Chapter 6 – Rowan
ROWAN
Six months later
“Emily is getting her right hip replaced,” Althea announces as she joins us in the breakfast room, and Sebastian, Bellamy, and I all stop eating mid-bite to look at her.
The children don’t stop, though. Phaedra and Sabrina are going back and forth about who’s better at a game they play on their iPads, and Zayer is busy shoveling eggs and ham into his mouth.
Sebastian comes to faster than us. “When is that happening, and why haven’t we been notified about it until now?”
“It’s happening in two weeks, and she didn’t inform us about it because she kept pushing off her doctor, telling her she was fine, when she actually wasn’t. The woman can barely walk at this point. You can’t tell me you’re shocked.”
Sebastian swallows his bite of sourdough and wipes his mouth with his napkin. “No. I suppose not. I’m glad she’s finally taking care of herself.”
Bellamy places her hand on her large pregnant belly and leans back in her chair. “What can we do to help?”
Althea points a stern finger at Bellamy. “You are to keep off your feet. You’re growing twins and are scheduled to deliver them in two and a half months.”
Bellamy’s lips twist. She hates being sidelined because of her pregnancy, but it is what it is.
Currently, they don’t have a nanny for the children.
After what happened with Charlotte two months ago, when she kidnapped and attempted to kill Bellamy, they’re extremely trigger-shy about hiring anyone else.
Bellamy is already spent, and Emily and Althea have been helping as much as they can with the children, but now it seems they’re down another set of hands.
That’s going to be a problem, and everyone in here knows it.
“I don’t see how I’ll be able to do that,” Bellamy admits, and Sebastian scowls.
“We should work on hiring a new nanny.”
Bellamy’s eyes close, and she releases a heavy breath. “I…no. Not right now.”
Sebastian rests his hand on her belly. “We’re going to have to figure something out. The twins will be born before you know it.”
“Sebastian…”
“I know.” He leans over and kisses her hand. “It’s not what I want either, but you’re already struggling to keep up with Zayer and Sabrina.”
Bellamy’s eyes open, and once again, she’s resolute. “We’ll discuss this later. Let’s figure out how to help Emily first.”
“Emily has been reviewing current employees’ performance and considering who she’ll appoint to oversee the staff and take on the main family responsibilities.”
“Does she have any candidates in mind?” I ask, shifting my eggs around on my plate. “There was that one woman—”
“That narrows it down,” Bellamy teases.
I chuck a tear of my toast at her. “You didn’t let me finish.”
“What was her name then?” she challenges.
“If I could remember, I would have used it.”
“So sad to be so quickly forgotten by the dashing Prince Rowan.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Har, har.”
Althea is unimpressed. “Honestly. These are the people living and working in your palace. You’d think you’d at least know their names. And you better not have done anything—”
“I’m going to cut you off there, Aunt,” I say, my tone serious. “I’ve never done anything with one of our incredible staff.”
Bellamy holds up a hand. “All that aside, we should meet with Emily to discuss this together. All of us. If this person is to take over for Emily, that means they’ll be in our private quarters.”
Althea lifts her mug to her lips and takes a sip of coffee.
“I agree, and Emily isn’t taking this lightly or without serious consideration.
There are four people she’s narrowed it down to.
One works on the family side but has never managed others and isn’t always thorough, and one works on the kitchen side, so they have never done much in the residences, and two are guest services attendants. ”
That’s a fancy term for the person who takes care of the guest quarters as well as the guests themselves.
Somewhat like a concierge service combined with housekeeping responsibilities.
This is the largest palace in our country and has over seventy-five guest rooms alone, and none of those include the family’s primary quarters, which are located on the other side of the palace.
“And they’ve gone through the necessary background checks?”
Sebastian gets a raised eyebrow. “Of course, they have. They’re working in the palace. Javier was diligent.”
Sebastian and I exchange glances. Javier has doubled down on background checks after what happened with Charlotte and after my Ella broke into the wedding.
Anyone who’s been hired since the wedding hasn’t only had background checks.
They’ve also had full family reviews and extensive rounds of interviews.
I give him a shrug. If they’re good enough for Emily and Javier, that’s good enough for me, but I don’t have a wife who’s pregnant with my twins and three other children.
Nor am I the king. I do think the Charlotte situation was an anomaly, and there was no way to know what her ulterior motive was or who her mother was, no matter how much digging we could have done.
