5. The Note
2535 Words
38 Days Before The Coming of Age Ball
“Mere, you’ve gotten another note,” Alistair told her quietly as he sidled up next to her. They were both cleaning the silver sitting room where Meredith’s mistress, the Princess Eliza, would be receiving her father as company that afternoon. He was coming back from Chicago to visit with her as he did at least every other month—or so it seemed.
Alistair slipped her the small folded-up piece of expensive stationary that could be found in many of the rooms of the palace. It was emblazoned with the royal seal at the top, so she recognized it immediately. She slipped it into her pocket and continued dusting, though Alistair stood still.
“He told me to tell you to open it right away,” her friend urged, his face a mask of deference for one of the royal siblings.
“I need to get this room clean,” Meredith reminded him. “Mr. DeWitt should be here in a couple of hours, and I still have to vacuum and—”
“I’ll do it,” Alistair told her. “You helped me with Lawrence yesterday, and Prince Kade seemed quite desperate that you read that note as soon as possible. One good turn deserves another. I can have this room knocked out in twenty minutes.”
He surveyed the space. Though it was not one of the larger sitting rooms in the palace, it would still be daunting for a commoner to occupy. That was probably part of the reason Eliza had chosen it. Her father was a simple man with simple needs. Health and happiness for his only child topped his short list.
“Fine,” Meredith said, whipping off her apron and rolling it into a ball. “You’re lucky that this particular company doesn’t have a discerning eye. I see what filth you sleep in every night. You have more clothing on your floor than in your closet. I have no idea how your mate will put up with you.”
Alistair grinned. After their confrontation the day before, Lawrence had kept in contact via phone, checking in at least once an hour—except for the times when he was asleep. It seemed that Meredith’s idea to get him jealous had worked—almost a little too well, actually. He was proving to be a bit clingy, and checked up on every little thing Alistair did throughout the day.
But still, neither of the two young men had said a word to their families about them being mates. Or even gay. They were taking it slow. A snail’s pace, if you asked Meredith. They should have known months ago, as far as she was concerned.
It was not often a mate was rejected, for who would denounce their other half, the puzzle piece that fit them perfectly? Mates generally marked and mated within a week, if not sooner. Much sooner. The higher the rank, the more difficult it would be to hold off, hence the need for royalty to mark and mate almost immediately.
Grumbling to herself, Meredith walked out of the silver sitting room and away from Alistair, heading toward the library where she knew a specific little hidey hole in the upper stacks that was all but forgotten about. If you had journeyed further into said hidey hole, you would see a false wall and, if opened, a secret passageway that led through the lower floor of the palace. It was the perfect space for an assignation or romantic rendezvous. No one, she thought, knew about it other than Kade and herself, and she wasn’t expecting Kade to be in the library at this time of day. It was barely after noon, and he usually took the afternoons to study his college courses nowadays.
Slipping inside the library with a glance over her shoulder, she headed up to the second level of the stacks and into the corner before taking the note out of the pocket of her dress and unfolding it. She studied it. There were only two words.
Library. Now.
Huh?
Meredith was startled. Kade had never sent her a note as curt and diffident before. Even when requesting her presence for a meeting, he was flowery in his way of talking—like he was attempting to write a sonnet. He had never demanded anything of her, and—
The door of the library opened, and a familiar scent dispersed throughout the air. Kade. No wonder he had told Alistair that she must read the note immediately. He had gone off his regular structured schedule to meet with her at this time in particular.
“Meredith, come out.”
She heard a rusty squeak, and wondered if he was locking the door to the library. He never had before, but then again, he had never commanded her to meet with him either. A sudden lump formed in her throat. Not fear, no. Nerves possibly. Anxiety bloomed hale and hearty in the pit of snakes in her stomach.
“Kade? What’s going on? Why the brusque note? Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied, his voice measured and almost cold. “Maybe you can tell me.”
Meredith moved out from the small alcove in the back and looked over the railing at Kade. His eyes seemed dark, none of the sea-green sparkle left in them. They were a deep amber, glinting in the dim light of the afternoon sun streaking through the windows.
“What?” Meredith was perplexed. Kade was flowers and hearts, not this reticent and stern figure before her. She moved to the stairs and made her way down to see him properly. Maybe she was wrong.
But no. The heat of his glare on her was still there, masking something underneath. She struggled to place it—that noun. Anger? Rage? No…that was all wrong. Quickly, she filtered through every emotion until she landed on one that seemed right.
Hurt. That was what was hidden deep in his eyes. At least, she thought so.
“The boy I gave the note to,” Kade began. “Who is he?”
“That’s Alistair,” she told him, still quite confused as to the unfamiliar expression on his face and what could have possibly put it there. “He’s my best friend. Known him since diapers.”
“Then why was he holding you after you came back yesterday evening? On the boat back from the mainland.”
It clicked. It wasn’t just hurt hidden in his eyes. It was also fear and jealousy. Meredith breathed out a sigh of relief, a bit more understanding as to why Kade was being so abrupt with her.
“Alistair is gay, Kade,” she explained. “He found his mate a while ago and was afraid of his rejection. The man he’s mated to—he lives in town and has a girlfriend. Well, I think that’s past tense now, but—well…oh, dear.”
