Hayden's gate

Chapter 5: Hello brother part 2

Lawrence
I sit up at our spot and watch as they talk. I don't know who this Zane guy is but all I know is he is big trouble. How dare he talk to her or anyone else like that? I wish Alice wouldn't be so formal so Bellamy could kick the shit out of him. She looks angry and frustrated and...tired so tired. I wonder how long she has been dealing with all of this. She looks so beautiful today in that dressing I didn't even a chance to tell her it, of course he has to come along and ruin it. I hate that he bugs her so much.
When I see her panicked face I stand. I watch as she makes her way past him rushing toward Alice. I gather my things stumbling down the hill trying to make it to them. I see her pull Alice to a small ally way using hushed tone. I easily slip into the conversation.

Catrina
Just on cue Lawrence and Bellamy slip into the alleyway as well. I lean against the brick wall my eyes not able to meet there's.
"I am so sorry" a tear runs down my cheek. This is the first time in a year that I cried well more like sobbed. Alice's face grows with concern as she pulls me in. She rubs my back tenderly.
"Cat what is going on" Alice's voice is so soft.
"I brought him here and now I have to leave I have to leave right after the wedding"
"What" I hear Lawrence snap next to me, but I don't face him. I don't even look his way I don't think I can.
" it's just Zane..." not knowing how to word it I pulled back from Alice, shaking my head "he's my brother and he is here to collect me on behalf of my father" I wiped the tears off my face, throwing them onto the ground.
" your brother?" Bellamy questions, but it doesn't seem to really affect him however, Lawrence and Alice go silent.
" if he's your brother, that means your..." Alice starts her sentence, but eventually trails off Lawrence picks it up though.
"A Romeve..." I nod. How am I supposed to explain this to them without telling them who I really am.
" my father wants me to go back to Rolana with him" I let my back slide against the wall until my knees are at my chest.
" that's why you were scared of people would come after you" Lawrence doesn't say it as a question. He says it as if he's answering his own puzzle pieces in his mind. He must think I'm silly for keeping this from them.
" do you want to go back?" Bellamys Words cut through the air like silver.
" no but I don't have much of a choice"
" yes you do if you don't wanna go back that he cannot make you" Alice's voice is fiery and strong like she is willing to fight Zane herself.
" I understand what all of you were trying to say, but you don't know my family Zane is going to do everything in his power to get me back there, even if that means threatening the entire village"
"He did what" Lawrence anger is back and fiery than ever.
" he said he burned it to the ground and I don't think he's joking..."
" he can't be serious" Alice is brows furrow.
"I'll kill him before he gets the chance." I can see Bellamy's chest , rise, and fall in anger. "why does he need you to go back with him anyways?"
" he wants me to rule. Once he's gone, our kingdom will need a ruler and that's supposed to be me" leaving out a few details not telling them the whole story and it's not that easy.
" you're not leaving unless it's your choice" when I look up finally to meet Alice's eyes, her face is stone. " we have a wedding to attend but afterwards you get to choose your fate, no one decides it for you" her voice sounds determined like the true Lord she is. We are not making our way back to the wedding party I dry my eyes and we all try to look happy.

Lawrence wraps his arm around my own and pulls me in " I don't know how far Alice is willing to go but I promise you he'll have to take you from my dead grip" when he leans back up he smiles like nothing happened.
We all enjoyed the wedding ceremony from when we sat down when the bride walked down the aisle all the way to once when they got on a carriage and rode off into the moonlight. At least they were getting far far away from this place. A trembling darkness filled my heart as I looked around at all these people the people Zane is threatening. Anger, brews within me.
After the ceremony people are chatting and dancing having the time of their lives.
" I'm gonna go fill BE in on everything going on with Zane tell him to be on extra patrol you stay here if anything happens you let me know" I give him a short nod, and he finds BE. I let my legs dangle from the stool letting my finger toy with my straw.
Soon enough, Bellamy ends up stranded, while Alice gets a pulled away on some Lord duty.
" well, look at us lonely people, while our dates are chatting" I can't help but laugh at the irony that today was supposed to be fun happy. Bellamy short dry chuckle to me tell me the same thing.
" you should relax we'll sort everything out it's party. Have fun."
" I know you the guy who stands there and looks like he's in misery all the time is not telling me to have fun"
" yeah I'm telling you to have fun you're starting to look like me" I smile at his words, letting my hands fold over my stomach. Before I even think a torn piece of paper was thrown at my feet I glanced down on it before looking back up and narrow my eyes at the very obvious guard. Rolana didn't have a subtle guard. They all had big red and bloomed on their chest.
"did you just throw trash at my feet" I raise an eyebrow at the disrespectful drunk of a guard. He looks up at me as if I'm scum on his feet.
" I did, so what"
" I think you should think about your words very carefully" Bellamy growls next to me. I turned to him with a small smile.
" I've got this handled" I get off my stool and bend down elegantly picking up the trash, making sure pieces of dirt are still attached. " how dare you think or believe you're above anybody" I narrow my eyes, searching his soul.
" listen here I don't have time for this conversation" he shakes his head like he's in disbelief " can't even believe you're talking to me right now"
"You can't believe I'm talking to you" since the cats already out of the bag, I might as well stick to the princess obligations " I am princess Catrina Romeve, you should be lucky I even addressed you in the first place" I walked over to the man I'm getting as close as possible pulling his sword from his belt, he stands there, petrified with fear " Do you know the crime for disrespecting a royal?" His silence tells me everything I need to know. He breathes out of his nose so jaggedly, I'm afraid I might give him heart attack. " answer me." I raise the sword so the tip pointing at his Adams apple.
"Y..yes ma'am, I do"
" the respect that you just gave me should be how you respect every single person in this village, actually better yet every person you ever encounter" I lower the sword, taking the trash that he threw and placed it in his palm dirtying , the perfectly white gloves " you better warn the other guards, because this ever happens again, and we will enforce protocol" his eyes wide. He hasn't blinked the entire time. " go and find the actual trash for that." he quickly scurry off leaving just me and Bellamy there.
" who knew you of all people could be so scary"
" I'm not scary, they don't care that it's just my name"
" so I thought his eyes were gonna bulge out of his head"
" I hate that they disrespect and look down on everyone" shake my head at the thought. It's always been that way. The guards thought they were better than the commoners the royals thinking they're better than everybody else. I just wish I could be normal.
   "So what's the real reason Zane wants you to come home" he looks over at me like he just asked the simplest question. " I mean it's not like you're bad at being in charge even in my experience you've been helping Alice take more initiative."
  I have two options; one lie to the person trying to help me or two tell him the truth. "My father wants me to become queen and marry"
  "And that not something that interests you?"
  "No well it's mainly the forced marriage part that I dislike" I look off into the distance and see Lawrence and Alice walking our way.

