The Prince's Choice (Book 3)

Chapter 26

We mourned for days. Daxton, too distraught to be moved up to his own room, stayed in the hospital wing. And I stayed down there with him. We cried ourselves to sleep at night, clinging tightly to each other.
We didn't want the funeral to be big, but it was. So many people loved Isabelle and were loved by her. It was selfish for us to keep her all to ourselves.
So we planned a public funeral and were planning to announce that Daxton had woken up and he was okay.
I was the epitome of a mourner.
My dress was dark black and skimmed the top of my neck, the sleeves reaching mid-arm. The dress went down, cinching at the waist to fan out at the bottom.
Cecily had curled my hair and left it down. Josie had done my makeup, painting my lips a light pink.
Isabelle would have loved this. I took a shuddering breath.
No tears today.
"Miss?" Cecily asked as she brushed one of my curls behind my shoulder.
"Hm?"
"You look elegant. Exactly as Queen Isabelle did and would have wanted you to look."
I bowed my head in thanks before walking out into the hallway.
I found Daxton waiting for me. He was in all black. His jacket, his shirt, his shoes, his pants, his bow-tie. Everything was black.
We were a pair of black misery.
"You look wonderful," he whispered, grabbing my hand.
"As do you," I murmur back.
He grabs my waist and pulls me to him. "How am I going to make it through this?"
I place my hands on either side of his face. "You will. You're mother would want you to be strong. But it's okay to show a little emotion to the world, Dax. We'll get through this. Together."
"Together," he breathed and pressed a kiss to my lips.
We pulled apart and joined our hands, walking to the edge of the hallway. Rose and Devon fell into place behind us and Alexa and James behind them. As one, we seemed to take a deep breath before descending the stairs.
Cameras flashed and captured our every move as we walked solemnly to the room where the funeral would be held. I walked with my head high, looking at the cameras, looking at Daxton.
I squeezed his hand in assurance as we walked into the room. At the end of it lay her casket. It was simple and elegant, just like her. We took our seats in the front row and the funeral began.
***
Once it was over, we answered few questions and quickly dismissed the press, wanting to mourn more on our own.
"You did great," I told Daxton once they were gone and we were up in my rooms.
"I did great? You did wonderful," he said back.
"I only cried four times," I sniffed, laughing.
He leaned his forehead against mine. "We can do this."
"We can do this," I repeated. I absently starting playing with his shirt sleeves. "You're going to make a great king."
"And you, love, are you to make a great queen."
I smile and he pulls back and looks at me seriously. "What happened to Genesis?"
Swallowing, I said, "She's in the dungeon. Has been since everything happened."
He nodded for a second and said, "I want her moved to a prison far, far away from here."
"Adam is down there, too."
His eyebrows flicked up at that. "And why is Adam down there?"
I bit my lip. "He attacked me. He tried to force himself on me."
Anger sparked in Daxton's eyes. "Why haven't you already told me this, love?"
I ran a hand threw my curled hair. "It happened the day before you woke up and I didn't want to overwhelm you with it. And then everything with your mom happened. I wanted to but I haven't had a chance to."
Daxton was quiet for a couple minutes and I thought he was falling asleep or wasn't going to respond. "I want him put in a prison far, far away, too."
I smiled slightly. "We'll tell the guards tomorrow," I said, leaning into him before standing on my tiptoes to brush my lips against his.
"I can't wait till we're married," he says against my lips.
"And why is that?" I murmur.
He smiles against my lips. "Because then I can show you just how much I truly love you."
I blush at his words and think why wait. But remember we want to keep it traditional-his mother asked for us to be as traditional as possible. So we will.
"We need to plan our wedding, then," I pull away from him.
"Tomorrow. Or the next day. We have forever ahead of us," he smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
That we do.