Chapter 23- Eighteen

(SAGE P.O.V)

After mother finished treating Duke Vernon wounds, Asiana and I helped her lift him up and placed his feet on the ground.

“What do we do now?”, I asked, looking at Asiana.

“We head to the villa, but we have to travel north”, she said.

“Shouldn't we be heading to the Henrico Clan territory?”, I asked, looking at my mother.

She shook her head, “For now we need to follow Asiana, it's too risky to travel that far. We don't know if the king sent bounty hunters after us”, she said.

I nodded and understood what she was saying.

“We have to hurry, It best to travel while its dark outside”, Asiana said.

Mother and I nodded.

“Can either one of you ride a horse?” Asiana asked, while looking towards the horses, “We can get there much faster if we take two of them”, she stated.

“Sage can ride with me”, mother said.

Asiana looked over at Duke Vernon, “Duke you can ride with me”, she said.

“No”, he said, and placed his hand on her shoulders, “You have to leave me here, the King is expecting me. I will pretend that I was ambushed on the way here by someone else”, he stated.

Mother and Asiana nodded their heads, and went to grab two of the horses. Mother climbed on top of the horse and reached her hand down to grab mine. She helped me climb up on top of the horse and I sat in behind her. Duke Vernon told us to hurry up and leave. We began to ride off without looking back at him.

We rode on the horse for approximately four hours, and took breaks in-between. We were far away from the palace, but still inside of the kingdom. We took a short break so we could let the horses rest for a bit. We were still inside of the vast forest.

“Where are we?”, I asked, looking at Asiana.

“We should be in the Northern part of the kingdom”, she replied back.

I still didn't know much about the kingdom, so I just nodded my head to her.

“How big is the kingdom?”I asked.

“This whole country is the kingdom, but it's broken up in sections, their nobles who own land, towns, and cities within the kingdom. The royal family and the palace sits in the center of the kingdom, we called the Central part of the kingdom.”, mother answered.

“Whoa”, I said, while being amazed, “And father was the Crown Prince?”, I asked.

“Yes, he was going to become the King, until Prince Marshall framed him of killing Queen Lily, she was Prince Marshall's mother.”, mother said, while looking directly at me.

“How did he find out about you and father?”, I asked, curiously.

Mother took a moment to respond and placed her hand on top of my head.

“ After, I found out I was pregnant, your father wanted me to move into his palace, but I refused”, she said.

“Why?”, I asked.

“Because of your grandfather”, she stated, “Honestly, I was a little skeptical and concerned that he would kill your father”, she said.

After seeing how grandfather acts, I could understand why she felt that way.

“After that, Prince Marshall ended up finding out, he had paid some spies to monitor your father.”, she stated

I wanted to ask her something, but I wasn't sure if I should make her remember the trauma.

“Let's get ready to move”, Asiana said.

“Sylvester should be at the villa waiting”, she said.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

We climbed back onto the horses and traveled for two hours. We arrived in front of a villa that was massive. It made grandfather's mansion look small in comparison.

“Whoa, who lives here?”, I asked, it was very breathtaking.

“Sylvester's brother, this is his private villa”, she said.

After she approached the gate, we heard a voice on the intercom. It was deep and soothing and had the same accent as Sylvester, but I could tell is wasn't him.

The gate started to open and I saw two men coming out of the front door, with two maids following behind. I noticed Sylvester and he saw him waving his hand in our direction. The man walking next to him, was much taller, muscular with short wavy hair, with light brownish skin tone. He was dressed in a black suit, and had on black dress shoes. As he walked closer to where we were standing, I felt my heart throbbing.

“Welcome ladies”, Sylvester said, as he walked closer to us.

The man gestured for the maids to help us as he entered the villa.

“This is my brother's private villa, he doesn't allow guests here, so you two should be safe for now.”, Sylvester said, and started gesturing his hand towards the man next to him.

“This is my older brother Nashi Synovial, he's next in line to become the Duke”, he said.

Looking at the man, my heart continued to throb. I bowed my head and he bowed his head as well.

“Nice to meet you Princess Sage”, he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

“Princess”, I said. I was surprised.

He looked up and smiled, “You are Prince Moises daughter right, that makes you a princess, exiled or not. You're a princess by blood”, he said, and took a step back.

Mother stepped toward Sylvester and Nashi, “I'm sorry, on the way here I ended up attacking your father without knowing who he was”, she said and bowed her head.

Sylvester and Nashi looked at each other, and Sylvester placed his hand on my mother's shoulder.

“Don't worry, he only went to the palace as a formality, he absolutely hates the king and Prince Marshall, I'm sure he'll forgive you.”, he said and smiled.

“Now let's get you two settle into your rooms”, Nashi stated.

“I want to be in the same room with my mother”, I said.

They both nodded and we followed them up the stairs. We walked up to the second floor and the room was on the west wing of the villa.

Asiana went back downstairs with Sylvester to get herself checked out by the villa's doctor, and Nashi sent for another one to treat my mother and I.

After one of the maids bought us some clothes to change into, I went to take a bath.

“Do you need help bathing?”, one of the maids asked.

“I'm fine, thank you”, I said, refusing the help.

The maid bowed and then walked out of the room. I could hear her talking to another maid, “oh my God, she's so pretty, she looks exactly like Prince Moises”, she said.

