Royally Elected

by Catherine Banks

  The announcer raced down to Brayden and checked his vitals. “He’s alive, but unable to continue. He loses and the Four Princes of Jinla win.”

  Some in the crowd cheered, but most stared in disbelief.

  “Your Highness,” Sam said and knelt before me.

  “Did you do as I asked?”

  He nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Aside from memories of my mates, I had a few memories of my childhood return last night as well. Among them were my best friends: Sam, Leona, and Colton.

  “Announcer!” I called.

  He looked up at me, stepping to the side as healers came out to tend to Brayden.

  “The quest is ready,” I informed him.

  His eyes widened, and he looked at Brayden’s unconscious form. “But he—”

  “He is unfit to continue,” I said. “Or do you think I should lower myself to accept subpar mates?”

  He stuttered and sputtered a moment before composing himself. “Very well, let’s move to the third event, the quest.”

  “Quest?” Rhys asked.

  I walked to the edge of the platform and addressed everyone. “Something precious to me has been hidden in Atlantis. You have twelve hours to find and bring this precious thing to me.”

  “Do we get any clues?” the mage asked.

  “It’s from my childhood here in Atlantis. And, it’s something I would die for.” I said, praying it was enough of a clue for them to figure it out.

  “Wait!” Brayden snarled, limping towards the center of the arena. “I’m participating too.”

  “Very well,” I agreed without hesitation. “Your time begins now.”

  Brayden hobbled back out.

  Rhys took to the sky in his dragon form. The elf ran from the arena. The mage teleported out, but I had no idea where he went to. The wolf looked up at me for a long moment, then a huge smile split his face and he turned into a wolf before running out of the arena.

  “Shall we get some food while we wait?” Dad asked.

  “I can’t leave the arena,” I reminded him.

  “Sam, have another guard fetch us food,” Dad said.

  Sam nodded and went to the nearest guard to order him to do so.

  Pillows were brought out and I gratefully accepted two, putting them on my throne and sighing at the relief on my butt. “Much better.”

  Dad chuckled. “We should put some padding on these thrones.”

  “It would make them much more comfortable.”

  “I'll have someone work on that after the Gauntlet,” Dad promised.

  “Sounds great,” I said. I didn't want to point out that I wouldn't be here long. Once we defeated Brayden, I was out of here. I had no desire to rule Atlantis.

  “Here you go, Your Majesty,” one guard said as he and three other guards set up a buffet of food on a table before us.

  I filled up my plate and ate it quickly, filling my plate up for a second and then third time before I was full.

  “Quite the appetite,” Sam commented.

  “Shut up,” I ordered him and growled.

  “Do you think any of them will be able to figure the quest out?” Dad asked.

  “I hope so,” I muttered. “If anyone can do it, I think the princes can.”

  “You have high hopes for those ones,” Dad commented.

  “Yes, I do,” I agreed.

  “Brayden isn't a bad person,” Dad said. “He's strong and he is a siren.”

  “He's not just a siren. I don't know what else he is, but he's something else too,” I whispered.

  “Why do you think that?” Dad asked. “You haven't even been home for a month and you think you know him better than I do after over twenty years?”

  “Yes,” I said bluntly.

  “The princess may be on to something,” Sam whispered at my side.

  Dad glanced at him, then focused back on me. “He is your betrothed,” he reminded me.

  “I was banished, so he should have stopped being my betrothed,” I said. “Honestly, has my banishment even ended? Is the Gauntlet necessary since I'm still banished?”

  Dad frowned as he thought about it. “I guess that's true. I never unbanished you.”

  “Don't!” I hissed. “If I stay banished, it might come in handy soon.”

  “How could being banished be handy?” Sam asked.

  “You never know,” I whispered.

  I chewed on a bread roll as we continued to wait and I thought about the four males who had come. They were obviously friends and they worked flawlessly together. How did I fit into the equation? Did I fit flawlessly as well? What if my memory never came back? What if Brayden found a way to permanently break me?

  They were my mates, that was obvious by the two bloodstones beneath my eye that carried blood from two of them in each one. It was interesting that they did two in one instead of four in one or just four individual stones. Perhaps I hadn't wanted to have four stones.

  “Would you like some dessert?” Sam asked me.

  I nodded emphatically. “Yes, please.”

  He nodded at the guard who had brought us back the food and the guard hurried off. It was nice having guards to do things for me. But, I would prefer not to have guards and to be free. Would I still be free if the princes were my mates? Would we have guards or servants? Where did we live? I had no idea where or what was going on when it came to them.

  “With four mates, that greatly increases my chances of becoming a grandfather,” Dad said. “It's hard for siren females to conceive, so four mates would definitely increase those odds.”

  “Could you not talk about my sex life?” I growled.

  “Children are important. We need to continue the royal line,” Dad said.

  “Well, then why didn't you just remarry?” I asked.

  “There is no one who can compare to your mother,” he whispered, and a wistful expression crossed his face. “She was perfect.”

  “She was,” Sam agreed.

  “I wish I could remember her,” I whispered. I wished I could remember a lot of things.

