Chapter 2 Least Expected
[Navaeh’s POV]
My choice wasn’t always going to be Allaric. Instead, the one that I was going to choose was Caspian, but that choice would only lead me to damnation.
Caspian was my late husband’s brother and the one who was there to comfort me through the early days of losing Rayden.
He stayed beside me day in and day out, making sure that I didn’t do anything crazy, and when I miscarried mine and Rayden’s child, well, he was there to pick up the pieces of that loss as well.
To say that he was a god send was an understatement and if I was still the woman who was blinded by his trick, well, I would certainly be choosing him now, but I wasn’t that woman.
From the moment I woke up on the morning of my choosing ceremony, I was no longer that woman and I wouldn’t make the same choice that I made before.
I’m sorry, Allaric. I think now, keeping my gaze fixed on the confused man. I know that you will probably demand answers for what I’m doing, but right now, I need you by my side.
“Allaric,” Alviz, our elder and overseer of all court matters calls. “Please come forward.”
For a moment, Allaric doesn’t move. Instead, he remains in place and just stares, and when his gaze shifts towards the room’s exit, I can picture him escaping, after all, that was what he did when he was overwhelmed.
No one knew about this particular quirk of his, only me, and because I knew I was prepared for him to do it. I mean, how could I not expect it given what just happened.
“Allaric,” Alviz repeats, his voice echoing around us. “Come forward to swear your loyalty to your queen.”
Once again, Allaric doesn’t move an inch as time slowly passes and when I’m almost certain that he will try to make an escape, he finally takes a step.
I hold my breath as he continues to move forward, step by step, growing ever closer until finally he is a few feet from me and that is when the man I fully expected to interfere with this choosing let’s his voice ring out.
“Wait!”
His voice echoes around us, drawing all eyes to himself as he starts to move forward with an aura of authority that he doesn’t possess or deserve.
“Navaeh,” he says when he reaches where Allaric stands. “What are you doing?”
At his question, I just stare, taking him in like he is a pest and honestly, right now that was what he was being.
A pest.
A pest that hovered too close to my side.
I should have been wary of this pest. If I had…
My thoughts trail off as another time and place start to emerge, a place filled with pain, suffering, and suffocating emotions.
That won’t happen again. I tell myself, shaking off those awful memories. It won’t because I won’t make the same mistake twice.
Now, I stare down the pest in front of me while wondering what I ever even saw in him.
He wasn’t anything special from his looks to his personality.
With his long dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin, he was average at best.
And his personality…He was a man who thought he was above all. He was nothing like his brother who treated everyone fairly and like they were on the same level as him. And…I turn my gaze to Allaric who quietly stands, watching, waiting for when he can make his next move…He was nothing like his son who bore the name of hero but was treated like a monster.
Allaric was so different from his father that it was a bit hard to believe they were even related, but the reason he was different was certainly because he was raised by his mother until her passing.
It was only after that he came to live with Caspian and by then, Allaric was already his own man who was heading off to war.
“I think it is obvious,” I say slowly, breaking the silence that has fallen around us. “I am choosing my next husband and…” I fix my gaze on Allaric. “I am picking our kingdom’s next king.”
Smiling, I hold out a hand to Allaric as Caspian watches in disbelief, but I don’t let him get to me.
“Allaric,” I say slowly. “Will you choose to stand beside me or will you choose to deny me?”
Of course, I could choose him to be my husband, to be my king, to be my equal, but he still had the free will to refuse me.
And if he does? The small voice in the back of my head asks me. What will you do then?
Honestly, I didn’t think that far ahead. I didn’t have the time to. Since waking up here in this place and time, I only had the time to make sense of this gift I was given and to make up for the wrong choices I made that led me to this point.
Now, I wait as Allaric stares at me, his gaze questioning, his expression neutral.
What will you do? I wonder as time ticks on.
“My queen,” the man in question says now, his voice deep. “This is so sudden.”
I know. I think, taking him in. Until just this morning the whole kingdom was convinced that Caspian would be my next king, so this was all very weird indeed.
“I understand,” I say now, ignoring the hiss of shock that escapes Caspian over being ignored. “I know that you weren’t expecting this, but even then, I am certain that you are the best choice to be the next king of our kingdom.”
Not only was he a hero who put his life down for all present and far and wide, but he was also strong and would produce a worthy heir to carry on my bloodline.
And…he wasn’t bad to look at.
With his long dark hair and crimson eyes, he stood out in a crowd. Add in his tan skin, chiseled jaw that is always lined with stubble, and his large build, well, he was a feast for the eyes.
“Navaeh,” Caspian snaps, drawing my gaze back to him. “What are you doing?”
“I think it is obvious.” I tell him. “But the real question is, what are you doing?”
Caspian was bold, I would give him that, but to so openly protest the choice I was making was pushing it, even for him.
“Do you not realize that your actions can lead to you being punished?”
Standard court procedure for acting out of line was a few days in the dungeon. If you did worse than that…I shiver, trying to ignore the unpleasant emotions that are slowly starting to build again.
That won’t happen. I remind myself. It won’t happen.
I was given a second chance and there was no way in hell that I would allow that to happen.
This time, I would make the right decision and, once I had enough evidence I would make sure to make the man who put me through so much suffering got what he had coming.
