Caught in Between

-38-

Even though I had passed out, the maids carried on with their duties. They did my makeup and pinned my hair up in a perfect bun with braids wrapped around it, and dressed me with my requested dress. When I woke up, I was lying on the bed on top of the comforter. My chest felt heavy and when I reached my hand to touch it, I felt a thick necklace around my neck with large emeralds that dangled on the chain.

The maids waited patiently for me at the foot of the bed as I slowly rose to my feet. I rubbed the lace sleeve that encased my arms and I dusted the float silk skirt of the dress that reached down to my toes. The cut of the bodice was a sweetheart style that hung a little low, displaying the top part of my cleavage. I grew a bit shy thinking about how my cleavage would be shown to everyone at the coronation.

"Are you ready, my queen?" The head maid asked with a small smile on her lips. I glanced down at my hands to see that they even painted my nails to match the dress. I was grateful they didn't put me in heels as I had no coordination to walk in them, however, the black boots they had put on my feet were laced so tight I was sure I would lose all the circulation in my legs by the end of the night.

"Yes, I am. Lead the way."

They opened the doors and with the same formation as earlier, I followed closely behind the guards as we descended the stairs. In the hallway in front of the council room I saw my loved ones. Jen and Josh were talking to each other while Georgia kept to herself. Keith and Kaleb noticed me first and they rushed to my side.

Everyone was entranced by the sight of me. "Rebecca, you look so beautiful," Kaleb complimented with a bright smile on his face. He was so easily mesmerized and I let out a small giggle.

"Thank you," I said as I took his hand. I turned to Keith who kept quiet this whole time. Even in silence, he was still in awe of me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry for storming out like that earlier. I understood where you were coming from, it's just I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt by leading at the front of the war. I'm just scared to lose you." When he admitted his feelings, my heart ached. I used my free hand to reach out and caress the side of his face.

"I'm scared, too," I said in a quiet voice. "But, I don't want to let you guys down—everyone down."

He gave me a careful kiss, not wanting to mess up my makeup. I engulfed my small hand into his large, sturdy hand. Jen, Josh and Georgia stepped up to greet me.

"How are you feeling, my queen?" Jen asked, serious as ever and already using formalities.

"Just call me by my name. I feel weird when you say that," I told her and she nodded her head in return. "I am fine, I'm a bit nervous, but I'm ready to do this."

"We'll always support you," Georgia chimed in with her soft-spoken voice.

Josh wrapped his arm around Jen's waist and met my gaze. "And we're thankful. You know I still hold Debby dear in my heart. Even though she wasn't my mate, I still love and miss her." His words were kind and genuine. Even though there was a sense of betrayal in leaving Debby to be with Jen, I knew he always cared for her and that was still enough.

"Thank you guys," I said, holding back tears. I didn't want to cry again, especially because I did not want to ruin my makeup. These weren't unhappy tears that formed, they were ones filled with joy. With myself surrounded by these amazing people, I was extremely content and beyond grateful. "Let's get this party started."

Afterward, we were all led out of the headquarter building and out to the same courtyard where we were almost executed. In the same exact center, there was a gold encrusted throne chair with red velvet cushions. Edgar stood in front of the chair slightly to the right with Reina behind him and Anthony on the other side of the chair. In Edgar's hands was a gold crown with eight rounded spikes. The band had eight diamond encrusted insignias that wrapped around it, and in between each insignia were pearls and more diamonds that were delicately placed to fill the empty space and surrounded the insignias. On top of each spike was a large pearl and scaling down were more diamonds until it got to the widest part where a large circular emerald sat framed with diamonds and small pearls that alternated in a pattern.