The Courtier

34

THE COURTIER
♡ Josephine ♡

King Jaxson disapproved of Rafe rather quickly, which had me sighing out in relief, but also terrified of how Beth would respond. Rafe knew his boundaries with our friendship, and he never crossed the line nor flirted. We had an innocent friendship. I am awaken late, but up before sunrise, getting ready and making haste to Arabella's dressing room. Arabella is on her balcony, looking over her world that she has overtaken.

"Good morning, Arabella." I bow to her presence even though she could not see me. Arabella turns, smiling to my being.

"Good morning, Josie. Come." She waves me over and I am fast as lightening, wishing to overlook the view as she did. She eyes me as I avoid her gaze, knowing that she knows mt secret. "I am sorry Jaxson disapproved of the two of you. I know how much you liked him so."

"If the King disapproves then it must not be meant to be," I squeak out.

She nods, agreeing. "He does have a good sense of judgment."

"I remember when you were so frightened by all of this..." I replay the memories of the times we belonged to the village, and Arabella was freshly engaged to Jaxson. "I am happy you and the King have worked through your hard times together. Now, the two of you shall live happily ever after."

"Now my sister will see just how sweet it feels knowing you can pick the one you love the most and marry him without worrying about titles or such." Her words are soft, but I knew she found a way to speak about her sister, but also give me advice without saying a thing about Ugene.

"Love is so heartbreaking." I sigh. "That is what I was terrified from the beginning."

"It does not have to be. Yes, it is not sunshine and rainbows, but a couple grows together and stays together through it all."

"What if you could not be with Jaxson because of a certain situation? What would you do?"

Her brows furrow at rhe question as she leans over her balcony. "If you truly love a person you will not let anyone tear that love apart. Even if it is forbidden."

I bite my lower lip in my own mind, and Arabella turns to me. Her hand finds my shoulder, squeezing me gently. "Ae you well, Josie? You know you can come to me about anything, I will not say a word."

I then find myself crying before the Queen of Lockwood, and she does not judge me, not once. She grabs my being, rounding her arms around me and squeezing me in a hug.

"You must tell me now that you are crying..."

Should I? Could she be trusted? Of course, she could.

So, I tell her everything from the start to bottom of the story and she listens without any words being said on her part. She lets me speak, and once I am finished, she squeezes my arms. She sends a small smile of encouragement. "Thank you for trusting me with this. I am sure it was hard to keep it all bottled inside."

"Oh, it was killing me inside." I sigh. "I am stuck between choosing Ugene, whom has my entire heart and being, or my sister, my blood, my family."

"Does she know you love him so?"

"She seems to not care, she wishes for him. I feel like I should give him to her because she did choose him first before I even spoke with him. She has had her eyes on him for months."

She wipes my tears and nods. "It seems as if it is not meant to be if Ugene did not fall for your sister. It seems like it is meant to be between you and Ugene, he loves you, and he is waiting."

"I cannot do that to her," I cry.

"Your highness, you are requested to the King at once," a guard has let out, bowing to her presence.

Arabella looks back to me, squeezing my arms again for reassurance. "This is not finished. I will speak with you soon, okay? No more tears, you are too pretty to cry." She hugs me once more before following after the guard whom assists her in reaching to her husband's office.

Third Person

King Jaxson can hear his wife coming toward his wife form a mile away, calculating her footsteps and the sound of him, draws his lips into a smiile when the door opens and in comes his diamond. His rock, his whole heart.

He has news to share with her about the drama that had played out at last night's dinner with Duke Velmont. He does not know how his wife will deal with the news, but he surely shall tell her of this.

"I have news to bear," he announces as she crosses her arms. Was she angry?

"As do I," she hums.

He beckons her over, and she cannot help but to resist and fall into his touch. He was waiting on her, perched in front of his desk as her body is stuck between his legs, and his arms loom around her petite body. He leans down, kissing her lips in a soft manner, she relaxes in his touch, her hand hovers over his chest.

"What is your news?" Her question has the King smirking, knowing she is on a thin line from blowing from not being able to know of this drama.

"I spoke with Ugene last night in the dungeons..." He trails, teasing his wife whom waves her hand for him to continue. "He lashed out because him and Miss. Josephine has tangled themselves into a love triangle of some sort."

"Mhh," Arabella mumbles, loving this new drama added to her scale. "Well, Josephine has told me something that put both of you into shock. I am worried for her, Jaxson."

"What is it?" He raises a brow before she shares the same news Josephine had spoken, spilling her secret to her husband, but she was fixing the mess Beth had made before the two are heartbroken forever, or Ugene has killed an innocent being.

Jaxson is in shock from his wife's words, and his eye twitches. "Beth Castings is Josephine's sister?"

"Older sister, I believe. She used to work for my family and Josie asked if we could bring her along and you know I could never say no."

"This is more in depth than I thought to believe. What is Ugene going to do? Oh, he is not going to be happy about this news." Jaxson rubs his face with his hand, keeping his other hand busy holding onto his wife.

Arabella places her hands over her husband's shoulders smoothing out the tension in his muscles. "We must fix this for them."

"We really should let them do it on their own, love."

"No, you must tell Ugene the truth so he will know and he can fix everything. Not unless you wish for me to speak to Josie's sister and I will not be nice," Arabella exclaims with a serious expression.

"I shall tell Ugene in a matter of time before the gentleman goes over the deep end and starts to murder innocent lives." His voice holds amusement, but deep down, he was correct. He knew how dangerous and unhinged his Courtier could be. Perhaps, the two can be the push to bringing this couple becoming happy once again.

And for goodness sakes, getting Ugene Chesire married.