Chapter 2 #3
What does he mean? She’s barely spoken.
Amos’ patience thinned. “Ruth, could you and I speak alone?”
“Absolutely not,” Marcus snapped.
Rainer crossed his arms, watching Amos carefully. “You don’t trust men.”
Of course he didn’t trust men. They thought women were objects. Ruth’s protectiveness of Clover told Amos she would do anything necessary to protect her.
“Let him speak with her,” Rainer said finally. Marcus objected, but Rainer cut him off. “He couldn’t hurt Ruth if he tried.” The boy smirked and motioned for Marcus and Clover to follow him inside. “You, too, little mouse.”
She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. “Come.”
Amos shot daggers at Rainer’s back until he disappeared inside the house. He turned back to Ruth. “Why do you let a teenager boss everyone around?”
She glanced toward the house. “There’s a lot you don’t know, but we trust Rainer explicitly. What’s a thirteen-year-old boy doing traveling across the kingdom without his father’s knowledge?”
Amos took off his hat and beat it against his thigh to remove the dust before replacing it. “For reasons I don’t trust you enough to disclose. Your friend was right. My real birthday is hidden from my father, and I needed to find Clover to make sure she’s safe.”
Ruth shifted on her feet and gestured from herself to the house. “We keep her safe.”
He shook his head. “My father travels here for sacrifices. If she’s anywhere he is, she’s not safe.”
The woman stiffened. “We protect our own.”
“And I protect mine,” Amos shot back. “You know how my father views women, but I know how much worse he is behind closed doors.”
“And what? You think you can protect her from your father on your own? What is your plan?”
Amos blew out a long breath. “The Human Queen agreed to hide her in the Human Kingdom until I can kill my father.”
Ruth’s mouth fell open. “Are you insane?”
“It’s the best way to keep anyone from finding out about her. The queen can hide you, too.” He scratched his head. “I don’t trust the other two to know where she is.”
Ruth’s face softened. “You can trust the men in our family. If you don’t take my word for it, take Sasha’s.”
Sasha chuffed, a plume of smoke coming out of her nose in some sort of challenge. He wanted to trust the dragon, but a familiar and their bonded were supposed to be perfect matches. How could something perfect for his father have any good in it?
Guilt nearly knocked the breath out of him. Amos’ mother was his father’s fated mate; the king’s perfect other half. She was everything good in this world, and his father was everything bad. Amos peered up at Sasha.
“Alright.” He paused. It felt as though he was missing important pieces to a puzzle. “Most people are terrified of Sasha because of who she is to my father. They don’t trust her. Why do you?”
Ruth wiped at the sweat gathering on her forehead and averted her gaze. “There are things we can’t tell you either, but just know you can trust all of us to do what’s best for Clover.” As if I have a choice, he thought bitterly.
“Clover won’t agree to leave for her protection,” Ruth warned. “As your back can attest, she’s stubborn.”
He grinned at the memory. “She hits hard for a girl.”
“She hits hard for anyone,” Ruth responded coolly. “We’ve taught her well, and she has a lot of pride. Being sent away to hide is not in her nature.”
An admirable trait if it weren’t interfering with her safety, Amos thought wryly. Would Amelia have been this stubborn if they’d tried to hide her when she was older?
Amelia. That’s it!
He grinned wide at Ruth, who looked at him like he was crazy. “Would she agree to leave to protect someone else?”
Ruth squinted at him. “Who would she be protecting?”
Realizing his mistake, all the blood drained from Amos’ face. A lie wouldn’t come to him fast enough, and Ruth picked up on his panic like a shark to blood in the water. Before he could stop her, she whistled twice.
“No!” Amos pleaded, looking back as Rainer opened the back door and ran down the steps. He lowered his voice. “Ruth, you don’t understand.”
Rainer approached them and stood at Ruth’s side. “What is it?”
To Amos’ horror, she filled Rainer in on everything, and they both turned to Amos expectantly. “Who are you hiding in the Human Kingdom?” Rainer asked quietly.
