The King's Mistress

Chapter 106: Blooming Romance Beneath The Moon

Diane chuckled, "You’re right. Can you bring her here for me?"

Sierra walked back to the carriage. Two of Diane’s guards followed her as she did. She carefully knocked on the carriage door and opened it slowly. As she peeked in, Roxine already had her dagger in her hand and pointed at her.

"Oh goodness me, It’s you, Sierra. Is everything alright? Is Diane alright? You have to tell me," she said anxiously in quick succession. freewebnσvel.cøm

"She’s alright, Your Highness," at first, Sierra did not know how to explain things without giving it all away. Then, she came up with something on the fly, "She’s ready to see you now."

Roxine did not understand what Sierra meant, but when she held out her hand, the Queen took it at once. Sierra led her carefully off the carriage and stepped aside so that she could take in the full view of the clearing.

The Queen dropped the dagger in her hands as she gasped in shock by the scene before her. It was like a scene out of a dream. There was little mist close to the forest floor, adding to the mystique of the setting.

Lady Diane stood all smiles at the end of the trail of candles and flower petals that had been set for Roxine. She was caught completely off guard. Roxine was so stunned. Her feet were glued to the ground. She did not know what to do.

"Your Highness, she’s waiting for you," Sierra reminded her as she held out her hand once more for her to hold on to.

"Right... you’re right..." Roxine cleared her throat as she walked down the makeshift aisle.

She was shaking with excitement as she walked down the candlelit aisle towards Lady Diane. The two love birds were equally nervous, that was clear to anyone.

When she got to the end, Sierra handed Roxine to Diane, who firmly held onto her hands. Sierra quickly stepped far off to the side to give the couple as much privacy as she could afford.

After all, she still wanted to listen in on what they had to say to one another.

"Roxine..."

"Yes?"

"I...you,..," Diane was flustered.

Under the soft rays of moonlight, Roxine looked even more beautiful than she had ever been. She was like a beautiful goddess who descended from the Heavens.

"You look beautiful tonight," she finally mustered the courage to speak again.

Roxine blushed. Her heart was in her throat and she was still shaking moments before. But the moment Diane held her hands, all the anxiety and worry she had mellowed out. At that moment, in that forest clearing, there were only the two of them.

"Is there something you want to ask of me, Diane?" Roxine asked, her voice quivering with anticipation.

Sierra could not help but smile, watching as the two nervous women tried to race one another to declare their love for the other. A part of her wondered if Alistair and her would ever share a similar moment.

Would their romance blossom like theirs?

"Yes, there is. Roxine, you... you complete me," she said while looking down at their hands.

She wanted to hold on to her forever.

"I want to walk down the rest of my life with you. I know we’ve talked about this before and we said it wasn’t a good time but seeing Sierra and hearing you talk about the here and Alistair got me thinking. So I... I want to..."

Diane got down on one knee. She took out a small velvet box and revealed a glimmering red ruby ring.

"Will you be mine?"

Roxine had tears in her eyes, "Yes! Absolutely yes!"

As soon as Diane slipped the ring on her finger, she got up to her feet and they kissed. Sierra and the others came forward moments later to congratulate them. These were Lady Diane’s closest guards, and they were all in on it.

Looking at how happy they were, Sierra could not help but wonder about the path they had ahead of them. What would Alistair say?

"Your Highness," a low voice startled everyone. All of them drew their weapons in an instant.

Sierra did the same. She stood over Roxine protectively. No one was going to hurt her or Diane, not on her watch. From the mist ahead of them, a shadowy figure all dressed in black approached them.

Shortly after, another two followed. There were three of them in total and none of them had their weapons drawn. Roxine ordered everyone to lower their weapons. She knew who they were.

Seeing them here meant one thing.

Alistair knew too.

"Sierra, lower your weapon," Roxine ordered, realizing she still had hers raised.

"But..."

"They aren’t here to hurt us. They are shadow guards. Alistair’s shadow guards."

Sierra was stunned. She did not know Alistair had his own elite guards. In fact, apart from a few selected members of the royal household, no one knew of their existence. She lowered her weapon as they approached.

Once they were in front of Roxine, they got down to their knees.

"Queen Roxine, King Alistair requires your presence. He also asked for the Lady Diane and Princess Sierra as well," the lead shadow guard explained.

All three women looked at one another. Lady Diane held onto Roxine’s hand tightly. She could see the worry on the Queen’s face. She kissed the back of Roxine’s hand.

"No matter what happens, I stand by my decision, Roxine," Diane whispered to her.

With her assurance, Roxine felt a little more confident. She wasn’t afraid of Alistair in all honesty. She feared what he might do. She had never considered what would happen should he find out about her relationship with Lady Diane.

Now, there was no turning back.

"Lead the way," she replied firmly.

Using the carriage they had taken to reach the clearing, all three women were whisked away back to Vargos castle. For the entire ride back, Roxine and Diane held hands with one another.

Sierra glanced out of the window. She bit her lip, uncertain of what Alistair would say when they meet. After all, she had knowingly lied to him about what happened the other night.

She knew she should have told him the truth, but she had promised Roxine not to tell a soul. She did not regret her decision to keep her promise.

Roxine could see the worry on her face. She saw right through it.

"Thank you for helping us thus far, Sierra. We’re in your debt. Whatever happens next, I will make it clear to Alistair that it was I who forced you into it. No blame will come to you."

Sierra was touched by her words.

"Your Highness, don’t worry about me. You didn’t force me to do anything. I did it all on my own accord. If he can’t understand that... then perhaps we aren’t that well suited after all."

Soon, the carriage came to a stop. All of them got off it, surprised to find themselves in the compounds of the King’s Quarters. They were quickly ushered into a secret passageway, kept out of sight from any prying eyes.

Eventually, they ended up in a Drawing room. Sierra realized this was a separate room from the one she had been in previously. The decoration was completely different too.

If she had not seen the outside of the building, which helped her get her bearings, she would have assumed she was in an unknown location of the castle.

"Ah, you all made it. Come, come, take a seat. All of you," Alistair greeted them with all smiles from the table he sat at.