  “She loved you,” Dad whispered. “More than anything else in the world. She would be proud to see you as you are. You're a lot like her. So proud and beautiful. She never backed down when she truly believed in something.”

  “Definitely sounds like our Jolie,” Rhys said.

  Sam, Dad, and I jumped at the sudden appearance of Rhys, the mage, the wolf, and the elf.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. “You haven't completed the quest yet, have you?”

  Leona and Colton stepped from behind them and I flew into their arms. “You're okay!”

  They hugged me back tightly.

  “You're not,” Leona whispered. “And it's all my fault.”

  “It's not your fault,” I assured her.

  “We need to defeat him. Now,” Colton said.

  “Dad, they won. They found what I'd hidden. You need to announce them as the winners,” I said urgently.

  Dad nodded, stood, and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

  “Not. So. Fast,” Brayden hissed. He held a dagger to the back of my father and glared at us.

  “You've lost,” I told him. “You lost the Gauntlet and you've lost Atlantis. Just give up.”

  “No!” he snapped. “This is my kingdom and I will not let these scumbags ruin it for me!”

  Sam moved back behind the thrones, his position hidden from Brayden.

  “This is not your kingdom! Atlantis will never bow to you,” I growled.

  “You aren't even princess,” Brayden said with a sneer. “You're still banished.”

  “Even if you win today, then what? You think I'm going to sit demurely by your side while you rule?”

  “No, I'll kill you as soon as we're wed,” he said.

  My four mates growled and took a step closer, but Brayden stuck the knife against my father's back, making my dad hiss in pain as it pierced the skin.

  “Not a step closer,”
he ordered them.

  “You're pathetic,” I growled. “You can't even fight me yourself. You have to resort to using a hostage. How do you think you can rule Atlantis when a poor, defenseless girl like me frightens you?”

  “You don't frighten me,” he said and scoffed. I could smell the lie instantly.

  “Fight me, then,” I challenged him. “You win, and you get Atlantis. I win, and you die,” I said.

  He thought about it. “Your mates aren't allowed to interfere.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Obviously. I challenged you to a duel, not to fight all of us.”

  “Deal,” he said and lowered the knife.

  The idiot had no idea what he'd done. Rushing forward, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tossed him sideways, away from my father. The elf was nearest him and he attempted to stab him, but Brayden rolled out of the way.

  The men began attacking him, four of them against just Brayden. Brayden did something to me that made me cry out in pain and clutch my head. Brayden's power cracked into the wall I had built around my bonds and surged down Rhys's bond.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Rhys froze, his eyes rolling up into his head a moment, then he began to attack the wolf.

  “Nico!” the wolf yelled as he protected himself against Rhys.

  The mage, Nico, cursed and ran to me. “It's now or never, love.”

  I tried to say something, but Brayden sent more power into my head and tried to get to Nico's bond.

  Nico whispered a spell quickly beneath his breath and slowly, painfully, began to push Brayden out of my head.

  “Just a bit more,” he whispered as I screamed.

  Slowly, the pain eased and when it did, I was alone in my head again. But, the memories were still locked away.

  “You kill me and she’ll never get her memory back!” Brayden hissed. He lay on the ground with the wolf holding him while the elf held a sword to his throat.

  “I can’t remember,” I whispered and looked up at Nico. “I don’t remember still.”

  “Unlock her memories now!” the mage bellowed, his body glowing as he struggled to control his fury. Sparks fizzled at his fingertips.

  I giggled and they all looked at me. “Sparkles,” I said and looked right at Nico. “You’re Sparkles.”

  “Yes,” he whispered and turned to me. “Do you remember?”

  “She won’t. I’ve locked them down too tightly,” Brayden said smugly. “I reinforced them after Sam put a crack in it.”

  “We should just kill him,” the wolf snarled.

  “If you do, I’ll never get my memories back,” I said softly. I would never know what happened to me. Or who I was.

  “We can make new memories,” the elf said. “I would rather have you, without your memories, than risk him hurting you more.”

  “I don’t even know your names,” I said with tears in my eyes, momentarily blinding me. I hurriedly wiped them away.

  “Nico,” the wolf said, “I have an idea.”

  Rhys took the wolf’s spot, holding Brayden down, so the wolf could walk to us. He whispered in Nico’s ear, then looked at me with a smile.

  Nico thought about it for several tense and silent moments, then nodded. “It might work.” He stood before me and I shrank back at his intense stare. His gaze softened and he brushed my hair away from my face. “This might hurt, but I’ll try to minimize that as much as possible.”

  The wolf stood beside Nico and me, a warm smile on his face. “Just try to relax, okay?”

  I nodded. These males were not likely to try to hurt me. At least, not on purpose. They were my mates, whether I remembered fully or not.

  Nico placed his fingers against my temples and closed his eyes. “Okay,” he said.

  The wolf set his fingers atop Nico’s and took a steadying breath before closing his eyes.

  I followed suit, closing my eyes, and waiting.

  I saw myself standing on a bus, looking at a strange electronic device. I had always wanted to ride on a bus. The bus stopped, and as I reached for my bag, a male snatched it and ran off the bus. I heard myself yell, but then I saw the bag snatcher on the ground, under a foot.

