Chapter 157 Bedtime Story

Avalyn

"The people are very happy to have Nikolai back, Avalyn." Eliyah reported. "They believe that it's a miracle that he's back from the land of dead. They believe that the Moon Goddess blessed him with a second chance at life."

My mouth twisted. Moon Goddess' miracle? More like her way to punish me again. First it was Emilio. Then she gave me hope by sending Nikolai my way but then took him away. It nearly broke me. But I'm stronger than that. Then she gave me Gabriel, who is a true gentleman. And just when I had started seeing a future with him, just when I had started truly loving him, she sent Nikolai back!

According to Nikolai's story, he never really died, he was just stuck in some other dimension. But I didn't really know if it was the truth. He had a penchant for lying.

Hell. I didn't even know why I was being punished. But I sure as hell am not going to shatter anymore. Not because of a man. I'm a Queen. And I'm going to rule my Kingdom. He can't just waltz in after seven years and pretend as if nothing happened.

"That will be all." I said in a dismissive tone. Eliyah nodded and left.

I realised that it was time for lunch so I went to the dining hall. When I entered, I immediately saw the change in seating arrangements. At the head of the table- in my place, Nikolai was sitting and he was staring straight at me before he smiled. A feeling I didn't like grew in my stomach. "We were waiting for you, Love. Come, let's have lunch."

I walked in further. All the arrangements were messed up. I had given instructions to Eliyah about the new seating arrangements to accommodate everyone but who cared what I said?

Nikolai's word was final, as always.

To my right, were Gabriel sat, the chair was empty. To my left, where Dimitri was supposed to sit, Natalia was sitting. Next to the empty chair, Dimitri sat, then Andrei and then Mikhail and next to Natalia, sat Max and then Ratmir. And then the rest of Council on either side of the table, as per their importance.

No one bothered to ask me, to get my approval.

But of course, they all were his family after all and would always take his side. And people always bent over backwards to please him, always. And I had to try so hard, face so many problems and struggle to gain the kind of control over people that they freely gave to him.

"You're in my seat." I said and then relished when his smile dimmed a little. "You can't just waltz back in here and think everything will go back to the way it was."

"Of course it can't." He agreed with me and gave me a smile that brought back the weird feeling in my stomach that I hated. "It will be even better now. Come, have a seat, Moya Lyubov."

My heart stuttered and my feet moved and I took the seat beside him before I even realised it. Damn him and his tendency to order me. And damn my body to obey it without my own brain's permission.

The slaves had already served us food and everyone was waiting for Nikolai to have his first bite just like they used to wait for me. Not anymore though. Their King is back.

A spoon suddenly appeared in front of my mouth. Nikolai waited patiently for me to eat the first bit. There went my heart again...stuttering for no reason. My heart could betray me but my mind would never. And I knew Nikolai was not good for me. Gabriel was good for me. He was good to me. He always did as I asked and always did everything with me in his mind, he never did anything that he thought would displease me.

And I needed to show Nikolai that I was not his mate anymore, except the blasted mark on my neck that just wouldn't go away, despite my many attempts. I picked up a spoonful of food from my own plate and ate it, blatantly disregarding his and in turn disrespecting him in front of everyone. I tipped my chin up at him as I chewed. What will he do now? Punish me? Shout at me in front of everyone? It would only make me hate him more.

The hope in his eyes was crushed and cruelly, I gave him a smile. It was about small victories after all. He retracted his hand and ate his own bite and then the rest followed.

I had a couple of bites before I stood up, "I'm done," I announced and walked out. If he had the audacity to throw my own mate out of the dining room then I wasn't going to sit and eat there, I was never going to eat there.

I found Gabriel in the gym, lifting weights. "Gabe."

He quickly turned around and a smile lit up his face when he saw me. He was always optimistic, always positive. And I needed that in my life. "I'm sorry about lunch. From now on, we will eat together, I don't want to sit with those people and disrespect you like that." I neared him and kissed his cheek.

"I would have been fine, but thank you Avalyn, I appreciate it." He pecked my lips. "Lunch with just you would be much better anyways."

He always knew what to say to make me feel better. And he was hurt too, but he put my needs before his. "Let's go, I need a shower anyways."

I nodded and we walked upstairs into the west wing. He went to out bedroom to take a shower and I went to the kitchen to fix myself something. The slaves were there but I wanted to cook. It always managed calm me.

I decided to make a simple toast sandwich. I was hungry and I was not going to stop eating because of a man again. I needed to take care of my own self or no one else would.

"Ava." Nikolai stood at the entrance and then entered. For some reason, the huge kitchen started feeling small to me. "Are you making a sandwich? Can I make it for you?"

"Don't bother yourself with cooking when you never did in the past, King Nikolai." I rolled my eyes.

