The Southern Thing

19

The following days quickly fell into a routine. Every morning I arrived in the throne room, ready to hear the trails of the day, ate a meal when tourist arrived, and spent my evenings teaching Alec how to study the working of the three kings. The kings had yet to stop my actions with Alec, though I knew with each lesson the end would soon arrive.
It was finally on the eighth day that something new and exciting happened within the walls of our castle,  and it started with a single word; "Adeline." When I heard the breathless word from down the hall, I knew my days would forever be changed. Without a single thought, I ran down the halls and into the arms of the person who uttered my name.
"I never imagined we would be in each others arms once again. You left so long ago, and I have been gone for so long. They send me out on so many trips," he uttered while spinning me around in his arms.
"It sounds as if you missed me the slightest amount," I said with a bright smile.
He finally set me down before looking into my eyes, "I missed you more with every passing sunrise and sunset. I wished everyday to be by your side once again. I regret our ending more than anything in my lifetime, human and vampire," With that sentence I let out a small gasp, "I know we will never be mates, but my dearest Adeline I plan to get you back and love you until you choose to leave again."
"Nathaniel," I said quietly, "I found him."
"Yet here you are, not by his side. I know Aro called for you, but if things with him would have gone well, you would have fought to stay by his side. Please do not dismiss me so quickly. Give me a chance to prove to you how much sorrow I have for the hurt I caused your precious heart. Allow me to hold it in my hands once again; I will not drop it, princess."
I found myself in a moment of conflict. I knew my heart still held love for the by left in Forks, but here stood Nathaniel, begging me to allow him to prove his worth. One of the highest members of the guard, choosing to come back to me. Anyone choosing me, how am I to let him go again? His words beginning to heal the hurt we had seen in our past. I wanted to trust him, to fall into the spell his words were providing. And so, throwing caution to the wind I uttered a simple sentence.
"You can try, and it's queen now."
**
"Hello," I heard Rose's voice coming from my phone. "We talked yesterday Adeline, is something wrong?"
"No. Nothing is wrong I promise," I said in a calm voice, "I have something i must confess. Go ahead and tell the Big Bear he has permission to listen in, though I know he already was."
I heard booming laughter in the background, "You know me too well, Abe!"
"Anyways, back to my confession. I may have agreed to allow someone to prove their worthiness of my heart. Someone I have a history with."
"Is it Caius? Because if so, I owe some people money and I would prefer not to talk to a certain person right now," Rose said with a slight growl.
"Of course not. I truly do not understand why y'all would believe I would be involved with him. Yes, he is extremely close when it comes to me, but reminder he is married!"
"Haha vampire old guy king is married, and Edward isn't. Sucks to suck." I heard a slap, which I assumed was Rose smacking Emmett in the back of the head.
"Well then who is it? You never told me about anyone else?"
"I knew I could never discuss him around Jasper; not after his jealous instance with Caius. His name is Nathaniel. He and I have quite the history. Years of love that ended in a hearts shattering to the floor. He was many years before James. He was the beginning of my lifetime."
"What happened? Start from the beginning. The very beginning."
I took a deep breath before beginning, "It begins when the Volturri first found me..."
It was 1878 in the state of Texas, there wasn't a lot going on within the state. Except the large number of towns that were getting brutally murder, with no evidence left behind. I had been killing across the state for only a few months at the time, but the amount of bodies I left behind was enough to strike attention in the vampire world. I knew I was being tracked during the last two massacres, I was just unaware of by what or who. It was while I was walking away from my last victim that I heard the voice, "Excuse me. You need to come with me."
I turned around mockingly, "I need to come with you, sweetheart. You have no idea what you are talking to, Mr. Dark Cloak."
He pulled down his hood to reveal bright red eyes, the same as mine. "I do believe I know exactly what I am talking to. You have broken a number of our kinds laws, and it's time you have your trail." With that he grabbed my arm and started running east through the rest of the state.
"Pardon me. May I at least know the name of my current kidnapper?"
"My name is Nathaniel..."
"Wait hold on," Emmett interrupted my story. "All those murders in Texas. They were done solely by you? Damn Abe, that's bad ass!"
"Baby, shut up and let her tell the story!"
"Thank you, Rose," I said with a laugh. I was glad Emmett interrupted when he did, it allowed me to break and skip the details of my trail. "Now back to the details of our love..."
