Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 95: The Locket

Chapter 95: The Locket

Talia kept her silence all the way till she reached her home. On the way she asked her guards to buy a couple of folding chairs and even though they were intrigued why she needed folding chairs, "Mr. Ed" got those from a departmental store.

When they reached her home, she asked the men to use the chair for themselves and the men were stunned and were stupefied to even say anything.

"Your Highness, it’s not protocol for --"

*Bang*

Talia closed the door and went inside not willing to listen to them. She knew it might not be their protocol, but it is just a humanitarian thing to do.

Her life was in grave danger earlier that day and it still might be. If she suffers even a scratch during their guard, they will suffer consequences and so they have to be alert all the time.

But they can sit and be alert.

She’s always been this way, taught by her mother. She treated her guards with respect and politeness. And God forbid something happened to them in their job, she attended their funeral.

Talia walked up to her refrigerator to get a bottle of water. Everything in her fridge has been emptied and she was advised not to eat anything in public and only eat food provided by them.

She literally has poison testers in this day and age.

She always grew up with a chain tied to her legs. There were only a few things she was "allowed" to do. And everytime she decides to break those chains, something bad will happen.

The one good thing was she met Fred.

If she had decided to abide by the rules and norms of her family, she never would have befriended Fred and she never would have fallen for him.

She looked at her feet that contrasted the redwood floor. She thought she was out of the shackles these past few years. She even loved being free. But those shackles have tied her once more. This time they are more constricting.

Was she sad? Yes!

Does she want to break those shackles? Probably.

But is it prudent to do it now? No!

Talia knew the Queen Dowager is extremely protective towards her. Even more than her grandfather and it always impressed her.

All because of her eyes.

When she attended the Coronation of King Louis four years back, there was a picture take of her by a Royal photographer that hit the news nationwide.

The picture of her side profile as she was smiling.

The Coronation was not a very festive one but was a pretty sombre and heavy one. The nation of Rosandale had lost the previous King and Prince Fitzgerald - the next in line to the throne. Those two Royals who travelled with their wives on the same private jet, met a terrible accident that took the life of the four of them.

Louis had to be Crowned right after the funerals of his father, mother and grandfather and grandmother. The entire nation was grieving and was in a frenzy.

So there was this really heavy atmosphere all around and Talia was not in the mood to smile either. She might it have known them dearly but they were family and in the shirt meetings she had with them, they were all really nice and welcoming towards her.

And she despised funerals.

But she didn’t know when she smiled. She only read from the news that she smiled to console the crying little Prince Henry who was just two years old back then.

People say kids don’t know what’s happening around them. Talia found that day that it might be false. Kids might not understand fully what’s going on, but they definitely know if the situation around them is good or bad. Little Henry was frightened by the stifling atmosphere that day and being the Queen Consort, Cordelia was standing beside King Louis and Little Henry was standing along with other senior members according to protocol.

Talia picked him up and talked to him for a while to calm him down and that picture of her smiling side profile with Little Henry on her lap was apparently taken during that time.

And there were article over articles in major news and tabloids written about how similar she looked with her great grandfather when she smiled. Along with the coronation news, that side profile of her placed together with the side profile of her great grandfather the Great King, were the talk for days.

Some even said she took over the coronation although it was never her intention. Her eyes were so similar to him and her smile too according to those articles.

She knew if others saw her similarity with her great grandfather, her great grandmother should have seen this a lot earlier and maybe that’s the root of her extensive care towards her.

Suddenly Talia shivered thinking how the Queen Dowager ordered her to take the throne that day.

Ooof! Scary!

Good thing she escaped somehow. Ruling a nation? Yikes! She had no interest in ruling people.

Talia drank from the bottle and only then she realised they bought her a different brand of water than she usually drinks.

They even replaced the water? Must they go this far?

In the end, she was born into this. She didn’t consider her being trapped inside a gilded cage or something even though it is partially true.

She had been to some terrible places with her mother when she was young. Places where children didn’t get even two meals per day and had to work hard in fields and mines for their meals.

Compared to them, her sufferings are nothing.

She had excess and suffered because of that and those kids had nothing and suffered because of that. In the end having something is better than having nothing.

Talia checked her phone for any new messages and felt dejected that Fred didn’t even leave a message till then. If she calculated correctly, he must have reached Esteria already.

Why isn’t he replying me?

Talia left another message asking him if he landed safely and urged him to call her when he is free.

Even though she told him to call her when he is free, she wanted him to call her immediately.

She felt so tired and she undressed and changed to her slips and laid on the bed.

She wanted to sleep and not wake for dinner, but as she was concentrating to see if her phone rings, she couldn’t fall asleep.

Darn you Fred!

She cussed with a smile and rolled around and ended up in the pillow Fred used the previous night. His manly scent entered her nose and she hugged the pillow tightly.

I miss you already, Freddy bear.

Closing her eyes, She rubbed her head in the pillow and with the overwhelming scent of Fred left by him made her go crazy. Before she knew it she was kissing the pillow.

How dumb!

She felt embarrassed of herself. She didn’t knew she was missing him that much.she giggled to herself and felt all the troubles she felt till then evaporating.

This guy... He really made her smile.

She laid on her back once more still hugging the pillow and that’s when she felt some cold metallic thing on her leg.

She sat up placing the pillow on her lap and she picked up the shiny yellow gold locket hanging in a chain.

Cyrus’ locket!

Talia looked at the locket pressed between her fingers and held it tighter with both her hands and pressed her hands on her forehead.

"I leave this with you Princess. My gift to you."

He was on top of her, his forehead was on her forehead while he slipped the chain from his neck onto her neck that day.

She was surprised that he was giving her a present. He never gives her presents. She thought since that was her sixteenth birthday, she was receiving this special present. But she still wondered why she was given something he kept close to his heart all this time to her.

And this locket had the Lockhart family coat of arms engraved in it. She as a Brunton, should not have it.

While she was thinking, she was startled by the coldness on her forehead.

Cyrus kissed her on the forehead.

That was another surprise.

Although both of them were really close as they were always together, they had a relationship that was a bit distant.

Cyrus never kissed her other than the kisses on the cheek given as a greeting. And at other times, he won’t even hold her hand. In case of emergency, he’d hold her wrists if he had to drag her.

This kiss on the forehead was a surprise but as she saw the misty blue eyes filled with affection, she felt happy.

"Keep ’em safe and be happy, Princess. Live long and well. Celebrate you life no matter what. "

He said before he got up and Talia didn’t hear what he said clearly.

Keep’ them’ safe? Surely he must have meant ’it’ right? Or who does the them means? My family?

Whatever!

She didn’t mind it back then.

Talia placed the locket in her palm and stared at the locket for some time. She never had the guts to look inside the locket.

Cyrus wore that locket always and the day he parted with it, he died.

She never knew what he had inside that locket. Pictures maybe?

Talia had to gather all the courage and strength she had to open the locket.

With a pop the locket opened and she saw an old, well-maintained picture in it. Picture of him with his and her mother.

The memories of her past flooded her mind as she saw an old picture of her mother. She didn’t even have any picture of her mother and she had already started to forget her mother’s face a little.

She had heard that Cyrus’ mother and her mother were thick as thieves even though they belonged to different age group.

Unknowingly, her finger traced through the little picture inside the locket and as she touched it, she felt something weird. The paper was too thick for a single picture.

Why is this picture thick?

She felt like there was something behind the picture and that thought brought her shivers.

Her fingers trembled unknowingly as she tried to pry that picture out from the locket and as she expected, there was another picture stuck behind the picture in the front.

Seeing that image, Talia felt her heart beating like drums and perspiration formed on her forehead.

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