Majesty Castle

The following day…

“Don’t you have your own wife to tend to?” Allegra asked Zacky who was leaning against a hay bale in the stable while Allegra was readying herself for a ride.

“My wife is no concern of yours. I’m simply stating that it isn’t a woman’s place to take a horse out without an escort, let alone bareback.”

“A woman’s place?” Allegra turned her head and looked at Zacky as if he said something in a foreign language.

“That’s what I said.” He pushed himself off the hay bale and wiped the back of his pants free of any loose strands of hay. “It is important that a woman know her place.”

“Important to who?” She asked.

“Important to whom?” Matthew corrected Allegra as he walked through the double doors of the stable in his riding clothes. “What have I interrupted?” His question was directed at Zacky.

“Well, your future Queen here, was questioning the fact that it isn’t a woman’s place to take a horse out for a ride without an escort. Not to mention the fact that she wants to ride bareback.”

Matthew walked over to the stall where his horse was standing quietly waiting for attention. His hand caressed the horse’s mane as he turned his attention to his wife. “So, is what he says true?”

Allegra walked over to where her husband stood and held her head up as she addressed him. “A woman is not the possession of a man to treat as a slave and servant.” Rupert walked past her into the stall that Matthew’s horse occupied and began to saddle him while Matthew waited. “You fancy yourself as being treated like a slave and servant?”

“Well, I …”

“Allegra, answer the question. In my home, have you been treated as a slave or a servant?” He looked at her with a hard stare waiting for her to answer him.

“No, my lord. I haven’t.”

Matthew nodded and picked up his riding crop. “So, then you speak of what you do not know.” His attempt at making her feel stupid worked. She lowered her head in defeat as she stood before him. “Since you think that a woman should be allowed to ride alone and without a saddle, I will make you a deal. Pick a horse, any horse in the stable other than mine. If you can keep up with me, you can ride alone.”

Allegra walked along the line of stalls and stopped when she found the horse of her choice. Rupert looked at her with eyes that were pleading for her to pick a different horse. “I want to ride this one.”

Matthew and Zacky looked at each other and back to Allegra as if they knew something she didn’t. “Rupert, you heard the lady. Saddle her horse.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Allegra protested. “I won’t be using a saddle.” Allegra smiled like she had won the battle, but the battle just began.

“As you wish, Rupert, help the lady onto her horse.” Matthew said as he got on his horse. “Seven loves a challenge. Isn’t that right, baby?” He leaned forward and pet the mane of his horse.

“What is my horse’s name?” Allegra asked as Rupert helped her mount him, both Matthew and Zacky looked at each other and spoke at the same time.

“Nightmare.” Matthew could be heard laughing on his way out of the stable while a look of complete fear flashed across Allegra’s face.

“You’re supposed to keep up with him.” Zacky reminded her and slapped the ass of her horse. Nightmare took off running out of the stable after Matthew.

Allegra maintained a steady pace and managed to close the gap between her and Matthew. She trailed him by only a few feet, and although she seemed to be doing well, there was still a lesson to be learned. “Slow down,” Allegra yelled to her husband, but he sped up instead of slowing down. She kicked at Nightmare’s sides making him speed up after Matthew and Seven, but the faster the horse went, the harder it was for her to maintain her balance without a saddle.

When she screamed, Matthew turned his horse around and rode back towards his wife. He stopped when he reached her and looked down at her lying on the ground in pain. “THAT is why you don’t ride alone and without a saddle.” Without even attempting to help her, Matthew sped off back towards the stable.

About 15 minutes after Matthew left her, Rupert showed up to collect Nightmare and bring Allegra back to the stable. “You’re testing his patience, my Lady,” Rupert told her as he helped her into the buggy.

“Oh, I swear there is something wrong with that man.” She pointed a finger in Rupert's direction and he just shook his head and hitched Nightmare to the buggy.

It took over a half hour to get back to the stable. When the buggy pulled up outside, Matthew and Zacky were waiting. With Rupert’s help, Allegra stepped out of the buggy and winced in pain when her foot touched the ground. “Hurt yourself, did you?” Zacky asked her with a smirk smeared across his face. Allegra didn’t justify the question with a response. She just turned and limped in the direction of the kitchen’s back door. “Is she using the servant’s entrance?” Zacky asked.

