Majesty Castle

It had been two days since Matthew was informed by Brian of Allegra’s abuser. In those two days, she had yet to come to full consciousness. Although there were times when her eye-lids would flutter and she would mumble incoherently, the fever had taken her ability to wake.

Brian, as discussed with Matthew, went back to Majesty Castle to collect Simone and bring her to the fort, but not without a fight. It was Simone’s full intent to find out who her parents were and she refused to go anywhere without confronting Rosalie and Jon. This night was to be her last in the castle before she was supposed to return to boarding school. The family had dinner together under the pretense that it was to be a dinner for Simone. One would think a person who was having a dinner in their honor would be a little more jovial, but Simone was anything but.

“Darling, you haven’t said a word all evening,” Jon noted in an attempt at catching his daughter’s attention. Simone just sat there pushing her food around on her plate with her fork.

“I’m not hungry any more.” No one had expected her to get up and leave the table without at least asking to be excused, but that is just what she did.

“Simone?” Jon called after her, but she didn’t stop. All eyes were on Jon and Rosalie as they were expected to go after their daughter, but it was Brian who excused himself and followed after her.

She heard him trailing behind her, but Simone kept on walking towards the study, determined to not let him see her cry. She already allowed him to see her as a weakling once and scolded herself afterwards for becoming soft in front of him and asking him to stay with her while she slept.

She stopped walking when he caught up with her and wrapped his arms around her pinning her arms at her side. “This is going to be harder than I thought,” she whispered nearly choking on her words.

“You don’t have to do it. We can leave and no one will ever know you aren’t at boarding school.”

She turned around still in his arms and looked at him as tears started to sting her eyes. “No,” she answered while his thumb caressed her cheek. “I’m not leaving without the truth, Brian.”

“You are as stubborn as you are beautiful.”

Simone sighed at his disregard for her feelings. “Brian, now is not the..” Simone never got to finish her sentence as his lips covered hers. This wasn’t the same as the many kisses he had stolen from her when they were alone, this kiss was dripping with pure lust and Simone was a willing participant thrusting her tongue past his lips while a low growl rose up from his throat.

Neither of them noticed the audience they now had standing behind them. “What is the meaning of this?” Rosalie asked. Brian turned his face to the side, but never let Simone out of his arms. Nikki stepped forward in disbelief.

“Have you lost your mind?” Brian simply rolled his eyes.

“It’s no surprise!” Rosalie chimed in again. “Your son is a rake, but I never imagined he be so scandalous as to touch his own cousin in such a way.” Nikki seemed quite embarrassed of his son’s behavior.

“I am not his cousin, mother. Spare everyone the dramatics.” Simone glared at her parents, both of whom had eyes wide with shock.

“Simone lets go somewhere and talk about this in private,” Jon said, calmly.

“NO.” She moved herself out of Brian’s arms and stood there with her hands on her hips determined to end this once and for all. “I’m tired of being your dirty little secret. I’m not returning to boarding school either. Sending me away won’t change the fact that I am not your child.”

Peter, Zakk and Nikki all looked at Jon and Rosalie for an explanation. “What is it that she is accusing you of?” Peter asked.

“Do tell, Rosalie. I would love to watch your cheeks redden while you put yourself in an unfavorable light. So please, paint us all a picture,” Candace spoke and her husband snickered behind her.

“TELL THEM!” Simone shouted.

“Simone, calm down.” Jon tried to remain calm himself, but his wife had just about lost her patience after what Candace had said. “I will not calm down. I want to know who my parents are.”

“We are your parents,” Jon offered, but Simone shook her head in disbelief. Brian was growing increasingly uncomfortable as his father’s eyes were still on him. No one was sure what to make of the entire situation as the truth had yet to rear its head.

“That is a lie,” Simone spoke in a tone that was hardly above a whisper yet, still stern.

“Fine!” Rosalie stepped forward and threw her hands up in the air. “It’s true! You were not born into this family. Then again, you weren’t born into any family. You were a bastard whose father is unknown. We found you in at an Inn while on holiday. You were left alone in a crib crying in one of the rooms, while your mother was in another room spreading her legs for anyone who would have her. So, we brought you home with us and told everyone that I had gone into labor on holiday, much to our surprise not even knowing I was with child. Your mother was nothing more than a common whore that sold her body to men for their pleasure and after seeing that little display with Brian, it’s obvious you’re quick to follow in her path.” Rosalie’s highhanded statement was met with a sharp slap across her face from Jon.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” Jon glared at his wife maliciously.

“Well, I do think this calls for a drink. I may even get a little tipsy!” Candace announced obviously referring to the slap that Rosalie just received.

“I may just have to join you, my lovely.” Zakk whispered in her ear making her giggle. There would be no sympathy for Rosalie, not from any of them.

Simone ran out of the house and Brian took off after her. He reached her just as she collapsed to her knees and started to cry. He simply lifted her off the ground and rather than bring her back into the house, he took her straight to the stables.

