“Two. I need to convince Cal not to marry Bria. Not just because I want him for myself, but because the king has literally ordered me to break up their engagement for some reason.”
Speedy slowly lowered the stick and bleated at me.
I shot him a flat look. “What? You know the price of failure would be carved into my mother’s skin by that psychotic bastard. I can’t allow that to happen.”
He dropped the stick entirely and slowly wandered around my bed. I continued with my speech as if he wasn’t actively trying to ignore me.
“Three, I somehow need to prevent war with Timberlune. I honestly have no idea how to make that happen, especially since it directly contradicts number two. And four, I have to survive an awkward morning chat filled with brutal honesty and probably a lot of hurt feelings.”
Speedy made it to the edge of the bed... and flopped right off the edge, landing with a gentle thud as his thick-ass skull hit the stone floor.
“Zeus Almighty, sloth, are you okay?”
I rushed over and scooped him up, scanning his head for bumps or cuts. I eventually decided that if he was fine enough to roll his eyes at me—which he was totally doing—then he was fine enough to be set back down.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” I scolded him. “One of these days you’re going to kill yourself. And then who am I going to talk to?”
Someone knocked at the door, and I glanced over despite not being able to see jack shit through the solid wood.
"Yes?"
A servant’s voice spoke up. "Your Highness, Prince Calvin requests your presence in the gardens.”
Panic struck me like a sword to a hornet’s nest. I swallowed down the stinging of my nerves and shook out my suddenly tingling hands.
“Yes, um, just another moment. Please tell him I’ll be down as soon as I’m dressed.”
The servant cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed by the vision I’d no doubt shoved into his head. “Yes, Your Highness.”
I hurried to my closet and shuffled through the gowns, settling on a bright red number that was both sexy and showy. If I was going to be in huge trouble with the guys, then I at least needed some sort of advantage. If I could use a little sex appeal in my defense, then so be it, and thank the gods for that.
I adjusted my cleavage in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and checked out my ass.
“What do you think, Speedy?” I asked him.
His big black eyes opened wide, and he bleated.
“I’m gonna take that as a compliment,” I told him with a wink.
I rushed from my room, across the castle hallways, pushed through a heavy wooden door, and strolled quickly down the cobblestone pathway out back.
The morning was hot, humid, and bright, with absolutely zero sign of a breeze. Cal was apparently keeping his every move in check today. It did absolutely nothing to settle my nerves.
My heels clicked quickly on the path as I approached the gardens. I could already see the guys from where I stood, four gorgeous visions sitting amongst the roses and gardenias. The spicy scent of man mixed intoxicatingly with the sweetness of the flowers, making me dizzy and excited all at once.
"Good morning, gentlemen," I said as I approached their little round table.
They stood to greet me, but Dan was the only one giving me bedroom eyes as he assessed my sexy red gown. The other three were too busy gaping. A smug smile slid onto my lips.
"Morning, Sexy Lexi," Dan purred, taking my hand and kissing my wrist. The touch of his lips sent a rush of heat soaring through me.
Cal recovered his wits first. “Please sit.”
I didn’t know if I could. My skin was literally crawling with anxiety. I wanted to scrub my hands across my face and rub and rub until my senses faded. I forced myself to sit anyway, gripping the wicker seat of my chair tightly.
“So...” I began nervously. “What’s the chat about this time?”
“Ben mentioned you were crying the other day before the party.”
I cocked my head. “Really, Cal? I was crying yesterday too. Who cares?”
“We care,” Ben said, shooting me a gentle smile.
“I shouldn’t have been crying anyway,” I muttered. “Miners don’t cry.”
“Except you’re not a miner anymore, Sailor. You’re a princess. A pawn in the Storm King's game. Life has become infinitely more complicated for you.”
His words struck a chord of remembrance. Those were almost the exact same words the Storm King himself had used.
"Fuck." Dan shook his head and turned away. "Look at her face. She's clearly gotten the speech already."
I swallowed hard, but my throat was too tight to speak. I'd forgotten one of the Storm King's stipulations, the most important one of all: do not tell the princes or anyone else what's going on behind the scenes... Or I will tear your mother apart until she begs for a death that never comes.
"What speech?" I asked quickly, trying to turn this chat around. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Cal's eyes narrowed. "Lie."
I shook my head. "No, it's the truth. I really don't know what you mean."
"Lie." Cal sighed and scrubbed a hand through his golden hair. "Did he order you not to tell anyone?"
"Cal, I... I wish I knew what you were talking about, but—"
"Lie. Look, Peach, we were given the same speech years ago, when we were only children staring in horror as he slashed our mothers to ribbons."
I couldn't breathe. The image of my own mother, tied to a chair, being sliced with a knife, would be burned into my memory forever. But to see such an atrocious sight as a child?
Etiquette be damned, I bent down and puked on the cobblestones at my feet.
"Too blunt, dickhead," Ben scolded his brother.
Cal at least had the decency to sound contrite. "I'm sorry, but it's true."
When I finished heaving, Rob handed me a flask. "I don't know if I'd try drinking it right after vomiting, but you can at least rinse your mouth out."
