King's Sword

Something Old

"Baby!" My eyes widen at the high pitch squeal and I shut the door back up. I hear Vance chuckle behind me as I step back and the tall woman with silky black curls and brown eyes opens the door. Her wide smile was gone as she walked inside. "I see the etiquette class we signed you up for when you were ten was a waste of money." She sidesteps past me and then smiles at Elijah, whom she has met before but it had been so long.

"Mrs. King." Elijah says and I take the opportunity to step further back, only to crash against Vance who held my arms to steady me.

"Oh, Eli! You two are still together!" My mother says before kissing both of his cheeks lightly and turning back to me. "My god, Adelaide, are you pregnant?" My eyes widen and I hold my stomach self-consciously.

"No." I say in irritation and shake my head. "What are you doing here?" She walks further into the house and Elijah closes the door, earning him an incredulous glance from me.

"Vance." My mother says, dismissing my previous question and her cat eyes are now focused on the tower of a man behind me. He steps out my shadow slightly and glances at me as if asking for permission to interact. "Oh I see, you're someone else's dog now and you're trying to make a good impression." Vance is calm as he folds his hands behind his back.

"He's not a dog." I snap at her sourly and she tilts her head with a smile. "You came here just to get a rise out of Mr. Ambrose?"

"We're friends." She says seductively and both Elijah and I cringe at that. Vance's expression remains a wall of indifference. "Do you remember when-"

"You're pathetic." I sigh tiredly, making her turn to me curiously and I move to open the door once again. "Leave."

"I am your mother!" She growls as she walks quickly towards me but Vance intercepts her smoothly. "A bodyguard doesn't give you power, sweetheart. You need me, they'll eat you alive."

"I hope I go down like acid." I say and force a careless smile before signaling for her to leave. As she walks out I glance at Vance and give him a command. "Speak."

"Bitch." He growls at her and slams the door shut. I laugh with my hands brought up to my mouth in order to muffle the sound, and turn to Vance who smirks but shakes his head.

"Did you just call her mother a bitch?" Elijah asks Vance incredulously, we both turn to him as he shakes his head. "And not only did you allow it, you thought it was funny?"

"She's my mother, Elijah." I say humorously and walk past him to the dining room.

"It breaks my heart to see you two like this." Elijah says and I stop to scoff, turning to him bitterly. "When my mom died-"

I interrupt him. "When your mom died, you lost your mother, the person who loved you the most. That woman, that snake, she is not worthy of that title." He clears his throat and holds on to his hips before nodding at the ground.

"I don't want you to regret anything if something happens." Elijah whispers and turns to leave, he doesn't go to the kitchen, he heads up the stairs and to the rooms. I shut my eyes tightly and run a hand through my hair in frustration.

"There's dessert." I hear Vance say behind me and I turn around to face him tiredly. He nods with a shrug. "Mr. Terrance seems to have a good heart."

"Uh huh." I hum as I make my way to clean the dishes, taking them all and going to the sink.

"They could have that cleaned while you sleep." Vance says as he brings me the wine glasses from the table. I shake my head and roll my sleeves up.

"Tell Morgan I say thank you, and that I'm sorry I couldn't face her today." I say quietly with a side eye towards him. Vance nods and leans back against the counter with his arms crossed. He gets lost in his thoughts for a second as I wash the dishes. "Has my mother given you hell too?" He scoffs.