerome took a piece from the loaf and chewed thoughtfully. "Let's ask this man here at the market." He suggested.
When nothing about Eddie's parents came up in that conversation, but they did receive several pieces of fruit to go with their bread, Jerome and Mara continued down the street. As they neared their next destination, Mara bumped into a man hurrying across the street. Jerome caught her arm quickly to prevent her from falling onto the cobblestone and his blue eyes flitted to the person that had bumped her. The man stopped in front of her with a worried look.
"Are you okay?" He asked, running his hand through his wavy dark brown hair.
"I'm fine," Mara assured him.
"I do apologize. I was in a hurry and I don't really know my way around the village."
"It's okay," she smiled.
"Dante, are you okay?"
"Poppy, what are you doing here?" Jerome demanded when she rushed up to them.
"I could ask you the same thing." She retorted.
"I'm allowed to come down to the village. You know you shouldn't be down here alone."
"I'm not alone. I'm with Dante." Poppy said softly.
Jerome looked back at Dante, the young man that had run into Mara. "Dante?"
"Dante Cortez of Cenizas." He bowed.
Jerome watched him warily before returning his bow slowly. "You're a very, very long way from home, Prince."
Dante's eyes met Poppy's for a moment as he nodded. "I know, sir."
"Well, Dante and I were going to get some lunch. If you don't mind, Gerbil?" Poppy smiled at Mara and waved as she took Dante's arm and pulled him away from them.
"J, don't do anything rash. That's the boy that danced with her at the ball before we got married." Mara said.
"That won't make me like him." Jerome mumbled, putting the palm of his hand against her lower back and leading her through the crowds of people again.
Eddie forced his eyes open when he could no longer feel Patricia pressed against his chest. He sat up in his bed, feeling completely refreshed, and he walked over to his wardrobe so he could change his shirt and trousers. AS he was clipping a green cloak around his broad shoulders, someone knocked on his chamber's door. Without thinking twice about it, he swung it open. "Hey, I woke up and—mom."
"Were you expecting someone else?" Clarissa asked, cocking her head to the side.
"No, just surprised…."
"Surprised? Eddie, I told you that I'd be by early."
Eddie's eyebrows furrowed. "You did?"
"Yes, don't you remember?"
"Sorry, I've just been distracted lately. Why did you need me?"
Clarissa gazed at him fondly. "I need your opinion on some of the wedding preparations."
Eddie's heart sank when he was reminded that he was still betrothed to Amber and that was why Patricia left before he woke up.
Eddie stared at the flowers sitting on the table in the ballroom, where the wedding would take place. "I don't know, mom. Why don't you ask Amber? She's better at this than I am."
"Don't you want to have a say in the arrangements for your wedding day?" Clarissa asked, not realizing what she just said.
Eddie turned to her. "Yes, mother, I'd love to have a say in that."
Clarissa opened her mouth to apologize but Eddie was already leaving the room, fuming.
Eddie halted when he saw Patricia carrying a box down the hallway to the ballroom. He rushed forward and took it from her, setting it down, so nothing was between them.
Patricia sighed, pushing a strand of her auburn hair away from her face. "Hi."
"Hey," he sighed. "I woke up and you weren't there."
"I had to get to work," she explained with a small shrug.
"Listen, I know this is hard, but—"
"I had a great time last night," Patricia told him, and winced when he smiled happily, "But this is getting way too hard. I know that you don't love her. I know that you don't want to marry her. But being with you now and after the wedding could get me arrested, or worse. You know that law that states that whores that wreck homes should be executed?"
Eddie gritted his teeth. "But Patricia, you're not—"
"No one else would know that. I'd be shamed. My family would be shamed. And then I'd be sentenced to death."
"Trust me, Jerome and I are working on changing that law."
"I can't do this, Eddie. I thought I could handle it, but I can't." Patricia said. "I'm not going to get in the way of your future."
"I want you to be my future."
"Well, that's not going to happen, now, is it?" She snapped, picking the box up again and brushing past him. "You won't see me tomorrow. I'm leaving."
Eddie swallowed, letting her leave him in the hallway.
"Don't walk away and leave without a reason when there's to much to say that hasn't been said. I know I was wrong and I'm sorry for making the same mistakes. Don't walk away. Wish I could take it back, but you know I can't. I hope, one day, you'll understand. No this can't be it (this is the end)." -Don't Walk Away, Sick Puppies
-Rachel