Chapter 133
“You know this.” She told him.
He turned his face away.
“It’s not the same thing, Rose.” He said. “We were meant to be together. Whether or not she would have become Queen, we would still have found a way to be together. It was fate.”
“So if she was Queen, how would you have felt knowing she had exiled me?” Rose said. “The same way we’ve exiled her.”
Roland turned away and pressed his fingers to his temple as he breathed exasperation.
“You are too kind.” He said. “Can’t you see that she is taking advantage of you? Do you not see that all she does is manipulate you into doing what she wants.”
“The last thing you would ever call me is good or even say too good. You know what I can do, and you do not want to see my dark side.” She said to him as she turned away.
“Cherry is my flesh and blood. She is my only sister, the only thing I have closest to my immediate family. Corral has been distant from me no matter what I tried, Belle is her mother’s daughter and I’ve felt lonely. Cherry needs me as I need her.” Queen Rose expressed.
“Cherry was exiled for a good reason. My God! You know this!” He snapped. “Cherry is the reason why Xaden hates us. She is the reason why his entire family and pack were murdered. She got word from his father, yet she sat on it and did nothing. None of this would have happened if she had told us as expected. I have a very, very angry wolf who will not stop. Holding on to Xaden is like trying to cool a forever-burning fire. Of course, he does not know this piece of information himself. Rather, he believes I turned my eyes away from the attack.”
Roland sighed heavily. “If Cherry had not done this, we wouldn’t be here in the first place. Not a day goes by that I do not regret what happened! That I do not regret what I could have prevented.”
“She is sorry,” Rose said.
“Sorry?” Roland laughed. “Did she tell you with her very own lips that she is sorry?”
Rose bit her lip. “No, b-but she-
“Of course.” Roland waved.
“I know she is sorry. She tells me that she wants to return home. It’s her right. Believe me, I wish I had done something too. I wish she had never done what she did, but she explained to me that it was the fault of her men. Not her.”
“Cherry would never for once own up to her mistakes!” Roland pointed angrily. “And that is why she best be kept far away from us! Far away from you!”
Rose got up angrily. “I was friends with Lilian. She was my friend. You so easily forget. But it hurts me that she died. It hurts me that Bale killed her and left her boy alone while we had no absolute idea. We hadn’t even discovered that he was alive all this while until he came up only a few years ago. I would never wish to make Lilian be in harm’s way.”
She turned her face away and said, “But we can not keep up letting the past take over us when we have a future ahead.” She said, “Cherry is sorry for what she has done.”
“Cherry will not be allowed into the castle.” He countered in anger at his wife. “Nothing you say will change that. She will not be welcomed by me.”
She cleared her throat and adjusted herself before saying. “It was never your decision to make in the first place. I was only telling you because you are my husband, my mate, and you are King.”
She gently touched his curly hair and she smiled knowing her little girl has also picked her curls from him along with her own mother.
Then she looked at him. “But do not forget that I am Queen before you.”
She felt him go stiff.
“Because I’ve been in the shadows and not willing to make them, it does not mean that I shall not make any.” She said. “And now I tell you that Cherry would return to the castle. She is returning home, and I am sorry that you do not support it. But it’s a decision I’ve made.”
He withdrew from her quickly, pushing her hand that had hung around his neck away from him.
She swallowed, hated the fact that he was looking at her like a stranger.
“You make this decision.” He said. “Truly you have decided.”
She said nothing, and he knew the answer already.
Then she softly went to him. “Roland.”
But then he pulled away from her.
“Don’t come near me, Rose.” He said. “When we married. We promised always to consider each other in our decisions. I have had your best interest at heart for every single decision I’ve made.”
She felt weak. “And believe me, I have my best interests at heart. Keeping my sister far away from us would do us no good.”
She went to him, and even though he was pulling away, she held his hands with hers.
“This is going to change everything. Bring peace back into our homes.” She said whilst he shook his head in rejection and said no no no.
Nonetheless, she went on trying to persuade him and assure him that all was indeed well.
“It will make us stronger.” She said.
“No!” He said as he forced his hands away from her grasp. “Know this I would never ever support you bringing Cherry back home.”
Then he turned away and walked towards the door.
He opened it and then he turned and said. “As you bring her alone, so shall you face the consequences of her alone.”
She felt a sudden chill down her heart and then he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.