Zander
I noticed Emriana's breathing slowly becoming regular and glanced down to see her sleeping against my chest. Her long hair curtained her delicate face perfectly as her fingers were twisted into the fabric of my shirt.
I shifted, moving her head up so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. My left hand was still on her soft breast, loving how it fitted perfectly in my hand. She was becoming used to this intimacy quickly, and I couldn't help but feel proud that she trusted me like that.
"She asleep?" Zeke asked in a hushed voice. I nodded.
"Been for long?" Drakkar said, and I shook my head.
"Just a few minutes," I muttered under my breath.
I glanced to see Zeke and Drakkar glaring at my hidden hand under her dress, and I smirked.
"Jealous?" I snarled, and they scoffed, looking away.
"Why would I be when I was buried inside her soft pussy a few days ago?" Drakkar chuckled, and Zeke sent him a powerful kick in the stomach. He groaned, letting out a low chuckle. I rolled my eyes, looking back at the girl nuzzled against my body.
Drakkar stopped laughing when she started shifting, moving even closer to my body. Zeke scooted closer to us, stroking the hair away from her sleeping face. His knuckles brushed her cheek softly, and he frowned.
"Why is her skin so fucking cold?" He whispered-yelled at us, and Drakkar scowled as he touched her arm.
"What the fuck?" He whispered, and her breathing stopped briefly before starting again. My hand on her back moved to her cold cheek, and I frowned.
"There's a blanket under your seat, Drakkar," Zeke said, and Drakkar grabbed the large wool blanket. I moved my hand away from her chest and pulled the blanket over her body, tucking it tightly around her.
"Why is she so cold? Is she sick?" Zeke asked as he touched her forehead with the back of his hand. He sighed, kissing her eyelashes.
We traveled for the rest of the day without stopping. She never once woke up, which started to worry me, but hearing her breathing against my skin was a constant reassurance. Drakkar had made us stop at one point to make Akira come inside with us. He lay on the floor by our feet as soon as he stepped inside the carriage. Emriana was right. He was a lot weaker than before.
The night fell upon us, drowning us in his shadows. Zeke had fallen asleep beside me at one point while Drakkar watched the shadows of the tree pass by. I couldn't fall asleep, like always; too much lingered on my mind.
The entire time we'd traveled, I'd tried to solve the problem we had. I had gone through hundreds of scenarios that always ended up with someone not getting what they wanted. All my life, I had always thought that once I was crowned King of Ekudal with my brothers, all my problems would be solved. I never thought that being King would actually be the source of my problem, that it would actually be the thing standing in the way of something I wanted.
I hadn't said anything to my brothers, but I had made up my mind on what I would do if she turned down the crown. By the looks in Zeke's and Drakkar's eyes, I knew they had too. She was the onl—
"You okay?" Drakkar asked, and I saw the side of his face lit up by the moon's crescent.
"No," I answered, and he sighed.
"I feel you," he replied, shifting a little in his seat. As cushioned as our carriage was, after nine hours of sitting, everything fucking hurt. "I can't sleep since that ball night. Every time I close my eyes, I see the sadness and pain in her eyes as she thought I was going to kill her,"
I sighed.
"You had to make her believe it. It wouldn't have worked if she thought you were lying,"
"I know, but you didn't see what I saw. It was like I was ripping her heart apart, crushing her soul into fucking pieces," he said, and I closed my eyes, letting my head move with the little bumps on the road.
"It's not only that, you know—" he started, briefly pausing to check if she was still asleep. "It scared me to see how much she fucking cared about me. Seeing her so broken and in pain because of me did something to me. It made me realize how I couldn't fuck this up, how we were in too deep,"
"You make it sound like it's a fucking bad thing,"
"Maybe, yeah, but it's still scary to have someone care about you like that. I haven't told any of you, but before she thought I was about to strike, she told me she loved me," he said, and I frowned.
"She did?" I asked, jealousy gripping my core.
"Yeah—instead of telling me how much she hated me, how much I hurt her and how bad I had fucked up, she told me she loved me. Who fucking does that?" He whispered-yelled.
"An angel, that's who,"
"She's never said it afterward, and I haven't brought it up to her again, feeling like she might've just said it in the spur of the moment, not really meaning it," he added.
"You don't think she loves you?"
"Don't know— honestly, I can't imagine anyone loving me after all the fucked up things I did in my life," I nodded, knowing all too well what he meant.
"I know it's fucked up, but a part of me feels like this isn't really for real, that it won't last. Like she's going to wake up one morning and realize who I really am, how much of a monster I truly am, and she'll leave," he said.
"We don't really fucking deserve her, so that it wouldn't be surprising," I said, the words leaving an acid feeling in my mouth.
"Fuck no, we don't," he replied.
"But she makes me want to try," he muttered
"You've gone soft," I chuckled, and he scoffed.
"Maybe," he said thoughtfully. "If someone with a heart as pure as hers can see something good in me, maybe I should try to find what it is,"
"You're so fucking whipped," I said, and he shrugged. A long pause of silence followed afterward, and the sound of the night insects chirping in the distance created a constant background noise.
"I've been thinking about it this whole ride, but I think I might've found a way to make it works," my ears perked up at his words, and I blinked open to stare at him.
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you once we get there," he smirked, and I rolled my eyes.
"You're just fucking playing with me. You don't really have a plan," I scoffed.
"Yes, I do. If she's serious about what she told us earlier, there might be a solution where she would be happy," he said, and I raised a brow.
