Chapter 87- A Long night

(DUKE WINTER’S P.O.V)

I held on to the letter that Malaysia handed to me. I got up from the couch and walked over to the desk. I placed the letter in one of the desk drawers.

“How do you know that this is Macy Livens handwriting?”, I asked Malaysia.

Malaysia looked over at Hannah.

Hannah walked over to the desk and handed me two more envelopes. The envelopes looked old and when I opened the letter, I read it out loud. “Forgive me, your Majesty.”

I looked back at Malaysia.

“Father, I remember Macy's handwriting, from one of the documents she worked on, when she lived in the palace. It seems like she's been sending it to Lincoln for years. The drawer in his main office was filled with unopened envelopes”, Malaysia said,

I took a seat behind the desk and placed my right hand over my forehead.

“Lincoln is definitely hiding something”, I said and looked back at Malaysia after taking my hand off of my forehead.

Malaysia had a worried expression on her face. After all these years, I could tell she still loved that bastard.

I sighed, after seeing her expression.

“I'll have a meeting about this with Moises once he returns to the castle. Morgan should be here sometime tomorrow, since Lincoln put him in charge of the investigation involving the disappearances of the young common women. We can finally put the pressure on those bastards and charge them for their crimes”, I said and looked over at Hannah.

“Hannah, escort Malaysia to her room. I'll have Doctor William visit her in the morning”, I said.

A few seconds later, Malaysia and Hannah left the office and only Mary and I remained. I continued to sighed for a moment.

“Dear”, I heard Mary say.

I looked up at Mary and watched her as she walked over to the desk.

“Don't push yourself too hard, my dear.”, she said as she placed her hand on my right shoulder. “

“I'm going to find out what the hell that bastard is hiding one way or another.”, I said.

A second later, someone knocked on the door. The door opened and Jackson walked into the office.

“My lord, it's time to take your medicine”, Jackson said as he walked over to the desk.

After taking the medicine that Doctor William sent to me. I looked up at Jackson.

“Jackson, tomorrow afternoon, you're in charge of Sage's history class. I'm sure you and Hannah can teach her about the Vanuatu kingdom, and the King's side of the family. Since they will be attending the debutante and succession ceremony. By his family being a part of the aristocratic faction, they will become another pain in the ass for us” I said.

Jackson bowed his head, “As you wish, your grace”, he said and walked to the door and left the office.

I watched as Mary walked to the door. She turned around facing my direction.

“Are you coming to bed anytime soon?”, she asked.

“Not yet, my dear. It's going to be a long night. I need to finish up some paperwork before Sage takes over the Dukedom“, I said, once the delegation is over, she will learn how to manage the territories within the western region and some of the rest of the properties and businesses throughout the kingdom.”, I added.

(SAGE'S P.O.V)

After Peyton walked with me to my room, she kissed me on my forehead and waited until I entered the room before she walked away.

When I entered my room, I walked over to the bathroom and decided to take a shower. It was the only way I could instantly clear my head. While traveling back to the castle, the history book on the Vanuatu kingdom kept my mind off of the break-up between Nashi and I.

My only problem now is how to deal with my destined partner, Prince Antonio.

I stood under the water for a long time as I continued to think to myself.

“Sage”, I heard Rosie's voice calling out to me on the other side of the door.

“I'm almost done”, I yelled out.

A few minutes later, I got out of the shower and wrapped my robe around me and left the bathroom. I walked into the dressing room and changed into some pajamas. After changing, I walked over to the couch, where Rosie was sitting. I noticed a tray sitting on the small table in front of us.

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“Haley brought you something to eat”, Rosie said.

I sat down and started to eat the sandwiches that Haley had brought to the room. I felt Rosie staring at me.

“What is it?”, I asked.

“How was the conference?”, she replied.

I sighed, “Let's see, I got my first official duty from the king, to host a banquet for another kingdom's delegation that's coming in a few days.”, I said, while holding one of my fingers up. “That bastard Prince Marshall threatened to find out who helped mother and I escape the palace dungeon. Also, he threatened to kill father and everyone else, after meeting with me privately”, I added, while putting another finger up. “Ah, Nashi and I broke up and he's getting engaged to someone else”, I continued on saying, while looking directly at Rosie.

Rosie was quiet for a moment.

“Engaged to who?”Rosie asked. I looked at her with an appalling expression.

“Was that the only thing you heard?”, I asked.

Rosie shook her head, “I'm just curious, that's all”, she said while shrugging her shoulders. “You basically have a fiancé of your own, it's only fair that Nashi should move on”, she said.

I sighed again and Rosie leaned over and hugged me.

“Since Nashi won't be able to escort you for the debutante. Are you finally going to ask father to be your escort?”Rosie asked.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind, since that bastard of a Prince wants to threaten someone. I have a better idea of pissing him off.

I looked at Rosie after lifting my head off her right shoulder.

“No, I have a better idea”, I said, "I'll ask Duke Winter about his opinion before I decide”, I added while smirking.

“What are you planning?”, Rosie asked, while looking at me with suspicion.

“It's a surprise”, I said, while smirking.

Rosie raised one of her eyebrows as she looked at me. Without asking anything else, Rosemary suddenly changed the topic and told me about the conversation she and Queen Malaysia had before Duke Winter and I returned to the castle. Hearing that Rosie will join the Winter Knightage after her debutante. I knew that Rosie would enjoy climbing up the ranks within the knightage.