He swivels back to Althea. “Yes. I think we’d like to discuss the candidates with Emily and meet with them. Just to make sure things continue as smoothly and seamlessly as they do with Emily in charge.”
“And what about what Emily needs from us?” Bellamy persists. “A hip replacement is no small thing. Will she be rehabbing here at the palace or elsewhere?”
“Here at the palace,” Sebastian insists before Althea can reply. “We’ll turn a ballroom or parlor on the main level into her temporary quarters. That way, she won’t have to bother with stairs.”
Bellamy touches his cheek. “I love that idea. I agree that if she’s comfortable, she should rehab here. Obviously, Sebastian will get her whatever she needs.”
He chuckles and leans over to kiss her lips. “Sweetness, you continue to forget that you’re the queen and can make that decree yourself.”
“Fine,” she concedes. “Whatever Emily needs to stay here at the palace with Javier and be comfortable, we’ll provide. So let it be written, so let it be done.”
I choke out a laugh. “Who are you? Yul Brynner as Ramses?”
She shrugs and returns to her eggs, shovels a bite into her mouth and talks through it. “Something like that. It always sounded so good when he said it. Plus he was sexy.”
Sebastian tickles her side, making her laugh, and it’s the best sound in the world.
Since the kidnapping, Bellamy has struggled.
It’s been a rough seven and a half months for her.
First Samil nearly killed her, then her father died, and after that, the woman they hired to care for the children betrayed them and tried to kill Bellamy.
Honestly, I don’t know how she gets out of bed most days. I give her so much credit. She’s stubbornly strong. Both for herself and the children, and she’s brought that strength to all of us.
That said, sadness lingers in her eyes, and she has horrific night terrors. Screams that pierce the air and make your bones chill over. I can hear from down the hall. I want her to find peace again, and I know Sebastian is desperate for that.
No one has mentioned the curse since she came home, but I’d be lying if I said we all weren’t still feeling its weight on our shoulders. After almost losing Bellamy more than once, Sebastian is adamant about not letting it affect him, and for the most part, he’s succeeding.
We thought it was broken, only it seems like it’s just warming up, preparing for its next act.
I’m not sure how much more we can take. It’s been keeping all of us up at night.
I’m determined to change all our fates. It’s not just Sebastian and Bellamy.
It’s Phaedra, Sabrina, Zayer, and the twins too.
What Bellamy doesn’t know is that Sebastian and Javier brought in a dozen extra guards to the palace and installed more cameras. He’s terrified about when the twins are born. About other dangers creeping out of the darkness.
I never believed in the curse. Not once. Not even when our father died when I was a boy or Nora went down in the helicopter. But these last months have challenged that belief. Something is coming for us, and unless we can stop it, it won’t relent until it wins.
I don’t have it in me to leave. I have a residence down on the Messalinian coast, not to mention my yacht, but I can’t make myself go.
I have to be here. It’s my job to fix this.
I can’t explain it. It’s a gut instinct.
I have to see Bellamy deliver the twins safely. I have to ensure that my brother, my nieces, and my nephew are okay. There are already too many variables hanging over our heads, and until I can locate Marie Elonaise and put her behind bars along with her daughter, Charlotte, I won’t rest.
I haven’t since the night Desta was taken, and our father was murdered. I’ll never forgive myself for what happened. I didn’t go into Desta’s room with my father. I never woke up my mother. I never alerted the guards.
So many costly mistakes, and our family hasn’t been right since.
None of us has been. I have no sisters. Desta is gone, and Brea is fragile, living in a place I don’t even know about.
I’ve never even had contact with her. She was sick as a new baby, and we weren’t allowed anywhere near her, and that was it.
Our mother is cold and distant, locked in a grief so thick it’s cost her everything and hardened her soul.
We haven’t spoken to her since she came here several months back and lied to us about who stole Desta and killed our father.
She said everything she did was to save our family and avoid scandal, but at what cost? Plus, she doesn’t approve of Bellamy, so there’s that.
“Excellent.” Althea taps her iPad a few times, drawing me out of my reverie. “Now that that’s taken care of, there is a summer festival in Tourin.”
“No,” Sebastian cuts in sharply. “Absolutely not.”
Bellamy is finding it impossible to contain her smile.