"You're right." He spoke quietly. "I had made many mistakes in the past. And never cooking for you was one of them." He leaned against the counter, only a feet away from where I was chopping vegetables. My heart felt constricted for some reason. "I know why you're mad at me."

I stopped mid-slice and looked up at him in confusion. "You do?"

He nodded. "You're angry that I practically forced you to say the spell that day. The one after which I would die instead of you. You're angry I left you." He looked satisfied with his answer.

A laugh bubbled up my throat and he was looking at me in worry. "You think I'm angry because of that?"

Frown marred his face and he nodded, "yes."

"I'm over those things, Nikolai. I'm over you." My chuckle subsided. "Don't give yourself so much importance. We were together for barely a year. And you have been gone for seven years. Out of which, I've been with Gabe for four." The crushed hope in his eyes gave me a kick. "I was angry because you took away Gabriel's crown, because you insulted him in front of everyone, because you flirted with my mother in front of the entire pack, because our family is actually your family, because you act as if nothing happened, because you took my seat at the table, because you have to do nothing and people bend over backwards to do your bidding!" I was screaming by the time I finished my rant.

He was looking at me with heartbreak all over his face. "But you love me..."

A harsh laugh escaped my throat. "Did you not hear what I just said or did you just chose to ignore it?" I dragged my hand down my face, "my Goddess, how did I ever tolerate you?" I mumbled under my breath before I looked up at him. "Let me spell it out for you clearly. I. Do. Not. Love. You."

"Avalyn...." His voice shook as he said my name but I had already turned away. I shoved the few pieces I had managed to cut in the sandwich, placed it on the plate and walked out.

Nikolai

"Nikolai," I heard Valerie call my name softly.

I blinked back the tears from my eyes and turned around to look at her. For the life of me, I couldn't manage to force a smile on my face.

"I heard a little screaming," she had a guilty look on her face.

"You heard that huh?" I shoved my hands in my pocket. "Don't worry about it, it was nothing." I assured her. "Ava is like that. She gets angry and then she can't see past her anger until it's all out. She doesn't really mean it. She'll be fine in some time. She isn't normally like this. She's kind and compassionate and loving...she's perfect. Just a little temper." I said quickly. "Javier used to call her Firefly. Apt name, huh?"

"My poor baby," Valerie crossed the kitchen and wrapped her arms around me. "Don't you know that you don't need to hold it in in front of me?"

"It's better if you don't...we don't...she thinks we're..."

"I don't care. You're my son, got it? I might not be the one who birthed you but I've cared for you, tended to your wounds, made you food, reprimanded you when you were being an a-hole and listened to you when you talked endlessly about Avalyn. I've never gotten the chance to be a mother but I think this is it, isn't it?"

I wrapped my hands around her and the tears I had been fighting all this while came up to my eyes again. I loved my mother and missed her terribly but Valerie was a close second. "Yes, Val. This is it."

"I don't know what's going on but you're a strong man. I believe in you. Now go fight for my daughter. And like every battle, you will win this one too. You have all my blessings."

Keeping Valerie's words in my mind, I decided to fight for Avalyn, but first, I needed to make a strategy. I went to my office and set to work.

This was the fight of my life and I intend to win.

I took out an empty journal from my desk and set the pen to work. I would start from the beginning. The way we met was all sorts of wrong, our first date was a disaster, the first time I cooked for her was because she was too weak, the first time I got her a jewellery wasn't even chosen by me and it's only purpose was to act as a tracker because I was a control freak who needed to know where she was at all times even though she never went out without asking for my permission.

I wrote down every firsts I wanted to rewrite and every firsts we hadn't had yet. I googled ideas and then I also wrote down what all I was going to do. I planned it all out. The entire process had taken me the entire day and when I stood up from my seat, I felt satisfied and I felt hopeful. I had a new purpose, something to look forward to. My door opened and Viktoria's sweet smell wafted to my nose.

Her curls were tied up in a cute pony tail and she was in a pink night dress with wolves all over it, "I'm sleepy, Dadda." She mumbled.

"Why aren't you in bed yet, then, Princess?" I tucked my journal in back of the drawer and then walked over to her, a smile automatically forming on my face.

"I wanna sleep with you, Dadda."

I picked her up and she immediately nestled against my neck, her little arms going around my shoulders. "Let's go to bed then."

"Will you tell me a story, Dadda?" She asked once I settled her under the thick blanket. I walked around the bed and got in from the other side and she wiggled closer to me and smuggled to my side. My heart melted when she put an arm around my waist which only reached half way. She was that tiny.

"Of course. Which one do you want to hear?" I didn't know any stories. I didn't know what kind of stories she would like and what she wouldn't like.

"I want to hear a story of...a...a prince and a princess!" Her face lit up.

The door opened and Avalyn walked in, looking relieved upon seeing Viktoria beside me. "I thought you wanted some water?"

Viktoria's eyes turned wide and she turned around to look at Ava. "Oopsies?"

I controlled my chuckle.

