by Meg Xuemei X
Her lead guard wasn’t around; her two other guards’ faces paled at the sight of their princess, limp in my arms.
They quickly assessed the situation and one of them rushed into the bath hall.
“Some dead bodies,” I said. “The air is still poisonous inside.”
The guard withdrew and closed the door. He traded a look with the other guard; fury rolled off them. I knew they were calling their leader via their telepathic ability.
“Give her to me,” one of the guards demanded as I carried Rose toward her chamber.
“Touch her and I’ll kill you,” I snarled.
Both guards were about to lunge at me. Black lightning sizzled at my fingertips.
Rose waved them back weakly, her strength slowly returning.
The guards followed me to the princess’s suite.
The lady-in-waiting rushed out of the room and went berserk at seeing her princess slack in my arms. She tried to take Rose from my arm, but I shoved her aside; no one would take Rose from me.
Not that I’d have cared if all of them fought me, but they didn’t. I guessed that Rose must have told them telepathically that I had slaughtered the assassins and saved her.
When I reached her sleeping chamber, all of the Mysthian guards had arrived.
The head guard stormed into the room and knelt before Rose, who still trembled in my arms. Following their leader’s orders, the guards quieted. Though they all looked like they would murder me if I held their princess a minute longer than necessary, none moved to attack; they stayed watchful and restrained their anger.
I gently laid Rose down on her bed and cradled her until she stopped shivering. Though she put on a brave facade at all times, deep inside she was just a nineteen-year-old girl, who hadn’t before now seen much of blood.
The lady-in-waiting sprang forward and wrapped the blanket around Rose. “High Prince,” she said tensely, “we can take care of our princess from here.”
I didn’t want to let Rose go, but I couldn’t hold her forever.
This intense emotion, close to tenderness, was too strange to me. I knew what lust, cold rage, and bloodthirst were, but I hadn’t known this softness and sensibility.
“Go fetch a court healer,” I ordered the Mysthian head guard.
“There’s no need for that,” the lady-in-waiting said. “I’m a healer. And now, I want all of you to leave the room while I tend to Her Highness.”
I gave the lady-in-waiting and the Mysthian guards an assessing look.
Rose was safe for now with her people.
I reluctantly stepped back. “I’m going to hunt down the last assassin,” I said. “I’ll be back.” I scanned the guards in the room. “Guard her well. I’ll kill you all if a hair on her head drops again.” Thinking to conceal the depth of my emotions, I added a vicious snarl. “She’s the future queen!”
I took off toward the Spring Hall. My wings flapped rapidly as I soared toward the broken ceiling. My insides still shook from the scare. I hadn’t realized that her immortal life was so fragile. If I had been a minute later, they’d have snuffed out her life.
Terror had clawed at my gut when I’d seen the killers upon her.
The fey princess had become my weakness. I’d become vulnerable because of her. I had to protect this secret. I would kill all, except Rose, who knew my weakest spot.
And I must never let my lord father and my brother get the wind of it.
I traced the assassin into the sky.
Chapter 22
PRINCESS ROSE
“Stop assigning blame to yourselves,” I told my people, “You couldn’t have known about the assassination.” My voice croaked because the assassins had hurt my vocal cords, though I had recovered much faster than a mortal could, and Souline’s healing helped greatly.
“We should have known,” Hector insisted. “We should have prepared for every situation.”
The Dragonian leader hadn’t warned me that there was a secret door leading to the Spring Hall, and the assassins had come through that door. Maybe North hadn’t expected me to spend a lot of time bathing. Or maybe he hadn’t expected the angels to decide to kill me so soon.
I would let the matter drop for the moment as we needed to focus on our common enemy.
Soon I would have to pay him a visit, to discuss the Forbidden Glory. I needed to know what else the oracle had said about it.
“From now on, Your Highness,” Lexa said, “I’ll always be with you when you bathe.”
Anxiety spiked in me. I still needed those times with Seth. I needed to continue to “bond” with him so he would keep protecting me as he’d done today.
“That’s unnecessary, Lexa,” I said.
Then the guards all voted that Lexa and Souline would be with me during my bath.
“Who has the say on this?” I demanded. “Have you forgotten I’m your princess?”
“You have a say on everything, but not on the matter of your safety,” Hector said. He was the most wrecked when he had heard the news and seen me like that in the angel prince’s arms. My fiercest loyal guard had doomed himself for having failed me today.
“Look,” I said. “I’m safe.” I managed to stand up to show them how well I had recovered, despite pain shooting through my every muscle at the movement.
Souline had put a simple dress on me after Prince Seth had left, and I had drunk a full cup of fruit juice.
Hector stared at the purple bruises along my neckline. The rage hadn’t receded from him.
I should have asked Souline to select a dress with a high neck.
“Lexa will be with you when you bathe, Your Highness,” Hector said. “Stab me if you hate the arrangement.” He swallowed again. “We almost lost you today, Princess.”
“Fine,” I sighed. I couldn’t bear to see them keep beating themselves up. “Stay with me. Anything else?”
