Chapter 69 Sixty-Nine

Chapter 69 Sixty-Nine
Amber
I buried my brother and sister today. It wasn’t what I imagined would happen. But it was the sacrifice they made to save me, and I knew that I couldn’t let them die in vain.
It was a bittersweet moment. When I went to them, I thought I’d be waking up with the agenda to give them my blood to revive them. But instead, I was burying them. However, it gave me a little peace knowing that I finally got the chance to say goodbye.
Years ago, when they disappeared, I always felt as if a piece of me was missing, knowing that I had no clue where they were. But to have the chance to actually say goodbye was far better than I expected.
Luckily, Mason was okay. He kept apologizing to me, but I couldn’t express enough how glad I was that Max broke the link because a second longer and we’d be burying him too. Elma didn’t know why or how the spell didn’t work, but I didn’t blame her either. After all I’ve learnt about my blood, maybe mixing it with a hybrid’s blood wasn’t the best call.
Drew, on the other hand, had barely left my side. When I woke up, he hugged me for thirty minutes straight, mumbling thanks for waking up and coming back to him. I knew exactly how he felt. I felt it last night when I thought he had died, so I knew the pain he must’ve felt, thinking he lost me to the subconscious world. So, I gave him his moment to appreciate that I was safe before leaving his embrace to cuddle beside my siblings.
The sun was already setting when we finally brought them to the forest, where we buried Lorenzo.
The dandelions were gone, only leaving the stems, yet it was beautiful.
I wanted to take my parents, so they could have the closure I had. But I didn’t know how I would explain that their dead children, for almost five years had no sign of decaying or how I even found them in the first place, “in the middle of the ocean” where they always thought they were.
But I knew how to give them that closure. When I woke up, I found that a part of them lingered in me—a part which they wanted me to tell Mom and Dad. Somehow, they left the words in my mind, so I wrote them down on paper, capturing each word just as they left it in my brain.
I knew it was probably chaos at the Kingdom since I didn’t return home this morning, and I had been staying away from the media, so I had no idea if it left the castle walls just yet. But I wasn’t quite ready to face it. I was saying goodbye to Aliah and Alex.
For good this time.
The cool breeze tickled my skin as I left a rose on both their graves. It was only Max, Mason, Drew, and I. Elma remained at the house, still obsessed with figuring out how the spell failed, though I assured her that it was okay.
Oddly, I didn’t cry or shed a single tear. Even when Max and Mason filled the holes, I didn’t feel the urge to weep.
I finally understood what Aliah told me, that they would always be with me. They left a certain peace in my spirit that I couldn’t understand. They did it on purpose, too, so I wouldn’t be driven by emotion and get myself killed instead of ending Dageian.
Perhaps this was their plan from the beginning. Maybe they knew that the spell would fail, and they’d have to save me. I was grateful, and I wished they could hear me in whatever afterlife there was, so they could see just how much they not only helped me but healed me too.
I no longer felt the urge to avenge them, not even from Dageian. I simply wanted to get rid of him for the mere happiness and peace of my mate and me. Too long have we been pawns in his game, and I say that enough is enough.
Elma used a spell to remake a new dagger quicker than the old one before leaving for the forest. There was no way we were going to fail this time. Not again.
“I love you guys,” I mumbled one last time as I stood again before returning to Drew and the twins under a maple tree. Drew welcomed me in open arms, and I threw my head over my shoulder one last time to look at the three graves before we finally sauntered away.
We didn’t move at hybrid speed through the forest. I guess the moment felt far too human. And I revelled in it.
We walked in silence all the way back to Drew’s house, and the sun had already snuggled its way beyond the horizon by the time we got back.
I decided that it was due time I went home, but I didn’t want to go alone.
“Drew?” I held onto him as we approached the porch, automatically halting his movements.
“Yes?” His eyes oversaw me. I knew he was waiting for me to break any minute. Even though I had kept our link open, I knew he couldn’t understand how I wasn’t a mess. I hadn’t said much about what I learnt from Alex and Aliah, except Dageian’s agenda for turning them.
I wanted to explain it, but I couldn’t put into words how I was so calm. Of course, I was broken and sad that I still had to give them up, but it was bearable, knowing that they were okay.
“Can you come with me back home?” I asked after a while.
“Of course,” he said almost immediately. “Let’s just freshen up first, okay?”
