Anastasia made a graceful hand gesture with her hand, beckoning for me to follow her so I pushed myself out of the chair.

Her purple dress flowed behind her, looking like a long wave of fabric swooping behind her.

"Please feel free to make yourself comfortable in our home," she said softly.

"Thank you," I replied. I was still a bit unsure of how to carry myself in her company, one part of me wanted to be relaxed as she exuded a welcoming air and the similarities between her and Taylor made me feel reassured. On the other hand, I was the feared strange creature that their son and heir of their family had sworn a binding magical oath to...

"Taylor's just out there," Anastasia gestured to the beautiful garden laying just outside the glass doors of the conservatory.

I walked into the conservatory, great white couches on each side of me hugged the walls of the glass structure. For a second, I felt like I was inside a giant greenhouse.

"Don't worry both the house and the garden is under magical protection. As long as you are here you'll be safe," Anastasia added. She had clearly interpreted my hesitation as fear.

I shot her a small smile over my shoulder before walking through the conservatory and out into the garden.

The giant magnolia tree was showing off its soft pink flowers, the huge petals looking like giant teardrops waving softly in the wind. My feet moved gently over the soft grass as I spotted a familiar frame at the far side of the garden. His back was facing me, his head bent down and I could see the corner of an old leathered bound book in his hand. He was sitting on a grey stone bench, settled under a cherry blossom tree.

"Hi," I started.

He turned, his eyes instantly worried as the book fell out of his grasp.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he quickly closed the gap between us, searching my face for any sign of distress.

"Yes, I'm fine," I replied, grabbing a hold of his lower arm and leading him back to the bench.

He sat down, still looking slightly confused at seeing me here. I grabbed the old book from the floor, the edges of it s wavy old pages brushed against my finger tips as I closed it and handed it back to him.

"Things have changed," he started.

"I know the king is dead," I filled in.

"How?" his eyes were showing a worry similar to the one that I had fleetingly spotted in Lucas' earlier. Why is everyone so worried about this? It's not like we haven't already been under threat constantly?

I shrugged my shoulders, "Lucas got attacked by Charlet men when I was with him."

"It's prime heir killing time right now. We have to be so careful before the matches have been announced," Taylor started, speaking almost as if he was thinking out loud.

I was just about to ask him about this whole 'matches' business when he interrupted me, "Did they see you? Do they know you're tethered?"

"Maybe. I had to use magic to get Lucas out of there. They had circles and he wasn't prepared."

"So he brought you here to keep you safe," Taylor summed up, a small trace of worry playing across his eyebrows.

I nodded gently, "But why would you assume that?"

Taylor shrugged his shoulders, "He knows you can't stay with him it would be too risky. It's in both of your interest for no warlock to fully understand how you are connected and how it can be used against you."

A phantom pain around my mark snaked across my shoulder blade as I listened to him.

I looked up at the sky, trying to grab hold of and formulate at least one of the thoughts that were storming around in my brain.

"If my tether to Lucas is best kept secret. How come your Mother knows?" I kept my voice light and my eyes looked steadily but softly on him.

"If she and Dad didn't know, they might send some of our men to kill him. We're in competition for the throne after all," he said matter of fact tone.

I felt a coldness seep in through my bones. Anastasia and Jasper they are so sweet. How could they do something like that?

"It's the way our world works Cara," he grabbed my hand as if he could read my mind.

"I don't like the way things are but at least I'm being realistic and doing what I can to keep you safe."

I nodded my head, "I know you don't want to be king. Can't you just tell them?"

Taylor shook his head softly, "It doesn't matter anymore Cara. Because I have sworn my oath to you, technically I can't become king anyway."

He smiled at his statement, as if he had discovered a clever loophole out of his predicament. The obvious flaw in that statement hung between us, unspoken in the air.

"Come on, let's go find you a room."

~*~

The sunshine forced my eyes to open and instantly I felt disoriented. My mind started questioning why I was in this huge, fancy, unfamiliar room before all of the events from yesterday came crashing back into my mind. I crawled out the bed, the white bed linen were so crisp and inviting I could have easily fallen back asleep. I had a lump in my stomach as I looked around the room, high ceilings, beautiful furniture and polished wood floors. My eyes focused on my handbag, my arms pulling up the long sleeves on my borrowed pyjamas. My hands slipped into the bad and closed around my phone. I looked down and spotted a text from Matthew.

"Hey. How's everything with you?" He was far too polite to text and ask why I hadn't come home yesterday but I knew he would have noticed.

"I've got a job in west London for the next couple of days, so I'm staying at Lucas' place. I thought I mentioned it? Have a good day at work."

I bit my lip as I pressed send, given that Matthew thought Lucas was my boyfriend it seemed like a plausible lie. Surely the threat will die down in a day or so and I can get back home? A knock on the door brought me back to reality.

"Yes?"

Taylor poked his head around the door, "You up?"

He walked in and sat down on the bed and I dropped my phone back in the bag.

"Matthew?" he raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.

I nodded my head and sat down on the bed next to him.

"Yeah, I told him I was staying at Lucas' for a couple of days."

