Arabella's and Hardin's story continues....
After almost three years of blissful marriage, and reigning as King and Queen, our star crossed lovers can't find a single fault in their perfection of a life.
Then, it gets even better with a special deli...
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I trudged behind the carriage holding nothing but an empty coffin. They never even found his body, apparently his murderer took it with him as some sort of prize.
My stomach churned slowly, but I continued to keep that stoic look on my face, refusing to cry before a mass of millions who had gathered for the funeral.
My husband's funeral.
Rory gripped my hand tighter, Flo squeezing the life out of my other and I held my head up high, focusing on walking one step at a time.
If I let myself think about it, about his death, what would happen, the fact that I would never see the love of my li...no, I can't breakdown. Not just yet. Huxley was watching me carefully, and I knew the rest of the Kingdom was too.
I was no longer a Queen in their eyes, I was now just a girl from the Academy. An orphan they could get rid of easily. Without his protection, I was vulnerable.
And right now, at the peak of my mourning for my dead husband, I was at my most vulnerable. They could strike, and they would. I just had to be ready.
I kept my gaze steady, counting my steps up to five and then repeating it over and over again until finally we reached the burial sight.
Benjamin and Wyatt stood flanking the carriage at either sides. They reached up and with the help of ten guards, carried the empty coffin towards the family plot.
Wyatt's limp was noticeable, but he fought hard to conceal it from the world. He no longer needed a crutch and in a few weeks would be as good as new.
The gates were slammed shut, and condolences from the public were screamed loudly in the air. "We're sorry Your Majesty!", "How awful,", "Our deepest condolences."
And then of course, there were the haters.
"He deserved it!" , "Royal scum." , "Dead, just like your child. You deserve it whore."
I flinched upon hearing that last one, but not a droplet fell. Not a single tear in sight because I knew the moment I let go, the flood of emotions I had been bottling up for weeks now would quickly follow. And I wasn't ready for that just yet.
My mind drifted off to my happy place as they place the coffin in the ground, and I welcomed it happily.
"Baby!" Hardin shouted from the bathroom. I set down my book and ran into the room, expecting something to be on fire or the ceiling to have fallen down from his voice, but instead he was just staring at himself in the mirror.
"What the hell? I thought something was wrong!"
"It is wrong. Look at it, can you see it? Is it really big?" He forced my eyes to zero in a patch of flawless skin.
"See what?" Sighing harshly, he gripped my hip and pulled me in. A move that usually would have caused my insides to melt.
"The pimple. I've got a greeting with some local business owners today in Juniper, I can't rock up looking this!" I scoffed, my eyes finally landing on the practically non-existent pimple.
