5. Disagreeable
2455 Words
“Miss Eliza? It’s time to get up.”
Her eyes blinked open, catching too much of the morning light. She winced and closed her eyes again.
“Please make my excuses, but I won’t be coming down for breakfast,” Eliza said.
The servant, Collette, thinned her lips. “Yes, Miss. Would you like breakfast to be served up here?”
“Just some tea and toast, if you don’t mind,” Eliza responded before rolling over and putting her feet on the floor. She made a quick trip to the bathroom and tossed on her dressing robe. She would get showered and dressed for the day after a light breakfast.
Collette was back with tea, toast, whipped butter and an assortment of jams a few minutes later.
“The Queen Mother is a big fan of fresh jams,” Collette told her. “All of them are made here at the palace. There’s blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry.”
“No blackberry?” Eliza asked, forcing a smile. Collette returned it in kind.
“No blackberry bushes, I’m afraid, though I can see if we have any store-bought,” Collette told her.
“This is fine, thank you,” Eliza said and added some honey to her tea before stirring and taking a sip.
“The Queen also wanted me to remind you that she will be coming up with her children later on this afternoon,” Collette told her.
“Tell her that I will be ready for her and her babies directly after lunch,” Eliza said and dug into her toast slathered in jam.
Collette nodded and left the room, heaving a sigh and walking toward the breakfast room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kolton ate his breakfast quickly, excusing himself not long after he finished, and went into the garden. He felt no need to continue to sit in the stuffy room while people sat there in judgment on him.
He knew they somehow blamed him for Eliza’s absence at breakfast, though he’s not sure how they had come to that conclusion. No one had seen him speaking with her the previous night that he knew of. He was certain he would have smelled someone around if they had been there.
Making his way to the garden quickly, Kolton sat in the gazebo furthest from the house, watching as the gardeners trimmed and cut flower bushes and some hedges on the edges of the garden.
Movement from a palace caught his eye, and he saw a window on the second floor open and a fiery mane of hair stick its head out of it.
The dark locks of red mixed with undertones of auburn were tousled beautifully and looked a deeper red today. But when he blinked, the hair was gone, as was the body of the person.
He averted his eyes, hoping to find something else of interest and failing. After a few minutes, he cut his eyes back to the window, trying to see if there was any movement. If there was, it was too subtle for him to make out, and he had to force himself to sit still so as not to go up there and find out just why the quiet female had decided to break her fast alone.
Fuck. Why did his father have to pick her? A thousand blondes or luscious brunettes would have caused him to look away with disdain. So why was this dazzling redheaded she-wolf the one they chose. The one he couldn’t stop looking for and thinking about?
He cursed under his breath, causing the nearest gardener to look up and at him before quickly averting his eyes.
Kolton dawdled in the garden before making his way back to the palace proper, and going to find Kade. Maybe a game of billiards would make him forget, even if only for a little while.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“We’re here!” the Queen stated as she arrived with Karter and Kate, her nanny holding onto the squirming little boy until he was set upon the ground.
Eliza laughed and leaned over as the baby scrambled on all fours toward her. She put her arms out to the little one and Karter made grabby hands at her, wanting to be picked up by this new and interesting person. Kate, the shyer of the two babies, hid her head in her mother’s neck before tucking a thumb into her mouth and peeking back at Eliza.
“Well, hello little one,” Eliza said. “Might I have this handsome little boy’s name?” Dimples popped out on Karter’s cheeks and his hand tangled in her hair.
“That’s Karter that you’ve got, and this is my shy girl, Kate,” Lexi said as she sat down on an ottoman near the door of the suite.
“Is Kate short for anything?” Eliza asked as she bounced a giggling Karter on her slender knee.
“Katherine, though we shortened it to Kate or Katie,” Lexi explained.
“And you’ve got another bun in the oven,” Eliza said, nodded to Lexi’s large tummy. “Do you know if you’re baking another male or female?”
“Another rowdy male, to be sure,” Lexi said. “I’ll have to get another nanny if he comes to be anything like his older brother.”
Karter was getting bored and reached for the ground, wanting to be put down. Eliza obliged him and watched him spraddle off into a corner, looking for something to destroy.
“I can always help,” Eliza said. “I meant it when I said I really loved children and they are no bother to me.”
“Thank you, Eliza,” Lexi said with a smile. “Though you may regret your generous offer after becoming drenched at bathtime or helping feed Karter. He is known to wear as much of his food as he eats.”
Eliza laughed, the sound rich and fruity. “I would never regret it. When are you due?”
“Another month or so,” the Queen told her. “I can’t wait to be able to see my feet again. If I didn’t glimpse them every once in a while after a shower, I wouldn’t think they were there.”
“Are you going to have any more? I hope that’s not too forward,” Eliza added, her forehead bunching.
“Not at all. You are practically family now,” Lexi said. “As soon as you mark and mate, you’ll be my sister. I always wanted one. And now I’ll have two!”
“Have you no siblings of your own?”
“I was an only child and my parents passed when I was 14,” Lexi explained. “They were killed in a home invasion and I went to live with a friend after that. She was like a sister to me for a time until I was chosen at Kane’s Coming of Age Ball.”