None of them mentioned that Prince Seth had saved me, and obviously none were in a thankful mood. Seth was an angel after all, and it was his fellow angels who had attacked me. The fact that the prince had killed the assassins wouldn’t make my guards look at him any differently. Actually, they still regarded him as worse than his brother.
Souline sent me an uncertain glance, then paused as if she needed to summon courage to murmur, “The angel prince seems a better breed than the others.”
Hector snorted through his nose. “They’re all our sworn enemies. Don’t ever mistake that!”
Lexa tried not to look at me or anyone, so I knew that she hadn’t told the other guards that Prince Seth had also helped me when we’d fled from the Forbidden Glory and Victoria’s guards. The prince could have killed us for what we’d done, or he could have delivered me to the king when he’d caught us.
Lexa had watched how the prince looked at me, as had Souline. They both had heard the story that the prince hadn’t bedded anyone for millennia. When I’d sent my elite courtiers to him, he’d sent them back untouched. When my lady-in-waiting had tried to use her sexual appeal on him in order to stall him for my sake, he’d ridiculed her.
Souline and Lexa had seen how he chased after me like a dog for a juicy bone.
My ladies traded a quick glance, not wanting me to catch that, but doubts shadowed their faces.
For the first time, my companions and I were keeping secrets from each other.
“Get me ready,” I told Souline with a sigh. “The king will visit soon. I believe the news have reached him by now.”
I reminded myself to refrain from touching the bruises on my neck in the king’s presence. They would only excite him and give him the wrong kind of idea.
Souline picked a high-necked gown for me that covered all the bruises. She also applied rouge to my cheeks.
I had trembled in Seth’s arms, but would not shake in front of the king.
I wouldn’t be a victim in anyone’s eyes.
Before King Agro arrived, I checked myself in the mirror to make sure I was his usual composed and adori
ng Princess of Mysth.
Chapter 23
PRINCE SETH
The assassin became a speck in the sky as I gained on him. Realizing that I was hot on his tail, he descended rapidly.
All angels knew that none could escape me in the air. He would have a better chance evading me on the ground.
No matter. Even if he went to the deepest pit, I would dig him out.
The assassin furled his black wings, ready for a touchdown.
Whak! Whak!
Flaming arrows zipped my way, not from the assassin, but from another source, just when I was about to dive after him. I ducked an arrow and let the other whoosh by. My swords caught two more and cut them to shreds.
Who dared to attack the High Prince of All Angels?
A soon as I realized the arrows coming at me were a diversion, a black arrow had drilled into the chest of the assassin. My lightning showed up a nanosecond too late to knock it away. The assassin flapped in the low air and crashed to the ground.
I landed beside the predator-turned-victim—a female angel.
Black blood oozed from her mouth. I recognized the poison. Cursing, I turned her face to the right angle. “Who sent you?” I demanded in fury.
She opened her mouth, more black blood pouring out. Then her eyes stilled and stared listlessly at the open sky.
The hidden archer had silenced my only living lead, and she or he, who had been far away in the first place, must have been gone by now.
The master assassin had won this round.
I retrieved the arrow and studied the faint trademark of three overlapped black skulls on its head. It was Victoria’s personal arrow, though she hadn’t used that make for centuries. The tip of the arrow smelled of nightshade. She’d once used the same poison to kill one of her powerful rivals.
When I arrived at King Agro’s chamber, he was with a dozen females of all races. Two-thirds of them were Mysthian courtiers.
“Come to join us, Seth?” the king snickered.
The dark-skinned female astride him had three breasts. She was an Aryanian.
“Oops,” the king added, “I forgot—you can’t.”
The whores laughed, then immediately shut up under my glare.
I tossed the blood-tainted, poisoned arrow at the foot of his bed.
“What’s this about?” he scolded.
“There was an assassination attempt on Princess Rose while you were having fun,” I said.
The Mysthian courtiers in the room froze, wrath rolling off them like icy waves.
“Is Princess Rose alive?” one of them breathed. The rest held their breaths, eyes burning. Their former seductress demeanors vanished the next second.
Just as I’d suspected—they hadn’t come to Atlantis to entertain the king. They’d come to help their princess find a way to undermine the angels. I believed that the instant they received the news that their princess had perished, they would run the blades into the king or whatever angel they were with.
“Did she survive?” the king demanded as he shoved off the female with the three breasts and slipped out of bed.
“Yes, but barely,” I said, kicking the arrow toward Agro. He jumped back and shot me a glare. “The arrow killed the last assassin before I could interrogate her. Its head was dipped in nightshade.”
“So you let the last assassin get away,” the king said snidely. “You’re getting sloppy, Seth.”
“Your mistress-slash-general will be delighted to enlighten you which house once used the nightshade poison.”
The king’s look darkened. He picked up the arrow and sniffed the arrowhead, as if he was indeed an expert on all things poisonous. Wincing, he tossed it onto a bedside table and yelled at his female companions. “Out! Out!”
They couldn’t flee faster.
While he was dressing himself, I briefed him on a short version of the day’s incident.
“Victoria won’t stop,” I said. “She’ll get rid of any rival unless you marry her.”
“I’m not going to marry her,” Agro scowled. “She isn’t of royal blood.”
