#10 Royal Twins of La Lune

Chapter 19 Alexander

“I had the schedule of activities sent up to your room, did you get it?” I asked Stella as I led her away from the castle.

“I did. Thank you for sending it. I know that it’s tradition for the women to not have access to the schedule.” She said, refusing to look up at me.

“Something that I think needs to be changed.” I said and caught her sideways gaze.

“You do?”

“Of course. I didn’t even realize it was a tradition until today. I’ve already spoken to my mother about it and she agrees that it’s time for a change.” I smiled, finally earning her full attention,

“So, what should we do first?” I asked.

“The library?” Stella shrugged and I grinned at her.

“I would love that.” I agreed.

We turned around and walked back into the castle, maneuvering our way towards the library in the back of the castle. There weren’t many people there yet and none of them were Stella’s friends. I recognized a few of my pack members but most of the people here were from other packs. Stella and I sat down in the back of the room so I wouldn’t draw too much attention to myself.

“I’ll have to bring you to my bookshop soon. You’ll love it there.” I said, taking Stella’s hand in my own. She stared down at our entwined fingers before slowly looking back up at me.

“I’ve been to your shop before, Alexander. It’s the only bookstore in the realm.” Stella stated matter-of-factly. I smirked at her,

“That’s true.”

The keeper of the library, Patty, was pacing in front of the tables and chairs, reading passages from “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas. She was reading sections of the book in French which caught Stella’s immediate attention. She put her hand over her mouth to cover a laugh.

“What is it?” I whispered, leaning towards Stella.

“The last lesson I had in my English class was on “Le Comte de Monte-Cristo”. It’s my favorite book.” She whispered back.

“I feel pretty bad for not knowing any French.” I chuckled nervously. Stella just shrugged,

“No big deal.”

“It is a big deal, it’s a part of who you are. I promise to learn.” I winked at her.

Patty said something and Stella’s head snapped in her direction. She was frowning with her brow furrowed.

“What?” I asked.

“She did not translate that correctly.” Stella mumbled.

I cleared my throat and everyone turned to look at me. Patty froze in her reading and glanced nervously around the room.

“What are you doing?” Stella whispered, blushing from embarrassment.

“Excuse me, Patty, sorry to interrupt you but I thought you might want some help with the French translations.” I said, ignoring my mate’s arguments.

Patty laughed nervously and blushed.

“I’ll admit to being the best at French. Please, your highness, if you have a better understanding of the language ....” She trailed off.

“Not me, but my mate is a native French speaker.” I said, gesturing towards Stella who was glaring fiercely at me.

“Oh my, that’s fantastic!” Patty grinned and I was sure she was more excited over the announcement of my mate than the fact that she was French.

“It’s just….” Stella sighed, “Toute la sagesse humaine est contenue dans ces deux mots - attendre et espérer” translates directly to “all human wisdom is contained in these two words - Wait and Hope”” She replied nervously.

“Oh, silly me.” Patty chuckled, “Would you like to come up and read for us?” Patty asked and Stella quickly started shaking her head.

“N…no, thank you.” She grumbled.

“Stella….” I started to argue with her but she snapped her head in my direction and her eyes were black with anger.

“I said no thank you.” She said between gritted teeth. I held up my hands in surrender and dropped the topic.

Patty continued to read for a little while longer before Stella sighed loudly again. Patty paused and c****d her eyebrow in Stella’s direction. She immediately started blushing again at drawing attention to herself. She started chewing on her bottom lip before she spoke up,

“La femme est sacrée ; la femme qu'on aime est sainte.” isn’t referring to a holy being, it’s comparing the love of a woman to being holy. It translates to, “Woman is sacred; the woman one loves is holy.” Stella corrected Patty again.

“That Alexandre Dumas sure knew what he was talking about.” I leaned over to whisper in Stella’s ear. She started blushing even deeper and refused to look at me.

“Thank you, Luna.” Patty smiled gratefully. Stella sighed at the sound of her title, fighting off an irritated expression.

After another hour and quite a few more corrections from Stella, Patty needed a break from her reading.

“Would you like to try something else?” I asked and she nodded.

“You pick this time.” She said,

“Come on.” I grinned, offering her my elbow. She hooked her arm through mine and I led her back outside.

“Archery?” Stella looked skeptically at the archery range.

