by A. M. Hardin
Getting close to my father's office I keep running until I run smack into Kade and Xander. Wrapping my arms around both of them, I hug them to me tightly while their hands stroke my back and hair.
"Cherish, what's wrong? Why were you running?" Kade asks softly, though I can hear a thread of anger in his voice.
"It was a trap. They wanted you gone," I mutter into his chest before pulling back from both of them.
"What?!" Xander growls. "Who?"
"Forrest. He's been behind everything. He's working with the Ikishri king to become the king here," I quickly explain.
They curse.
"We need to warn my father." I move to step around them but Xander's arm wraps around my waist, stopping me.
"Cherish, there's no use. He's gone."
My mouth opens and closes but nothing comes out.
"Where's Andrei?" Xander asks me.
I shrug. "I don't know. I knew where you guys were and I knew you'd be with... Anyway, I came straight here, I didn't see him."
"We need to go now," Kade says the second a loud ringing sounds throughout the castle.
"What about Andrei?" I ask, trying to stop them from dragging me down the hall.
"He'll find us. We need to get you out of here, mia."
Shouts echo off the walls around us, along with feet pounding on the floors as people run through.
"How?" I ask after letting them lead me a little away from my father's office.
"We need to get to the tunnels. There are a couple different spots to exit outside the castle. We need to get to it before your brother or the guards come running."
"Wouldn't the guards being around us be a good thing?"
"Not when we don't know who's siding with your brother. If Forrest has already told people that you are the one who killed your brother and father then they'll be hunting you. They'll be relentless, Cherish. We need to go, now. Quit stalling, princess," Xander says softly.
Finally, I give in and nod, letting all the fight drain from my body and follow them without their needing to encourage me to move.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kade
Turning my head to check on Cherish, my chest tightens when I see the lost expression on her face.
She's lost everything twice now. Ella showing up for her has helped her cope with her and their parents deaths but the pain isn't gone yet. Now, not only has she lost her family that she grew up with, she's also lost her family that she just found.
We haven't asked her all that Forrest said for the simple fact that it seems like it'll take just the smallest thing to set her off and she'll have a breakdown. We can't afford to give her time to breakdown right now. It pisses me off that she can't take a minute to grieve her new family because she needs to run.
"Cherish, you okay?" Xander asks softly from behind her.
She bobs her head. "Sure."
We all know that's a load of shit but we don't comment.
"Are you guys sure that Andrei will find us?"
"As long as he got out of the castle before they locked it down he'll find us. Even if they locked it down while he was inside, he'd still find a way to come for us," Xander explains.
"Do you think he got out?" She asks.
"There's no way of knowing for sure right now. We can't call for him right now on the off chance that he's not fighting or hiding from someone, so we have to wait."
"First we need to find a change of clothes," Xander says. "We'll stick out like a sore thumb in the village."
"I'll stick out anyway because I have human ears," Cherish points out. Xander tilts his head, conceding that.
"Okay, so we don't stick out even more. It's hard not to recognize the uniform of a royal guard. Yeah, Cherish isn't wearing her princess-y clothes, but between me and you, we do need to stop to change."
"Fine." I summon a portal to take us to our home in the human realm. We never took our clothing with us when we left here. Deciding instead to leave it in case something like this happened and we needed to run, we'd have some clothes.
We exit the portal inside the house and Xander heads off to change his clothes.
"Aren't you going to change?" Cherish asks softly.
I shake my head. "You're not going to be left alone, ma hai. I'm sorry, but for now, we can't take the risk."
She plops down on the couch and sighs heavily. "What's the point? I mean, Forrest said that he did all of this to be king and that he was working with the other kingdom to get peace. He has what he wants. I'm not a threat. I've barely started getting my damn powers, let alone know how to use them."
I kneel in front of her, taking her hands in mine. "You will get stronger, Cherish. Your brother doesn't deserve the crown. He needs to pay for his crimes. Even if the kingdom does know that he's the cause of your family's death, they won't do anything about it. They'll look the other way, so long as it doesn't turn his anger to them. There will be some that will try to rebel, but if there's not a leader, they won't be able to do much."
She looks at me. Studying my face with eyes that are missing their usual spark. I find myself wishing that spark was back. When she had so much life in her, it was a wonder that she didn't gravitate people to her in flocks.
"What are you saying?" She asks flatly.
"They'll need a leader, ma hai. You will have to be that leader."
"But-"
"He's right, princess," Xander says from behind her. His eyes meet mine and there's a question there that I know we'll be discussing later but for now, I choose to ignore it and focus on the woman sitting in front of me.
"I'm not a leader," she mutters. "I can lead in dance, or even art, but not in a war."
"That may be so," Xander allows, "but that won't stop the people from needing one. You're the logical choice. If your brother loses his throne, the crown becomes yours. You'll be our queen."
