65. Chapter 65

Chapter sixty-five

A headache worse than a hangover greeted Haven as she woke from her forced nap.

"Ow," She groaned as she sat up, holding her palm to the wound at her hairline.

"Look who's awake!" Roman spoke softly.

"What happened?" She asked. Looking around, Haven could tell she was back in her room at the castle. Her clothes had been changed into one of her nightdresses and her all but ruined wedding dress hung sadly on a hook on her bathroom door. Roman was sitting on her desk chair beside her bed.

"We'll get to that in a minute but for now, drink this." Roman looked away, grabbing something off of her nightstand and holding it out to her. It was a small cup of water. If it weren't for her scratchy throat and dry mouth she might have thrown it at him. He was deflecting, or at least putting off telling her what she wanted to know. The last time he did something like that he had been keeping the fact that he was inadvertently responsible for her fathers death from her.

"Thank you." She took a sip, it was cool and refreshing going down her throat.

"Of course" Roman gave her a slight smile, he was clearly testing the waters between them and she knew it. Luckily for him she was too tired and felt too much like she'd been run over to bother still being mad at him. Although Haven did wonder what would happen when she was back at her best. Would she still be upset with her friends? It was too much to think about right this minute, especially with something much more pressing on her mind.

"I have to pee" Haven said hurriedly, basically launching herself out of bed. She realized her mistake when she immediately got dizzy and almost fell. Roman reached out and grabbed her elbow to steady her. She thanked him and then did the best she could to dart into the bathroom on unsteady feet.

After tending to her needs and washing her hands, Haven exited the bathroom and sat back down on the edge of her bed. While she was in the bathroom Roman had produced a small plate of food.

"Here, you should eat something." He told her, moving from his spot in her desk chair to sit beside her on the bed.

"If I eat, will you tell me what happened?" Havens memories were fuzzy. She remembered heading out to the clearing in the forest, talking with Nik, walking down the aisle and then not much else. The heavy weight on her finger confirmed something else had obviously happened.

"How about I tell you while you eat?" Roman spoke softly, as if she were fragile. If it weren't for her pounding headache, she might be pissed he was treating her like she'd break.

Haven nodded in agreement. Setting the plate on the bed between them, she scanned the assorted meats, cheeses, slices of fruit and crackers before settling on a couple of grapes that teetered on the edge of the plate.

"What do you remember?" Roman asked.

Haven shook her head, "Not much," She said between bites, "I remember heading out to the clearing, talking with Nik and then walking down the aisle. I don't remember anything after that and what I do remember is hazy. I can recall talking to Nik away from everyone, I remember his face as he spoke but I can't remember the words."

Roman nodded, "That's probably just the concussion. I'm sure your memories will come back to you at some point, probably after you've rested properly."

"Hopefully," Haven remarked, "So are you actually going to tell me what happened or do I need to go and find someone who will?"

Before Roman got a chance to respond, Havens mind conjured a question,

"Where's Nik?"

Roman cringed, the look on his face was enough to tell her something bad had happened.

"Roman what happened?" Haven's voice rose as she talked, "Is Nik alright?"

"I'm not sure." Roman told her, "He's gone H, they took him."

"Who took him?" She demande d

Romans eyes fell to his feet, he couldn't meet Havens gaze as he said, "I wish I knew"

***

After Roman explained, in detail, the events of last night, Haven unsteadily marched herself to the one person who might know something. Pounding on his door, Haven yelled,

"Delroy open up!"

A few moments passed before Haven considered banging on the door again. She could hear movement in the room so she knew he was in there but she did not want to wake the entire hall with repeated knocks.

"I can hear you in there," She called, much quieter than her original tone,

"Please, I just want to talk."

The sound of a lock disengaging met Havens pointed ears before the door opened softly,

"How can I help Her Majesty?" Delroy greeted sarcastically.

In all of Romans explanations there had been a bit about the crown regent being gone. Apparently no one could find him, his office had been trashed when they went looking. The working theory was that he managed to slip away while they were all being held captive, he'd gotten back with just enough time to grab a few of his things and take a horse from the stables before disappearing into the night.

With him gone, Haven had been unofficially crowned as there was no one else with the power to rule. Soon she'd have her coronation, be officially crowned queen and the crown regents absence wouldn't matter. Although Haven had a feeling they hadn't seen the last of Niks father.

Even though she'd pretty much known it was coming, the nickname still caught her off guard. She paused long enough that Delroy tried to close the door in her face. Slamming her hand against the wood, Haven stopped Delroys attempt to get rid of her and said,

"Look, I know you hate me but I need some questions answered and you might be the only one still in this castle that can answer them."

Delroy thought for a minute before responding,

"First, I don't know what you think I can answer for you. I don't know anything about what happened and trust me, I've got lots of questions of my own. Second," Delroy paused, as if debating whether he was actually going to speak whatever was on his mind before coming to a decision and continuing,

"I don't hate you"