Chapter 2
“Why are we here?”John, my main guard and best friend since I could walk, asks me. He looks as bored as I feel right now. I shrug. “Liar,” he throws back at me, cocking a smile.
We both know why I’m here. It’s an excuse to get out of breakfast with my mom—a breakfast that I knew would once again involve her pushing me to find a bride. For last breakfast she invited me to, she’d also invited thee woman in hopes that I would fall madly in love on the spot. Now it seems like every time I see her she had some single woman with her, and avoiding my mom has now become a game of chess.
Falling in love on the spot is the fucking stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of, but I keep that thought to myself. I don’t want to hurt my mom”s feelings.
I love my mom and tried to smile though breakfast, keeping my manners in check as best I could, but things got heated when the woman realized my mom had invited them each with the hopes that I would fall in love with one of them. Some men might get off on three women fighting over them. It just gave me a fucking headache.
I hadn”t cared for any of them. I’d later made the mistake of telling my mom I was thinking of asking someone out already. That’s why I ended up leaving so abruptly. It was a lie, but I was hoping it would get her off my back for a little. I was dead wrong. Now she calls me every day trying to find out who this mystery woman was. My plan is biting me in my own ass. She’s even been trying to get it out of John, asking him who the object of my “secret crush” is. He has no idea. Because there isn’t anyone.
This morning I’d jumped all over canceling breakfast with her when I’d gotten word that someone had been trespassing near the castle’s south wall. Normally I would have let someone else handle it, but I used the excuse to get out of breakfast.
Now here we are waiting for the man and young boy who committed the crime. I’ve already been told it was nothing major. The man was only chasing after his son, who was trying to run away. Still it had piqued my interest a little and now I want to know why the boy had been running away to begin with.
“Can’t you pick a bride already?” John sighs, almost too dramatically. He’s just as annoyed about the whole thing as I am. He got married a few months back and his wife has been pestering him about it, too. Something about double dates and so on, another thing I have no interest in. I have a country to run. Seeing some of the changes in John over the past few months after finding his wife, however, has made me long for something more than work every day. I know they’re trying for a baby. I’ve never given much thought to having children before.
Women don”t interest me. Maybe that’s why I haven’t given it much thought of the years. Not since my dad warned me to keep an eye out for women who are only after a title and a comfortable rich life. I don”t want that. If I’m ever to get married, I want what my parents had. My dad told me I’d know the moment I laid eyes on her. That’s how it happened for everyone in our family. I find it hard to believe that such great men who have run this country so perfectly believe in such fairy tales, but they did and they do. My dad spoke about it with such conviction. I knew he believed it. I only nodded along, not wanting to tell him I didn”t believe in such things and that no one has ever caught my eye, let alone made we want to spend the rest of my life with them.
My eyes are drawn to a furor near the doors, making me sitting up a little straighter. The small figure moves closer and I wonder if that’s the child they spoke about. It’s hard to tell with the hood engulfing his body. I notice people behind him, but for some reason my eyes stay glued to the small figure getting closer to me. It’s like I’m in a trace.
I grit my teeth as the guard pushes the hooded figure, toppling him. I stand, my anger growing by the second as the guard pulls him to his feet. I freeze when long, rich, dark locks of hair come tumbling out in a wild mess. Big wide blue eyes with the thickest, longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen stare back at me, almost doe-like as the guard holds on to what is most definitely not a boy but a girl.
“It’s a girl,” the guard bellows, as shocked as the rest of us. Silence fills the room and no one sure what to say.
My eyes go to where the guard’s hand is locked around her arm. Her wrists are bound with plastic zip-ties. My vision hazes over with red when I see the small mark on the young girl’s cheek, as if someone backhanded her across the face. Her bottom lip wobbles as if she is about to cry, and the sight is like a sledgehammer to my heart.
How could someone hit such a precious creature? Not only has someone hit such beauty, but I know they have struck the face of their future queen, and for that someone will have to pay for dearly. Being this close to her now, there is no way anyone should have mistaken her for a boy, especially if they were close enough to her to strike her.