“Yes. Apparently, as you’ve just seen here, my wife has not a clue what her status means.”

Zacky laughed and patted Matthew on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.”

Allegra made her way through the back door of the kitchen and it was only till she was fully inside that she let her tears fall. She wasn’t going to give her husband or his friend the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

“Oh, dear,” Pippa walked over to Allegra and put a hand on her shoulder. “You are one stubborn little lady.”

“Pippa, please don’t scold me. I just want to go to my room.” Allegra limped past her and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to face her next obstacle. The staircase seemed to take forever for her to get up the stairs and down the long hall to her bedchamber, but she did it. Stepping inside, she dismissed her maid and limped into her bathroom.

Allegra sat on the edge of her bathtub and turned on the water. As she choked back a sob, she leaned forward to remove her boot and nearly lost her balance, but caught herself before she fell backwards into the tub. Her entire ankle was swollen and bruised. Carefully, she swung her leg over the side of the tub and slipped her foot into the ice-cold water. “ow ow ow.” She winced at the mixture of pain and cold.

While Allegra was upstairs soaking her ankle, Matthew was entering the study with Zacky. Johnny, who had been standing by the fireplace nursing a glass of brandy, took sight of Matthew and set his glass down on top of the mantle. While the two were deep in conversation about what transpired out in the stable, the anger was slowly creeping up in Johnny. As he watched them, he balled his hands into fists and glared at Matthew. All the while the memory in his head kept going back to that day. The day he left. To Johnny, Matthew was a savior only on this particular day; his savior was nowhere to be found.

Without a single word of warning, Johnny barreled into the stomach of Matthew and knocked him on the ground flat on his back. “What the hell?” Matthew asked looking up and quickly covering hiss face just in time to avoid being punched. Johnny was wailing on Matthew with his fists as hard as he could, while Zacky tried to pull him off.

“Ok Killer!” Brian walked in and ran over to help Zacky and yanked Johnny off of Matthew. “Calm down,” Brian said holding Johnny’s face in his hands. “You’re ok, do you her me?” Johnny pushed Brian out of the way and moved past him towards the doorway as Zacky helped Matthew up off the floor.

“What the hell was that about?” Matthew asked looking back and forth between Zacky and Brian.

“He hasn’t been right since you left,” Zacky replied and Brian nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, something in him snapped the day you left and he blames you for some reason.” Brian said.

Matthew ran a hand threw his hair as he paced back and forth across the area rug. So much had changed in Majesty Castle in the two years that he had been gone.

A few hours later at the dinner table…

Everyone was seated at the table in the dining room with two notable exceptions. Allegra and Johnny were absent. Matthew made no bones about the fact that he had no desire to be home. Whenever the entire family was present, there was always some mention of his future as King. When Pippa came out to serve the family, James sat upright in his chair and placed his hand gently on her wrist after she set his plate down in front of him. “Where is Nina?” he asked.

“She’s taken ill and won’t be serving until she is well.” Pippa gave him a half smile and returned to serving the remaining members of the family. James knew that Nina wasn’t ill. His father had to have done something to keep her away. It was only a question of what he had done. He turned his head in his father’s direction and was met with a glare in return. It was then; James knew his father had hurt Nina.

“Matthew, Simone will be home Friday for the masquerade, she’s very excited to see you.” His mother spoke endearingly, but it was Brian who perked up at the mention of Matthew's younger sister.

“Mother, I haven’t decided if I will stay for the masquerade. I’ve only come home for Grandfather’s funeral.” The table fell silent after he spoke and all eyes were on him. The masquerade was the most important ball of the year. For the future King it was an opportunity to meet and greet the members of his court and for his Queen, it was a coming out of sorts. It was an integral part of his future and he wanted no part of it. “Well, I no longer have an appetite. Please, excuse me.” Matthew rose from the table and walked right into the kitchen and balled his hands into fists.

“I saved an apple tart for you, sugar.”

Matthew smiled genuinely at Pippa. “Thank you. I’ll have it for breakfast in the morning. I don’t have much of an appetite.” She walked over to the counter and set her hands on her hips. “Now, that I find hard to believe. How about I whip you up a batch of blueberry pancakes?” She smiled a big toothy smile.

“Extra blueberries?” he asked.

