Chapter 4. And I Will Protect You (2)

[2019, March 4th]

As James stared at the monitor, looking at the title millions had read by now, scrutinizing the photograph every noble in Terres Somnia had no doubt gawked at hours earlier when the news broke, James Beaumont felt his heart break one more time. It was a familiar thing; he almost didn’t feel it anymore. Or maybe he deceived himself into thinking so. He did not know.

He knew only what he saw. He would know her anywhere. Caught in a compromising, passionate, crude kiss with her arms wrapped around the engaged Prince Aaron. It was night-time, his body and dishevelled clothes covered hers and the lighting in the elevator was somehow poor. This was the probable reason that the writer of the article had assumed that Emily was Aaron’s fiancée, Lady Zoey Arden.

Both women being blonde and it having been a masquerade ball, it wasn’t such a stretch. Besides, who could’ve imagined that they would do something so stupid in public at his engagement party?

He understood all too well what would happen now. The House of Arden and the House of Condor were on poor terms as it was. The House of Arden must know about the prince’s betrayal by now, or soon would. It would be all about reaction and politics and the dormant feud flaring back up between the two houses. And they were both King Henry and The Duke of Arden, merciless men.

It seemed Terres Somnia’s darkest hour had come after all and there might be war. How could Aaron be this reckless? Couldn’t he at least have been discreet if he had to revert to a past hubris at such a crucial time? With one more sip of whiskey to wash down the heartache, James called for his car.

He had to leave before his father found him and tried to manipulate him. He had to buy some time to think. He knew about the scandal that had resulted in Aaron’s fiancée being born the bastard child of Duke Arden. Having himself been labelled a bastard on occasion, he found himself thinking of the girl from small town Rosa, who would not be treated kindly.

He remembered how he’d spent his childhood being hidden away by his parents, only to have to go on the run five years ago when The King’s Guard came after him and his mother. He had only recently again emerged into noble society and that too, not as his father’s son, but rather as the infamous, much talked about, duke of Copia.

With his grandfather Duke Byron’s death, James came back under his mother’s maiden name, hoping it would go unnoticed as he risked his now peaceful life to do so. He had done this for Emily. She who had long held his heart. Had he then not enough of hers to prevent this?

She claimed to always love him, but things were always somewhat up in the air with her and Aaron. Still, he had let go of his reservations. He had done so for her, she who had now done the one thing that James did not tolerate. She had betrayed him.

As he drove down the quiet streets of the country, who would so hate him if they knew of him, he thought about her again. This girl whose golden locks smelled of her innocence, her purity. He first laid eyes on her at CC’s last birthday ball. And though he was spoken for, he was only a man. There was no denying her beauty.

James had attended the ball to see if he might mix with the crowd without being recognized and to claim his new title publicly. He was all nerves that day when Aaron came to him. Aaron had been a noble brother, making no effort to oust him and instead welcoming him and accepting him as of his party. They went around the room shoulder to shoulder, Aaron quietly mocking the nobles and parting information on who was who as he introduced them all to the Duke of the House of Beaumont.

Aaron smiled then at a lady with locked hands who seemed to be looking for him. She had somehow escaped the boring nobles and, sensing that this was a rare opportunity, Aaron ditched James without a word. James watched with interest as they locked hands and took off. He thought for sure it would fizzle out in time. Having grown up with Aaron and knowing his affinity for beautiful women was something of an Achilles heel. They had stolen away from the ballroom and out onto the terrace and she was smiling as she tied back his long, dishevelled hair.

As time went on and James spent more time catching up with Aaron, it became evident that Aaron did, in fact, intend to marry her after all. And though it was hardly usual for Aaron to take orders, he seemed so much taken with her that James was certain he had let go of his attachment to Emily. How could he have been so wrong? How could he have made plans for his whole life based on Aaron’s word, which had all their lives been unreliable? Her eyes, her big, round, bright, sparkling hazel eyes lit up by her smile, would not leave him.

