Stripping For The Alpha King

Chapter 23

The woman left me to change into the clothing she had brought for me. I eyed them warily for a while, wondering what the hell I actually planned on achieving with this, but decided to take the risk and put the shirt and pants on. They were so soft on my skin and the shirt was just as buttery. The fit wasn't quite right with the pants being a little loose on my thighs and the extra room on my bust, but it was still a step up from sweatpants. I wondered how much the clothing cost, but decided it didn't matter. If they could afford an army of gardens they couldn't be worried about one pair of pants and a shirt.

Addy waited for me and smiled when I appeared in the hallway. She did seem a little anxious with the entire encounter, but also genuinely pleased. We walked down the stairs together and she chatted idly about breakfast in an effort to break the ice, but I wasn't really listening. Instead, I was looking for any less obvious hallways, any side doors, or even low windows that seemed easy to break. I saw nothing.

"Keiko," Ajax's voice was full of surprise when we hit the foyer. It made me flinch, like I had been caught doing something wrong.

"Good morning, Ajax," Addy replied for me, "We are going to be going out for a ride. Do you think you could have the chef make an early lunch? I forgot to take breakfast up with me. Poor girl is probably starving."

"Of course, just give me a couple minutes to change and I'll come with you," he offered.

It was then that I realized he didn't look like the man at the strip club or the man who had taken me out to the botanical gardens. He was wearing a steel coloured suit with shining black shoes. An expensive watch glowed from his wrist when he ran his hand through his hair that had already been styled back with a small amount of product. Before I could stop the thought I marveled at how handsome he looked.

"No," Addy piped up, snapping me out of the thought and back into reality, "I want to spend some time with Keiko and I think she needs some fresh air."

"Mom."

"Enough, Ajax," she said sternly. "You have enough to do today and if you feel like you don't then ask your father if you can take more off his plate."

He jerked, moving his body in a way that told me he was going to push this into a fight. I already knew that there was nothing Ajax loved more than winning. But he then sucked in a breath and let his shoulders slump. Without another word he spun away and walked deeper into the house.

Addy nodded her head like she was validating her own victory and I followed her as she left out the front doors.

"I'm sorry about Ajax," she said softly, barely loud enough to be heard over the gravel crunching beneath our feet. "He wasn't prepared for this to happen. None of us were. You came as a surprise."

I said nothing. My only thought was that this woman was just as unstable as her son and I didn't want to provoke her before I got the information I needed.

"Good morning, Queen Adeline," a uniformed man greeted, paired with a deep bow.

"Good morning, Ted. Would you mind tacking up Zelda for Keiko?"

The man nodded his head and disappeared.

Adeline didn't seem to see the shock written all over my face as she guided me into a small room filled with saddles, bridles, and other equipment I couldn't label. A moment later a pair of boots were plopped in front of me.

"Those should fit you," she mused.

"I wasn't aware that Germany still had an acting queen," I ventured when I kicked off my runners. I pulled the expensive boots on. Like the clothes they weren't perfect but were still good, though I didn't really care about them in that moment.

Adeline just gave me a tiny smile at my comment, but didn't answer which unnerved me. Would the secrets in this place ever stop? But, when she left the little room I felt I had no choice but to follow her. She took me over to a large, grey horse who watched me with wide, sweet eyes.

"This is Zelda," she introduced, "She was the horse that Ajax learned to ride on in his teen years. There isn't much this horse hasn't seen. She'll take good care of you."

The beast seemed kind enough. She was standing patiently in the middle of the bar. One of her back hooves was resting and her ears facing back, making her look so calm she was almost lazy.

"Poison is ready for you," Ted whispered, "I can help her mount."

Adeline smiled and nodded her head. She moved around Zelda as Ted untied the grey horse. I glanced nervously at Adeline, but she was already murmuring to an older horse, talking softly in one of his ears. I trailed behind Ted and Zelda. Once we were outside he placed a stool on one side of the horse and told me where to place my feet. After two bounces I was in the saddle, feeling more anxious than I had ever been.

But Queen Adeline appeared out of the barn, sitting on the back of a tall, intimidating looking horse with no saddle and no bridle.

"Ready? I thought we could go on a little walk to the fish pond. It's only about an hour and it's beautiful."

I didn't trust my mouth to work properly. I nodded my head slowly. Adeline grinned, squeezed her horse's sides, and gestured for me to follow.

As Zelda moseyed along I was left wondering how I allowed myself to get tangled into this mess. And what did someone talk to a queen about when their son had kidnapped you?