Page 61 of Their Promise

Stepping forward, Kayden bumped fists with the drummer. “Hey, man. How’re you?”

“Doing great. How are you?” the drummer asked. He was a dragon and occasionally while he was playing, he would tilt his head back and shoot flames up into the air. The crowd, myself included, loved it.

“Good. I’d like to introduce you to Princess Liliana of the Hybrids,” he said and pushed my lower back to make me step closer.

“H-Hi. I’m ahugefan,” I admitted nervously.

The drummer shook hands with me and smiled wide. He dipped his head in a quick bow once and said, “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. It means a lot to us that you’re a fan.”

“Would you guys sign this shirt for her?” Kayden asked and held out the shirt I’d asked for.

“Oh-Oh you don’t have to, it’s enough I got to meet you all,” I said quickly.

“Anything for you, Kayden,” the drummer said and took the shirt over to a table where they had a marker out.

Kayden introduced me to the other members and engaged in conversations with them like they were old friends. I envied him.

The bassist was a hybrid, like us, and clasped one of my hands in two of his as he bowed over them. “It is a great honor to meet you, Princess. I was an orphan and luckily adopted by one of the island hybrids you helped rescue. I know about your workwith the orphanage and although it was after my time, I want to say how grateful I am to have a princess who is so kind.”

My eyes watered but I blinked the tears away. “Thank you. I didn’t know others knew about my work there.”

“Only those of us who also help with the orphanage and orphans. We know you prefer to keep it quiet. I’d always hoped for a chance to meet you in person. Would you mind taking a selfie with me?”

“Yes, please!” I said a bit too loudly and stepped next to him. He put his arm around my shoulder, held out his phone, and just as he went to take the selfie, Kayden and the rest of the bandmembers stepped up to join us.

The crewmember who had brought us here took the phone and took the picture for us.

The bassist squeezed my shoulder. “Seriously, thank you for helping the orphans.”

“As a fellow orphan who lucked into my home, I felt it was sort of my duty,” I admitted.

Kayden sighed softly, but the singer distracted him with a question.

We sat down on the couches and they uploaded the image to their official social media account and tagged Kayden and I in it.

“Princess, how did you two meet?” the drummer asked.

“Oh, I’ve known Kayden since he was born. We’re childhood friends,” I answered. “His dad used to be my guard.”

“That’s so sweet,” the drummer said. “Sounds like me and my mate.”

“How are your twins?” I asked, knowing they had posted about the twins being born less than a year ago.

“Growing like weeds,” he said with a chuckle.

The crewmember whispered into the lead singer’s ear and he nodded. “Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye for now so we can go perform. It was an honor to meet you, Your Highness,and great to see you again, Kayden. Text me next time you guys want to come to a concert and we’ll hook you up.”

“Thank you,” I said, and they surprised me by each hugging both Kayden and I before we left.

“Did that really happen?” I asked him softly as we returned to our seats. I held up my concert t-shirt, signed by all of the members. I wasn’t going to be able to wear it now. Instead, I would put it in a case and put it on my bedroom wall.

He thanked Bart, but whispered something in his ear that had him nodding before hurrying off.

Maybe he wanted another drink?

The band came out and everyone stood up, cheering.

To my surprise, they dedicated one of their songs to me and another to Kayden. And the thing Kayden had asked for was a second t-shirt so I could have one to wear. Turns out, he really did know me well.

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