I nodded in agreement, and so we took a quick shower, and I wore my dinner dress, seeing that I didn’t want to stop by my room before going to my parents. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, though my mother prefers it’s curled down my back, and I dabbed a layer of blush on my cheek that I left in Drew’s room. It was moments like these that I was happy I left half my wardrobe at Drew’s house. But I suspected it was a bright idea, considering I had to be rushing back most of the time.
But then a thought occurred to me. Perhaps it was finally time to put that to an end. I knew I was waiting for the perfect time to do this, but maybe the ideal time will never come. I looked over my shoulder, catching as Drew threw a shirt over his head.
“Why don’t you wear this instead?” I said as I moved over to him and grabbed a blue button-down shirt. He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me as he took it.
“Okay. . . “He didn’t even question why, but I told him just the same.
“I want you to meet my parents,” I said. “It is far overdue.”
He raised both eyebrows this time, watching me in uncertainty. “Now? With all that is going on?”
“Exactly.” I sighed. “With everything going on and new discoveries every day, I think constantly putting it off isn’t exactly helping anyone.”
He nodded slowly, still unsure but never questioning. I knew he wasn’t nervous, and I wasn’t either. Maybe it wasn’t the best time, considering that the night had fallen too, but tomorrow is a mystery, and we never know what will happen tonight.
It was a little after seven when we left. I was starving, and I knew Drew was too. He never ate in front of me. Whether he went out to feed or drank from one of his Styrofoam cups, I reckoned he believed it made me uncomfortable to drink blood in front of me. Nonetheless, I grabbed a cup from the fridge for him as I met him outside.
He watched me oddly when I emerged with the cup, but I shook my head, silently telling him not to question it. I waited inside until he was done, simply because eating in front of me seemed more uncomfortable for him than me. There wasn’t much human food at his house either way, so I decided to wait until I got home.
The trip, as always, was fast and nauseating. Running at inhuman speed was something I could never get used to. But, in a few minutes, we were there. I took the front entrance, unlike all the other times. Staff watched us weirdly, while others seemed relieved.
I then remembered that I was probably deemed ‘missing’ over the past hours, but considering there wasn’t an army outside, I suppose my parents haven’t made much of a fuss of it as I suspected.
Mumbles had already made their way around the castle by the time we were on the staircase, and heavy rushing feet could be heard descending the stairs above us. Seconds later, Ruby came into view, looking stressed and tired at once. I felt guilty. She was the last one to see me, after all.
“Princess!” she cheered before grabbing me in a hug. “Thank heavens you’re okay.” She pulled away to assess me for marks of injuries, and I quickly ducked my wrist behind me as I pushed Drew forward.
“I’m sorry for the worry, Ruby. I really am. But to appease your worries for months now, this is Drew. Drew, this is my lady-in-waiting, Ruby.” But of course, Drew already knew her. Still, he remained a complete gentleman as he took her hand.
Wide-eyed, Ruby looked between the two of us before realization lit her features. Soon, a small smile graced her lips as she finally locked her gaze on him.
“Nice to meet you,” she said sweetly.
“Likewise.” Drew smiled at her, and I quickly switched our positions to be a step higher than her.
“I must go see my parents,” I said in an apologetic tone.
“Of course!” She waved me off. “They have been waiting for you. Apparently, your mother wasn’t too concerned about your whereabouts last night. I suppose now I understand why.” Her eyes flickered to Drew quickly before meeting mine again.
I forced a smile as I pulled Drew the rest of the way up the staircase.
It both bothered and relieved me that my mother wasn’t as concerned as I suspected. I am a princess, after all. There is a particular code of conduct in which I should live. Though I hadn’t followed it much since I barely have a princess mentality, the thought that my mother believed I was out all night with a man bothered me. Of course, I did it every night, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay or ‘ladylike’.
What’s ladylike or not has never bothered me much. Aliah was more of a princess than I ever was, but thinking about it oddly made me want to do…. better.
Drew squeezed my hand reassuringly after feeling my uneasiness. He didn’t know what for, but it came suddenly and like a flood. I tried not to let it bother me too much as we stopped in front of my parents’ quarters. I knocked once as the guard at the door told me that they were inside.
I laced my fingers in Drew’s as I took a deep breath before pushing the double door open.