The Lonely Rogue

Chapter 40 Junie

Once breakfast was finished, Caspian and I said our goodbyes and I was left to Lydia and Ally in the foyer. Cole appeared behind me with a cheeky grin,

"At your service, my lady." He bowed and I jabbed him in the gut with my elbow. A stranger showed up next to Lydia,

"Junie, this is my guard, Nickoli. He was my Gamma and he's also Cole's father." Lydia said. I had to admit, I noticed no resemblance between Nickoli and Cole.

"Nice to meet you." I said with a smile.

"You as well, Luna. I hope my son has been treating you properly." He said, giving Cole a stern look. I laughed,

"I don't know about properly but he's been a good friend and guard." Nickoli laughed loudly.

"You remember my guard, Lukey?" Ally said, pointing towards the man behind her. I nodded and waved hello. Luke shook his head at Ally and the nickname she had bestowed upon him.

"We have quite the army just to go on a tour." I observed.

"You can never be too careful." Lydia said seriously.

I thought back to the story Caspian told me about Sabrina's death and how they went out without any guards. I knew he would never make that mistake ever again.

"Shall we?" Lydia motioned towards the door and we all agreed.

She started with a tour of the castle, showing me around the large first floor which included a dozen or more guest bedrooms for visiting pack members, the offices of the ranked members, and common areas like the parlor room, living room, kitchen, two dining areas, and a modernized game room and movie theater which were added at the start of Caspian's reign. The entire floor, besides the game room and movie theater, matched the Victorian era vibe that the rest of the castle gave off.

The castle was quiet today, void of visitors with only the staff fluttering about. I learned that only the ranked members and royal family lived in the castle, the rest of the staff and pack members were provided cottages in the royal village. After the brief tour, Lydia led us outside to a large SUV that was waiting to take us to the village.

The village was only two miles from the castle and easily walkable, but the dreadful rain and bitter cold forced us into the car. The driver took us straight to the village as I clung to the window, observing the realm as we drove by.

Most of the kingdom was covered in lush trees that were all a part of the Golden Woods. The forest got its name from the yellow and auburn coloring of the leaves which lasted all year long, not just during the fall. Racing alongside the road was a babbling brook with sparkling rainbows shooting from one side to the other.

We reached the village in no time, Cole, Nickoli, and Luke all stepping out of the car first with large, black umbrellas. They followed after us with the umbrella shielding us from the fat rain droplets. Lydia pointed out the cottages that belonged to the staff members whose names I would recognize along with some original pack members dating back to the new origin of the realm.

"As more families with children came to live with us, the community formed a sort of homeschool. We built a large community center and library for them to utilize, and anyone with teaching experience was hired under the royal kingdom to teach." Lydia explained as we stood in front of the community center, "The kids attend school five hours a day, four days a week. On Fridays, they train instead."

"Caspian's goal is to bring more businesses to the realm so we are more self-sustaining. Before he became king, we had to leave the realm for everything, from groceries to clothing. Now, we have a grocery store and a couple of boutiques; even a restaurant!" Ally said, sounding excited.