Chapter 30

Laurel left the wedding disappointed, but not surprised. Instead, she was full of fury and barely kept her pace and stride as dignified as possible, but when her door closed behind her, she screamed in anger.

She should have never accepted Adolph's invitation. If she wanted to repay his favor, she could have chosen to do something else! She'd fallen for his charm and rhetoric.

"Never again," she hissed and flopped on the couch in her suite.

She wanted to be just angry, but her mind turned towards Sam and Sarah and she smiled. It hadn't been great for her, but with any luck, Sam and Sarah were out celebrating with the rest of the city and becoming closer.

The next day Sarah returned in a better mood than Laurel had ever seen her. She hummed a song as she straightened things up and practically skipped around the room.

"Good Morning," Laurel greeted, lounging on her couch. "You seem happy?"

"Oh, I had the greatest time!" Sarah said with a little spin as set out breakfast on the table and turned with the metal serving tray in her hand. Her eyes were wide and dreamy like a young girl in love. "The music and the food were so great. And the wine-"

"What about Sam?"

Sarah dropped the metal tray as her face turned bright red. The tray clanged on the ground and rolled, ringing out in the silence of the room. Laurel smirked, amused by how Sarah stared at her and how red she was. It seemed that she and Sam had a great time.

"Was the festival fun or was it the Sam that was fun?"

"Don't make fun of me, Miss Laurel!" She cried. Laurel chuckled as Sarah bent over and grabbed the tray and pouted at her petulantly. "How about you? How about the wedding in the castle? Wasn't it much more interesting being on the arm of His Majesty?"

Laurel sighed, "Not at all."

"But didn't you at least dance?"

"I'd rather have gone with you to the celebration outside the castle to have some fun."

Sarah frowned at Laurel's tone, but she didn't press for an explanation. For a moment, Laurel felt bad about dampening her mood, then Sarah perked up and grinned madly at her.

"So you want to leave the castle with me? The celebration is supposed to last for three days"

Laurel sat up, grinning at her, "Really?"

Sarah nodded and Laurel jumped up and rushed to her closet to change into a light dress and comfortable shoes to walk in. She didn't have much, but her plain dress was good enough to go out among the common people. Once she was dressed, she grabbed Sarah's hand and hurried out the door, grateful and overjoyed at the chance to have some real fun. Sam was outside waiting for them.

"Where's Lynn?"

Sam gasped in mock offense, "You like him more than me?"

Sarah giggled and Laurel shook her head at his boyish grin.

"Really?"

"Lynn found his mate last night," Sam said with a shy glance at Sarah. "He's with her."

"That's great!" Laurel said. "I want to enjoy the rest of the festivities. Will you escort us?"

"Of course," Sam said and led them out of the castle. As soon as they reached the city, Laurel couldn't decide what she wanted to do first. She bounced between stalls, danced among the musicians on the streets, played tag with the children, and gave herself over to the festive mood without worry.

Sam and Sarah seemed happy to play along, trailing along behind her at times and joining her at others. They had a great time, ate a lot of food, and bought some flowers though Laurel didn't know what they were for.

"What are they for?"

"For your hair, of course," Sarah said. "Here, I'll show you."

Sarah helped her braid the flowers in her hair in a lovely crown. Sam and Sarah settled down on a bench when a young man came up to Laurel and asked her to dance. Alice seemed resistant.

*He's not our mate.*

Laurel ignored her, taking the man's hand and dancing with him. They parted ways to enjoy the rest of the festivities. Her feet were aching by the time night began to fall, but she was beyond happy as she walked back to the castle with Sarah and Sam.

The sun was sinking towards the horizon, coloring the city with red, yellow, and orange light. Sam stopped at the entrance to the guest suites with a bow.

"I have to go report. Please have a pleasant evening."

"We will," Sarah said. "Thank you, Sam."

He smiled at her and left. They walked down the corridor towards Laurel's rooms with fruit and bread in their arms, still chatting about everything they'd done that day.

She stopped, hearing a voice nearby. It was Gavin's voice, she was sure of it though she couldn't make out the words. Another person, a man, was speaking with him, but she was sure the man wasn't Basil. Something was suspicious about it, and she was curious.

"Miss Laurel?"

Gavin had a lot of power in the kingdom, especially over Basil. She hadn't ever put him on the list of people who could have orchestrated or outright murdered her in her past life, but he should be on the list. The man never liked her. She remembered the pleased look on his face when Laura was being thrown out of the palace.

He viewed her as an obstacle.

Then, she thought of Gavin's insult the day before and her anger burned in her chest. As curious as she was, she huffed and kept walking towards her room, not wanting to ruin her mood.

"It's nothing, Sarah. I just thought I heard something."

They turned the corner leading to the suite she'd been living in only to see a sack come flying out of the doorway and crash into the wall.

"Hurry up!" Tina's voice cut through the air from ahead of them. Laurel stopped looking down the hallway where her room was. "Everything must go."

"What's going on?" Sarah asked as they got closer and they looked into the room.

The room was a mess. Maids were hurrying around emptying the drawers and boudoir of Laurel's things. A maid pulled a drawer out and upended it into a sack on the floor.

"Leave the jewelry. She probably stole it!" Tina yelled. "Throw everything else out!"

"Hurry up," Delia said, standing in the middle of the room overseeing everything with Tina at her side.

A maid threw a sack out the door and Laurel stepped forward, furious and blocking another maid from throwing anything else out.

"What are you doing? Those are my things!"

Tina scowled at her and snapped at another maid, "Mind your manners, girl. Do you know whom you're talking to?"

"I-"

"I am Tina, the head maid of this castle, and she is--"

Delia lifted her head with a haughty smile, "Prince Basil's wife, the *luna* of the kingdom!"

Laurel rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I know who you are, but you have no right to throw out my stuff!"

"Of course, we have the right!" Tina shrieked. "I don't know what means you used to leave that maid's room, but it's more of an honor than you deserve to be a maid of this castle."

"You-"

"I never expected some girl from nowhere to dare to move into a guest's room without my permission, but I reported it immediately, and I plan to take care of it." Tina glared at her, grabbing Laurel's arm and trying to throw her down. "You vile thing. Out of the way!"

Laurel pushed her off with a growl, "Don't touch me!"

Sarah rushed forward, dropping the fruit and bread in her hands, "Miss Laurel!"

Tina's eyes bulged with fury and she flushed. Her shoulders tensed, "I heard what His Majesty said at the wedding. A soldier's *daughter*, right? To have such *gall*! Disobeying me and shamelessly seducing the king! You vile wretch!"

"Don't get so upset," Delia said, taking Tina by the shoulders as Laurel looked at the woman as if she were crazy. "We're dealing with this right now, aren't we?"

"Dealing with what?" Laurel hissed.

Sarah stepped closer to Laurel, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Tina straightened up and seemed to calm, "You are right, luna. How wise you are."

Delia turned and glared at her. The sneer on her face sent a tremor of remembrance through Laurel and for a moment she was standing outside the grand hall and it was Basil sneering at her.

She should say something, mention Adolph, argue, or something, but she couldn't think of anything but that night.

"Miss Laurel was moved into this-"

"I am luna and I have the right to do whatever I want," Delia yelled. "I will not tolerate the presence of someone as rude as you! Now, get out of my castle!"