And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. – Anais Nin
Bastien paused, sighing as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He needed to speak to Everly, let her know what Liam had said, the fact that he knew everything, but he couldn’t face her, not now, not when he was barely calm himself. He needed to pull himself together first or it would only make things worse when he told her.
Bastien- There’s something I have to do. Just stay in my room, I’ll be back soon.
His heart clenched at the lie, he couldn’t tell her the truth, not yet, she deserved a few more minutes thinking that Liam was still in the dark. He knew he should probably go to her now, explain to her, he knew telling her to stay in his room was risky, but he couldn’t speak to her when he was barely containing his own rage.
Everly- I wasn’t planning on going back to the apartment.
He sighed in relief at her words. He knew it would only complicate things more, but he worried about how far Liam would go to ensure she didn’t have his child. He typed out, then deleted his response. Fuck it.
Bastien- I love you.
Liam already knew about their relationship, knew that she was carrying his child, so why stop himself from sharing his feelings now? He was done being careful, he needed to get her free, and that couldn’t be done if he wasn’t willing to take risks.
Everly- I love you too.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward in an almost smile at her reply. He could never get tired of telling her, or having her say it back to him. Soon, we’ll be free soon. He would get her out, they would be able to stop hiding. He shoved his phone back into his pocket, his feet blindly leading him out of the palace and to the gardens. As he walked the familiar path through the hedge maze his mind replayed all the memories of their time spent there over the social season. He knew there was only one way he would be able to get her out now, he had realized it a few days prior, but he had trouble coming to terms what it would mean. He saw now that Liam would do whatever necessary to keep her tied to this life, he needed to be ready to do the same to free her.
I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman. – Anais Nin
The world had gone black, the only relief from darkness the moon shining bright and the many stars littering the night sky by the time Bastien returned to his room. He finally felt more at peace with what had to be done to guarantee her freedom. As he entered the mostly dark room he steeled himself for breaking her bubble of happiness. Learning what Liam wanted to do to ensure the stability of a country she never wanted to lead would surely break her, send her spiraling into a panic and tears once more. He hated the idea of telling her nearly as much as he hated the thought of keeping the truth from her any longer. A small smile crept on his lips at the sight of her small frame curled up on his bed, clad in one of his t-shirts, her body bathed in the glow of the moon. He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept, her body and mind at peace.
Bastien stripped down to his boxer briefs, not bothering with throwing on pajama bottoms. He slid into bed behind her, pulling her close to him, his large hand resting on her bump. I’ve got you little bird. We will all be free soon.
Everly woke at the subtle shift in the bed, she smiled softly as he enveloped her in his arms. “You’re back.” She said rolling to face him. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” His lips met hers in a gentle caress. “Go back to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning.”
She pulled back, her eyes tracing the contours of his face, taking in his tired expression. “He knows doesn’t he?”
Bastien sighed, she deserved a few more hours of peace, he wasn’t looking forward to telling her, but he really didn’t want to tell her now. “Evie, we’ll talk in the morning.”
“What did he say?” Her voice broke as tears pricked at her eyes. She could read him as well as he could read her, and his unwillingness to tell her now told her she was right, Liam knew exactly who fathered her little bird.
“Evie…” he brushed a strand of hair back, tucking it behind her ear.
“Bas, please, just tell me.” Her grass green eyes pleading. She could tell it was bad, but she knew she needed to hear it. “Did he fire you?” Is that why he was stalling?
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong? Please talk to me Bas.”
Bastien sighed rolling to his back. He stared up at the plain white ceiling, steeling himself to shatter her completely. He turned his head, locking eyes with hers. “He told me we needed to end things for good.”
“I don’t understand.” Everly stared at him stunned. “You told me to stay put.”
“Liam said that our relationship had to end to maintain your relationship with him.” He paused, how did he tell her Liam wanted to kill their child without completely destroying her? “He plans to spin that you had the baby too early.”
“What?! No!” She jolted upright shaking her head in disbelief, her hand protectively covering her bump.
Bastien sat up, his hand gently cupping her cheek, thumb wiping away the freshly fallen tears. “Evie, I told him we would never let him. I told you to stay put because he’s a determined man, but so am I.”
“We have to leave.” She moved to get up, stopped by Bastien’s arms wrapping around her waist.
“Evie, we can’t leave, not yet. If we leave now he will send someone after us and he will charge me with your kidnapping to keep us apart.”
Everly sadly nodded in agreement. She knew he was right, they couldn’t leave, not when she was still legally married to Liam. “How do we get me out then?”
Bastien looked down at her, he’d known the truth of what it would take, but the thought of saying it out loud, of telling her the truth made his heart break in two. “We have to make him let you go.”
Everly looked at him, confusion etched upon her features, her eyes going wide as understanding set it, her heart sinking. He was thinking Liam had been cheating on her. “You think he was with someone else when he was away don’t you?” The more she found out about the lie that was her marriage the more it hurt, like a million needles jabbing into her heart at once.
Bastien sighed looking down, unable to look her in the eye as he broke her further. “Evie—”
“That’s it, isn’t it? You think he’s been cheating and that’s my way out. Bas—”
“Evie.” He sighed shaking his head. “You don’t know how much I struggled with this myself, I need you to trust me, please.”
She gently cupped his cheek, the soft hair tickling her palm. “I do trust you Bas, I just don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret for me.”
“Evie, I made you a promise, and I’ve made peace with what I have to do. Just trust me.”
“Bas, I do trust you, you’re my knight.” She shook her head. “But how does thinking he cheated help me get obtain my freedom?”
