𝒯𝒽ℯ ℛ𝒾𝓈ℯ 𝒪𝒻 𝒜 𝒬𝓊ℯℯ𝓃

Chapter |11| They're Close

H A R D I N ' S P.O.V

I pushed open our bedroom door, wincing as it creaked loudly. The last thing I wanted was to wake up my pregnant wife. Slowly, I stepped in, silently shutting the door behind me, but frowned when I found our bed sheets empty, and drawn open, in a messy disarray.

Searching our room with frantic eyes, my panic settled as I found her. She was perched on our huge window ledge that acted as a bench, a few throw pillows propping up her back against the wall.

Her head was tipped back, her face illuminated by the bright moon that beamed in from the open window. Despite her eyes being shut closed, I knew she was far from asleep.

Like me, she was a restless sleeper. A night owl. I remembered how neither one of us could sleep during our first week as a wedded couple. Instead, we snuck down to the kitchen, stole cookies and some made some hot milk, before setting up camp in the movie theatre.

It was a time where our roles as King and Queen weren't as tiring and busy as they were now. To be honest, I couldn't even remember the last time we had done something like that.

"Hey gorgeous," I called out, causing her eyes to flutter open. She turned towards me, shifting her body to the side and smiled lazily.

"Hi baby, are you finished?" I didn't want to tell her how I had failed my people, how it took one severely beaten man to realise how badly I needed to change my rule.

"Yeah, it's all done..." Her eyes had perked up, before I could finish my sentence.

"Do you think we could recreate the old times, when we use to watch movies the whole night? I know it's hard with your father still missing but maybe something relaxing like a movie night would help you?"

How could I refuse her cute pout and puppy dog eyes? I couldn't, yet I had to. My father had been kidnapped, he could be dead for all I knew, and the only thing that would help to settle my mind would be to find him. Dead or alive, I just had to know.

I sighed, and slumped down besides her, lifting up her swollen feet and placing them on my lap. Instinctively, I began to rub them, massaging her soles with my fingers.

"Baby, the witness told us where to find my father. It might be a lie or a trick but...I have to go." Arabella nodded, despite the look of utter despair on her face.

She hated, when I knowingly placed myself in danger, but I couldn't just send Wyatt in without me. He was my best friend, my brother, and if anything happened to him, it would be on me.

"Hey," I gently titled her face to the side so she was looking at me. Her gentle ocean eyes were welled up with tears, glistening inside her sapphire blue orbs.

I hated making her cry, being the cause of her pain, yet it was inevitable. Throughout our marriage, she had always been the rock, but her pregnancy had helped to showcase her true feelings. She couldn't help but cry.

"You are my everything, Arabella. My world, my sun, my moon and most importantly my stars. The reason for my very existence. I feel safe leaving our kingdom in your very capable hands, okay? I need you to protect yourself and our baby, and our people. I wouldn't be leaving if I didn't think you could do it." She tried to smile, but as her lips titled up, they quickly dropped.