Then suddenly, they were before him again. Her big, hazel eyes were staring out the window of a car in the lane next to his. They were filled with tears, shock, and devastation. They looked as he felt. He knew he had to save himself somehow, but the urge to protect was stronger as he looked upon her.

It was like looking in a mirror. In a moment, he went mad. It was instinct; it was primal. It made absolutely no sense. Being in the public eye would wreck his mother. He didn’t need to be part of this war. He could simply disappear again. Yes, it made absolutely no sense, and it absolutely had to be done. He had to stop hiding and help her.

James told himself he was out of his mind as he cut the other car off on the quiet streets of Caines. Zoey started. Bart glared and even bared his teeth in a low, threatening growl.

And if James hadn’t had the night he’d had, seen the things he’d seen, he might’ve turned back and gone home to pack. But he had seen. He had been betrayed, and he had laid eyes on her again. Those innocent eyes that would haunt him forever if he didn’t get out of the car right then and there.

He meant to be thinking of Emily, he really did, but Emily’s face now brought him pain. Was it really so terrible that the girl in front of him quieted the dull ache in his heart?

Cautious not to make any sudden moves, he got out of the car and raised his hands in the air as if in surrender.

“Move, Beaumont!” Bart yelled, sticking his head out of the window.

The words may as well not have been said, because he was looking at her and only her. This time she looked back, too.

It was only a moment, but that’s all it took for Zoey’s body to heat up. She’d been feeling cold up to just a moment ago, numbed by the image of Aaron kissing another woman. More than kissing. It was evident that they meant to do so much more. But those greener than green eyes drew her in until there was nothing but him. His pain, his anguish. They were all so familiar. It comforted her. So seldom had she felt comforted in her life that she dared not look away.

At last, James found he could speak after all. Bartholomew, being privy to the details of James’ upbringing, was undoubtedly justified in being suspicious of him. His mouth moved on its own. He had said it before he even formed the thought.

“I wish to speak to the lady, if she will allow it,” said James.

“This is neither the time nor the place, Beaumont. The lady—”

“Will speak with you,” she breathed, almost too softly to be heard.

But James heard. He heard every sound that she made, so focused was he on her. Bart drew his fingers through his hair as he contemplated what to do. He gave her a look before he got out of the car and went over to her side of the car to open her door.

“Five minutes,” Bart said to James as he watched her walk over to James’ car.

Bart turned his head, then to his sister.

“I will be right here,” he promised, folding his arms and leaning against the hood of his car.

She gave him a smile and nodded. Zoey didn’t know why James wanted to talk to her. She barely knew him. All she knew about James Beaumont was that he seemed to be shrouded in mystery. As she got into his car, she was reminded of who she was talking to.

It wasn’t that they were practically strangers that unsettled her. It was how familiar he continued to seem in spite of it. This thought nagged at her.

She had seen him in passing a few times and even talked to him, but she wouldn’t say that they knew each other. So why did he want to talk to her?

“What is it you wish to discuss?” she asked plainly.

It sneaked up on her, but perhaps she had made a poor decision agreeing to speak with him after all. The familiar feeling had begun to be almost painful.

What was James doing? Even he didn’t entirely know. This was new for him. James Beaumont knew which companies he wanted to do business with. James Beaumont knew instinctively what clothes he would buy when he walked into a store. He knew how to solve a problem before it had even been reported to him. What he didn’t know was what he was doing in a car with Aaron’s fiancée, especially on a night like tonight, when they were both sure to be missed, sure to be looked for.

He watched her fidget, playing with her fingers and looking for all the world like she would burst back into tears at any moment. For the second time in his life and that night, James’ mouth worked faster than his brain.

“Marry me.”

The words came out, and he wished them unsaid the next moment. Her large, vulnerable hazel eyes grew even bigger.

“I’m sorry. What did you just say?”

Still the words came, as though without permission.

“Marry me tonight,” he said, “and I will protect you.”