“You kidnapped her?” Nikki asked. The commotion had drawn the others out of their places in the castle. Johnny had come down the stairs and looked at his father with curious eyes. Zakk just put his arm around his son and kissed the top of his head. Zacky also came downstairs with Fawn. They had taken their meal in their suite, as Fawn hadn’t been feeling well. James stood in the doorway of the dining room watching the commotion. He spent the evening in the kitchen having a melancholy conversation with Pippa. He’d been the only one to see the whole thing from the beginning and would be sure to fill in his friends later after the elders went to bed.

“No.” Jon sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know that she was even with us until she started to cry. Rosalie went and took her while I packed to return home. She hid the baby in a bundled coat under one of the benches in the coach. We were too far gone when Simone started to cry to turn back.” He shook his head and looked at his wife who now had a fair sized handprint burned into her cheek highlighted by glistening tears. “We argued about her taking the baby, but it’s no secret that my wife has a way with words. She convinced me that the baby would have no life if left back there at the Inn and probably wouldn’t live to see her 1st birthday. Once I held Simone, I couldn’t give her back. Kidnapping is a very strong word. We gave her life.”

“Fuck. So the perfect couple isn’t so damn perfect,” Nikki snorted. “The high and the mighty have marred their reputation with scandal,” he chuckled. “Candace, I think I’ll join you in that drink.”

“Delightful! We’ll make it a cocktail party!” Candace scurried off to the den to get the brandy ready.

“Bless her heart.” Nikki laughed and Zakk was already displaying a full-toothed grin at his wife’s batty behavior. Two people were never more opposite, yet so suited for each other as they were.

“What you’ve done is despicable.” It was Peter who spoke up after being silent for so long. Rosalie, obviously hurt by the fact that her husband actually hit her glared at the strapping man.

“Is it any different than what you’ve done to your own child?”

“Rosalie!” Jon grabbed her arm and dragged her past the rest of the family up the stairs. He dragged her so hard she nearly tripped twice on the way. Peter turned back to see James standing there glaring at him. It was any wonder if he had heard Rosalie and knew what she was talking about.

While Nikki and Zakk retired back to the den where Candace was waiting to have yet another laugh at Rosalie’s expense, Johnny, James Fawn and Zacky went to the dining room. There seemed to be an undeniable tension in the room and it remained quiet until James finally spoke up. “I’m going to marry Nina.”

Johnny’s had stopped mid way as he held his glass to his lips and eyed James over the rim. Zacky nearly choked on his own wine. “That’s wonderful news, Jimmy,” Fawn nudged her husband in his side. “You are being quite rude.”

“I’m not being rude, Fawn. I’m just trying to picture how this can happen when it was made very clear by Peter that he wouldn’t let it.”

“It’s not his choice to make,” James said.

“That fact remains, “Zacky nodded, “but don’t you fear you’ve just put Nina’s life in danger? You’re father is far from sane you know.”

“I’m well aware of that.” James nodded.

“Then how do you intend to avoid his wrath? Or should I ask how do you intend to keep Nina from his wrath?”

James leaned back in his chair and picked up his glass of wine watching the liquid as he swished it around in the glass. “My mother will stop him.”

Zacky and Johnny both turned their heads at the same time to look at each other. Now they were beginning to wonder if it was James who had lost his sanity. They very well knew his mother was dead and James was holding on to a silly childhood idea that she was going to return home to him one day.

-----------------------------------

As the morning sun came up over the horizon, Brian was just opening his eyes. Simone was still sleeping soundly with her head rested on his chest. They stayed in the stable the entire night. There wasn’t anything he could do or say to calm Simone’s crying. He stayed silent and held her till she stopped. She had fallen asleep not long after she stopped crying and he knew she would refuse to go back into the house again, so the stable is where they spent the night. He hated to have to wake her considering that they only had slept a few hours, but he knew that the stable workers would be there soon to perform their daily chores and to feed the horses.

“Simone,” he said her name as softly as he could so as not to startle her. When she didn’t respond, he shook her gently. “Simone.” Simone lifted her head to look at him. Her expression showed that she was still tired. “We have to go before the day starts,” he told her. She nodded and sat up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. He stood and held out his hand to help her up. Rather than going back into the house, he sent for a coach.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

“It’s a secret,” he winked.

“I don’t like secrets,” she was quick to shoot back and he mentally cursed himself for his choice of words.

“Well then, let’s call it a hide away that no one knows about.”

She turned to face him as the coach pulled up. “That’s kidnapping.”

“Would your rather the alternative?” he pointed to the castle and waited for her answer. When she didn’t respond he simply opened the door of the coach and waited for her to get in. They rode the entire way to the fort in complete silence. He knew she would be in a bad mood today with all that happened the night before on top of the fact that she had slept no more than three hours. As he watched her, he did consider kissing her until she was happy again or maybe something a little more extreme than that, but he’d probably get slapped harder than Rosalie did.