The Bride

Chapter 38//: Is it really you?

♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 38//: Is it really you?♕✿~♕✿~

Madison's POV

I hold the gun in my hand tightly, not sure what to do with it. I wasn't comfortable with the idea of using the gun on anybody, and I was worried that I might get in a situation where I would have to use it.

I finally tuck the gun into one of the pockets of my pants, the weight of it heavy and very present. I gulp.

We walk back up the palace steps to the doors, the guards looking at us with recognition. "Hey, didn't we escort you guys off of the property? This is your last warning," one of the guards says, stepping forward.

Damon stops the man from moving any closer. "Look, we'll try doing this peacefully. Do you recognize her?" Damon juts his chin towards me. The guard eyes me, scrutinizing me from head to toe. Usually, I would be squirming uncomfortably under his stare, but now I stare back at him defiantly, willing him to recognize me.

The guard turns back to Damon with narrowed eyes. "No, I don't. Now get the hell out of here."

Damon lets out a disbelieving scoff. "How do you not recognize her?" he asks the guard incredulously. "Her name's Madison Williams. Ring a bell?"

Upon hearing my name, the guard turns to me with a startled expression on his face. He stares at my face more carefully. He stumbles back from us.

"That's impossible. That girl was announced dead a couple days ago!" the guard exclaims.

Now it's our turn to be shocked. I look at Damon and Lucas briefly. I quickly turn back to face the guards.

"Who said that? I'm alive," I say, pointing to myself. The notion that everyone thought I was dead was messing with my head in a way I didn't like.

My heart drops a bit as I think of what impact this false information has had on my family and Ahren. They all thought I was dead. Just thinking about the pain I have put them through makes me feel immensely guilty.

"Stop messing with us," the guard hisses. "There's no way Madison Williams is alive. His Majesty couldn't find her when he went and attacked the Rogue Dawn base!"

I blink rapidly in surprise. Ahren had looked for me? The thought that he had spent his time to get me back makes heat spread throughout my chest. A smile threatens to overtake my face, but I lower my face to hide the small smile. Now really wasn't an appropriate time to be acting like this.

"Well, believe what you want, but this is Madison Williams. And there is someone that's planning on killing the prince," Damon tells the guard. But the guard stubbornly shakes his head, a hint of doubt on his face.

"No, that's not possible. We checked everybody who came in, and they're all respectable Silvers. We have multiple Silencers inside the throne room to take away the abilities of the guests," the guard tells us.

I huff a breath, crossing my arms across my chest. The guard's naïvety was absolutely ridiculous; how could he not believe I was who I said I was and that there was an assassinator out there that hated Ahren's guts? The palace really needs to replace some of the current staff members.

Damon, Lucas, and I share a look, all disbelieving. Logically, we thought that this would have convinced the guards to let us in. But it was obvious we were going to have to initiate plan B: go in by force.