His Sweet Little Mate

After making sure Arthur wouldn't act brave for no reason and would definitely let Abby help if need be arised, Abby finally agreed to stay behind.

"Deion, right?" Arthur turned to Abby's personal guard who had been silent and standing to the side until now. "Don't let Arlo out of your sight, no matter what."Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Even without Arthur's insistence, Deion had planned to do the same, but he kept his thoughts to himself as always and agreed to follow the former king's order.

After that, Arthur finally turned to his mate, as he kissed her forehead and then hugged her close to his heart, as if making sure he said goodbyes to the important people in his life, before he finally reached for baby Arlo. Only after kissing the baby's cheeks did he finally start for the door, albeit reluctant to part with his grandson and mate. "Take care, all of you!"

Abby just nodded at him, silently promising to protect Neesha as well, and then saw him rush away.

Soon the palace grounds reverberated with hails and trills of the people and warriors, signaling the commencement of the royal procession.

Abby felt like time moved too slowly, especially when her emotions kept assaulting her thoughts, as she thought of all kinds of what if's until she felt like her head would explode.

Waiting for something to happen while hoping for the opposite at the same time was really exhausting.

"Deion, ask someone what's happening." Abby said, unable to endure this tension anymore.

"Sir Arthur just left the palace in the open carriage," her personal guard said, reporting every little development to Abby, who couldn't sit still from all the anxiety and nerves. "Everything seems calm for now."

Arthur would be back to the palace soon, because they would only parade along the few streets surrounding the palace, as part of their plan. And Deion kept reporting how people were torn between celebrating and gossiping, when they couldn't understand why it was Arthur in the carriage instead of Abby.

Everything they planned up until now had gone smoothly, but the longer nothing happened, the more dreadful Abby felt. She had this weird feeling nagging at the back of her mind, that something very big was going to happen.

She didn't know if it would be a good thing or bad thing to them and their people, but something really big was going to happen.

Abby paced along the bed, where she laid Arlo after he fell asleep, while Neesha sat on the other yet far side of the bed, staying away from the mother and son duo, as she didn't want to agitate an already highly strung Abby. This made Abby feel grateful.

However, this little bit of peace didn't last long when the tolling of bells reached her ears about half an hour into the royal parade. It was happening, the attack was happening.

Abby didn't know if she should be happy her plan succeeded or sad, thinking what would this mean to the people.

She dashed to the door, feeling she had to be out there saving lives instead of hiding in here to save herself. When Arthur told her it would be wise for her to stay behind, she felt nothing wrong with the arrangement, but now she felt awful for prioritizing her own safety.

She was their queen, in Micah's absence, she should be the one to protect them. However, Deion pulled her back right before she opened the door.

"My Queen, it's not time yet." The personal guard only loosened his grip on the woman's hand when she turned to look at him.

"My people need me, Deion." Abby was clearly agitated.

"Please be calm, if you rush there now, all the plans you made until this point will go in vain." Deion was not a stranger to any of her plans up until this point, since he had been following her like a shadow from the moment this charade started. So he knew how much effort she had put into this trap.

"Moreover, there aren't any signs Calpin came yet. Sir Arthur is not alone. Royal Beta Alan and Royal Gamma Dax are with him. They will take care of it." Deion then promised her that he wouldn't stop her if Calpin did come, only then did Abby stop. But then there was this huge commotion at the palace gates, before Deion stiffened in his place.

"What happened, Deion?" Abby dreaded his answer.

But before Deion could say anything, a guard rushed to the former queen's bedroom before knocking on the door hurriedly. Abby quickly opened the door.

"My Queen, it's the King!" the guard said so quickly his words sounded jumbled.

"What did you say? Micah has returned?" Abby was quite shocked when she finally made sense of his words as he repeated them a tad slower a second later after his initial rambling.

However, it was Deion who answered Abby. "My Queen, the King didn't return alone."

Abby was even more confused now.

"King Micah led the enemies here." Deion couldn't believe what he just heard through the mindlink, but this guard rushing here only solidified the absurd truth he learnt.

"Micah did what?" Abby couldn't process what he said even after a long time, but the guard and Deion took turns to explain what was happening now.

"Sir Arthur kept the procession short and just as they returned to the palace, fire erupted at the palace gates out of nowhere. However, the warriors rushing there hearing the explosion were left dumbfounded to see King Micah emerge from the billowing smoke." The guard began.

"But he was not alone, there were several magic users behind him. The situation was too bizarre, they couldn't decide whether to fight the magic users or check on the king, who looked too different from his own self."

Then it was Deion, who continued as he reported the newest developments to Abby. "Royal Beta Alan rushed to the gates and was now confronting the king