Amos shook his head, refusing to say anything else. He’d already dug himself into a hole, and if they wouldn’t help him send Clover to the Human Kingdom, he’d use his backup plan and kidnap her.
“I will tell you a well-guarded secret, and if afterwards you still don’t want to tell me who you’re hiding, you can leave and forget you ever met us.
” Rainer responded and stepped back a few steps.
“You’ll make up a name for a mate and tell your father you don’t feel the bond.
He’ll assume your mate is dead. You’ll forget about Clover and never come back. ”
“The hell I will,” Amos snarled. He’d never give her up.
“Don’t worry, prince.” Rainer started to unbutton his shirt. “I’m confident you’ll come around.”
Amos hated him.
Rainer’s eyes glazed over for a moment, a look Amos had seen on his late grandfather and father many times. He shook his head, sure he was seeing things.
The boy pulled open his shirt, revealing a dragon tattoo on the left side of his chest. Amos’ brain slowly connected the dots, and when a dragon slightly bigger than Sasha with midnight blue scales landed behind Rainer, it finally clicked.
“That’s not possible,” he breathed.
Rainer walked to the waiting dragon and rubbed a hand over its nose. Sasha walked over and bumped the other dragon as though they were old friends. “This is Ember. My familiar.”
Something pounded at the door in the house as a foreign sense of worry and anger flared in Amos’ chest. They weren’t his emotions.
Clover. He started for the house, but Rainer’s voice stopped him.
“Your mate can feel your distress. Clover isn’t one to sit idly by, but Marcus has been instructed to keep her inside. ” He snorted. “I imagine she’s pissed.”
Amos smirked to himself.
Rainer stepped forward. “You owe me a secret, prince.”
Amos ground his teeth together. “You owe me an explanation, secret prince.” It was the only explanation. Somehow this boy was an heir, but… Amos’ eyes almost bugged out of his head. “You’re Phoebe’s son.”
“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” the jerk responded. “Yes, your dear old dad murdered my mother for trying to take her rightful place on the throne.”
“I didn’t know she had a son,” Amos commented dumbly. Obviously, you idiot.
“That was by design. No one knew except my father, Ansel, and my stepmother.”
“How old were you when your mother died?” Amos didn’t know why he asked. It didn’t matter, but for some reason, he needed to know.
“Four.” Rainer cracked his neck. “Now. Who are you hiding in the Human Kingdom, but more importantly, who is helping you hide them?”
Amos hesitated. If they knew his father would kill Amelia like he’d done to Phoebe, they’d help her, not harm her. He hoped. They’d backed him into a wall, and they knew it because there was no way he would give up Clover.
“My twin sister,” he said finally. Ruth’s jaw dropped and Rainer swore. “If you betray her and get her killed, I will kill you,” Amos promised. “I don’t care how long I have to wait, but I will mount your head alongside my father’s.”
“Big words for a young boy,” Rainer quipped. His voice turned grave. “I’d never kill an innocent girl. If she is ever discovered, we will do what we can to help her. You have my word.”
It made sense now why the others deferred to this teenager. He was a royal and the rightful heir to the Desert Kingdom throne. “Did you plan on killing me and taking the throne?” Do you still plan on killing me? he added silently.
No trace of amusement colored Rainer’s face when he said, “Only if I had to.”
Amos nodded. He understood. If he turned into his father, they’d try to kill him once Rainer’s powers fully manifested.
“Your idea to get Clover to agree to hide in the Human Kingdom is to protect the hidden princess?” Ruth asked, getting them back on track. “Is that your plan?”
“Yes,” Amos confirmed, praying they’d agree.
“Queen Charlotte was a friend of my mother’s and helped her hide my sister in an orphanage in the Human Kingdom,” he explained.
“There are undercover guards hidden throughout their small village in the mountain region of the Human Kingdom. A missive has already been sent to let her know we found my mate and to possibly expect her within the next couple of months.”
Ruth chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought. “If anything could get Clover to go into hiding, protecting a hidden princess would be it.”