Truth After Lies

Avoid & Hide

She dropped the half empty drink that was in her trembling hand and it was caught due to the quick reflexes of Leo himself. He gave nothing away after the pained emotion he gave her. His eyes were dull and colourless, his face was stern just like she first met him, years ago. But as minutes passed his emotions became restless and he kept throwing impatient glances at Jaylen.

"You almost caused a scene, princess," his words touched deep within her heart and a soft whimper came out from her mouth. She turned around abruptly and paced to the doors and escaped into the gardens. The nickname . . . a sudden wave of emotions overwhelmed her. She should have been tear streaked by now but no tears came, she was past this. She was past the crying, past the missing, past the late nights and definitely past the giving in to him.

She straightened her back and marched back into the ball room that was now filled with slow classical music. She looked around to notice more familiar faces. Vixen dancing with a young man, Brad inspecting off to the side, Alex & Mat snickering about who knows what, Tom & Carson were surrounded by ladies. Molly was busy with eyeing some guy whereas Rex and Drix were indulged in a deep conversation with the King. She sucked in a breathe when she realised that all of them were there and none of them had noticed her.

"You alright," came a voice from behind her. Her breathe became quick and she twirled around with emotion in her eyes to find Jaylen's concerned gaze. She let out a startled laugh and nodded continuously.
"Alright then, let me introduce you to my cousin," he took her hand and guided her through to where Leo stood, surrounded by a mixture of important men and beautiful women.
"Cousin, a moment if you would," he sounded so . . . formal.
Leo stepped aside and set those hazel eyes of his on her and she immediately felt breathless again.

Breathe Maddy, breathe. He can't overpower you, no sir. Just remember that he was going to marry you to take over his fathers business. Deep breathes.

She regained herself and forced her eyes to lock with his. Her eyes showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever.
"This is the beautiful Madeline Montgomery I was mentioning to you. Maddy, this is Leo, my very honourable cousin," he beamed at Leo's name and shot her a quick glance.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo," she let out her hand and approached him with a fake smile.
He frowned at first then took her hand gently and placed a soft kiss on the top of it, his lips lingered there for a second then he let go of her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Madeline," he flashed her one of his famous smiles that she was so familiar with yet, she acted like she didn't know him.
"She'll be staying with us for the week. You might see her around the palace a few times," Jaylen interrupted the awkward staring.
"How come I've never seen him around?" She turned her attention to Jaylen and smiled more genuinely.
"It's because I only arrived here a few hours before, princess," he interrupted Jaylen and continued to stare into her eyes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming tonight. I hope you had a great time and may many more evening like this come sooner," the king dismissed them all and after a few minutes the halls started to empty out.
"Well, I'm feeling a little light headed. Mind if I retreat into my room for the night?" She looked towards Jaylen, completely blocking out Leo.
"And miss dinner together? It's a family thing, the king, queen and even Leo will be there," he raised an eyebrow.
Maddy gave him a look and he understood completely.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" He asked her more quietly. She nodded before taking off at great speed up the stairs.

As she made her way down the hall, she ran into the one and only Vixen, Brad & Molly conversing deeply and laughing out loud. They halted once they saw her and a sad expression crept onto their faces. She apologised quickly and ran down the hall into her bedroom before any of them could catch up to her.

The next morning she got up and was dressed in a summer dress as usual. This time, however, it was solid deep red and a very flowy dress. It had spaghetti straps that were attached to a ribbed material that covered her waist up. Waist down was an almost see through material that went up and down at the ankles. It was a beautiful dress that got paired with small black earrings and thin solid gold bracelet. Her beautiful chocolate brown hair was left down and it flowed so smoothly down to her hips. Her toenails were painted gel black and it was paired with thin expensive sandals.

She made her way down to the enormous dining hall that was already filled with lengthy conversations. All eyes turned towards her as she sat down next to Jaylen who beamed up at her. There was a long wooden dining table about 8 to 10 meters long, it seated 22 people exactly. The king and queen sat down on opposite ends of the long table whereas her two parents sat down on the queens left side. Jaylen and Maddy was seated the closest towards the Queen's right side whereas Drix, Carson & Rex we're seated along the King's closest right hand side. Molly, Brad & Vixen we're sitting down beside the first trio and Alex & Mat were seated next to them. An old man around the age of 80 sat down in the middle on Maddy's lane, his eyes held pain but warmth as well. Beside him which is next to Jaylen, sat a general in his freshly pressed uniform.

Finally, on the King's closest left hand side sat Leo, in his expensive buttoned shirt and black ripped jeans. His hair was ruffled but slick and his hazel eyes were more blooming than ever in the morning sunshine. Next to him sat a beautiful blonde with bright red lipstick and deep brown eyes, she wore light blush and heavy mascara.
"Are you feeling better, darling?" The queen's beautifully calming voice was the first to address her.
"A goodnight's sleep makes everything better," Maddy was nervous, she was talking to the queen here, yet she felt so natural. The queen let out a small laugh as well as a few others.

Breakfast continued as if she wasn't even there, she sat in silence and ate her food. She answered questions that was being asked to her which was mainly by Jaylen, the general, the old man whose name is Bernard or the queen herself. As soon as breakfast was finished she rushed out the door and into the gardens to get some fresh air. She took a few breathes and settled down, her nerves were on fire back in there. She didn't dare look at Leo or his gang, just the people that were talking to her. She could here footprints behind her and she glanced back, expecting Jaylen.

Instead, she got a surprise. There he was, Leo, the man of the day. She took a step back once he saw her and another as he made his way towards her. She turned around to find a bush maze, she ran around the sides only to be chased by him. As she turned a corner, she was sure he had missed her and took a few seconds to take some time out. As she did, she didn't hear one but multiple footsteps around the maze and she immediately began to panic. She could see the other gang members through the thin holes in the bushes. Molly ran past in a hurry and so did Alex, Mat & Vixen. But Brad glanced around to see her peeking through the bushes and called out to her quite loudly. Alerting her more than she already was, she took off at great speed towards the shed only to bump into Jaylen.

Jaylen was dressed in a simple light green sports shirt and some expensive white shorts.
"Hey, you alright?" He noticed her puffed out face and put a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced back to see that Alex, Mat, Molly, Vixen & Brad had all arrived to the scene. A few minutes later, Leo ran into it but halted as he saw it play out.
"Take me to whatever you're doing right now, please," she pleaded him and he smirked immediately and led her away from them.

She could see their saddened and disappointed faces as Jaylen took her away from her worries.