"Why won't you just tell me, you bastard?"
"Where would the fun in that be?" He laughed before resting his eyes.
Time Skip
I felt movement on my lap, and I looked to see Emriana slowly waking up. Her slight shifting had my cock rock hard, and I hissed in pain as she moved to get more comfortable.
"Angel, you got to stop," she opened one eye up at me, her brows knitting together as she saw my face.
"Why? Are you okay?" She said, glancing up and down at me in concern. Her thigh pressed on my erection, and she flushed deep red as she realized what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Zander," she quickly said, but I shushed her.
"Don't be, angel," she nodded, still visibly concerned.
She glanced outside and gasped, waking Zeke in surprise while Drakkar opened his eyes as he wasn't truly sleeping. Akira jerked up at the sound of Emriana, and I chuckled.
"We're already in Ekudal?" She asked, looking back at me in surprise. "How long did I sleep?"
"Like ten hours," Drakkar answered, and her eyes widened. "Thought you were dead for a minute,"
She laughed at him, thinking it was a joke, but it wasn't. She shook her head with a smile, moving her attention back to the window. She tried to move but realized how swaddled she was.
"Why am I in a blanket?" She laughed.
"You were cold," Zeke replied, and she blushed as if those three words seemed to mean something more to her.
"Thank you," she mumbled under her breath as I helped her undo the blanket.
It only took a few minutes for the carriage to stop in the castle's courtyard. I couldn't help the strange feeling of knowing the King wasn't waiting for us inside to yell at us. He was gone.
Zeke and Drakkar stepped out first, and I followed. As I descended the two steps, I took note of the rows of guards waiting on each side of the stone path.
Akira followed behind me, jumping out of the carriage. I saw the guards shift when Emriana laughed at Akira as she bent to step out the door. Zeke grabbed her hand and helped her down each step. She looked so beautiful it hurt.
Zeke slowly started pulling her along, and I noticed how the guards lost their professional facade for a brief moment as their heads turned to look at her in shock. Zeke guided her along, and I could see how much he hated the fact that so many men were ogling at her. Of course, he couldn't do anything about it without being scolded by Emriana, so he just kept walking.
Akira was at her side as she waved to the men happily, recognizing a few of them.
"It feels so weird to be back here," she said, glancing up at the high towers in front of us. Zeke kept pulling her along, wanting to get away from the men as soon as possible.
General Droga was waiting for us at the door entrance, along with a few of his cone head advisers. He stared at Emriana with a look I couldn't decipher. She smiled at him as we approached him.
He bowed his head in respect before motioning us to follow him inside. Drakkar sent me a puzzled look, having noticed how he looked at her. I shrugged my shoulders as we followed after him.
My eyes flickered to the soft hand that grabbed my own, and I walked closer to Emriana, squishing her between Zeke and I. Akira was trailing beside me, looking around the entrance hall for possible danger like always.
"Your Highnesses, it's good to see you again," Droga said, looking back at us with a nod. Drakkar and Zeke nodded while I didn't react, my focus solely concentrated on the cute girl holding my hand. It annoyed me that he hadn't greeted her, but I forced myself not to make a scene.
We walked down the hallways and noticed how shocked all the maids looked as they saw Emriana between us, happily looking around. They recognized her for sure. How could they not? She stood out like a rose amongst the fresh layer of snow.
Droga led us to our office, and Drakkar walked inside without missing a beat. I didn't miss the slight frown on Droga as he watched Zeke pull Emriana inside with him, but he knew better than to tell us anything.
I followed after taking my usual seat on the chair behind the desk. Emriana glanced around the room in curiosity, but the crease in her eyebrows made it easy to see that she hated how it was decorated. She went to sit with Zeke, who pulled her up on his lap. She told him something, and he smiled, whispering something back into her ear.
Drakkar walked around to my side and took the chair next to me, looking over the pile of paperwork on the desk.
"What did we miss?" Drakkar asked him, his eyes still looking over a letter from the advisers. Droga frowned, his eyes flicking to my angel before looking back at us.
"What?" I spat, getting annoyed.
"Your Highness, I can't discuss these matters with her present. These are highly confidential pieces of information," Drakkar scoffed.
"Speak," he said, and Droga shook his head.
"I'm afraid I can't." My blood boiled as he kept insisting she couldn't be here. He had been around our lives for so long that he forgot sometimes he was at our service, not the other way around. He would always scold us when we were younger, but it was time he realized things had fucking changed.
"I can go if you want," A sweet voice called from the couch, and Emriana slowly stood up from Zeke.
"Don't. He needs to learn his place," Drakkar replied, a little too snappy. Droga shifted from one leg to the other as he looked between us.
"It's fine, Drakkar," she glanced down at Zeke, who sent her one of his annoying winks. She smiled. "Zeke can even come with me?"
He nodded, standing up beside her and pulling her against his chest as he wrapped a protective arm around her front.
"Sure, I'll go," he smirked, and I rolled my eyes. I looked at Drakkar, and he nodded.
"Fine," he said, and Zeke pulled her out of the room. She did a little wave at us as she left, followed by her loyal companion.
"You pull this shit again, and you'll never see daylight again," Drakkar yelled the moment the door closed behind them. Droga seemed stunned by Drakkar's sudden outburst. He was the calmest among us.
"Yes, your Highness," he bowed his head, and Drakkar nodded. Drakkar started talking about the recent updates on different missions, but my mind was only focused on one thing.