“What happened?” Eliza asked.
“She wanted to be queen instead, and I had no such lofty ideals,” Lexi said frankly. “She was angry that I stole her thunder. It wasn’t on purpose. I only went to The Ball to be her moral support, be it good or bad.”
“And you ended up Queen?”
“And she ended up mating to the man I thought was my mate.” Lexi sighed. “It was a drama of epic proportions for a while.”
“Sounds like it,” Eliza said. “My father is all I have left and I know he will probably be leaving soon. I’ll... I’ll miss him terribly.”
“I miss my folks terribly. All the time,” Lexi sympathized. “When they were gone, I had Diana and Leo and the Loudins. Now I have my husband and brothers. And the in-laws as well. Fate closes one door only to open another. You have to pass through it, though, to get to the other side.”
“What if something stops you from passing through? Or what if there is nothing on the other side to see?” Eliza’s face darkened, her eyes watery.
“Oh, dear, there is always something on the other side,” Lexi told her. “And if there is something obstructing you, then there is always a way past it. Do not fret, though. It may take time and effort. Whether it is on your own or with some help, there is never something so great that you cannot push past it in the end. Time is what you need, dear sister. Time has a way of breaking things down.”
Eliza had a feeling that Lexi knew what she was talking about.
“When you first came to the palace, did you ever feel... extraneous?” Eliza asked, looking into Lexi’s eyes. The Queen smiled, nodding.
“All the time,” she said. “I was a stranger in strange parts, trying to bat away unwanted words and attempting to convince a future King that he had made a mistake in choosing a commoner as his mate. I was fighting it from all sides.”
“I’m not,” Eliza said. “Everyone has been so kind, but...”
“Kolton,” Lexi finished. “He is convinced he does not want a mate and I blame my own coupling for that. He saw what it did to us, Kane and I. It almost tore us apart. I made some mistakes and was stubborn. If it wasn’t for Karter and Kate coming, we may be at odds to this day.”
“I don’t believe that.” Eliza was earnest. “Anyone can see how much he loves both you and your children. And I can’t imagine another Queen on his arm, to be honest. You compliment each other more than you know.”
“It was hard, Eliza. Hard to become one of us, but it’ll happen. Kolton will see reason. I’ve known him for two years and he has always been difficult. Saying no when everyone else says yes. He is contrary. Rebellious. Had his father not wanted him to find a mate on his 21st birthday, I believe he would have tried to find one sooner.”
Eliza’s brow puckered. “He is difficult just for the sake of being difficult?”
“All the time,” Lexi said and laughed. “I think it’s his favorite pastime except for the beating Kade at billiards. It’s just another way he’s competitive. He’s the middle son and the black sheep in a way. Both Kane and Kade looked forward to mating, and Kolton feels the need to be different from his brothers. It’s his way of standing out from the bunch.”
Eliza sighed, looking over at Karter who was playing with the curtain that fell from the ceiling to the floor.
“How else does he differ from the King and Kade?” Her eyes were locked on Karter.
“I don’t know how he feels about children,” Lexi said, getting her drift as Kate’s head finally moved away from her mother to check out the strange female watching her brother. “He is good with my kids, but he also doesn’t have to be with them all the time. He makes much of watching them when I ask, but whenever I come to wrangle them up, he’s always talking quietly or playing with them, happy as a clam. I think he is disagreeable just for the sake of being so.”
“I’m the exact opposite,” Eliza said on a sigh. “I do whatever anyone wishes of me. I cannot say no.”
“Probably not a good idea to let everyone know that,” Lexi said with a grin. “The Queen mother will have you taking tea with her every afternoon and bore you to tears with stories of her childhood. And she repeats herself often.”
“I don’t mind,” Eliza said with a sad smile. “At least she would talk to me. It’s more than-”
“Kolton does, I know,” Lexi said. “He will open up eventually. As I said, he is disagreeable. But do me a favor tonight at dinner. Leave your hair down. A good source has told me that Kolton has a weakness for redheads. Leave it down and natural. He won’t be able to resist.” Lexi grinned, the mischievousness behind it setting her eyes to sparkle.
“I’ll leave it down all the time if that’s what it takes to get him to see me as more than just someone who was thrust upon him,” Eliza stated.
“It’s his own fault, really,” Lexi said. “He could have had a Coming of Age Ball and chosen a mate for himself, but he refused to allow it. Kane and Xavier are forcing his decision, and he is fighting it with all he has. It may take a while, but he will eventually relent and give in.”
“I hope so,” Eliza murmured. “I don’t want to be thought of as someone he is forced upon. I don’t want his resentment. I just...”
She couldn’t force herself to say anymore. The thoughts of Jonathan and his rejection swam dizzyingly in her head, causing her to take a shuddering breath before the sting in her eyes overcame her and a solitary tear dripped down her face.
“Dear, don’t cry,” Lexi said, getting up from her seat with Kate. “Everything will work out for the better. You’ll see.”
She handed Kate to Eliza, who held her tiny body close, the small child at first bewildered, and then tucking her thumb into her mouth and resting her head onto the young woman’s neck.
“I hope so, Lexi. I certainly hope so.”
- Writer
