Chapter 211
RYKER’S P.O.V
We were knocked out right after. I wasn’t sure if it was the intensity of it all or the blinding emotions but we fell right asleep. It felt good to not have her running away from me and to not feel like I was struggling to hold onto her. Everything about falling asleep with her felt familiar, the softness of her skin, how she felt against me and the warmth of her pressed into me. I slept better than I had in a long time.
I woke up feeling refreshed and better than I had in a while until I realized that Camilla wasn’t in bed with me. I sat up straight and looked around the room hoping she had just walked out of bed and into the bathroom but her scent was stale meaning she had been gone for a while. I didn’t want to panic, but I almost couldn’t help myself. This was the woman that I loved and she just left after having sex, there was a lot to panic over.
I forced my emotions into a tightly concealed container as I got dressed and left the room in search of her. The sun was set and I could tell that it was sometime around eight. I checked her office first but she wasn’t there. I started making my way outside to check the garden when I was interrupted by Juan.
“There you are,” he exhaled in relief as he rushed up to me. I was a bit annoyed that he had interrupted me but I forced myself not to react. “Audrey refuses to go to sleep until you come to tuck her in and she is keeping Aurora up as leverage. You need to handle your girls.‘
“I’m,” I hesitated before cursing. I couldn’t just leave the girls.
Juan was watching me with concern in his eyes. “Are you alright? Do you need me to do something for you? Is this about Camilla?”
“I think she might be in the garden,” I said simply not wanting to talk about whatever happened. “Can you go and get her? Audrey might want her there as well.”
I could tell that he wanted to know more but somehow, he knew better than to argue so he simply nodded and turned on his heels. I watched him walk away and it wasn’t until I was completely certain that he was going to find her that I finally made my way towards Audrey’s room, I was greeted by noise the moment I walked in but it immediately quieted down as soon as Audrey noticed me.
“There you are daddy,” she leaped to her feet in bed. She was wearing her favorite pink night dress. “Where is mummy? I thought she would come with you.”
“You should be asleep,” I chided ignoring her earlier question. “Why are you still up and why are you keeping Aurora up?”
I turned to Christine who was holding Aurora. I could tell my youngest was tired and so was Christine. She looked like she was half a second away from losing her sanity so I mouthed the word thank you to her and slowly took my daughter out of her arms. As soon as her arms were free, she walked out of the room without looking back.
“Lie down, Audrey, let me tuck you in,” I told her and although she pouted, she obliged and did as I asked. “Why did you want me to be here? Did you want me to tell you a story?”
She shook her head. “I just wanted to see you and mummy. Where is she?”
Before I could respond, the door opened and at first, I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that it was Camilla but instead, Juan poked his head inside. He gave me a small shake of his head and I saw the sad look in his eyes. I bit back a curse and just gave him a nod of acknowledgment. I turned back to Audrey who was looking at me hopefully and waiting for a response. I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t know where her mother was.
“Your mum is asleep, like you should be right now,” I lied as I placed a soft kiss on her head. “If you go to sleep right now then she will be here when you wake up. What do you think about that?”
“Do you promise?”
I never liked to make promises, I hated the feeling whenever I couldn’t fulfill them. It would have been stupid to make that kind of promise considering I didn’t know where Camilla was but I trusted that she wouldn’t run, my wolf knew she was somewhere within the palace and the truth was, I wasn’t going to let her get away from me again. I hooked my pinkie finger with Audrey’s and nodded.
“I promise,” I assured her and that was all she needed. She smiled wide and pulled her covers up to her chin. “Goodnight princess.”
“Goodnight daddy.”
I turned out the lights and carried a sleeping Aurora back to her room. Once I was sure that both my girls were asleep, I made my way back to Juan who had never left the hallway.
“She wasn’t there?” I asked and he shook his head. “Did you ask the guards? Perhaps one of them saw her or she was in a corner of the garden that you didn’t check. That is the only part of the palace that she knows.”
“She could be with Peggy or Marie,” he offered but somehow I knew she wasn’t there. Still, I couldn’t take it off the list until I was absolutely sure. “I will go to their rooms and ask.”
“Don’t tell them you are looking for Camilla,” I wasn’t sure why I wanted to hide it- I just did. “Just tell them you wanted to check if everything is okay. I don’t want anyone knowing that I cannot find Camilla.”
He raised both brows in suspicion. “Did something happen? Do you think that maybe she could have run away? if that is possible then we should contact the border patrol and talk to the guards who are at the entrance to the-”
“No one should know,” I cut him off and he must have heard the urgency in my voice because he nodded. “If you don’t find her, just mind link me. You don’t have to come find me.”
He went to do as I had asked while I tried searching everywhere else I could think of but I couldn’t find her. A few minutes after departing, Juan told me she wasn’t with either Peggy or Marie and that was when I started to panic. I couldn’t find her and her wall was up so I couldn’t reach her either. I was just about to give up when my wolf perked up.
“I can feel her,” he explained to me. “I don’t know if it will work but I can try to track her through it.”
“It’s worth a shot,” I mumbled after a moment of hesitation.
I allowed him lead me through the palace and up the steps until I was standing by a familiar pair of double doors. They were unlocked and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand who would be in Leanor’s room or why Camilla would be there. I pushed it open and found her seated at the edge of the bed. Her eyes were watery and she tried to hide her tears but I had seen them.
“Are you alright?” I asked but she simply shrugged in response. “I have been searching for you. The girls wanted you to tuck them into bed but-”
“I could do it right now,” she rushed to her feet and tried to side step me but I grabbed her upper arm.
It was clear that she was looking for any excuse to avoid having the conversation but I wasn’t going to let her leave with tears in her eyes. I needed to know why she wa
crying and if I had somehow caused it. I also needed
I to know what possessed her to come to Leanor’s room and how she got the key because as far as I knew, the door was locked tight.
She wouldn’t look at me and I knew nothing I said or did would change that so I simply led her by the arm until we were seated on the bed. I didn’t let go of her despite knowing that I probably should have and instead sat in silence with her. I wasn’t going to push, I didn’t care if we had to stay silent for the entire night until she felt comfortable enough to tell me what the problem was. It only took two minutes before she spoke.
“It wasn’t about you or because of you, I know that’s what you’re thinking,” she whispered. “I just needed a few minutes to myself. Everything tends to be overbearing sometimes and I just needed to be alone.”
“Why here?” I asked and she stilled. “How did you get the key?“.
“You would be surprised how much the maids are willing to do for me simply because I am queen,” I snorted. “1 simply said I wanted to see my mother’s room and was directed to where all the keys are kept.. They looked at me like I was crazy for not knowing but it worked.”
She was lying. There was some truth to her statement but it wasn’t the compete truth and I needed to know exactly what it was. I had no idea why she would want to lie to me but she had been doing it so much more often and I needed her to be honest with me. I cupped her cheeks and forced her to look me square in the eye.
“Why were you crying?” I asked and she tried to turn away but I wouldn’t let her. “Tell me, Camilla. What was wrong?”
“Nothing, I just- I just needed to get myself together. I needed to be alone.”
“What color is my shirt?”
She looked taken aback by my question. “It is grey, what does that have to do with anything. You can look at your own shirt and-”
“Why were you crying?” I cut in sharply and this time she didn’t even hesitate as she spoke:
“I didn’t realize it would hurt so much being in her room. I haven’t been here since she died and-” she slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized exactly what she had said.
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