Memory of You

Chapter Thirty Nine: In Close Proximity

"Exactly...and you know how she is. She won't take it well, if I tell her to stay."

"But, you have to. If someone recognizes her..." Valek trailed off.

"Believe me, I know. It's not going to be easy though, since Nicholas' parents live here as well."

Wincing, Valek felt bad for his cousin. There were too many things that could go wrong in Polaris. He wished he could help out, he would have done anything to be at the side of his Queen.

"Have you told them anything?"

"No...It's best they don't know about it just yet." Mark said, shaking his head. "How's Sophia, by the way?"

"She's fine. She hasn't even toed the line...no one suspects that Alexandra isn't in the country." Valek said, quietly.

"Good...anyway, I have to go Valek...I need to sleep before breaking the bad news to Alex...she's going to kill me." Mark sighed, as Valek chuckled.

"Good luck...take care all of you."

"Will do."

...

'You must have loved him very much...The person you were trying to protect in your dreams...I heard you talking in your sleep when you were ill.'

He couldn't believe he had gone and said that to her, Nicholas thought, slightly embarrassed with himself. It wasn't as though he had been expecting her to answer him, Nicholas already knew exactly what was bothering him. Unable to understand it, Nicholas didn't know why it pained him to think that Alexandra had loved another...someone who wasn't him.

It wasn't odd for a Queen to already be betrothed to someone, but there was this weird tinge of unease when it came to thinking that her heart belonged to someone else.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Nicholas sat on the bed looking at information about Polaris. The Queen had already gotten up to change, and he was waiting for Mark to come, since the guard had said there was something they all needed to discuss before setting out that morning. They had stopped at an inn the previous night, despite the young ruler's hope of staying at a hotel just down the road. Her guard had flat out refused, saying that staying at the hotel would be far too intrusive.

As Alexandra came out of the bathroom, he noticed that she avoided his gaze. For the last one or two days, he had started to notice that she was being awkward around him. Unlike when they first set out to find his memories, this time it was more visible.

"Have I done something?" He asked, not sure why he was bothered by it. There was something about her that still didn't add up. Who was she when it came to his life?

"No, why would you think that?" She answered, with her own question.

"You don't seem comfortable around me."

"I'm fine...just anxious." Alexandra said, still not meeting his eyes.

Deciding to drop his line of questioning, Nicholas nodded, before returning his attention to the brochures.

No sooner had he done so, that Mark entered the room. The grim look on his face spoke volumes. Whatever he was about to say, was not going to go well...

"Nick, Alex... you're not going to like what I'm about to say...especially you, Lexie." Mark spoke, looking at the Queen. Alexandra looked less than thrilled, her lips pursed, as Nicholas took a look around.

"I can't take you two with me. Both of you are going to have to stay in the room. I can't have either of you coming to search for the orb with me." He told them.