Race for the Throne

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Jasmine put the last of her clothes away. She was lucky that she had her own room. Her brothers all shared the rest. She knows that her parents will want to head to the castle tomorrow to tell the Sentali's they are home. Her mom and Aunt Kali are still close as ever. Uncle Iverson is a decent guy. She holds up the coral she got for Serena. It is a pretty pink one.

Serena, or Her Royal Highness Princess Serena Grace Sentali, is one of her best friends. Although since they have been going to Moldova more, their friendship has been strained a little. Still she cannot wait to see her.

She leaves her room and is jumped on by Daniel. He is the youngest of the Lane kids. Jasmine loves her brothers, but every once in a while she wishes she had a sister. Serena is so lucky. “Come on Danny let's go outside and check on the greenhouse.”

She puts Daniel on her back and goes downstairs. Nathaniel is in the kitchen with their mom, Madeline. They are making a quick dinner. “I see that Daniel got you. Are you guys hungry? Mom and I are making something yummy.”

“Ohh what are you making?” Daniel asks.

“Something you will like.” Madeline tells him.

“I am going to take Daniel outside and get some of this energy out of him.” Jasmine tells them. She leaves with Daniel still on her back.

Brandon looks at Jasmine and shakes his head. He didn’t know if there was anything to add to what the princess and Vincent had said.

Serena smiles at Vincent and finishes her sandwich. “I guess I can give them that time.” She chuckles. She looks at Jasmine. “I can see you blushing as you eat.” She laughs. “Ok let me stop while I am ahead of myself.”

Brandon was swallowing a bite of his apple. “Yes please…” he said. His face was also flushed. “So tell me, what King Iverson is like?” he asked. He tried to change the subject casually. He wanted to know more about his dad.

Vincent looks at Brandon. “I may be the wrong person to ask, but I will tell you the truth. King Iverson is a good man. He has his faults. He is very hot tempered, fiercely protective of his girls, Kalista included. Especially now that she is pregnant. This one I can understand, Kalista is known for her difficult pregnancies. With Serena she was on bed rest for almost 5 months, and with Audra 1 month.” He looks over a Serena and wonders if she will have anything to add.

“Uncle Iverson is a good man. He had a wild childhood, but calmed down with Aunt Kalista. He is a lot of fun though and loves to play with my brothers.” Jasmine adds. She looks at Brandon wondering if he will reveal why he is asking that question.

Serena looks at Brandon. “Vincent isn’t lying when he said that he is fiercely protective of his girls. He almost killed Vincent twice so far sense we have been dating and we have only been dating about two months now.” She said chuckling. “He is hardheaded but a good man. I admit he does a great job keeping his work separated from family time though. He has no sons and they are letting the new baby be a surprise. My mother always wanted to have a surprise child but dad couldn’t handle it. Why do you ask?” she asked as she finished her lunch.

“No reason, you see as I traveled with my mother we never went to into Rosario. It was one country that she never went into. I have been all over but know nothing about the country and its people, including the leadership there.” Brandon explained. He wanted to tell Serena the truth but knew it wasn’t the time for that yet.

*Just tell her already!!* Jasmine screams internally. She sighs. It is not easy for him, and she will have to wait until she is ready. She sticks out her tongue at Serena and Vincent. "Well it is not easy for him to catch you sleeping together no matter how innocent it is. You need to be more like me, I am a good girl."

"Oh I know Berenson will love to hear all about how 'your angel' is taking care of you. What have you told him about Brandon? Berenson is probably picturing him as an older man." Vincent replies. "Going to Rosario will be fun."

Serena laughs at Jasmine. “I have this mental picture that Vincent is right. I can just picture Uncle Berenson thinking that Brandon here is a man about his age or older taking care of his little girl and thanking the goddess that a good man is taking such good care of his little girl. Just wait until he finds out it is someone your age and falling for his little girl.”

Brandon chuckled. “I still say I am no angel. I am only doing what any healer would do. Besides Jasmine has been a good patient so far.”

“Oh so seeing you half naked and touching your chest is being a good patient. Vincent, if I ever get a doctor like that I hope you are jealous of them.” Serena said smirking. "I'm pretty sure we almost caught you kissing this morning. By the way I owe you for some of the first kisses Vincent and I shared." she said winking at Jasmine.

Jasmine's face flushes when Serena teases her. "No teasing me I am injured. You should be nice to me. Besides I thought you hated the 'ice queen' Jasmine." She looks over at Brandon. "We were not about to kiss, were we?"

"Turnabout is fair play sweetie, and what better way to make you feel better than to put a smile on your face." Vincent tells her.

Brandon smiled and then made a face. “Depends on who you are asking, because personally I thought a kiss was coming.” He said winking at Jasmine.

Serena smirked at Jasmine. “Hey as long as you are smiling that is all that matters. It is good to see a smile on your face. I don’t like seeing the ice queen Jasmine or not happy at all Jasmine. I like to see my cousin with a smile on her face. So Brandon, do you know about when she will be able to get up from this bed? I hate seeing her here like this. I know she’s tired of it as well.”

Brandon looked at Jasmine. “Well, in a few days is all I can say. She has to be able to LISTEN and do as told. Think you can handle that Jasmine? Oh and I will leave your pain meds beside of the bed tonight so that you don’t try that again in the morning.”

Jasmine nods her head. "Trust me I learned my lesson. I don't think I have ever been so weak before in my life. And yes I hate sitting here doing nothing. Thank you guys for keeping me company." Jasmine stifles a yawn.

