Zeke
"They should be back by now," Zander growled, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I watched him pace around the living room in frustration.
"She's with him. They'll be fine," I said, letting my head fall against the sofa headrest. I caressed the fur of the tiger sleeping against my body.
"You don't know shit. For all we know, she's hurt," he replied. "How do you explain the fact that Akira is here and she's not? What happened the last time they were separated?"
"Are you suggesting that our dear brother Drakkar kidnapped Emriana to Nelovia?" I teased with a laugh, and Zander shot me a warning glare.
The tiger had appeared a while ago. I didn't miss how he shook the water off his fur before walking inside as Emriana scolded him for doing yesterday. The pile of fur then lay across my legs for the next hour.
Zander paced around back and forth, in front of the fireplace.
"Would you just sit down? You're making me dizzy," I groaned, feeling like a drink would be perfect right now. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring some with me on this trip, so I would have to go without it.
Zander grunted something under his breath before taking a seat on a small sofa, staring at some of her paintings. We stayed quiet for several minutes, listening to the rain pouring unto the roof violently as the flames in the fireplace moved around fervently.
I wasn't going to admit it to him, but I was starting to worry as well. It was almost pitch-black outside, the clouds were dark. I hoped Drakkar knew what he was doing because I wouldn't let him live another day if she was hurt.
Another hour had passed when Akira suddenly lifted his head from the couch, turning to the direction of the forest. He jumped off me as he trotted over to the back door, stopping in front of it. It was only then that I heard it. Voices.
Zander and I stood up, and walked over to the back door, glancing out the window. I opened the door to get a better look, and I relaxed as I saw Emriana and Drakkar running toward the house. They were soaked to the bone as they ran across the garden.
"Thank fuck," I heard Zander mutter.
They moved up the steps of the house, and I moved out of the way to let them in. They were laughing together as both stumbled inside. The sound of the rain vanished as I closed the door behind them. My eyes narrowed on Emriana, practically naked as her thin white dress was completely see-through, sticking to her like a second skin.
She laughed as she moved her wet sticky hair out of her face. Akira was the first to move to her, jumping on her chest, and she caught him in the air, before falling back down. He let out low growls as he licked her face. She smiled at him, telling him how much she missed him.
Zander moved before I could as he shooed the tiger off of her before pulling her up to her feet. His eyes were fixed on her exposed chest, and she blushed once she noticed the three of us staring at her intensely.
"Ugh! Grow up!" She whined, running into the bedroom to change.
I was about to follow her inside when Zander pushed Drakkar.
"Where the fuck were you?" He asked, and I stared as Drakkar smirked.
"Teaching her new skills," he said with a chuckle, and I smirked. Zander didn't seem fazed by his words as he swung his fist into the side of his jaw.
"What if she got hurt?" He said, and my smirk fell a little. Drakkar frowned.
"I would never let her get hurt, you bastard. You know that," he grunted. Zander breathed loudly as he took a step back. His protectiveness of Emriana grew with each passing day. Drakkar and I were extremely protective over her, but Zander was something else. He was like a caveman when it came to her.
"About those new skills?" I asked Drakkar, and he smirked.
"You'll thank me later, brother," he said as the door opened, and Emriana appeared in Zander's shirt, which reached her mid-thighs. The sight made my pants tighten.
Zander stormed over to her, yanking her over to him as he smashed his lips over hers. His other hand snaked under her shirt, moving it up, allowing us to see that she was indeed completely naked under the shirt. Her bare ass came into sight, and I couldn't help myself as I walked over, and gripped a chunk of it with one hand while the other slipped under her shirt, gripping her cold breast.
She whimpered against Zander as I gripped her ass harder as I noticed the dark spots on her neck. I turned to Drakkar already watching me with a proud smirk. Cocky bastard.
She eventually pulled Zander away as he wouldn't let go of her. He mumbled some things into her ear, and she blushed profusely at his words.
"Sorry, I didn't have anything to wear. All my clothes are wet," she explained, and I hummed in amusement.