“You’ve fucked her for millennia,” I said. “When you became a king, she already regarded herself as your uncrowned queen. Besides, no one fits you better than she.”
If my brother gave up on Rose, I could whisk her away the next day. I wouldn’t have to worry about the next assassination, which would surely come. And with Agro out of the picture, it would be easier for me to pursue Rose openly.
My brother glared at me in suspicion. “What does that mean?”
“You need Victoria more than you need anyone else. The Mysthian princess doesn’t fit into your piece.”
“At the moment, I need the princess more than anyone else! I must rule the twilight realm legitimately.”
“When did you ever worry about being legitimate?”
“That’s my business! Plus, Princess Rose has the regal look of the empress. She’ll be one officially after our holy matrimony.”
“Bullshit,” I snorted. “If she’s the one, you wouldn’t have other females in your bed every night.”
“I did what you used to do. Don’t you remember, Brother? You haven’t had a female for so long, and now you want me to be like you? You disgust me.” He then narrowed his eyes and leaned toward me. “I fool around with those females,” he confided, which appeared creepier than when he yelled at me, “so I won’t break my queen on our wedding night.”
“I thought you were set to break her.” I kept my voice flat, even as anger sizzled in me.
“I changed my mind,” he said, leaning away. “She grows on me. I want her to be around a little longer. So on our wedding night, I’m going to take my slow, sweet time with her. I’m going to enjoy her solely the whole night.” He gave me a sly look. “You’re quite curious about my bride, Seth. If I didn’t know about your impotency, I’d say you drool over my future queen.” He chuckled at his own joke.
I restrained myself from ramming my fist into his skull.
“Now I’m going to see my bride and check her side of the story,” he said. “See if it matches yours.”
“Are you going to do something about your mistress?” I asked.
“Slash-general? Anyone could use Victoria’s arrow and frame her.” Agro shrugged. “But that’s not for you to worry about. I’m the great king, I’m the justice of Earth, and I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
And in the princess’s suite, I had to tolerate this clown squeezing so close to Rose on the chair and having her elegant hand in his.
Rose glanced up at me through her lashes, and then she found an excuse to withdraw her hand from my brother’s.
“Prince Seth,” she grated, “thank you for finally showing up before the assassins choked the life out of me.”
We both knew she was doing me a favor by being ungrateful. It wouldn’t sit well with the king if I posed as the princess’s savior.
“It’s better late than never, Princess,” I said emotionlessly. “You’re alive.”
“How did you know there would be such an atrocious attempt on the princess’s life, Seth?” the king asked, training his dark blue eyes on me.
“I’ve told you that I happened to fly by the Spring Hall,” I said, “as it was my turn to cover the shift to safeguard the princess.”
“You just happened to bump into the assassins,” the king said.
“Fortunately for you, yes,” I said. “I protected your interest, and you’re welcome.”
“I cried for help,” the princess chimed in. “Prince Seth must have heard it.”
“Yet none of your guards heard it,” the king said. He was more eager to make it my fault than find out the truth about the assassins.
“You forget some of my superior abilities, including my enhanced hearing,” I said. “It’s no surprise that no one heard the noise but me.”
“Noise?” Rose sent me a distasteful stare. “Was my calling for help noise to you? Should I keep quiet when the next assass
ination attempt happens?”
The king pounded on the table. “There will be no next time!”
“If you don’t want it to happen again, Your Majesty,” I said, “I need your permission to have full access to the princess, including guarding her during her bath and when she sleeps.”
The princess’s eyes widened, but the king’s narrowed. “You want to be inside the bath hall when she bathes?” he asked incredulously.
“Why not?” I said.
Agro studied me a second longer, then cut a glance at the princess’s infuriated look and laughed. “She won’t help you with your sexual dysfunction though,” he said, “if that’s what you’re after.”
You have no idea, Brother.
“Your Majesty!” Rose protested vehemently. “You can’t be seriously considering that.”
After a long, impious laugh, my brother said, “Fine, you have my permission to watch Princess Rose when she’s in the bath.” I knew he enjoyed me asking his permission for the first time in our history. “But if you touch her or she misses a pinkie, I’ll have your head.”
I wanted the princess to realize that no matter how much he indulged her, the king regarded her as nothing more than a conquest. I wanted her to rely on me solely and be more cooperative, because this assassination was just the beginning; more was bound to follow.
Chapter 24
PRINCESS ROSE
Prince Seth enhanced the security details after the attempted assassination. He’d personally checked every entrance, exit, window, wall, and ceiling in the south wing. His twelve new hand-picked guards watched me around the clock.
If he wasn’t with me, Ephraim, his most trusted friend, would safeguard me. The big angel genuinely liked me and treated me like I was his best friend’s mate. Only I wasn’t.
Lust still burned brightly and darkly in the prince whenever I saw him. We seldom found time alone these days. Even though he could cloak himself, it had become too risky for him to get naked with me, and now I seldom bathed in the Spring Hall.
I hadn’t expected he would have put my safety above his desire, but he did. Well, he had that “promised” fuck to look forward to, didn’t he? And if we flipped over the calendar any faster, the date was just around the corner.