The Hidden Princess: Secrets Revealed (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty: I'm gonna kill whoever is on the other side

"How about you all go get ready at the castle and I will stay here and keep training for a few more hours?" I said as Erik reminded me that it was time for me to head to the castle to prepare for the ball. We had been back in Jarrow for five days.

My brothers and Erik shook their heads and smiled. "We aren't the ones that made a promise to Isabella. I highly doubt she'd want to see us in dresses anyways," Erik smirked.

"Actually, I could see her wanting to force us all into them just to embarrass us and entertain herself," Alakay said, walking over and dropping an arm around my shoulders. "Lucky for us we have a Sam we can shove in her direction and all thoughts of us are gone," he said, chuckling as I glared at him.

Stepping away from Alakay, I looked for support from any one of my brothers, but got none. "I'm leaving, you all are no help," I said walking off.

Soon I found myself walking through the castle halls trying to think of any reasons I could to avoid Isabella's chambers.

"You know Isabella's chambers are on the opposite side of the castle right?" Nate said, walking out from his chambers. "You do know that and you are avoiding her," he laughed.

An idea went off in my head. "Actually, I was looking for you. I have some questions," I said.

Nate chuckled. "Nice way to disguise your avoidance. I shall provide you a short reprieve," he said. "Let's walk," he gestured for us to start walking.

I fell into step beside him. "You have some explaining to do," I said, shaking my head as he chuckled. "Why did you think that Aaron and I dated?" I asked.

Nate raised an eyebrow. "Are we really talking about this?" he asked. When I didn't respond he shrugged his shoulders and continued. "I've seen friends that grew up together. I know the difference between friends and friends that have feelings for each other. I am a guy and so I can tell that Aaron's feelings for you are deeper than just a friend," he said.

"Then why didn't he say anything? Why are guys so confusing?" I asked, glaring at him.

"We aren't. We are actually so simple that it makes it confusing to you women who overthink. He didn't say anything because his friendship with you mattered more. He didn't want to ruin anything," Nate explained.

"When we ran into Nikolai yesterday Aaron's face went blank and yours was empathetic. What was that about?" I asked, stopping our walk and turning to face him.

Nate didn't respond right away, he simply looked at me. "You are so blind at times," he said, shaking his head. "When Nikolai ran into us yesterday it confirmed to Aaron that you were taken. He'd been holding out that maybe you had feelings for him, but you confirmed that you'd moved on. It's hard seeing the person you've had feelings for move on and form a relationship with someone else," Nate said.

"I thought he was dead. I didn't think I'd ever see him again," I was shocked at Nate's insight.

He nodded. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you are no longer available. Even if the other man is perfect for her and you are happy for them it still takes time to move on," he said.

Titling my head I looked at Nate. "You are speaking from experience," I stated.

He ran his hand through his hair and nodded. "Yeah. So take what I say to heart. It will take time to heal, but Aaron will see that you and Nikolai belong together. You've changed a lot since Aaron last saw you. He may have been right for you back then, but now Nikolai is the man that you need by your side," he said.

Taking a deep breath I nodded. "Okay, thank you Nate," I said.

"You have a lot to face, but you have so many to help you along the way," Nate said.