"No problem, princess. It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think the shirt might be getting in the way," I said, reaching for the hem of the shirt, and started pulling it off. She smacked my hand away playfully, shooting me a glare.
"Don't," she warned me before walking to the basket of clothes Drakkar had brought inside. She leaned down to grab them, giving me a complete view of her pussy, and I groaned. My hands palmed my erection, not knowing how long this little torture of her would last.
She stood back up with the basket and sent us a wink before walking into the living room. She started hanging the clothes on little hooks next to the fireplace. I noticed some of my clothes were being hung as well.
"You washed our clothes?" I asked, walking closer.
She nodded. "Yes, I was doing mine anyway,"
"Thank you," I said, and she smiled, moving her eyes away to meet mine.
"It's no problem, Zeky," I rolled my eyes at the annoying nickname she had for me, but still found it cute. I stole a quick kiss from her lips before walking over to the sofa.
"Drakkar, how are the berries? Are they too damaged?" She asked my brother as she finished hanging the clothes before walking over to his side. Zander followed behind her like a fucking puppy.
"They look good, little one. Plus, they're already washed, so we can just eat them," he said, and she nodded, opening a cabinet, and reaching for a bowl on the top shelf. Of course, her shirt rode up as she did, flashing us once again with her delicious ass.
"For fuck sake!" I said, looking away as I lowered myself into the sofa. I heard her laugh from the kitchen as she helped Drakkar prepare a quick snack. She walked back into the living room, lowering a bowl on the small table before going back into the kitchen.
She squealed, and I turned to see her giggling with Zander. Drakkar nuzzled his face into her neck, telling her something before joining me in the living room. He reached for the bowl of fruits, and popped a few into his mouth.
I heard more laughter behind me as Zander told her something. She looked so happy with him, it was quite the sight. I was happy for him, even if a part of me felt jealous that she wasn't laughing with me.
"Ah, there it is!" She yelled, and my eyes widened at the huge bottle of alcohol she had in her hand. She grinned as she saw I was looking and walked back to us, lowering the bottle on the low table, next to the fruits. She ran back to the kitchen and came back with four glasses.
Zander sat on the floor across from us, and she did the same, her back facing the fire.
"You sure this is a good idea, princess?" I said, as she undid the cap of the bottle and started pouring a generous amount into each glass.
"Why not? That's what my grandfather always used to do on a rainy day. He said rainy days meant the gods wanted us to take a break from work," she said, and I laughed as she handed me clumsily my glass before handing one to Drakkar and then Zander. I noticed the slight worry in Zander's expression as he watched her pour herself a large glass of whatever alcohol this was.
She stood on her knees to reach us, my eyes falling to her bare legs before moving back up to her face.
"Well, cheers to us," she said, with a blush as all our glasses connected with each other. Zander kissed her cheek, and she blushed.
"Cheers to you, little one," Drakkar said, before taking a sip as I did the same. The familiar liquid entered my body, burning my throat to the right places, and I sighed. I noticed she watched me intensely, and I raised a brow.
"What, princess?"
"Do you...like it?" She asked nervously. Zander and Drakkar stared at me with narrowed eyes as to say don't you dare make her upset.
"Of course, little warrior. It's actually one of my favourites," she smiled, before taking a sip. Zander's hand twitched as he kept himself from pulling the drink away from her.
We drank for a while in silence, it was pleasant. It was silent, except for the rain, and the crackling of the fire. I could definitely understand why she liked it here, it was so peaceful. No enemies waiting behind each door to take you down or advisers annoying you with treaties to sign. It was just us.
I watched Emriana move closer to Zander, letting her head rest on his shoulder. I could never understand what it was about her that made her fit so perfectly into our dynamic, but she did. She made each of us happy in different ways, offering us different things we needed. She wasn't after wealth or power. If anything, she was afraid of it.
She poured everyone a second glass of rum, before letting herself fall into Zander's lap. I chuckled as I noticed him flinch, and how his eyes shut. Her cheeks were flushed as the alcohol in her system started to show in her mannerism.
"Can I have some fruit?" She asked Drakkar, and he nodded.