"Come on, young lady, let's go back to bed. You're in a lot of trouble!" Ava said sternly, completely ignoring me.

"But I wanna sleep with Dadda!" She insisted. "And he's telling me a story!"

"You can't sleep with him every night." She seemed annoyed that Viktoria wanted to sleep here. "He might not like it."

"I love it." I chirped in and she flashed me a glare.

"See? I'm sleeping here! Come sleep with us, Mama." She patted the space next to her.

"I-I can't. Klaus is sleeping. I need to..."

"Please, Mama?" She said in a tone that even tugged at my heart. No one can refuse that. This girl is going to cause serious trouble when she grows up. "Please sleep with us."

Avalyn wavered. I saw it in her eyes. "I'll stay till you sleep. I'll need to get back go your brother soon." That earned her multiple claps a wide grin.

I scooted backwards, taking Viktoria with me to create space for Ava.

Avalyn's eyes connected to mine before she lifted the blanket and settled in. I propped my elbow on the bed and then rested my head on my hand. Now, I had a clear view of both my girls.

"Story, Dadda!" Tori demanded and my eyes met Ava's again. Memories flooded in seeing her here, in our bedroom and in our bed. And I knew exactly what story to say.

"There once lived a Prince, mightier than the rest." I told Tori but kept my eyes on Ava. She was looking at Tori too but I didn't care. I was getting a chance to look at her, I wasn't losing that. "When he was travelling to faraway lands, his eyes fell on a girl."

Ava's eyes snapped to mine.

"She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long brown hair and deep brown eyes. Like chocolate." My eyes flickered down to Tori and she was listening to me we rapt attention. "And he loved chocolate."

"I love chocolate too!" She grinned and a smile formed on my face. Like father, like daughter.

"And then he decided that she would be his Queen." My eyes met Ava's again. They didn't hold the hardness it usually held during the day. They were soft. They were my Ava's eyes. "So he whisked her away to his palace. But she used to think, she wasn't worthy enough to become the prince's wife or become the Queen. This hurt the prince, he thought that she didn't like him."

Tori's mouth dropped open. "What did he do then, Dadda?"

"The prince decided to find out the reason why she thought she wasn't worthy. And do you know what he learnt?"

"What?" She asked eagerly.

There was fear in Ava's eyes. Fear of what? Did she think I would actually say she was a slave?

"He found out that the girl used to be a princess. But another kingdom's king had captured her Kingdom and had kept her locked in a tower."

"Like Rapunzel?" Tori asked with a gasp. I had no idea who Rapunzel was but I nodded anyways.

"And all her life, he treated her as a maid. Because of that, she believed that all she was worthy of being was a maid. So when the Prince learnt this, he grew furious at the King. It was because of him that the girl thought she was unworthy. And he wanted to avenge the girl, he wanted to fight for her honour and he wanted the girl to grow more confident in herself. He wanted to give her the Kingdom that was rightfully hers."

"Did he kill the King?" A smile grew on Tori's face at that thought.

"No." I replied and she frowned. My eyes slid to Ava's again. Vulnerability shone through her features. "Both of them defeated the army of that King, together. And then the mighty Prince threw the cruel King at the girl's feat. The girl slay the bad king herself. She avenged herself, like an angel-mstitel. And became the Princess she always was again."

My eyes met Ava's and we both relived that memory again.

When she had entered that cottage, I had offered her my hand, beckoning her inside, into the dark side, 'I was waiting for you.'

'He's yours, Moya Lyubov. To torture. To maim. To kill.'

'Shoot.' I had said and she shot Emilio, missing his heart by half a centimetre. And then she had taken a spiral knife and had butchered his already broken and bruised body. Bathed in his blood, she had collapsed in my arms. That day, my angel had turned into an avenging angel.

"Angel mstitel?" Tori echoed.

"It means avenging angel in Russian." My eyes slid to Ava's and she lowered her eyes.

"She was strong, Dadda! Like a...a warrior Princess."

"Yes." I agreed. Ava looked beautiful in red, especially in the red of revenge. "Yes, she was." Ava's eyes flew to me and I saw tears in them.

I wrapped my arm over Tori and my hand was near Ava's now. I slowly neared my hand near hers.

Two inches.

"And then the beautiful Princess grew stronger each day." My fingers twitched as the distance between is lessened. Her eyes fell down to our nearing fingers but she didn't move. She waited. That was progress.

One inch.

"And she began loving herself again." I neared her fingers further. There was once an inch of distance now. "And then the Prince and the Princess became the King and Queen of their combined Kingdoms." I moved closer.

Half an inch.

"And then they lived happily ever after. The end." Her eyes turned icy cold when I said that.

Ava pulled away before the tips of our fingers could touch.

A coil of hurt tightened around my heart.

"The story isn't over just yet." Ava whispered. "Not every story has a happy ending."

And then she fled.