The King's Queen

Chapter 27

Lord Jackson Bentley
Age: 25

*°*

I lied in bed, staring at the canopy above me. I'd hardly been able to get even a few minutes of sleep. My thoughts kept me awake through the night as my mind ran rampant with everything that had happened yesterday.

It was weird, scary and unnerving and yet even those words seemed lacking in depth, in intensity, as to how I was really feeling. It wasn't the first time for me to go through an identity crisis but I thought I'd long since crossed that bridge and left those troubles behind years ago. But the past has a way of catching up to you. I was an Origin.

Well, there goes my theory of me becoming a superhuman. I totally jinxed myself there. I rolled over, burying my face in the pillows with a groan. My life always had a knack for getting more complicated than it had to be.

"Are you okay, Elizabeth?" Ezra's anxious voice greeted me from outside the doors, a reminder that he'd been there all night to guard me.

Where was my actual bodyguard anyway? I needed to find Garrett and fast. But I couldn't just rush back to Crysauralia without a plan and a really good alibi.

"I'm fine," I murmured, knowing he'd still be able to hear me.

I sat up, blowing a wisp of hair out of my face. Lying here wouldn't accomplish anything. I needed to find Garrett. He owed me an explanation for keeping all of this a secret for so long. I never saw this coming. How did he even manage to infiltrate the elite bodyguard agency? Malekh must have helped to pull some strings with that one.

I clambered out of bed, the sleepless night and overthinking making me feel like a fatigued zombie. After showering, I got dressed with the clothes that were stocked in a large pine closet. They'd prepared for me to be here and, judging by the large quantity of clothes, they expected me to stay here for a long time.

After getting dressed, I walked out of the room. As expected, Ezra was there. But unlike me, he didn't have dark circles around his eyes from staying up all night.

"Good morning." He smiled. His smile faltered a little as he observed me. "I assume you didn't get much sleep last night."

"I didn't," I admitted. "It was kind of hard after finding out everything yesterday."

"That's understandable." He paused for a moment, his violet eyes lost in thought. "Everything will make sense soon. Luca will explain it all to you once he comes back."

"Where'd he go?" I quickly straightened out the frown that flitted across my face but I was sure his attentive eyes caught it.

He didn't mention it as he led me down the corridor. "He has some things to put in place before he puts his plans into motion. He's been missing from the Origin society for a while. He's got to inform the heads of the families that he's still alive."

"Oh." I had another question to ask but I paused asking since we'd just arrived at a large dining hall.

"I informed the staff about your allergies." He flashed me a small smile. "Everything prepared will be one hundred percent safe for you to eat."

"Thanks, Ezra." I smiled back.

I could be incredibly stiff and awkward when meeting new people-something I had to try to hide and overcome while I carried out my tasks in the palace-but Ezra didn't make me feel tense or uncomfortable. He felt like a field of flowers basking under a warm afternoon sky. I felt at ease with him by my side.

We made some small talk as we ate. Rosaline was somewhere in the castle with Malekh. She didn't like me very much but that was the least of my concerns right now. I needed to find Garrett.