“Of course! I don’t skimp when it comes to my favorite boy!” Pippa set a frying pan on the stovetop and went to the refrigerator where she had the batter already mixed and waiting.

“Pippa, how do you do it?” She turned and looked back at him. “There’s nothing to it, you just have to know when to flip.” He laughed heartily.

“No, I mean how do you just roll with the punches? I don’t think I can remember a time where I have ever seen you lose your temper.”

He watched as she ladled some of the batter into the frying pan. “Sweets, there is nothing in this world that is worth the aggravation. Sure, there maybe things I don’t like or agree with, but what can I do about it. I just smile and take it as it comes.” He nodded and continued to watch as the batter in the pan solidified into flaky little cakes.

“Don’t you ever just want to take your apron of and throw it on the floor and step on it?”

She laughed and set a plate down in front of him. “If I had a nickel for every time I thought about doing that, I’d never have to work another day.” Pippa took her spatula and set three pancakes down on the plate in front of Matthew. “This is my life. I’m a servant and I didn’t ask for it to turn out this way, but I wasn’t born into royalty. I’ve learned to accept it because it is what it is.”

“I wish I had your mentality.” He told her as he picked up his fork. “I don’t want this life. I didn’t ask for it and I want nothing to do with it.” She swatted him with her towel and stuffed it back inside her apron.

“Child, it’s time you became a man. It may not be what you want, but it is what it is. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go serve the next course.”

He nodded and smiled at her as she started to walk away. “Hey, are those for me too?” he asked pointing his fork in the direction of the frying pan. There were still three pancakes sitting in the pan. “Oh no, those are for someone else who missed dinner and has a fondness for fresh blueberries.” He didn’t have to ask to know she was talking about his wife. “Poor little thing. So confused and lonely, she doesn’t want this life either. If only you two would actually realize how much you have in common, you might see that you actually like each other.” She turned and walked towards the door and before walking out she turned back to him. “Plates are in the cabinet over the sink.” She winked and walked through the door. He knew what she was hinting at and he let out a long sigh before digging into his pancakes. When he finished, he set his plate in the sink and had every intention of going up to bed until he turned around and saw the pancakes sitting in the frying pan….

Allegra was sitting on her bed with her ankle resting on two pillows. It had swelled quite a bit and turned black and blue pretty quickly. She had been reading the book that Matthew caught her with in the garden, when the door to her room opened. “Forget your manners?” she said to her husband who was closing the door behind him.

“Excuse me?” he replied not knowing what she was talking about.

“You didn’t knock. What if I wasn’t decent?”

Matthew stood in front of the door and his eyes went to her ankle before moving back to hers. “Need I remind you, it’s my room and you are my wife making that argument null and void.” Allegra set her book down beside her on the bed and folded her arms across her chest.

“This hasn’t been your room in two years and I may have married you, but you have yet to make me your wife.” She was referring to the fact that they never consummated their marriage.

“I can change that fact right now.” The threat was implied as soon as he spoke the words and Allegra’s face turned pale white. “You missed dinner. Pippa made blueberry pancakes for you.” He handed her the plate and she took it from him and set it down on her lap.

“Are you going to stand there and watch me eat?”

He rolled his eyes and turned away from her to look around his room. A room that was once filled with masculinity now had a feminine touch. “What the hell did you do in here?” She had changed the colors from regal reds to shades of dark purple and gold.

“I changed a few things.” Allegra said as she brought her fork to her lips.

“A few things, the place is hardly recognizable.” She rolled her eyes and continued to eat her pancakes. “I have business to attend to, so I’ll leave you to your pancakes.” He walked over to the bed where she sat and pulled out a book from his back pocket.

“Here. A friend wanted you to have this.” She took it from his hand and watched as he walked out of the room. When he was gone she looked down at the bound leather book and read the title out loud. “Waking The Fallen. A collective of epic poems by M. Shadows.” She looked back at the now closed door and then back down at the book. Turning it over, she noticed something on the bottom of the back of the book, an address.

After picking up Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, Allegra noticed that it too had the same address on the back and she’d never noticed it before. She shrugged it off as being the publishing house and set her plate of pancakes on the end table. Having a new book written by her favorite author, she couldn’t wait to start reading it. Upon opening the cover, her eyes went straight to the inscription that read:

“Allegra,

No one can touch us,

M Shadows.”