“Release her,” I growl, every cell in my body vibrating. The guard does as I command a little too quickly, catching the young girl off guard because she stumbles once again, only this time I’m in front of her almost instantly, catching her and bringing her to my chest.
The smell of sweet roses fills my lungs as her soft body melts into mine. Fuck, she’s small. Even smaller than I first thought. No wonder everyone thought she was but a small boy when she had the hood masking her face. I have to fight myself from burying my nose in her hair and finding out where that smell is coming from, to keep my hands from roaming all over her to see how tiny she really is, to make sure there are no other marks on her body that I’ll need to exact revenge for.
My body responds to her warmth against mine. A primal need pushes forward. Her eyes widen as she looks up at me with those big innocent blue eyes, making me wonder if she’s even aware of my hard cock pressed up against her. I wonder how old she really is. Not that is matters. She’ll be mine either way, even if I have to wait to make her mine. It might kill me, but I’ve waited this long for her to begin with. No wonder I never gave other women any notice. None came even close to her, and she hasn’t even spoken a word yet.
Her full pink lips part a little and she lets out a small gasp. Jesus, she’s so fucking perfect. I”ve never seen someone look so pure and angelic. Her cheeks are tinged with a trace blush, making me notice cute little freckles that dot her small upturned button nose and cheeks.
Anger rushes back once again as my eyes run over the bruise on her cheek. “Who struck her?” I bite out, looking over at the guard. Now his eyes grow big as he takes a step back. My anger is clear. I wrap my arm around the pixie-like creature in a protective hold when her body gives a jerk at the tone of my voice. I want to comfort her, to let her know she’s now safe. I won”t allow anyone to ever hurt her again.
The guard’s hands fly up. “It was one of the men who found them. She punched him,” the guard defends. “We didn”t know she was a girl.”
I take a deep breath, trying to get myself under control. I don’t want to lose it in front of the girl. She’s already frightened. I don’t need to add to her fear, or worse, make her afraid of me. No, I want her trust. A lick of pride runs through me that she punched one of my guards.
Letting her go, I kneel down, grabbing the knife from out of my boot. When she sees it, those big eyes of hers grow even rounder. “I’m going to release you,” I tell her gently, like one would talk to a small, frightened kitten. I nod to the bindings around her wrist and want to be clear I only mean to release her hands. I won’t be releasing her. No. She belongs to me now.
The idea of just keeping her is barbaric and ludicrous, but I am king, after all. Our country doesn”t enslave people. This is a free country, but who can stop me? I have final say in all matters, and in this I won”t falter. Never once have I abused my power, but in this moment I know I’ll do anything to have her.
She needs me. I try and rationalize in my mind. She’s so small and innocent. She must be protected. They said she’d been running. My narrowed eyes fly to the man who is standing with the guard, trying to go unnoticed. He drops his head, looking anywhere but at me, guilt crossing his features.
“What is your name, princess?” I ask her as I slide my knife under the plastic bands locking her wrists together. Pulling gently, I cut through the plastic. I hand the knife over to John, who is standing beside me like always. Then I rub the red marks that have formed on her delicate ivory skin.
I’m not sure if I’m trying to soothe her or myself. The bombard of emotions pounding down on me is settling. I want to rip this place apart for what has been done to her, but I fear scaring her. She needs to be handled with care, and I need to get myself under control for her.
“Kate,” she whispers out so low I almost miss it. She bites her lip, glancing away from me.
“Well, Kate, I’m going to get you all taken care of.” I turn to John. I having to fight snarling at him when I see the smirk he has on his face. I’m sure to everyone I’m acting nuts, but I don’t give a shit. “Call for someone to come take a look at Kate and get her settled into the east wing.
John fights a laugh. “Of course.” He takes a step back, giving Kate room to walk. I reluctantly release the hold I have on her, already missing the softness of her in my hands.
“Go with John,” I tell her. She looks as if she wants to say something, but I put my hand on the small of her back and guide her over to him. “Dr. Lena,” I say to John. He nods in understanding. I watch as they both walk from the room.
My heart stops for a moment when I see Kate turn and look over her shoulder at me with so many questions in her eyes. When she is finally gone from sight, I turn and let go of all the anger I’ve been bottling up.