Chapter 12 #2
“That’s enough!” I barked and stomped forward.
“Who the frak are you?” King Almarst demanded, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear.
“Release my men this instant!” I shouted. “How dare you imprison and torture them.”
Prince Alton stood with a smile on his face. “My bride! You’ve returned at last.”
King Almarst looked from the prince to me, a deep scowl on his face, and asked, “Bride?”
“I’m not your bride. Our engagement was called off, or don’t you remember slaughtering my entire family and destroying my planet after it happened?”
King Almarst’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he realized who I was. “Princess Xoe?”
“Technically, Queen Xoe, but I’ve yet to get the priest to officially ordain me. They are a bit harder to locate since the few supporters who survived scattered across the universe to hide from your cruelty.” I stopped behind Gage and motioned with my finger at his binds to Scout.
Scout gave a tiny chirp of acknowledgement and began cutting it quietly.
“These men had your DNA on them, but refused to acknowledge your existence,” Prince Alton explained. “Had they just told us you were onboard their ship, we would have not gone to such extreme measures.”
“Of course, my guards wouldn’t acknowledge to you, my enemy, that I was with them. Are you stupid?”
Prince Alton bristled and his brows furrowed at the insult.
“You are my bride,” Prince Alton snapped.
“The frak she is!” Wayne growled.
“They said they had a sex slave with them. Does that mean you’ve stooped to fornicating with commoners? Wow, you really have fallen.” Prince Alton threw his head back as he laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll purify you before our wedding.”
“Stars, you Exostalons are always so delusional. Get it through your thick, ugly, pompous skull. I am not yours. Our engagement was broken off and I was given to others by my parents. You slaughtered my family in anger at losing me. If you don’t release my guards this instant, I’m going to take this as an act of war and take the revenge I’ve longed for. ”
Prince Alton walked down from the dais the thrones sat on, a smug smile on his face. “You think you can defeat me? You, the little spoiled princess of the weak Caltyrelans?” He spread his arms out. “Come, give it your best shot.”
“What are you doing?” King Almarst demanded.
Prince Alton held up his hand, silencing his father. My brows furrowed at the interaction. Was the prince truly in power now? Was the king a figurehead for his son while he was still alive?
“She thinks she’s strong, but in two minutes I will remind her of her place. Once I defeat you, I will tie you up in my bedchambers and you will produce many, many offspring for me.” Prince Alton sneered at me, giving my body a once over. “I’ll enjoy impregnating you again and again.”
All four of the Dragonkin growled.
Scout had released Gage’s and Wayne’s bonds and was working on Preston’s. As soon as all four were free, we would escape. I just needed to buy some time.
Stepping around the guys, who growled at me, I walked up to Prince Alton and smiled at him. “You have no idea what I’ve been through since you destroyed my life. I’m going to enjoy wiping that smug smile off your face.”
He smiled wider. “It’s going to feel so good to tame that defiance from you. I tell you what, you get on your knees, and beg for mercy, and I’ll let your guards go.”
The Dragonkin growled again.
“Shut up and fight me,” I snapped. “Or are you all talk?”
His fist flew towards my face, but I sidestepped with a laugh and kicked the side of his knee. He was so slow compared to the Dragonkin that it was like he was fighting in slow motion.
He yelled out in pain and tried to punch me in the face again.
Joy coursed through me as I dodged all of his strikes and kicks, hammering my fist and heel into his body again and again.
The pompous prince may have been cruel, but he wasn’t used to fighting to survive.
That’s what he had his guards for. He hadn’t anticipated that while I had been a spoiled little princess before, I had been through all manner of trials since then.
He fell to his knees, stunned by a punch to his temple.
Reaching down, I tilted his chin up with my finger and smiled viciously at him.
“You are a royal piece of crap. You wouldn’t be able to tame me, let alone bed me.
Those Dragonkin are ten times the male you’ll ever be.
From here on out, you leave me alone and stop hunting me.