How to explain the normal matings of a non-royal to a prince? While the Reifenbergs had their Mondblume Elixir to force the pull to mate, they didn’t truly understand the connection of a true mate. You only got one in your life. There was no picking and choosing if the one meant for you decided you were unworthy of their affections. You were rejected and that was that. No second chances—at least not that any had ever heard of. The Princess Eliza was an anomaly.
“Alistair has been quite upset recently.” Meredith tried again to explain. “When he first met Lawrence, he knew he was gay, but he saw his mate with a female. They were cuddling when they first caught whiff of each other. The pull. It was there, but Lawrence seemed shocked and basically physically rejected him. Lawrence is bisexual and thought his mate would be female, so he never came out to his parents. Alistair also hasn’t told his parents that he is gay. I’m the only one that knows it, and I was the only that could help him.”
She elucidated further, trying to play down the intimate touches she shared with her oldest friend in the town square. Little by little, Kade’s posture relaxed, the hard cut of his jaw became slack, and the green of his eyes shone through with that familiar, playful glint Meredith knew so well.
“Alistair and I will only ever be friends, Kade,” she concluded. “He was simply quite grateful for my help and gave me a hug. What we did, it may have saved his relationship with his mate. Eli—I mean, the Princess Eliza was so sad when she came here last year after being rejected. I didn’t want that for my friend. I would have done anything to bring the two souls together, especially as he’s my best friend.”
Kade moved to her swiftly, wrapping his arms around her and taking in the scent of her honeyed hair. He felt wrapped around her, she was so petite, and the musk of his clean scent washed over her, drugging her.
It was heaven to be in his arms. Even his sweat smelled like home after they made love.
“I thought I’d lost you to another,” he told her, her hair muffling his words.
“I…I thought you were angry with me,” she told him, barely able to force the words from her throat.
“Never, angel,” he told her. “I could never be angry with you. It was jealousy that clouded my mind. All I could think of last night was you in his bed, under him. I…I almost wanted to rip apart the houses down there looking for you. I barely got any sleep, I was so disturbed by the thoughts.”
“No,” she told him. “I would never have. You…I—” She paused, taking a deep breath before blowing it out. “Before you, I had never even kissed anyone.”
While Kade knew that before him Meredith had been a virgin, he wasn’t all that aware of the level of purity to his little love. It delighted him, lighting a fire that rose in a smile on his face.
“You were my first in everything as well,” he said, cupping her cheeks in his soft hands and pressing his lips against her brow. “First and last. I promise.” He barked out a sudden laugh, making Meredith pop a querying brow at him.
“What?”
“I nearly forgot,” he said through a hearty chuckle. “I was only five when we had a famous ballerina come to the palace for my parents’ wedding anniversary. She danced beautifully, though I cannot remember her name. Nadia or Natalia or something. I remember thinking she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was only five or six at the time. After she danced, she greeted my mother and father and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She said I was cute. I think I blushed something fierce. Kolton made fun of me for weeks after that, calling me Romeo and Don Juan.”
Meredith laughed as well. “I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with having your last kisses then.”
“To be assured,” he told her before pressing his lips to hers gently and taking her mouth.
К*К*К
“In the library?” a cool female voice questioned.
“Everyone’s asleep or getting ready to be,” the male told her. “Besides, Alexandria and Kade are the only two that go in there. Lexi’s bound to be asleep, and I saw Kade head to his room after dinner. He’ll be in there for hours studying and reading. It’s safe.”
“As you wish,” came the tired voice of the female. “But I don’t see why we just can’t find an empty room to f**k in and—”
“Language!” scolded the man, growling. “This is a palace not a strip club, you worthless female! Have some propriety.”
“Please!” the woman scoffed. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? A quick f**k since your—”
“Quiet, woman! People will hear!”
“Fine,” the woman retorted as they closed and locked the door behind them. “But I’m going to have some serious issues if you keep taking me up against the wall like you do. I don’t have the swift healing capabilities your kind do!”
“Hush before I turn you over the seat and decide to f**k you into it,” he growled at her. “Or perhaps I shall anyway. That way I can muffle your voice into the seat cushions.”
“Better that than to have to see your face when you orgasm,” she needled. “You look like a stuck pig when you come in me.”
“And you look like the w***e you are when I’m pounding into you and you’re strangling my d**k as you climax. Don’t act like you don’t enjoy every f*****g minute of my c**k in you, my dear.”
“You’re an impossible, egotistical—” She paused. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The woman stripped off her blood-red gown; she wore no underwear beneath it, and the heavy swell of her breasts jounced invitingly for him. His hands grabbed, pinching both n*****s until they puckered beneath his thick fingers. Like n****e clamps, he pulled until the hardened buds slipped from his fingers. The woman cried out and cracked a palm against his cheek, the sound resounding in the room in a series of harsh echoes.
“What was that for?” she barked out.
“You’re a mouthy little b***h,” he told her. “I figured you’d prefer a bit of pain before I f**k you. But I see even a cunt like you holds to her own femininity every once in a while.”
“You’re an asshole! How you managed—”
“Shut your whorish mouth, woman, and get down on your knees for me. That way I won’t need to hear you any longer.”
“f**k you!”
“Not before I get my c**k sucked, little vixen. Now open your mouth for me so I can gag you with it.”
- Writer