“We should get some rest, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow”, I said and got up from the couch and walked over to the bed. I looked over at the clock that was on the nightstand and saw that it was 11:00pm.

I looked back towards Rosie, as she walked towards the bed.

“Ah, I forgot to tell you, You're going to meet one of our relatives from Duchess Mary's side of the family in the morning. Her name is Lady Victoria, she's the same age as us. She'll be joining the debutante alongside some other young noblewomen who are debuting into high society.”, Rosie said.

Another relative, I thought. So much has changed over the past three months.

(NATALIE'S P.O.V)

While traveling through the forest on our way back to the castle. Josie and I decided to take a small break near the river to let the horses rest for a moment.

The moon was shining bright as we walked over to the river. We sat on the ground and stared at the flowing water.

“It's been a long time since we both sat next to a river together”, Josie said.

I chuckled as I remembered the memories we had during our missions.

“I know, we had some good times”, I said.

Josie placed her hand on my left shoulder.

“When Saul took over the squad in your absence, he still made sure all the newer members knew you were still the captain and he was only filling in until we found you.”, Josie said as I looked at her.

She suddenly smiled.

“Welcome back, Captain”, she said, while smiling.

I chuckled.

We sat in silence for a few minutes until we heard a commotion coming from the other side of the river, further inside of the forest. Josie and I looked at eachother.

We suddenly heard a loud scream and rose off of the ground. I looked around and noticed a trail of huge rocks leading to the other side of the river. Josie and I jumped from one rock to the next. Until we made it to the other side of the forest.

We both climbed up the trees and discreetly jumped from one to another until we reached the location where the commotion was coming from. I noticed smoke coming from a fire.

“You stupid bitch”, I heard someone shout and heard a loud smacking sound.

When I looked down from the trees, I saw three men and multiple women sitting in a carriage. One of the women was laying on the ground. The man must have slapped her and caused her to fall.

What the hell, I thought.

I watched as one of the men grabbed the woman who was laying on the ground.

“How dare you try to escape!”, the man shouted.

The man dragged the woman towards the carriage. He picked her up and threw her into the carriage.

I noticed as one of the men walked away from the carriage. I discreetly followed him as I jumped to the next tree that was above him. I watched as the man started to relieve himself. I dropped down from the tree, instantly snapping his neck before he could make a sound.

I remained on the ground and moved to the next tree over.

“Hey man, taking a leak doesn't take that long. We need to travel south before daylight”, one of the other men shouted.

I climbed the tree I was standing behind and noticed Josie was in the next tree over from me.

I gestured to Josie, since we both are trained to see in the dark. I could tell that she nodded her head to my gesture.

I looked towards the other two and noticed they were distracted. They were shouting at the women, Josie and I dropped down from the trees and rushed over. One of the men turned around as he heard us approaching.

“Who the fuck..”, the man was about to say before Josie rushed over and slit his throat.

The other man shouted and started to run away from the carriage. I ran after him and watched as he stumbled. When I caught him, I quickly subdued him. He swung his knife and it grazed across my right arm.

Shit, I hope it wasn't laced with poison, I thought.

Josie rushed over to where I was, while I kept the man down.

“Find something to bind him with. We're dragging his ass back to the castle.”, I said, looking at Josie.

After I incapacitated the man, Josie and I walked over to the carriage. My eyes widened when I saw the young women. There were five of them and they instantly started to cry, after seeing Josie and I.

“Let's take them to the castle with us”, I said, while facing Josie.

“Yeah, but how are we going to get the carriage to the other side of the river?” She asked.

Josie and I looked towards the young women after hearing a voice.

“There's a small bridge, up ahead. I heard one of the men say”, one of the young women said.

I looked over at Josie, “Let's find the bridge, we can connect our horses to the carriage once we made it back to the other side of the river”, I said.

After throwing the unconscious man into the carriage with the young women. Josie and I climbed onto the horses.

We rode for thirty minutes until we reached a small bridge that sat above the river. After crossing the bridge, it took another thirty minutes to travel back to the area where the castle horses were tied up.

When we made it back to the area, I noticed a presence following us. I looked over at Josie who was on full alert as she glanced around.

“Above”, she said, as she glanced upwards.

I nodded after she looked over at me.

When Josie and I climbed down from the horses and walked over to the horses from the castle.

Multiple people dressed in black clothing dropped down from the trees. Josie and I stood in a defensive stance as they dropped to the ground.

I heard the young women frightened voices as they noticed all the multiple people coming towards us.

“Easy there”, I heard a familiar voice.

A second later, the group split up and formed a line as they faced each other. Since the moon was shining brighter than ever. I could see the familiar body frame that was walking towards us.

“I was following them so I can find their secret location," he said as he walked up. “But it looks like you have a hostage instead, my dear sister in law,” he added.

“Prince Morgan”, I said as he walked up and stood in front of me.

When he looked towards the carriage, he gestured towards the people who were still standing a few meters away. They walked over to the carriage and Prince Morgan turned his head back in my direction.

“I'll have some of my knights bring them to the castle”, he said, “It'll be a long night, how about joining me in catching the rest of these bastards. After all, it's a lovely night for hunting”, he added.