“Then it appears that fate has smiled down upon us again.” Theo smiled back at her, stroking hair from her beautiful face. The cheering of the crowd was beginning to fade but he barely noticed until he heard the sound of wheels churning on the gravel road behind them.
The noise of the crowd died entirely as the wheels became silent and a moment later the sound of arguing began behind Theo. He dreaded to look but the moment he did, he found two servants, a male and female, awkwardly trying to barge their way through the crowd. Behind them, walking gracefully as if there was no commotion going on in front of her, was Delilah.
It wasn’t until she saw Fleur wrapped in Theo’s arms that her radiant smile became a sneer of disgust.
“I didn’t believe that even you could be so openly humiliating!” she snarled, glaring at them both. She then focused her gaze entirely on Fleur. “How can you possibly call yourself a friend after such a betrayal?”
Theo felt Fleur untangling herself from his arms and reluctantly he allowed her to go. His entire body tensed and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from saying a word as his now bride-to-be moved to stand before Delilah.
She appeared calm and regal as she stated, “Delilah, I never meant for any of this to happen but there is one reason I am glad that it did. If it had never happened I would never have learned that you never really saw me as a friend.”
There was sadness in her tone and Theo wanted to go to her, to comfort her, but he was sure she would not appreciate it.
This is something she must do alone.
Delilah opened her mouth as if to protest but Fleur continued, “If you had been my friend you would have understood that what happened between the king and me was accidental and you would not have treated me as if I had done something criminal.”
Delilah seemed to whisper something under her breath but Theo didn’t quite catch what it was. Unable to hold himself back any longer, he stepped forward and added, “If you had been a friend to either of us, you would not have tried to send her away.”
She glared from one to the other and back again before beginning to shake her head.
“You will regret this,” she stated. “I will be sure that you both regret this.”
“Delilah, has nobody ever warned you not to threaten royalty?” Theo smiled at her though his eyes glared a warning.
“Royalty? There is nothing royal about her!” Delilah threw the words as an insult and Theo gestured with a single wave of his hand to the guards who had barged their way through the crowd at the first sign of danger to their king.
“Please have Lady Delilah and her servants escorted onto the next ship bound for the mainland,” Theo ordered them even as they began to surround Delilah and her servants, forcing them away from him. He then turned to Delilah and added, “Be grateful I don’t send you to the Mystic Isle instead.”
Delilah at least had the good sense to look worried at the mention of the isle that had become a prison for all the criminals in the kingdoms.
Theo was relieved when, with a little coaxing from the guards, she began to make her way to the nearest ship.
The male and female servant who had been following her paused only to say goodbye to Fleur before they began to follow their mistress. The crowd parted to let them through before closing around the newly engaged couple again.
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him made Theo look around. He barely recognized the man Fleur had been talking to now that he had found his feet. He still looked uncertain of himself, wringing his hat in his hands with his head bowed respectfully.
"Pardon me, My Lord, but may I ask, does this mean that everything will be going back to normal?"
Normal? What even is normal nowadays? Theo asked himself.
When he remained silent, the man who could only be a ship worker added, "What I mean to say is, can we start sailing again?"
Theo couldn't help but smile at the overly respectful attitude of the man and he began to nod.
Then he turned and lifted his head, raising his voice to address the entire audience. "The docks are back open for business! You are all free to return to sailing on one condition!"
The crowd glanced at each other, all murmuring what the king's one condition might be.
"What is it, my love?" Fleur asked for them as if she thought that nobody else would be brave enough to speak.
"You must all return by month's end!"
Murmurs rose again amongst the crowd and Theo saw several unnerved faces as if they were fearful of what might happen at the end of the month.
"Why month's end?" someone called from the back of the crowd.
"Yeah, what's happening then?" another added.