THE GREAT LADY OF ALKION

CHAPTER 54

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ALKION
The royal wedding would be the next day. It had been a long time waiting for the day. Audelia sat in front of her mirror lost in thought. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," she said and the door was opened. In walked Julian and she stood up immediately." What are you doing here ?"
"I wanted to talk to you."
He got in and they exchanged smiles. She jumped on him wrapping her legs around his waist. They kissed with fiery passion as she grabbed his hair.
He put her down and they broke into laughter.
"What do you want to tell me ?" she said and sat in front of her mirror.
"I am marrying Aretha tomorrow. Our plan has finally bore fruit," he said as he walked towards her and she scoffed.
"Of course it did. This is the fruit of our hard work for the past years. You made her fall for you and accept marrying you."
"Of course she did. I lost Astrid but luckily we had Aretha. It was easy to lure her into our plan."
"Aretha is just an emotional girl so she was the easiest target but with Astrid it would have been much better because she is more favoured and next in line for the throne after Fabian. You made the mistake of leaving her after your father's execution and it cost us."
"But that was a painful moment for me. I had to do it. As I have said, we have Aretha. She fell for our continuous fights and the encounter in the woods. Those bandits did their job well. She saw us as our saviours. Nobody will ever suspect us. The next step will give you the crown."
"Yes. It will. I have waited a long time for this. I am sure that father would have been proud of me. I will make sure that I will make his cause successful. Focus on your marriage to Aretha now and make her fall for you even more."
" But what about me ? Us ? I am not in love with her. I only regard her as a friend."
" There is no us in this mission. I have no time for love. We can only fool around."
" Fool around ? After everything I have done for you, you can only throw me at her and be my mistress ?"
" Yes Julian."
" You know that I have had feelings for you since we were young. You can't do this to me."
" I did but has your love been sincere ? Your duty was to make Astrid fall for you but you ended up having feelings for her."
" I did. That is because she treated me well. She loved me and made me feel loved. You have never shown me love. I am only your pawn."
" That's not true. You only have to wait until my plan is fulfilled and then we can be together. There will be no more hiding."
" It's what you've always told me."
" Stop acting like that, will you ? You know that this is important for me. I must have the crown before all else."
" I will ask you this. Have you ever loved me ?"
" That is not important right now Julian."
" Thought so," he said and left her room banging the door behind him.
She sighed and began to brush her hair. Tomorrow would be a long day.
In the evening, Aretha sat on her bed with Therese and Charles by her side.
"I am anxious. The days have gone by so fast," she said.
"It's the years Aretha. I remember how small you were when you were born. It seems like yesterday when you learned how to walk and now you will be a married woman," Therese said.
"She's right Aretha. You have grown up so fast and I'm sure that Aine would have been proud of you."
" Yes father. But I have Audelia here. It makes my family a bit complete."
" Audelia," Therese said as she rolled her eyes.
" She is not bad mother. It's just that she felt abandoned by us since she was young. She has done a lot for me to prove that she is good."
" What has she done ?" Charles asked." I don't believe that anything good can come from Leopold. I am sure that he is the one who made us spite us for revenge. She is after our lives."
" She is not. She saved my life back then when I was attacked in the woods. If she wanted to kill me, she would have done so when I was not conscious."
" She was the one ? I don't trust her one bit," Therese said.
" It doesn't matter if she was. I still don't believe that she is good. With how sly Leopold was, I would not be surprised if she had arranged all that just to get close to you."
" Those are your assumptions father. I am getting married tomorrow. Please don't ruin this."
" Alright fine. I don't think Julian is also good for you. I don't trust him,"Charles said.
" That's enough Charles,"Therese said." Aretha is marrying tomorrow. Let's not ruin this for her."
" I am sorry Aretha but I am only after your happiness."
" I understand father."
" Charles and I will leave you alone to rest. You need it. Tomorrow is a big day. Enjoy your night dear," Therese said and kissed Aretha's forehead before she left with Charles.
" Tomorrow will be a great day. My marriage will be a happy one and everyone will get along with my sister," Aretha said to herself and covered herself. She wanted to sleep but she could only toss and turn in bed no matter how much she tried to sleep.