I nodded, grateful for the kind gesture, and as I swished and spit, I gathered my thoughts.
"So... he does this to all of you?"
Every single one of them nodded.
"Why do you think I'm so desperate to marry Bria?" Cal asked.
My brows furrowed. "Wait. He ordered you to marry her?"
Cal nodded. "Or my mother will pay the price. So, you can understand why this choice you've given me is so difficult."
I closed my eyes and squeezed my palms into my temples. "Cal, he... he ordered me to stop the betrothal. And like you, my mother will pay the price if I fail. Why? Why would he do this? Give us contradictory commands?"
Cal's features turned dark and emotionless. "Because he's a narcissistic bastard who only cares about power and control."
"And pain," Rob added. "And torture."
"Because they give him power and control."
A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Does the Storm King have magical power of his own?"
"No," Dan answered. "Which is why he's so hell-bent on controlling ours."
"So, why don't you guys just use your magic to overpower him?"
"We've tried," Ben admitted, voice hollow. "He didn't die. Wasn't even wounded. But he wiped out half of everyone we knew and loved as punishment."
"Have you ever seen your cousins murdered before your eyes?" Rob asked coldly. He knew damn well I probably hadn't, but I didn't really think his anger was directed at me.
"No," I whispered, on the verge of spilling my guts once more.
"Or your girlfriend..." Dan muttered, staring vacantly.
"Or servants who've been with you your entire life and practically raised you," Cal added.
"Or innocent people you barely even knew," Ben continued, "but their deaths were entirely your fault."
I shook my head. "No, Ben, that's not true. The Storm King is responsible for those deaths, not you." I glanced around the outdoor table at their solemn faces. "
Not any of you."
Dan smirked, but his eyes looked haunted. "It doesn't feel that way, and it never will. You'll understand soon enough. I'm so sorry you're in this boat with us."
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "My being here is not your fault. It's no one's fault but that magical guy, Rory. If he hadn't somehow passed me his magic upon death, none of this would have happened.”
Their faces still looked pained, so I continued.
"I don't really even think it was a fault on his part. I think it was more like... destiny... or some shit. I feel like I was meant to meet you guys. Like there's a reason I'm here."
Kill the king.
Rory's words filled my head in a persuasive whisper.
I took a deep breath and decided to tell the princes what I'd heard.
"Before he died, Rory muttered something that will haunt me for... probably forever."
The guys' brows furrowed as they waited for me to finish.
"He said... kill the king."
Everyone's eyes went wide, and Cal jumped up from his seat, glancing around almost frantically.
"Hades, Zeus, and Hera, Peach," he hissed. "Never say anything like that out loud ever again!"
I put my hands up and leaned back in my chair. "Okay, fine. But I still feel like—"
"No," Cal said, silencing me as he sliced a hand through the air. "Promise me you will never try. It's impossible and homicidal. You won’t kill him, only innocent people."
I remained silent as his words sank in.
"Promise me."
My eyes fell shut, and I nodded. "I promise."
And I meant it. I didn't know how to control my powers or how to wield a sword. I wouldn't know the first thing about taking the king out—though, I sincerely wished I did. Nothing would make me happier than ridding the world of that insidious bastard.
Cal exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods. A truth, finally."
I smiled but shook my head. "There's something else I have to tell you guys. Ask of you guys."
"What's that?"
I stared into all four of their handsome faces, one by one, from across the table. Cal, my burly blond leader. Dan, my charismatic seducer. Ben, my tan, shy sweetheart. And Rob, my brooding badass.
"Another thing the Storm King ordered me to do was send weekly dating reports and updates on the progress of our relationships. That's why I was crying the other day."
Rob rolled his stormy gray eyes. "Because you dread the thought of dating us that much?"
Ben shot him a flat look. "More like, it probably hurts her to have to choose."
I shook my head. "No. I mean, yes, it would kill me to choose. But, no, I meant, I didn't send the king a dating report soon enough... so he sent me a bloodied lock of my mother's hair as a reminder."
"Oh, Lexi, come here." Dan was out of his chair and scooping me up before I even realized I was crying.
"Fuck these stupid fucking tears!" I cried as I rubbed at my rainy eyes.
But Dan only pulled me closer. "It's okay to cry, baby girl. The shit you're going through is awful. We used to cry too, at first."
I sniffled. "You don't anymore?"
Dan sighed. "I don't want to sound calloused, because I am far from an emotionless shell, but you just sort of... get used to it. It still pains you every time you fuck up and your mother pays the price, but you don't cry, because you can't stand to give that bastard the satisfaction."
Dan lowered us into my seat, and Cal heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll go on the first date. We'll need to do it before Bria arrives."
"I thought you already did it?" Rob challenged him with crossed arms and a raised brow.
Cal shot his brother a deadly glare, but he didn't deny it. There was no point. If they knew, he'd obviously already told them.
"No," Dan protested, squeezing me tighter in his lap. "Ben and Rob have already been on dates with her, and Cal's already fucked her. It's my turn."
"For what?" Rob asked. "A date or a fucking?"
"Both."
Ben tapped his fingers on the table. "Those first couple dates don't count."
"Oh, bullshit!" Dan said, glaring at him.