Before I became a full guard member, I needed to be trained by one of the "more mature and responsible" guard members. Nathaniel volunteered to train me, to make me a strong guard member physically and with my gifts. The kings quickly agreed, stating there was no one else they saw fit. Nathaniel and I spent days upon days together. Our session went on for hours, and at the beginning it was simply me being thrown on my ass over and over again.
Though as time went on, I started winning when we sparred and I learned to utilize my gifts for my own benefit. Though I was still on edge, wondering if I was truly ready to prove myself. The kings set a list of tasks for me to complete before they would allow me into the guard, but Nathaniel was very confident that I would be able to complete them. Before I went to complete my tasks, he pulled me into an isolated section of the castle, for what I imagined would be last minute advice. Instead, he stood in a darken hallway and whispered words I will never forget, "You can do this, my princess. Your name itself means nobility. You can prove to those men that you are worthy of living in this castle. And once you do prove your worth, you can tell me what you thought about this." He then lightly pressed his lips upon mine, holding my cheek in his hand. He gave me extra reasoning to fight for what I wanted. He was right, my name meant nobility and I was the princess deserving of the castle.
By the end of my tasks, I had shown the kings that was more than they had ever imagined I could become. I was allowed entry within the guard, at the highest level and was given a temporary post next to Caius' thrown, exact opposite to Nathaniel's post next to Marcus. Once I was dismissed, I rushed across the grounds to find Nathaniel. Eventually I found him out in the gardens, sitting among the hedges as if he was a garden statue. When his eyes met mine, I threw myself into his arms crashing my lips upon his. After a few moments, I leaned back and spoke. "That's how I felt about your action."
From there our loved blossomed, the kings always sent us out on missions and tasks together. I pretended I didn't know, but Nathaniel would always beg them to allow it. He was too afraid of me being on my own. He would take me on love walks around the city, stopping at different places each time. We lived as if we were simply two regular young adults, falling in love in Italy. Nathaniel spent every moment of every way, proving how much he cherished my heart. Every morning, I would enter our shared quarters to a letter and a flower sitting upon my desk. Every day he explained the list of things he fell in love with about the day before, and each day without fail there was always a letter. Our love stayed very strong for many years.
That being until a female came in for her coven's trail. I knew when she walked into the room that he saw something within her, though it was through the use of a gift that I saw what was truly happening; Nathaniel had found his mate.
Throughout the trail, Nathaniel begged for the kings to allow to her to be the member of the coven left alive. He paid no attention to the pain it caused me each time he spoke her name, for he paid no attention to me at all. The letters and flowers stopped first, it was my first sign that I had lost him. Then Nathaniel moved out of our shared quarters, and instead allowed her to share a room with him while she was there.
When the trail came to it's close, the kings did not allow her to survive. The choose another member to be the one to survive to tell the tale, and with this Nathaniel was broken. I tried to be there for him, despite how little he had been there for me throughout the trail. I took him out to the garden, and began discussing him moving back with me. The steps we would take to make him feel like himself again, and he stayed silent. It was when I went to grab his hand that he finally exploded.
He yelled, "Adeline you are not her! I do not love you like I loved her, and I never will! You are a silly little girl who thinks she is a princess. I only said those words so you would pass your tasks, and I would keep my station. I do not want to be around you. I already asked the kings for a mission without you; a mission that will allow me to stay gone for decades."
With those words, he ran off. Nathaniel left me sitting in the garden heart broken and speechless..."
"I hadn't spoken or seen him since, that it until today." I quickly went through the events that had happened in the hours prior. "Am I making a mistake?"
It was Emmett who spoke first, "Adeline, you deserve to be happy. Something within you told you to take that chance and say yes. You have to trust to see where it goes. And if it turn bad again, I'll crush him."
"I could not have said it better myself," Rose said with a slight laugh.
"Thank you both. That is what I needed to hear. I love you both, please be safe and let me know where you are traveling."
With a soft click, I hung up the phone and allowed a soft sigh to escape from my lips.
***
so a lot of people wanted me to write a love interest for adeline while she is away from our dear jasper. i know caius and adeline seemed very relationship like in previous chapters, i had planned on going that direction. though i like nathaniel a lot more, and i hope y'all will to.
what are your thoughts? and what are some cute things our lovebirds can do together?
until next chapter. xoxo