“Have you ever tried before?” I asked her.

“Nope.” She shook her head, “Never had the need to.”

“True but it can be fun. Give it a try?” I asked, holding my hands out as if to gesture towards the archery range. She sighed and nodded,

“Why not.”

I led Stella up to one of the stalls facing the archery targets. She eyed the bow curiously, like she was waiting for it to explode. I chuckled at her and picked it up, pushing it into her hands. She took it with a startled expression, fiddling with the box.

“Here. Let me help.” I said,

I guided her hands to the proper placement and then put my hands on her hips, turning her body in the correct position. I kept one hand on her shoulder and another hand wrapped around her knuckles on the bow. I adjusted her angle.

“Close one eye and focus on the target with the other.” I said, whispering in her ear.

“Okay, I see it.” She nodded.

“Good, put the bow down for a minute so we can load the arrow.”

She released the tension on the string and lowered the bow, allowing me to settle the arrow against the string. I helped her adjust her hands again, this time with the arrow ready to fire.

“Now, pull back.” I said, guiding her arm backwards.

I was impressed with how elegantly she pulled back the bow, not struggling at all with the tension. She took a deep breath and closed one eye, looking at the target.

“When you’re ready, let go of the string.” I said and seconds later she released the arrow.

She gasped as the tension released on the bow and stumbled backwards. I put my hand on her back to settle her and then looked back towards the target. The arrow was stuck right in the center of the red target.

“Bulls-eye!” I cheered and Stella jumped, looking across the range and towards her target.

“Wait, really?” She said in disbelief. I laughed at her stunned expression,

“You’re a natural, my love.” I said, kissing her cheek.

“Better than you?” She smirked in a mocking tone.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” I said, picking up the bow and taking aim.

I released the arrow in a second, sending it flying towards the target. It speared Stella’s arrow, splitting it in half. I released a second arrow and split my first arrow in half, too. I dropped the bow and looked at her with a smug expression. She just rolled her eyes and grunted before turning her back on me and walking away.

“Where are we going now, mate?” I asked, snatching up her hand and swinging it between us.

“The sparring mat.” She said, smirking at me again.

“My little mate knows how to fight?” I asked and she cooked her head to the side,

“I guess we’ll see.”

The sparring mat was the busiest station we’ve been to so far. Lots of men were eager to see if their mates could handle themselves and to show off their own skills to their women. There were also a fair share of females looking to strut their stuff in front of their male mates who might be looking down on them. The realm prided itself on utilizing the strengths of every warrior, no matter their gender.

Stella kicked off her shoes and jumped onto the cushioned sparring mat, looking at me expectantly. I laughed and shook my head before taking off my own shoes and joining her.

“I’m not so sure about this, Stella.” I sighed.

“Afraid of getting beat up by your mate?” She asked, mocking me.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” I said,

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” She replied before moving so fast I hardly saw her foot before it collided with my face.

I grunted and hit the ground, my head snapping to the side and my nose splattering blood all over the mat. I slowly turned back towards her, cracking my nose to put it back in place before it healed incorrectly. Stella was looking at me smugly, bouncing back and forth with her fists up in a fighting position.

“Okay then, little mate.” I spit blood out on the mat before jumping up.

She came at me again, but I was ready for her this time. I grabbed her foot and shoved her away. She slid across the mat but kept her balance. She started aiming punches at my head which I dodged swiftly. I returned a hit and she avoided it, ducking under my arm and landing two hard jabs to my stomach. At some point, I stopped pulling my punches and started fighting my mate like she was a real warrior.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t land a punch on Stella. She moved so fast that I kept losing track of her and finding myself at the end of her fists. I finally got a good lock on her and grabbed her shoulder, flipping her around so her back was pressed against my chest and my arm was wrapped around her neck. I leaned down to press my lips to her ear,

“Now what?” I whispered.

She smirked and that should’ve been my clue that I was in trouble. She used my own wait against me to flip me over, effectively putting me on my ass. Again. By now, the other couples in the sparring station were watching us and broke out into a roaring applause when Stella bested me. She smirked and offered me a hand up.

“Alright, you’re pretty amazing.” I said,

“You were pulling your punches.” She said in an accusing tone.

“Actually, I wasn’t.” I told her honestly and her eyes went wide before she smiled smugly at me.

“Well, well.” She sang.