"Seriously,” Ben insisted. “From now on, the dates are going to be official. I think we should give each brother a full day—alone—to get to know Alexis."
"Fine," Dan agreed. "But I'm still going first."
"Fine," Cal conceded in irritation, "but I'm going second. What if Bria shows up ahead of schedule? We can't take that risk."
Ben exchanged a glance with Rob. "Who's going third?"
Rob half shrugged. "I can go last. I don't give a fuck."
I wiped my eyes one last time and glared at him. "Back to being a douchebag, huh?"
"You fucked Cal," he grumbled. "Whatever happened to all of us agreeing first?"
Guilt gripped me. He was right. I never should have done that. I deserved his iciness.
"Don't be like that," Ben told his brother. "It had to start somewhere. And with all the stress she's been under, plus her unique brand of magic, it's a miracle it didn't happen sooner."
Rob's expression softened a bit, and I was finally able to breathe.
"Even still," Rob continued in a gentler tone, "you can go third. I'll go last."
Ben nodded. "Okay."
"Does that mean my date starts now?" Dan asked, straightening up beneath me.
Cal stared knowingly at his brother. "If you two are ready."
"Oh, I'm ready."
"More than just physically."
"I am," Dan insisted, making my heart smile.
Cal sighed but shrugged his shoulders, feigning an indifference I was fairly certain he didn’t feel. "Then get out of here."
Chapter 22
My date with Dan began on horseback.
He had a few "ideas" up his sleeve, and he needed to take me to Blackwater in order to make them happen. I'd never been to Blackwater, but considering the name and the fact that Dan was the Sea Prince, I had a feeling his date was going to have something to do with water. Call me crazy.
While we rode, I asked as many random questions as I could think of. If the Storm brothers and I were on a fast track to marriage, then we needed to know each other as intimately as possible, as quickly as possible.
"If you could have dinner with any god or goddess, who would you pick?"
He waggled his brows. "Aphrodite is the goddess of love and sexuality, right?"
I leaned over in the saddle and whacked his arm.
"Who would you choose?" he asked through a laugh.
I pursed my lips and thought. "Actually, I'd probably pick her too. It'd be nice to know how to control this crazy Sex Princess stuff."
"I think it'd be nice if you stopped trying to control it."
That earned him another playful whack. "If a crystal ball could tell you absolutely anything, what would you want to know?"
He fell silent and stared out ahead of us. While I kind of hated pushing him into emotional territory, I still felt I needed to know these things.
"I think... I'd want to know if I could have changed all of this. If there was ever a time we could have overpowered the Storm King and ended his reign of terror before it truly began. But, more than that, I'd want to know if there was a way to stop it now. Is there any possibility that we might be able to stop him in the future? Or will he continue to be ruthless and evil until the day he dies? And who knows if that'll even happen? He clearly has some sort of spell or something placed on him that keeps him from getting hurt. Maybe he also has something that keeps him from dying?"
I loved his answer as much as it terrified me.
"Those are all great points."
He smiled and tuned toward me in the saddle. "Is there something you always dreamed of doing? If poverty and fate hadn't intervened in your life, what would you want to do most?"
A phenomenal question that I'd never really given much thought. One, because I never imagined in a million years my c
ircumstances would change for the better. And two, I was always too busy with work and finding ways to eat and survive that I didn't really have time to dream.
I hummed as I thought. "I'd like to do some sort of humanitarian work, I think. I want to help people. Make their lives a bit easier and give them some much-needed hope."
He stared at me with a strange look in his eyes. They shined like sunlight, sparkling with radiance and warmth. It was like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. I could feel it in my veins, this admiration of his, though I had no idea how.
"You can do that still," he said with an encouraging smile. "In fact, as a princess, it'll be easier than ever. You'll have the power and influence to spark change, as well as the financial backing and free time, now that you no longer spend your whole day in the mines."
He had a point. It made my heart flutter to think I could possibly do some good in light of all this bad.
"I'm going to look into it as soon as all this is over."
"I hope you do."
When we finally reached Blackwater around noon, there was one thing I noticed above all else: this town was privileged. The houses and shops were tall, neatly painted, and trimmed in pristine white. The pathways were smooth, like someone had crushed the cobblestones into dust, combined it with something sticky like amber, then poured the mixture into the shape of a flawless road. It was incredible.
People strolled along leisurely, wearing beautifully cut gowns and tailor-made suits. No one's clothes were dirty or tattered. No one's hair was unkempt. In fact, everyone seemed to be either smiling, laughing, or chatting pleasantly as if they hadn't a single care in the whole wide world.
I wished I could have grown up in a town like this. I wished everyone could.
We left our horses at a community stable with fresh oats and cool water; then we walked into town on foot. Dan moved in front of me, walking backward so we could talk.
"You've been feeling stressed out lately, right?" he began, and I knew there was more to it.
"I think we all have been."
"Agreed. So, I have a place I like to go to when I'm particularly tense. They only exist in the richer towns, but trust me, they're worth it."
I raised a brow. "A whorehouse? Because even poor towns have those."
Taken by Storm (Storms of Blackwood Book 1) Page 21