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“Can’t you stay over tonight?” Ashton asked casually as Kevin came to drive me home.

I laughed. Kevin laughed. Melissa laughed. We all laughed.

“If I ever do something like that again, I’ll have to live with you because my parents would kill me,” I informed him.

“You can live here,” he smirked and I rolled my eyes.

Kevin and Melissa were ecstatic to see that Ashton had woken up. Apparently he had mind-blocked the guys after he'd woken up, so he could spend some time alone with me. Jackson, of course, with his continuous mountain of work was not pleased.

He unblocked them after he'd told me what went down on Monday. Jun was buzzing around him, asking to fight to the death.

“You know what? I’ll drive Elizabeth home today,” Ashton decided.

Jun was disappointed that he and Ashton wouldn’t be killing each other and went to interfere in yet another argument between Jackson and Raúl.

“I think you guys stress Jackson out too much,” I laughed as Ashton drove out of the palace grounds.

“He does get a chance to relax sometimes, but he never does,” he shrugged. “And you don’t have to act like what I told you earlier isn’t bothering you,” he added.

My laugh disappeared as his words reverberated around my mind. I sighed. That alone would have put a lot of pressure on Ashton even without the king trying to fry his brains.

“So let me get this straight. One, CaVaughn might get exiled from the kingdom. Two, CaVaughn stays in the kingdom, but mated to me while you get forced into an arranged marriage. Three, Brooke becomes the queen and possibly gets forced into an arranged marriage later, or four, you mark me.”

Ashton nodded stiffly.

“The fourth one I’ve at least head of. The first three are completely messed up. How can he kick his own son out of the kingdom?” I asked, bewildered.

“I don’t know if he would actually do it… but he is ruthless. There’s no telling what he’ll do when he thinks that somebody is no longer worth his time.”

“Okay, but for CaVaughn to be mated to me?” I asked incredulously. “Wouldn’t he need my permission for that to happen?”

“Technically, he would, but you have a lot of people you care about, don’t you? Your parents, Melissa, Callie, Kevin… The king would use them as pawns to get to you to agree.”

“You didn’t include yourself in that list,” I frowned.

Ashton glanced at me and smirked. “You care about me?”

“I didn’t make you a broth because I felt like standing over a hot stove,” I laughed.

He smiled at that.

“Who would you be paired with though?”

“A princess of a kingdom with a status equal to ours or higher,” he snarled at the thought.

“And Brooke becoming the queen?”

“Completely out of the question. CaVaughn doesn’t want that either.”

I thought about CaVaughn. “He seems nice. Kinda quiet, but he loves you.”

“He thinks I hate him, but I don’t.”

“You should try telling him that,” I suggested.

“Not a chance,” he grinned. “I have to keep him on his toes. He needs to keep living. He was always quiet, but now he’s almost like a robot.”

I had to agree with that. “Did something happen to him?”

“The king was furious with the fact that he awakened but couldn’t shift. He had him in training for twenty-two hours a day. Then he was back at it again the next day. The doctors told him that it wouldn’t work, but he still insisted on torturing him like that.”

Ashton grimaced. “The king totally traumatized him. Having his bones breaking every single day on repeat for years, even if he healed quickly, it was still painful. He wasn’t given anything to help with the pain. He tried to block out the pain and tried not to feel anything. Now even his emotions are numb.”

“I don’t think your dad will be getting a father of the year award any time soon,” I murmured.

“I don’t want to be anything like him.” Ashton hissed.

“You aren’t,” I assured him. “He doesn’t care about anyone, but you’re different. You care about your friends and family.”

“And you,” he added.

A slow smile spread across my face at that.

“There’s something else I should tell you,” he started hesitantly. “He’s way stronger than I thought he was.”

“He’s a lot more vicious than I thought he’d be,” I sighed. “I still can’t believe he hurt you like that. You should get that ring deactivated or something.”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” he murmured. “He didn’t use his ring.”

I looked over at him and I could see the anger beginning to cloud his eyes. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were bone white.

“It turns out he’s been keeping his ultimate weapon a secret,” he growled. “He has a unique ability.”

My frown deepened. “Unique ability?”

He nodded. “Just like how Kritof has telekinesis. The king has a unique ability too.”

I grimaced. “Your dad’s the last person I would want to have something like that.”

He nodded in agreement.

“How does it work?”

“The royals in my family tend to develop abilities connected to the mind. It’s a lot like what he’s been doing so far. He can sift through my thoughts and force his wishes on me like hypnosis. But it’s a lot more painful than what he’s been doing before. I now realize that he doesn’t need to use the rings,” he scowled. “He just wanted us to believe that they were the only things he could use to control us.”

“That’s horrible!” I seethed. “I don’t think he can get any worse than that.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Ashton sighed. “He’ll find a way.”

“What about Brooke?” I asked suddenly. “Can he use it on her now?”

“I don’t think so. Her senses haven’t awakened yet, but it’s only a matter of time. He might even be able to do it without her senses awakening.”

His jaw clenched and unclenched as he tried to focus on the road. I could tell that this was bothering him a lot more than he let on. It must have been awful for him to realize just how much power his dad had.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Brooke away from him,” he swore. “The ring is nothing more than a toy compared to his true abilities. I feel like he’s been using it on Cav. No wonder he’s like this now.”

I rubbed his shoulder instinctively as my thoughts wandered across my mind.

“If you’re soulmates with Prince Ashton, then you’ll be our princess. I’m glad we’re going to have a nice princess like you.”

“But then again, you know that you can make everything better.”

“You are our future queen, Elizabeth, and I will be loyal to you. This is your duty to your people. Please do not disappoint us.”