"Thank you," she grinned, popping a handful of berries all at once, filling her cheeks like a squirrel. I chuckled.
"Careful, " I heard Zander warn her as he took the bowl of fruits away from her, and she whined like a small child.
"Zandy! Give me back my fruit!" She said, reaching for it, but he held it out of her reach. She pouted, before getting off his lap, and walking over to me. She lowered herself next to me in defeat.
"Zeke, Zander is mean," she said, and I laughed.
"Zander is always mean, princess. You should just get used to it," I said, and she frowned. It was clear that she was completely drunk, but having no one else around, I didn't mind as much. In fact, a part of me was curious to see what she would do.
"Don't say that, Zeke. He's a nice boy," she replied.
"You hear that? I'm a nice boy," Zander smirked, moving to his feet and coming to lift her off the couch and bring her back to his spot.
"Possessive much, Zandy?" Drakkar teased him as Zander wrapped his arm around her, caging her against him. He rolled his eyes, before focusing his attention on the girl.
"Here," Drakkar said, grabbing a single fruit and placing it in front of her mouth. She opened, and he placed it on her tongue. She munched over it before Drakkar fed her another one.
"Here's a question for you, princess. Who do you love the most?" Both my brothers froze at my question, their eyes staring down at Emriana in anticipation as she finished munching a berry.
"Akira," she replied without hesitation, and my smirk fell, while Drakkar laughed. Zander looked insulted but also amused. Drakkar reached for Emriana, and Zander growl like a fucking animal.
"Give her to him, you cockblocker. You've had her for a while," I said, annoyed by his caveman shit. Zander grunted something as he handed her to Drakkar with reluctance, pouring himself a large glass of rum.
Emriana fell asleep in Drakkar's arm at one point while the three of them stayed close to the fire. Drakkar ran a finger through her damp hair as he gave her a kiss on the forehead occasionally.
"You think she'll become Queen?" I was surprised it was Zander who had spoken. His question was the same question each of us had for the past weeks.
"I don't know," I said.
"I hope so. She would be a good Queen," Drakkar added, and we all nodded, staring at the sleeping girl in my brother's arms.
"It's a lot of pressure for someone like her," he added. "She wasn't born into it like we were, it's a lot,"
"Mother talked to her the other day," Zander said, and I nodded.
"I heard," I said.
"What did she say to her?" Drakkar asked, and I shrugged.
"She wouldn't tell me. Told me it wasn't for me to know. She said we had to work things out ourselves," Zander said, and I chuckled.
"Sounds like her," I commented.
"What do we do if she says she doesn't want to?" Zander asked, and I inhaled a shaky breath, the question making me lose my sanity.
Drakkar stared down at Emriana, brushing her hair slowly.
"There's nothing we can do. It's her decision. If you think about it, this is all our fault. If we hadn't lied about our identity, she would've been able to decide before we got attached,"
"Things were different back then, you know that. Might I remind you that it was your idea to lie to her," I said, irritated.
"I didn't get attached," Zander muttered under his breath, but he wasn't fooling anyone.
"Yes, I know. I'm aware of it. All I'm saying is that we can't blame her for walking away from all this when we didn't tell her what she was getting into in the first place," Drakkar added, and I scoffed. I knew he was right, deep down.
"So what? You'll just let her walk away like that?" Zander asked with a deep frown.
Emriana shifted in his arm, pulling my attention back to her sleeping form. I couldn't imagine having to spend the rest of my life with someone other than my girl. She was a rare gem.
The rest of the day went by slowly. The rain only ceased at the end of the afternoon, but it was too wet to do any work outside, so we stayed inside. We ended up playing an old board game she had. Of course, Drakkar won like always.
The next few days went by fast. We spent all day working on her house, repairing the ceiling, and the damage. Drakkar helped her with the house chores while Zander and I worked in the field. Within a few days, everything was done. Every night, we would go to her spot at the edge of the canyon to watch the sunset as she loved.
Zander, Drakkar, and I had noticed she seemed off this past couple of days. She wasn't smiling like usual, more reserved instead. She seemed distant, and I feared she had already made up her mind.