“I thought it was odd how little he kept in touch, particularly when you were in the hospital. I know I shouldn’t have but I had an old friend follow him.” He took a deep breath, could she handle hearing the truth? “I have what we need. I just needed to come to terms with using it. I struggled with the thought of blackmailing him, but I meant what I said, I will get you out no matter what it takes.” He shook his head, still hardly able to wrap his brain around how far he was willing to go for her, for them. “What he expects you to do makes this a lot easier for me.”
“Tomorrow.” She couldn’t wait any longer, not if Liam knew, not if he was determined to do whatever necessary to keep her chained to this life.
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. – Anais Nin
“My Queen, there you are. With your absence in our home last night I half expected that you ran.” Liam greeted, his warm chestnut eyes cold and hard, his mellow voice harsh and unteasing. He looked to Bastien, his hand protectively resting at the small of Everly’s back, Liam’s mouth curved into a disapproving frown. “I thought I was clear, this relationship is over.”
Bastien’s jaw clenched, the urge to lash out overwhelming. “I believe I was adamant that wewould be unwilling to sacrifice our child.” Crown or no crown, duty or no duty, what Liam was demanding was cruel and unacceptable, all because he was trying to save his own image with the people.
“As I told you last night, you don’t have a say and my wife will do whatever it takes to ensure the stability of our country.” Liam growled through gritted teeth.
Everly tensed at the way Liam was speaking as if she wasn’t present, making decisions for her, her hand moved to protectively rest on her bump. “No!” Liam’s eyes narrowed at her exclamation, his frown deepening. “You’ve taken enough from me, I never asked for any of this and if you had listened to me you would have known that. I will not be giving up my child!” Her voice wavered slightly, tinged with anger, sadness and fear. “I love Bastien and you will not take him from me again.”
Liam scoffed. “I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter my dear.”
A small smile crept on her lips. “I have everychoice here. You want me to give up my child to keep your image intact, what if I went forward to the press?” Bastien’s hand brushed her back giving her the courage she needed to continue. “If the press, the people were to find out that this child is not your heir as you claim, you would have no say.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I will do whatever it takes to protect my child!” She took a step forward, her thumb rubbing over the top of her bump. This is for you little bird.“Even if it meant I had to reveal what you were really up to when you were away working, how although you were under the impression that little bird was yours you ignored your queen when she was hospitalized while you cavorted in another country.”
“They would never believe such lies.”
“Maybe if it was in fact a lie they wouldn’t believe me, you could spin me as an hysterical pregnant woman who wanted to play victim after she cheated and lied, however you seem to be forgetting that you had zero contact with me and very little contact with your head guard who was caring for your pregnant queen. There are records that will back me up, no calls, no texts to your queen and precious few to the man you entrusted her safety to. What would your people think of you then?”
Liam’s hands curled into fists, anger coursing through his veins. “You obviously haven’t thought this through.”
“Oh but I have.” Lies. This is not how this was supposed to go! “What is it you think I’ve forgotten?” Make him show his hand first, then demand the divorce.
“You’ve clearly forgotten that I wouldn’t be the only one with a tarnished image.”
“You seem to be forgetting that I don’t care about my image.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” Her heart clenched with fear, would this work? Should she have allowed her anger to take over? Should she have allowed Bastien to handle this?
“Very well then, what is it that you do care about? What is it that you want?”
There it was, her chance, her one chance at freedom. She raised her head, she was so close and she would not leave here without her freedom, she’d do whatever it took. Bastien gently caressed her back, her eyes flicked down to her stomach, this was for them, they could finally be the family they’d dreamed, she just needed to say it. “I want a divorce.”
“No.”
“What?” Her voice cracked, she was so close, she couldn’t fail now.
“You’re pregnant, you can’t just leave. How would it look if I allowed the pregnant queen to leave with the heir.”
But she isn’t yours. She felt all hope and possibility slip from her fingers. She couldn’t allow it to end, not like this. She couldn’t lose him, couldn’t lose their child. “Tell them she’s not yours.”
“Evie…” Bastien whispered at her side, she felt his body tense, this was so far from what they’d discussed. He was supposed to hold the cards, they were trying to save her name, but none of that mattered if she had to stay chained to her gilded cage.
“You don’t mean that.” Liam challenged.
Everly swallowed thickly, it was too late to back down now. “Say whatever you have to about me, drag my name through the mud, I don’t care, butBastien stays out of it. You let him retire, you let us both leave. Give me a divorce and you can say whatever you want about me, as long as you don’t mention him.” Please. She fought the urge to squeeze her eyes shut at the familiar sting of oncoming tears. This had to work, if it didn’t she had no other way to regain her freedom.
Liam clenched his jaw, he clearly hadn’t expected her to fight back. Her heart raced as she watched him, waiting for his answer. “Fine, if that’s what you truly want.”
“It is.” She couldn’t believe she did it, she was free. “But Liam, if you ever mention him in relation to me I will tell the press what you were doing when I was hospitalized.” She turned, rushing from the study, not waiting for his reply. Her hands clutched at her stomach as she doubled over, she felt like she could finally breathe once more. She stood, genuine smile adorning her lips, she was free. Her eyes locked on Bastien, his face etched with concern, eyes filled with shock. “I’m fine Bas, I just can’t believe it I’m free, we’re free.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I know it’s not what we discussed, but I couldn’t listen to him speak about me, about herlike that.”
“I understand Evie, I just hate that you’re going to be drug through the mud.”
She gently cupped his bearded cheek. “Bas, I meant it, I don’t care what he says about me, I did it for us, for our little bird.” She was free, and Bastien didn’t have to cross a line he may live to regret, they would finally be together, they didn’t have to reveal all they knew, Liam thought they were still in the dark, if only he knew. Her only worry now was years down the line, some day she’d have to explain to her child that everything she did, she did for her.
It is beautiful to love, and to be free at the same time. – Anais Nin
