The Hunted Royalty

Chapter 15

*also, disclaimer, I'm not making fun of the south if that's what you think, I'm from the south and I'm just using our grammer lol. Anyone also from Louisiana and other southern places will understand. I can't tell y'all how difficult it is for me to not use 'y'all' every time
I get the chance 😂 ok enjoy!*

"Who?" asks Karson.
"Deimos's daughter." I explain.
"Look, I'm sorry bu-" Elpis tries.
"I don't have time for this. I need to get ready for the meet-and-greet." My words are sharp and cold. I grab Karson's wrist and drag him along with me.
Karson sits on the couch while I pace back and forth. "Seriously! Does this girl really have the audacity to come talk to us and expect me to listen. Like, her father is trying to kill me. He killed my mother. He hurt my father. No. Freaking. Way. Not in a millio-"
"May I interject?"
I give an exasperated sigh and wave my hand as an okay.
"Well, first off, lets hear her out. Maybe she's on our side." I try to talk but he stops me. "Let me finish. You hear her out, and, if you don't believe her, she's bait. Hold her hostage, yet another reason for Deimos to come."
"Do you really think he cares enough to rescue his daughter?"
He takes a deep intake of breath "Maybe?"
We both laugh.
"Well, okay. The event is for 12:00. I'll go get ready then talk to her." I've noticed that I've stopped pacing.
He smiles. "Good job." I return the smile.
"I need to go get ready!" I know I have a sneaky smirk. What? I can't help it, I may or may not can't wait for him to see me in this dress.
"Can I watch, I love watching them do your hair and make up!"
"Why?" I can't help myself from asking.
"Because, and just so you know, you most definitely don't need the stuff, but you seem so confident. You stand a little taller. You seem proud of yourself, it's a great look to see on you." His eyes sparkle. I blush. I quickly thank him and exit the room.
***
I stand in my old bedroom. My huge mirror is before me. Man, do I look smokin'. My brown hair is in a messy bun with hair all around framing my face. A black Smokey eye look brings out my blue eyes. Black heels.  Finally, my dress. My favorite one so far. It's matt black. Starting from the waist down, it poofs all the way to the ground. The v-neck plunges all the way down to my waist. It's completely backless and has a collar around the neck. I feel great. Karson's right, I do stand taller, my shoulders back, and my chin held high.
I know Karson is standing at the bottom of the stairwell so I take my time. I'm going for the dramatic entrance if you couldn't tell. When I see him, he blows out a big breath which he seemed to be holding. He blushes. His hands are crossed in front of him. I resist the urge to giggle, so instead, I give up on the smirk and just give a full out smile.
When I reach the bottom, I stand in front of him. Waiting for him to be the one to break the silence. He slowly scans me with his eyes.
"Wow! Hot mama." I snort. Which then proceeds to make us both start cracking up laughing. He holds out his arm for me to grab. "Well, shall we?"
"We shall." I grab his arm as we start walking to one of the side rooms near the ballroom where we requested to talk to Aunt Kaitlyn and Elpis. When we walk in, we seemed to have interrupted a conversation. Elpis stops mid sentence and looks at me. She sits on the couch and my Aunt sits in a chair at the small round table in the middle.
Aunt Kaitlyn look at me and smirks. "Hey Karson. You seem to not be able to keep your eyes from her. Is there anything you'd like tell this young gorgeous lady?" I cross my arms, shake my head, and try to keep from laughing. Karson blushes.
"Uh...no ma'am." He averts his eyes to the floor.
I clear my throat. "Can we get to this interview quickly? I would like to practice waltzing in this dress with him before the ballroom meet-and-greet."
Aunt Kaitlyn stands up and smooths out her simple white, floor length, dress. "Right, of course" I can tell that she's still holding in her laughter from the previous conversation topic.
"So, lets just get straight to it." I clap my hands and sit down at the round table. Karson takes a seat on the couch and Aunt Kaitlyn stays standing. "What are ya' doing here Elpis?"
"You." Aunt Kaitlyn corrects.
"Hm?"
"You. Use proper grammer, you're a princess."
I roll my eyes. "I think that you forget I'm from the south. We don't use proper grammer."
"Well you better learn."
"Yeah, yeah. Elpis?"
