The King's Daughter

27 To Love Him or Not

• Louis' POV •

"Now that we're certain that everyone here is loyal to me and only me, I believe things will start turning around for us." I said loudly so I could be heard throughout the grand entry hall. I stood on the stairs with Aria beside me as I gave everyone below us a short speech.

"This is only going to work if all of you are one hundred percent on my side. If I find out any one of you has turned on me, you're as good as dead. You might as well put a bullet in your head because that would be ten times less painful than what I will do if I find disloyalty in any of you. Do I make myself clear?" I declared, hoping to scare some sense into them.

"Yes, sir!" A chorus of voices rose up around the open area.

Aria shifted beside me. I probably should have left out the part insinuating that I'd torture them, but the lads needed to hear it. They knew I was serious and hopefully that was enough insentive for them to stay loyal to me.

They all seemed to get the idea and I was satisfied. "You're most important task as always, is to keep Princess Aria safe from harm. She is the key to everything. She will help us rule the kingdom."

There was an eager cheer that went up as everyone pumped their fists in the air in excitement. They all were looking forward to the day when I would kill the king and queen and take their place with Aria by my side. That plan was years in the making and everyone was counting on it. It would finally bring us out of the shadows and give us the power we all craved. But the thing was...there was a part of the plan that I wasn't sure I could go through with. I just hadn't told Aria yet.

As cheers and celebratory yells and shouts continued, I turned to Aria, remembering how she had willingly kissed me. That afternoon was one of the best I've had in years. I took her face and turned it toward me, admiring her beauty. And then I leaned down and kissed her mouth. I heard her suck in a breath. When I pulled away, she stared at me in alarm and then her eyes darted around at everyone below. She swiftly spun around and hurried up the rest of the stairs.

"Aria!" I called, but she ignored me.

Thankfully everyone was too busy cheering to focus on me and I hoped nobody noticed her run away after I kissed her. I thought we were passed this, but I guess not. I ushered Harry up to me and told him to handle the rest. And then I went up the stairs after my wife.

I suspected she would have gone to our bedroom so that's where I went first. And just like I thought, there she was on the window seat, looking out at the moonlit backyard. She was curled up and holding a pillow. I sat down beside her on the cushioned bench.

"Why'd you run?" I asked after a moment.

"Guess." Was her response. She didn't seem happy.

"Uh... I'm not exactly sure. Earlier it seemed to me like you wanted to kiss me." I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

Sighing, she gave me a look. "You did it in front of everyone."

"Is that so bad? We're married. Married people kiss." I was confused.

"I don't want anyone to know." She said and it felt like a little bit of my heart chipped off. I definitely did not like the feeling.

"Why?"

"I don't want anyone thinking I'm giving in to you. You're a bad person. You mentioned how you're going to murder my parents and then you kissed me. What would people think of me after seeing that? Did you even stop to think about how I might feel after hearing you talk about killing my mom and dad? Why would you think I'd want to kiss you after being reminded of that?" She said, visibly upset. Her eyes were watery.