She squeaks and shakes her head. "No. I can't be a queen. I can't. I don't have any interest in that amount of power over one person. Let alone a shit load of them."
Xander and I exchange a look before I let out a breath. "Alright. We'll drop it for now."
I leave Cherish with Xander and go to my room and grab some clothes. Changing quickly, it only takes a few minutes for me to get back to them. When I come out, Andrei is there as well. Thank fuck.
Andrei turns at the sound of me entering the room. "Alright, now that we're all here. We need to leave."
"Where will we go?" Cherish asks, standing up from the couch.
"Somewhere that will actually welcome us," Andrei answers evasively.
She narrows her eyes at him. "And that would be..."
"Somewhere safe."
She rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just go."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cherish
Andrei opens another portal for us to walk through and I frown as I take in the sight of a practically empty village while we walk down the road.
"Is this place deserted?" I ask softly, eyes roaming across the multiple homes laid out on the street that look like they've seen better days.
"It's not," Kade answers.
"Okay, so why are we here? It seriously doesn't look like there's anyone here."
"Patience, princess," Xander says, a smile clear in his tone.
I sigh heavily and keep my mouth shut. I'm so tired of walking we had to walk forever outside the castle to get to an area that the portal to the guys' house wouldn't be sensed so we could escape. And now we're doing more walking.
We walk through the village for at least another half hour before Andrei stops at the largest home we've come across. He knocks on the door and I tilt my head when the door opens and a short, older woman opens the door. She has a striking resemblance to Andrei.
"Andrei, my boy," the woman says with a smile on her face as she opens the door wide and pulls him into her arms.
"Hey, grams. Can we come in? It's kind of important."
Her gaze travels across the group of us
before settling on me. Her mouth curves up.
"Hello, disa," she greets, bowing her head respectfully.
"Um, hi," I reply, waving awkwardly.
"Come in, come in," she steps back. "I am Magda, most people call me Maggie though. I'm Andrei's grandmother," she explains as we enter her home.
Andrei closes the door behind us. "I take it you heard the news?"
"Yes. Although, to be frank, I never liked Forrest. He's going to run this kingdom into the ground if he keeps that throne." She turns to me. "I am so sorry for your loss, disa."
I smile sadly. "Thanks. Um, can anyone explain to me what's exactly going on?"
The guys all exchange looks and then Kade speaks. "You remember what we were talking about when we were at the house?"
"Uh, yeah," I answer slowly, not really wanting to open up that can of worms.
"Maggie is the head of the rebels in this village. They have leaders in each village, but there isn't an all around leader."
"Rebels?" I echo, praying that he's joking.
"Not necessarily against your father, young disa," Maggie assures me quickly. "Many of us were aware of what the Ikishri kingdom had planned and we wanted to put as much trouble in their path as possible. We only found out yesterday that the prince has been working with the Ikishri king in favor of getting the crown."
"Yesterday? My father and brother were killed today."
"We sent someone to warn your father. We haven't gotten any word back from him. I sent someone to find him earlier. He was killed and dumped in the forest near the castle," she explains.
The guys curse and I just stare at her in shock. After a long minute of silence I finally find my voice. "So, why am I here?"
"As Kade said. We need a leader. A queen. We need you, Cherish."
My mouth drops and I blink at her. "But, I don't know what to do."
"You'll learn child," she says with absolute confidence.
"Any news from the castle?" Xander asks, changing the subject.
Maggie meets my eyes. "As of right now Princess Cherish is wanted for treason and the murder of her brother and father. The newly named King Forrest is playing it up big time as the grieving son and brother. He's demanding your head. You are not alone, Cherish. We will help you defeat your brother and get your throne back."
"Great. No pressure," I mutter.
THE END
Acknowledgments
First, I want to thank my family for giving me the time I need to get this book written. Thank you for always being there for me and loving me despite my crazy ass love for my books.
Edwynna, thank you for taking my two older girls for a few hours every few days so that I can get what I need done and supporting me throughout my writing.
Cece Rose, I seriously love you chick. You’ve been such a huge help through everything, and I love sprinting with you, even if when we do sprint, we usually spend the time talking instead of working. Oops. haha.
Gem, love you and thank you for helping me with my formatting, and just having someone to talk to. It means so much to me and I’m so glad that I found you and Cece.
Brandi, dude, you rock and I love all the random conversations we have. I’m thrilled that Mercy’s Protectors brought us together. I can’t imagine my life without you now. Love you chick!
Jessi, thank you for pushing me for the past year, pushing me to get my head out of my ass and laughing with me when I realize I did something stupid. Love you <3
About the Author
A.M. (or Autumn) Hardin was born and raised in Holland, Michigan. She’s married with three girls. Her favorite books always depends on her mood, though her tastes are very eclectic. As long as it’s romance there’s a high chance she has or plans to read it. When she doesn’t have a book in her hand or spending time with her family she can be found writing in either a notebook or on her computer.
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