"I'm here to warn you." I raise my eyebrow. "My father plans on killing you guys at the ball."
Karson snorts. "Yeah, well, that was kinda the point. It's a bait trap." I kick him in the shin. "What? Oh I wasn't supposed to tell her that, huh? Oh well." He shrugs.
"No, you all thought he was going for Melina. He is, but you completely forgot about Kyle and Kaitlyn. He also plans for Karson." I shudder.
"But he's not even royal."
"So, he wants to make sure everything is sealed. Tight. There's no room for mistakes or mercy in this plan."
"How?" I ask.
"He hasn't revealed that part to me yet."
"So you've been in contact with him?" Karson asks.
"I thought that I'd made that clear."
"How old are you, Elpis?"
"18."
"How do we know we can trust you?"
"Because, trust me, I do not want that crown. I just want a normal life. Ever since he's had this obsession, everything in my life has been about it. No fun, no being a normal kid, no friends. Absolutely boring. And when he kills everyone, we'll be hated by everyone and I don't want that. Also, he's pretty crazy so if he was my ruler, I'd cry."
"How come you and Aunt Kaitlyn seem to be on edge of each other. Also, what was y'alls little 4:00 meeting about, and who is that strawberry blond kid."
"I've been in contact with Kaitlyn for awhile now. Giving her intel on Deimos. She wanted me to bring her the birth certificate and adoption papers of my brother, strawberry blond kid, who Deimos adopted.  I had the papers on my desk one day then the next morning it had disappeared. We assume that Deimos stole them."
"First off, don't you think that this would have been a good piece of information to tell me?" I turn to Aunt Kaitlyn. She looks at the floor. "And second, why did you need the paperwork?"
"I wanted to know where he adopted him. You heard what she told you, everything was about the crown. What was his original plan for him?" Seems reasonable.
I sigh. "Fine, I believe you. But," I point my finger at Karson and Aunt Kaitlyn. "She will not be getting all the top secret information. She can help but we don't need her spoiling our plans."
"I completely understand." Elpis says.
"Good. In the meantime, gather as much information as possible about this mission. If you have to make any calls, make them at least three miles from the castle in case he can track it. Make sure you have no weird credit card purchases either. Use Aunt Kaitlyn's card for anything for this plan." She nods. "Well, this meeting is adjourned. I have to go practice dancing in this thing. Karson?"
He smiles his dazzling smile. "Of course my princess." I roll my eyes at his formality.
Aunt Kaitlyn and Elpis stay in the room while Karson and I leave to practice. We head to the huge foyer since the ballroom is begging prepped. We put on a simple ¾ waltz on my phone and start dancing. My right hand sits on his shoulder, his left hand stays on my waist, and our other hands hold each other.
***
We practice for an hour or two before going back to room.
We sit on the couch. He and I sit on opposite ends of the couch but I prop my feet up on his lap. "I really wanna go to a bookstore." I say.
Karson laughs. He plays with one of the straps on my heels. "I don't think we have time."
"Two hours?"
"You spend around 5 hours there in one sitting, and that's just the one back home where you already know where everything is. I swear I've seen one here the size of Lakeside Mall."
"How did you know I love reading this much?"
He blushes. "Oh...uh...word get around." Fair enough...I guess.
I laugh. "Oh come on," I beg. "What if I die on this mission and never get to see it?" I giggle softly.
Karson looks at me, his eyes hard. "Don't talk like that." He words are cut sharp and clean. "You're gonna live, I promise." He looks at my feet.
I swiftly move my feet on the ground and scoot right next to him. He doesn't meet my eyes so I put my finger under his chin and make him. "Look at me." My voice goes low. "You will not risk your life for me. If anyone of us will die, it'll be me. Do you hear me?"
"Bu-"
"No. I've lost too many people in my life to lose you. If I lost you," my voice wavers. "I wouldn't know what to do."
"You'd rule a kingdom. That's what."
"Karson." I clench my jaw to keep from crying. I won't, I can't. "Please." He nods. I know he's about to cry, his eyes glisten. He hugs me and I bury my head into his chest.
I can't lose him. He's the last string to my reality. To my sanity.