Taylor twitched slightly but smiled gently, "That's probably a good idea. I assume he thinks Lucas is your boyfriend?"

"I didn't come up with it, he did. I just went along with it because otherwise how would I explain him always hanging around me?" I felt the words stream out quickly, as I felt a surprisingly strong need to defended myself.

Taylor nodded gently, "Anyways, I came to see what you need from your flat? We're having some of our men go over and get it when Matthew's at work."

I flinched, "Why can't you go?"

He sighed, "Cara, we are on lock down. Until the matches have been announced there is no going anywhere for any of us."

"So we're just supposed to wait here?"

He sighed again, clearly finding staying idle painful, "Yes basically. We have one formal engagement before the matches are announced."

I raised my eyebrows, encouraging him to continue.

"We have to go to the funeral of the king."

"You must be kidding? All everyone has done is waiting and praying for him to die?"

Taylor shrugged his shoulder, "Given that you're stuck here and the royal court thinks you're my girlfriend, you are going to get a guided tour to what happens when a king dies."

"You don't mean that...?"

He smiled at my surprise, "Yes, you're going to have to go to the funeral with me."

~*~

My fingertips wandered across the lace on the black dress that Anastasia had brought me. There hadn't been time yet for the Grimstaw warriors to get to my flat yet. But let's be honest, it wasn't like I had anything appropriate to wear for a warlock king's funeral. I lifted the dress up and slipped it on, the inner layer of silk smoothly caressing my skin as it fell into place. I felt a nervous flutter go through my stomach, I didn't want to go but I knew I had to. If Taylor was seen without his 'girlfriend' people would start wondering. The Grimstaws had already done so much for me, I had to help them keep up appearances.

I looked at myself in the mirror, the black dress had a slip dress underneath but exposed the bare skin of my chest and arms through a thin layer of black lace. I turned my gaze away from the mirror as I heard the door open.

"Hello," Anastasia's soft voice carried into the room.

"Hi," I replied. "Thank you for lending me a dress."

"Don't worry about it."

She was wearing a long sleeved black dress with intricate purple embroidery, the colour of the purple threads were so dark I could only make out the patterns when the dress caught the sun from the window. She walked over to me, grabbing the heavily gilded handle of a hairbrush.

"Do you mind?" she asked softly.

"Of course not," I agreed, slightly unsure if it was a sign of her caring nature of if it was a subtle insult.

Her fingers moved through my thick red hair, creating a section and starting to brush through it.

"Your hair looks wonderful. I just thought I would help you with the hair style which is customary for funerals."

My eyes met hers in the mirror before fixating on the elaborate up-do of curls piled at the top of her head. Just one glance at it confirmed I would never be able to do something like that. Her hands moved quickly through my hair and she pulled a small bag of pins out of the pocket of her dress. I found myself standing, holding the bag up towards my shoulder so she could reach it. In the silence that filled the room, all I could think about was how nervous I was.

As if Anastasia could sense it she started, "We've told everyone that you and Taylor are a couple. It gives you a high status which means most warlocks will stay out of your way."

I nodded gently, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

"But there will be those in the royal familes who will be curious of you. We have told them that you met in New York and moved over here before Taylor to make arrangements for your apartment. That a friend of yours told you that the Mathlow boy might have an apartment up for sale."

I nodded, "So the reason I was with Lucas was to buy an apartment?"

Her fingers twisted a small section of my hair before circling it around the up-do and pinning the end of it.

"Yes, we had to come up with a plausible reason for why the stupid Brownlow girl spotted you with him."

I nodded again.

As her hands continued to work on my hair in quick flowing motions, so did her words, "The royal court can't see that you know Mathlow too well. That would be suspicious and it could also cause for speculation especially as you are so strongly linked to our family. So my advice would be for you to keep your distance."

I nodded again, taking in what she had said. It made sense but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to it.

"You don't like him very much do you?" My eyes were locked on her facial expressions, ready to judge the slightest movement.

"That is true. I don't."

I couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

She sighed, "I know that boy. He is always trying to make his parents proud. They want him to be king and if he is anything like his father is, he won't be a very good one."

I fell into silence, trying to take in what she had said. Her hands had made speedy work with my hair and she stepped back giving me a moment to admire her work.

"It's beautiful," I smiled.

Her hands returned to her pocket, this time pulling out a silver locket. Before I had a chance to react, she had placed it around my neck. My fingers touched the cool silver and I admired the lion head on it. Its wild mane transforming to purple ropes twisting into a circle that framed the majestic animals head.

"It's beautiful," I repeated again.

"It's our family crest. It would be strange for you to not wear something connecting you to us."

I smiled again, looking down at the beautiful necklace when a memory flashed through me as cold shiver. I could see the Charlet family crest in front of me, the flower that had snakes crawling out from it. The coldness moved through my body. If Aaron becomes king I'll die. But something within me was tugging at me, asking the most obvious question of all... Who would make a good king? Lucas? Taylor?

Author's Note: I bet Cara did not think she'd ever have to go to a warlock king's funeral! What was your favourite part/sentence of this chapter? Please let me know in the comments below.

If you press the star to vote - you'll forever be a star in my eyes <3