"Come with me" Lawrence stops short smiling in front of me.
"What?" He holds out his hand and smiles mischievously.
  "Come dance with me"
  "Lawrence...i don't know if this is such a good idea with everything"
  "I told you this was your downtime you're gonna enjoy it" I let my feet hit the ground and push up taking his hand lightly. He pulls me to the dance floor and begins to lead me as we dance. His hand falls down to my waste and I rest my head on his shoulder/chest taking this peaceful moment in.
"I'm sorry I lied to you" I can feel his chuckle vibrate through my chest.
"You didn't lie to me, you just simply didn't tell me the truth. Which you really weren't required too"
"I know but I feel like I just made thinks worse for the village-"
"Stop" Lawrence pulls back just long enough to look me in the eyes. I immediately silenced. "Don't apologize for your crazy family it's not your fault"
  "Thank you" we both go quiet just enjoying the music and the present of each other.
  "Do you want to talk about them"
  "No I just want to be here now" I snuggle my head farther into his shoulder while he holds me tight beckoning me closer. Soon the music ends and I become more aware we are the only people left on the dance floor. We part ways and make our way back to Alice and Bellamy who are deep in conversation.

"We need some kind of plan"
"There is not much we can do Alice it's a waiting game" once they realize we made our way back to them they quickly try to act like they weren't just talking.
"I think the best thing is to let me go"
"No" I hear Lawrence grunted out behind me we all turn to look at him "we already talked about this it's not happening"
"Are you all really ready to go to war for a girl you just met a month ago?" I snarl trying to make him understand how much this is a bad idea.
"If it comes to war we will send the people who don't want to fight away and the ones who are willing to fight stay and help" I wasn't expecting Alice to be the first to speak and not with such certainty.
"I fight for my friends so I am in" Bellamy takes a swing of his drink.
"Great I'll start preparing weapons" Lawrence smirks.
"I need to get home and pack up the boys" Alice stands Bellamy stands with her the acute understanding that they are going together.
  "I need some time to unwind so I am going to stay here and get the party cleaned up" I glance over to Lawrence who has a suspicious look on his face.
   "I have to put in some orders with Logan but after I will be back here to help clean up"
   "That works for me" I smile as brightly as I can.

   Everybody went their separate ways. I became picking up the stray cups and plates scattered around the market area. Everyone agreed to clean up tomorrow but I think it's good for me to have a little alone time right now.
"Ah eh" A throat clears behind me and I spin around. my eye is immediately meet Zane's. " so brave of you to stay out here all alone."
" leave me alone, Zane" I roll my eyes, picking up more trash, shoving it into a bag.
" let's make something clear I'm not going anywhere until you decide on your own to come home or I have to force you"
" go to hell" he laughs right in my face.
" don't worry I'm trying" a sinister smile crosses his features.
" leave her alone" I hear a familiar voice, not one that I've heard many times but I definitely remember. I turn to see BE standing near us his hand on his sword like he is ready for a fight.
" good for you for actually joining us" zane raises hands on either side of him, emphasizing his dramatics. he pulls his sword from his belt and smiles. " she doesn't know does she?" Zane Cox head to the side.
" no and she doesn't need to" I look between the two of them before I could question what's going on Zane's sword moves fast. He hit so close to BE's I thought he would leave Any sort of damage, but he didn't he just flung the guard helmet that covered BE's face.
" thanks for making this betrayal easier.... Brother..."