If you don’t, I will kill you.” I grabbed the dagger from my side and waved it at him to get my point across.
“Guards!” King Almarst yelled.
The guard in front of the Dragonkin moved to attack me, but the four were finally freed thanks to Scout.
Zeke grabbed the guard and tossed him straight at King Almarst. King Almarst screamed and dove out of his throne to avoid being hit by the guard’s body, falling to the dais with an undignified, “Oomph.”
More guards rushed into the throne room, but when they saw me with a dagger to Prince Alton’s throat, everyone froze.
Scout shifted into a large drone with its single lens glowing bright red and four lasers primed and ready to shoot.
“You will let us leave, unscathed, or I will kill you,” I ordered Prince Alton.
He nodded once. “They are free to leave,” he breathed to the guards, trying not to move his throat much to keep my dagger from cutting in too deeply.
The guards formed two lines on either side of the doorway, giving us an exit, but looked torn.
“Announce, immediately, that all Caltyrelans are now free and our engagement officially dissolved.”
He started to try to stand, a sneer on his lips, so I dug the tip of my dagger into his throat, drawing blood.
“Do it!” I ordered.
He froze, cleared his throat, and did as I said, the proclamation playing across the entire planet thanks to their advanced announcement system. I was so glad I’d paid attention when Mother had taught me about their planet and civilization.
“Pardon me from all past, current, and future crimes,” I ordered.
He did that as well.
The announcement ended and he asked, “Satisfied?” The glare he gave me would have made weaker beings cower. I wasn’t weak, not anymore.
“One more thing,” I said. “This is for my parents.” I drew the dagger across his neck and then stabbed it into his chest.
His body fell and King Almarst rushed forward, aiming a gun at me.
Preston stepped between us and fire burst out of his mouth, destroying King Almarst.
The guards cried out and started to move towards us.
“They pardoned my crimes!” I shouted, stopping them. “And ordered you to let us leave unscathed. Do not betray their memories by disobeying their final orders.”
The guards froze, but their faces clearly showed their hatred.
“Let’s go,” I ordered the Dragonkin. “The stink in this place is making me nauseous.”
The four Dragonkin surrounded me, their bodies shields as we walked out of the castle, through the streets, to the dock, and into our ship.
We all stood on the bridge, silent until we made it off planet and started the hyperdrive.
Once we were certain to have escaped, the Dragonkin took turns hugging me.
“You brave, stupid, beautiful woman,” Preston said with a growl in his voice as he gripped me tightly.
I patted his back and was glad he couldn’t see the stupid smile on my face. “I’m glad you’re safe, too.”
He pushed me back and crushed his lips to mine. His lips were soft, but demanding, warm, and the way he kissed me made my head spin.
“You were magnificent,” Wayne said and pulled me out of Preston’s hold to hug me.
“How did you know you could beat him?” Gage asked.
My brain was still spinning from the kiss Preston had given me, but I cleared my throat, sat in Preston’s chair, and answered.
“They’re renowned for their cruelty, but the royals never actually do anything.
They just order their guards and army to enact the punishments.
Or they ensure the person is chained and can’t move before they hit them or cut them.
I may have been spoiled as a child, but you know I’ve been through a lot of things, that I’ve experienced a lot since they last saw me.
They had no idea.” I smiled and sat in Preston’s captain’s chair.
“I finally got my revenge. Hopefully my parents’ souls can rest easy now. ”
Zeke dropped to one knee before me, picked my hand up from my lap, and kissed the back of my knuckles. “Thank you for saving my brothers and I. We are in your debt.”
I shook my head. “You were tortured because of me. I should have done more research so I would know they had DNA scanners and likely would have mine listed in their database. Maybe I should shave my head so my hair won’t be on you for any future incidents.”
Zeke reached up and tugged on a strand of my hair. “Not a chance we’d let you shave your beautiful hair.”
I smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for protecting me.”
“Always,” he said and returned my smile.