"Well unlike before you have lost some blood. That accounts for the weakness." Vincent stands and looks Jasmine in her eyes. "I don't think you understand how close we came to losing you. This is not a simple broken bone. If I think you could handle it, I would bring in Serena's and my shirt."

"It was worth it..." is Jasmine's reply.

Brandon looks at Jasmine and sees her yawn. He smiles knowing she is getting tired. She has been up for quite a while now. Serena smiles at her. “I don’t think I could have handled losing you Jasmine. You are my best friend and the best cousin I have.” She said smiling. “Besides I don’t even want to look at those shirts. Vincent get rid of them, we will replace them before leaving.” Serena said.

Brandon looked at Serena and Vincent. “Someone is getting tired. I hate to push the two of you out but Jasmine needs to rest.” He explained. “Don’t worry about her; she is going to be just fine.”

Serena looked at Jasmine who looked tired. “We will come back tomorrow Jasmine. I want you to get some rest and we will come keep you company tomorrow again.” She said before looking over at Vincent. “Are you ready to go, love?” she asked.

Vincent stands and offers his arm to Serena. "The shirts were taken as evidence. I think Micia will have them destroyed now. Jasmine take is easy and we will be back tomorrow."

Jasmine smiles lazily at Brandon. "I cannot wait until you let me leave this bed. I am going to stretch my legs until I can't walk anymore." She struggles to keep her eyes open.

Serena stands up and takes Vincent’s arm. “You get some sleep Jasmine.” She looks over at Brandon. “I still cannot thank you enough for saving her. Our families would be lost without her, including Nathaniel.” She walks with Vincent to the door and they leave the room. She looks up at Vincent.

“I am really happy for them. Please tell me you didn’t give him the third degree when you went to get lunch.” Serena asked Vincent as they shut the door. They walk down the hall together.

~~

Brandon smiles at Jasmine as her eyes begin to close. He pulls up the blanket on her and tucks her in. “You get some rest first Jasmine and then we will talk about that.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead gently as her eyes closed. “Sleep well, sweet Jasmine.” He said as he turned off the light. He closed the blinds so that the room would be a little dark. He then sits down with his notebook to write as she got some rest in.

"I did not. I simply prepared him what to expect. I know Uncle Berenson is a little bit more laid back than Uncle Iverson. However Jasmine is his little girl. I have to say I do like him. I just hope he doesn't try anything with Jasmine. She is not in her right mind." Vincent leads her to the carriage.

Serena nodded her head as they get to the carriage. “I can understand that.” She said as he helped her into the carriage. “However I think she is more in her right mind then you give her credit for. She knows what she is doing Vincent. I trust her.”

The next couple days pass. Jasmine is getting stronger. She is feeling pain in her shoulder and sometimes it is worse than others. She loves the visits from Serena and the others and is even staying awake longer. She works on coloring in some of the drawings she did earlier.

She wakes up this morning. She is alone which is odd. Using her good arm she props herself up. What she wouldn't do for a bath or something. She knows her hair is stringy even though Brandon has been taking care of her. She is getting stir crazy and wants out!

~~~~~~~

Vincent wakes up alone in his bed. Serena is getting better and this is the first night they have spent apart since the attack. It took him forever to get to sleep and he was expecting Serena to come in. He get out of bed. A part of him wants to cross the hall. Instead he goes into the shower and gets ready for the day.

Brandon somehow manages to sleep in a little this morning, the first time in quite a while that he has. He wakes up and sees that it is past sun up. He knows Jasmine is probably up. He gets up and takes a quick shower. She has voiced some complaints to him about being in bed for so long and wants out. He hopes today she will be up for getting up and walking around some, however he will not tolerate her pushing herself to far. When he is done getting ready he goes and gets them some breakfast. He knocks on her door and opens it.

“Good morning Jasmine, sorry I am late. I somehow managed to sleep in this morning.” He said as he walked over with breakfast.

~~

Serena had managed to sleep alone for the first time sense the attack. It hadn’t been easy but she had pushed herself to do so. She knows she doesn’t need to get used to it sense they would be heading back to Rosario in the next few weeks. She gets up and looks around the room. She sighed, knowing there was nothing to be afraid of. She gets up and goes to get her a shower. Malachi had asked her if sometime this week she would go to the market place with him but asked her not to tell her sister. She wondered what it was all about.

When she is finished getting dressed she crosses the hall to see Vincent. Being alone for so long made her a little nervous. She knocked on his door.

“You are not late, and you have food!” Jasmine is hungry at the same time slightly disappointed. She was hoping to have to go and get breakfast. “I am not in pain this morning either.” She begins to eat from the plate. “This is so good. I need to thank the monks myself sometime. I don't mean to sound cranky, but when do you think I will be able to get a bath. I know I have to be careful with my wound, but my hair must be scaring you.” She grabs a curl and waves it around. “It's alive....Its ALIVE!!!”

~~~~~~~

Vincent just finished getting dressed when he hears the knock. He opens the door. “Good morning beautiful. I am so proud of you. I half expected you to come in last night. Why don't we get some breakfast. I am starving.”

He escorts her to the dining room and greets the regular companions. There was pleasant conversations all around the table. Malachai was looking nervous. “Are you guys going to see Jasmine today?” He originally wanted her to go shopping with him. Not that he didn't like Serena. He only hopes that Serena will be able to keep a secret from Audra.

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