I sighed. Was I selfish for wanting to escape from all of this? Was I stupid for not wanting to be the princess every girl in the kingdom dreamed of being?

I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure which choice would be the right one and that scared me.

Ashton glanced over at me and I gave him a small smile. He had bigger problems to worry about. I didn’t want him to have to worry about me too.

I made small chat with him as we drove to my house. I kept on thinking about everything that happened today.

“Thanks,” I said as he pulled up at my house.

“No problem, princess.”

I smiled a little at the nickname. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I got out of the car.

My parents were lounging in the garden, reading a book. They looked up as Ashton’s car approached.

Surprisingly, he got out of the car too. I stared at him, but he smiled smugly and took my hand in his.

“Ashton, what are you doing? Let me go,” I whisper-shouted at him as he walked towards my gate.

“Can’t I say hi to your parents?” he asked with a devious smile.

“If you don’t leave right now, I’ll-”

“Hello,” my mom greeted as we stepped through the gate. She glanced at me uncertainly and I stared at the ground.

“Ashton, it’s nice to see you again,” she smiled at him.

“It’s my pleasure,” he answered politely.

My dad glared at him.

“Are you joining us for dinner?” mom asked him eagerly.

“No!” I yelled, but Ashton yelled “Yes!” at the same time.

I glared at him, but he just smiled with my mom.

“Okay, that’s decided. Come on in,” she grinned.

My father followed behind her stiffly. He was somewhat of an overprotective dad. In his eyes, Kevin was the only guy that he could trust.

I pulled my hand out of Ashton’s as he entered my house, and led him to the living room.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m staying for dinner,” he said tauntingly.

“What brought this on?”

“I got invited,” he smirked.

“I’m going to my room,” I told him pointedly. “You stay here.”

“No, Lizzy,” my mom said as she came into the room. “Stay with your friend here. You can’t leave your guest alone.”

“Yeah,” Ashton agreed with a smirk and I groaned and dropped onto the sofa. He sat down beside me.

“Your mom is nice, but I think your dad hates me,” he laughed.

“He doesn’t hate you. He just doesn’t like the fact that you’re not Kevin.”

“Kevin?” he frowned.

“He’s the only guy my father trusts,” I shrugged.

“I’ll deal with Kevin later,” Ashton decided darkly and I hit him with a cushion.

“Don’t you dare trouble him,” I warned.

“No promises.”

“So we meet again, Ashton,” my father said as he came into the room.

Ashton stood up to shake my father’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, sir.”

I stared at him. Sir? Who was this guy and what did he do with Ashton?

My father grunted and looked at me. “You can head up and get some rest before dinner,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, getting up. Ashton shot me a panicked look and I smiled deviously. “I’ll do just that.”

I skipped up the stairs, leaving Ashton to face my father.

I took a bath and got started on my homework. When I was done, I checked the time. Almost thirty minutes had passed. I decided to go rescue Ashton from my dad and put him out of his misery.

I strolled downstairs and heard laughter coming from the living room. My eyes couldn’t have opened any wider as I watched Ashton and my dad laughing together on the couch. They smiled when they saw me.

I hesitantly entered the room and eyed them warily.

“Ashton here was just telling me about his golfing experiences,” he chuckled.

My father’s love for golf was almost as great as his love for History. I sent a confused glance at Ashton. I couldn’t imagine him playing golf.

“I didn’t know you played,” I commented.

“My father made sure that I was involved in everything,” Ashton chuckled.

That I could imagine. It was also one of the rare times I heard him refer to his dad as anything but the king. Although I guess he couldn’t just go around saying things like that.

“I’m going to go help mom,” I said, pointing to the kitchen.

My dad nodded as he started another conversation with Ashton. I stared at them in complete confusion as I headed to the kitchen.

“Your father seems to like him,” mom mentioned as she took the casserole out of the oven.

“I’m surprised,” I said flabbergasted.

My father was difficult to please. Even Kevin had to endure his scrutinizing glares. But there he was with Ashton, chatting up a storm.

“He’s polite and handsome,” she commented with a wink. “Are you two dating now?”

“Mom!” I groaned as my cheeks reddened.

She pinched my cheek with a chuckle and went to tell them that dinner was ready.

They finally came in for dinner when my mom threatened to eat without them. Ashton had so many servings I really wondered how he could even eat that much. My mom liked that and was more than happy to keep the food coming.

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I stared at him as he stood on the porch smiling at me. Today felt like a dream.

“How did you become such great friends with my dad?” I asked suspiciously.

“We have some stuff in common,” he shrugged. “He’s really not that bad.”

“Have you ever played a game of golf in your life?”

“You are forgetting I’m a prince,” he laughed. “We have to do a lot of things like that. It’s honestly so boring.”

“Uh huh,” I nodded in a daze.

“Thanks for having me over. It was nice having dinner like this. It was different... It felt like a real family.”

He smiled. It was such a genuine smile, it took my breath away.

I couldn't help the smile that rose to my face in return. “Maybe you can drop by once in a while. Maybe.”

He chuckled. “I might take you up on that.”

“Drive safely.”

“I’ll text you." His eyes flickered behind me and he bit back a laugh. “Your parents are watching us from the window.”

I blushed and tried to turn around to find them, but he stopped me from turning around. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

My heart fluttered as he smiled so purely at me.

“Bye,” I whispered as he ruffled my hair and got into his car.

I went back inside and my parents hurriedly tried to arrange themselves in a natural position to make it seem like they hadn’t been spying on us.

“I like that boy. He’s very charming,” mom commented as I closed the door.

My dad gave a small nod. “He has character.”

I smiled to myself and went to do the dishes, but my thoughts kept drifting to a certain dark haired prince.

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