  “This was the day I met you,” the wolf’s voice whispered in my head.

  An arm appeared, holding my bag out to me, as I walked to him. I looked happy, but there were heavy bags beneath my eyes and my body seemed frail.

  I was seeing the wolf’s memories!

  The image changed to me sitting across from the wolf at a restaurant. The dress I had on was pretty and I chatted with him about something…a game of some sort.

  More memories played, some were very intimate, and I felt my face flush since Nico was likely seeing them as well. Deryn. The wolf’s name was Deryn.

  “Sam, swap with Fox,” Deryn ordered him.

  The memories stopped, but Nico kept his fingers on my temples.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Any new memories?” he asked.

  “No,” I replied softly. “But, I think it’s helping.”

  The elf walked over. he was the shortest of the four, but extremely muscular. He was also the happiest of the bunch, radiating joy, even now.

  “Ready, cupcake?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  He set his fingers on top of Nico’s and we all closed our eyes.

  The first memory was me, sitting in a park with crossed legs and closed eyes, grumbling to myself. It looked like I was trying to meditate. The elf sat beside me and we talked, then walked around the park together. Another memory showed me sitting on a sidewalk, looking scared and sad. The elf’s body shrank down and he crawled into my lap. Another memory, me standing while Fox, that was his name, and the other three bowed to me. Four princes bowing to me.

  The shell around my memories cracked more.

  “No!” Brayden yelled.

  “Rhys,” Fox said. “Your turn.”

  Rhys took his place and funneled memories of fun, pleasure, and fighting. He was always fighting for me. Even with the bond closed, I could tell he loved me. It was evident in how he always kept an eye on me wherever we were and in how he would caress me while I slept.

  They all loved me.

  Rhys stepped back and wiped away a tear that had fallen from my eyes. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

  “You love me, so much,” I whispered.

  He smiled. “We do.”

  The shell cracked a little more, allowing a few memories to slip out. The memories weren’t nice ones, but painful experiences of mine. A woman severing my bonds with the princes was the first, and the second was of me trapped in a cupboard of some sort.

  I whimpered, and Nico began to funnel his memories to me.

  “Yes, there are lots of painful memories.”

  He showed me a memory of me being stabbed at a party.

  “But, there are also happy ones.”

  This memory was of a holiday event, all of us together and laughing, while eating desserts.

  The shell broke apart and my memories rushed forward. Nico broke contact with me and gasped in pain as he fell to his knees.

  New hands touched my head and slowed the memories, letting them funnel through at a pace that was not as painful. When the last memory was set in place, I opened my eyes to find Leona holding me.

  “Leona,” I whispered, my voice hoarse as though I’d been yelling.

  “I owed you,” she said softly.

  “Did-did you see them?”

  She nodded. “I’m so sorry that you endured so much.”

  “You’ve ruined everything!” Brayden screamed.

  Everyone froze. Nico was weak from helping me and couldn’t counter him.

  Brayden shoved Sam and Fox away and stood. “This isn’t over,” Brayden snarled at me.

  Leona’s hands dropped, and I was able to move. I faced Brayden and sang the lullaby my grandmother had taught me. At the time, I thought it was just a lullaby, but now I knew.
It was a siren’s call, but one for empaths to use against sirens. It enraptured them.

  Brayden jerked back, his eyes wide. I continued to sing, power pouring from me in waves. His legs trembled and he screamed. He stabbed his trident in its small, pen-sized form into his leg, breaking my hold and fled.

  I collapsed to the stone floor of the platform and smiled. He may have escaped, but I was back to my old self.

  Chapter 11

  Brayden had escaped Atlantis, but that was no longer important.

  Dad stood before me, scowling as he looked at me and my four mates. “You are princess here,” he said.

  “Technically, I’m still banished. Plus, I have my hands full back in Jinla,” I said.

  “I don’t think she could survive a month without her video games,” Nico whispered.

  The other three chuckled in agreement.

  I would have argued, but he was right.

  “You can make someone else your heir,” I said.

  “Any suggestions?” he asked me and sat on his throne.

  “Sam,” I said without hesitation. “He is one hundred percent loyal to the royal family. And, he’s a decent fighter.”

  Dad tapped the arm of his throne, a solid gold and jewel covered monstrosity, as he thought about it. “Very well.”

  “I’d like to leave tomorrow morning,” I told him.

  He sighed and his eyes dropped to the floor at my feet. “Okay.”

  “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to come visit from time to time. I know I’m banished, but—”

  “Your banishment is lifted. You may visit as often as you’d like. And, you will always be Princess of the Sirens,” Dad said and smiled wide, wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes.

  I bowed. “Thank you.”

  He looked at my mates. “She’s all I have left. She’s a handful and she’s bound to get you into a lot of trouble.”

  “Rude,” I muttered.

  “Please, do all you can to keep her safe,” Dad said.

  “She’s not just our mate, but our queen as well,” Deryn told him. “We will do everything we can to keep her safe.”

  Dad nodded, pleased. “Since you are leaving tomorrow, we must have a feast tonight.”

  He always loved feasts, having them as often as he could when I was a child, so this was no surprise.