I keep hearing that I look exactly like my father, at this point I wondered if I'll ever get the chance to meet him.

(ROSEMARY P.O.V)

I felt like I cried a river as I clinged onto my fathers chest. He continued to stroke my hair and held me closely. I pulled back from him and kept my head down for a second.

“I wished Sage was here”, I said and wanted to cry again.

He lifted my head up, “I promise we're going to do everything we can to find your sister and rescue your mother.”, he said.

I felt someone hand touch me on top of the head. I looked up and saw it was my grandfather.

“Let go of your father, you two need to get some rest. I'm sure your back is sore." He said. "We're doing everything we can to track down Brian, he's the only key we have to find Sage", he said.

I pulled away again and let go of my father's shirt, I could see how wet his shirt had become because of my tears.

“Lay down next to me, I'll tell you some stories about your mother”, my father said while stroking my hair.

I laid down next to him and he sat back and got a little comfortable. I heard grandfather and Na'mah whispering to eachother and I heard them leave out of the room.

“We're going to give you two some privacy”, Peyton said, and left the room as well.

I looked up towards my father, and he showed the brightest smile.

“Hmm, where should I start?”he said, holding his hand up to his beard.

“Peyton said you and mother met at a party”, I said.

Father started to chuckle, “Your mother was so awkward, I could tell it was her first time at a palace ball. At first, I didn't notice that she was the one that knocked wine all over me until I saw her in my office changing her clothes. I secretly watched her change into a gown." He said.

“What a perv”, I said, while laughing.

Father laughed as well and continued talking. “She was gorgeous when I saw her walk into the ball in her lace gown. I had to hurry and ask her for a dance before any other man could approached her. When I approached her, she was so mean. She told me to find someone else, but I was stubborn. After finally winning her over she agreed to dance with me. We danced for a few minutes and got to know each other's name, but as soon as the music stopped. Your mother ran away from me. After searching for a couple of weeks, I realized she gave me the wrong name." he stated while laughing again.

I was intrigued, and wanted to know more, “How did you two ended up meeting again?”, I asked.

“The next time I met your mother, I woke up to her standing over me with a sword to my throat.”, he said and looked at me.

I was surprised for a second, “Holy shit, you were her target?”, I asked, I covered my mouth because I knew I was going to curse again.

Father laughed and I was so confused.

“I ended up twisting her arm causing her to lose her balance and fall over. I pinned her down on the bed.”, he said.

I covered my ears because I knew I wasn't going to want to hear the rest of the story.

“Don't tell me that was the day Sage and I were conceived”, I said feeling embarrassed.

He smirked, while looking directly at me.

“Ewwwwww, no more no more”, I said while burying my face into the pillow.

He started to laugh more and all of a sudden he started to cough. I raised my head quickly and went to check on him.

“I'm fine, it just been awhile since I laughed this hard”, he said, stroking my head to reassure me.

I heard the door to the room open up, and Peyton walked in.

“One of the guards found Brian's location”, she said, as she rushed into the room.

I pulled the covers off me and tempted to get out of the bed, the soreness in me caused me to move slower.

“You can't move yet”, Peyton said, reaching for me as I put my hands on the floor.

“I'm going to kill that bastard even if I have to crawl to do it”, I said, pulling my body off the bed.

“Rosemary get back in the bed”, I heard my father say.

I stopped trying to crawl and Peyton picked me up and placed me on the bed.

“Marianna”, father called out to her.

She dropped down to one knee and bowed her head, “Yes Prince Moises”, she said, in a respectful tone.

“Help me stand, I want to walk.”, father said.

Peyton stood up and walked around the bed. Father reached his arm out and Peyton lifted him up helping him get out of the bed.

“Where are you going dad?”I was curious to know.

“I need to regain my strength so I can help find your sister. " he said and looked at Peyton, “Take me Masiro,”

Peyton helped him walk out of the room.

“You stay in bed and rest, you need to recover”, Peyton said and they both left the room.

(SAGE P.O.V)

After my bath, I walked into the dressing room to change into my clothes. I saw a large mirror inside of the room and went to stand in front of it. I heard a knock on the door, and one of the maids walked in. She bowed her head, and made a gesture I wasn't familiar with.

“Please turn around and let me help you get dressed princess”, she said while turning my body, I was facing the mirror again. She helped me put on a dress, it was a pink laced mermaid gown with miniature diamonds going down the sides of the dress.

“Why am I wearing such an extraordinary dress”, I said looking at the transformation taking place.

“I was sent in me to help you put on this dress", the maid said. “Come and sit, I'll fix your hair”, she said, grabbing my hand.

I sat down in one of the dressing room chairs and looked into a smaller mirror. She started brushing my hair, putting some type of moisturizer in it and started to braid it. She placed the small little flowers inside of the braid and placed it onto my right shoulder. She reached for my hand, and helped me out of the chair, she guide me back to the large mirror once again.

After seeing myself in the mirror, I was stunned. I looked like a totally different person. She went to open the door and I walked out of the room. When I walked into the hallway, I saw Nashi Synovial standing in the hall.

“My lord”, the maid said as she bowed to him.

Nashi walked towards me and bowed, he grabbed my left hand and kissed it.

“Now you look like the princess you were meant to be, Happy 18th birthday Princess Sage, " he said.

And my mouth dropped.