Chapter 3

• “Absolutely not.”
• Prince Emil stomped past, slamming a door as he left the room. Rafael turned and watched him head toward the stairs, then turned to Prince Leone. “What’s that about?”
• Prince Leone smirked. “I asked him if he wanted a porter for Rena, programmed to a few different locations.”
• Rafael rubbed the back of his neck. “He does know she’s a few centuries old, right?”
• “Yeah.” Leone looked at me. “All settled in your room?”
• I nodded. “I didn’t realize my room would be here in the palace.”
• Leone shrugged, “the other guards are still in quarters for downtime, but we thought having you closer would be easier.”
• I looked back to the stairs. “To escape the overprotective father, or to be close to my charge?”
• Leone laughed, “maybe a bit of both.”
• Princess Autumn came out from a door down the hall. “Oh great, you’re here.” She gave me a big smile. “Rena’s arrival has been postponed until tomorrow.” She motioned to the room we stood outside, “because they moved the wrong bed in.” She rolled her eyes, “Alona had a minor meltdown.” She shrugged, “You can hang out with the rest of us if you want.”
• Both Rafael’s and Leone’s phones went off. Leone looked at his phone, then to Rafael. “We’ve been summoned.”
• “Oh?” Princess Autumn looked from one to the other.
• “By Kara.” Rafael stated with a smirk. “She wants all brothers to try archery, at least once.”
• She shrugged, “makes sense I guess.”
• “Does it?” Leone tucked the phone in his pocket. “I don’t ever recall a time lately where I’d be able to pause, aim, and shoot an arrow at someone.”
• Princess Autumn looked at me, an amused look on her face. “I wonder which brother will be the best?”
• Both men frowned at her.
• “Well now we have to try.” Leone mumbled.
• Rafael smirked at him. “I already know I suck.”
• We watched them both go down the stairs.
• “Princess…”
• She gave me a hard look. “Don’t be calling us all princess and prince. Call me Autumn.” She shook her head, “Daxx will throw a fit if you call her queen, oh and don’t bow to her.”
• I gave her a puzzled look.
• She motioned to the stairs, “You’ll see. Let’s go watch.”
• ~
• I stayed back with the other personal guards. I was comfortable with these men, as we all watched the royal family. Prince Emil wasn’t with them. I still had to meet him. I’d seen him in passing a few times, but was never introduced to him. I wanted to assure him that I would give my life to protect his daughter, if it ever came to that. I’d heard plenty of talk about him in the last few months. I still had trouble believing that he was part human. It must be a small part, because he looked just like the warden, and to my knowledge was three hundred years old. Humans didn’t live that long, as far as I knew. I didn’t know a great deal about them but now I was surrounded by many of the royal’s mates that were part human.
• “Relax.” Bronx looked at me. “This is the best and occasionally the most exasperating post you’ll ever have.”
• “Exasperating?” I frowned.
• Sith chortled from where he stood behind me. “What he means is the kings and princes give us one order and the queens and princesses have something else in mind.”
• I opened my mouth for a moment, then closed it. “What are we to do?”
• Tim shrugged, “go with what the women want.” He turned and looked at Felix, “because they’re going to go forward with or without us.”
• “So,” I swallowed, “not following orders is the better option?”
• “No.” Mac said quietly, “but not being with our charges when the kings find out is by far the worst option.”
• I blew out a breath. “My ward is pregnant and not part of the immediate royalty.”
• One of the men chuckled, I turned to see it was Woods.
• “You’re going to get dragged into it.” He stated with an amused look.
• I turned to look at the royal family as they harassed each other for failed shots. “Just in case that happens, what can I expect from our princesses?”
• “You were on the island, so you know what some of the women can do.” Sith answered slowly.
• I nodded, “Yes, Princess Paisley is a chronos.” I watched the dark-haired princess laugh at something Prince Arius said. I turned and looked at Felix, he grinned. “And I saw Princess Bethany’s skills in action too.” Glancing over I studied Princess Bethany, she looked human but the color arcs she was threatening Prince Leone with matched her fiery red hair.
• “First,” Tim leaned closer, “drop the princess part,” he grinned, “trust me you won’t have time to be tossing titles out.”
• “Not to mention the huntress might stab you for saying it.” Bart added.
• “Noted.” I looked back to see Autumn take the bow from Michael and shove him out of the way. “I still can’t believe all the mates for our royals are human.” Autumn didn’t look like a warrior, with her petite form and blond hair, but her attitude screamed it.
• “Sort of.” Bronx stated. “They’re not now with the bond, but Reagan is something else.”
• I looked at him, “Something else?” I glanced at our newest princess, she looked just human to me. She was even wearing a ball cap backwards. Not at all the image of a princess I had in my head. I turned back to Bronx.
• He nodded. “Her father was from Solrelm.” He put his finger to his lips. “Don’t ever share that information.”
• I scowled at him. “I know not to repeat anything that I see or hear, Bronx.” I looked at Reagan. “Does she have an ability?”
• Derian snorted, “and then some.” He motioned with his head to her, “she can heal with a touch and,” he glanced around at the others, “can become invisible.”
• I waited for him to crack a smile and say he was kidding.
• “He’s not joking.” Bart said.
• I watched Reagan take her turn with the bow. She hit the target. “Well crap. Okay, fill me in on the rest of them.”
• The other guards turned to look at Tim.
• He sighed, “I guess I’ve been around the longest. Okay. Daxx is immune to magic.”
• “That’s handy.” Our Huntress Queen was beautiful with her long blonde hair, but I’d heard her speak and there wasn’t a single ounce of posh to her. I liked that she was down to earth.
• He nodded, “yeah it has been.”
• “Our other queen is an empath.” Sith said quietly.
• I looked at Queen Alona, she was laughing and was so graceful all the time. She moved like a queen in my opinion, her long black locks hanging down her back, swaying with each movement.
• “And she’s lethal with nun-chucks so steer clear in any fights.” Sith said with a serious look.
• I shrugged. “I doubt I’ll be in any fights.”
• There were several chuckles.
• “You can only hope.” Bart stated.
• “Crissy has visions.” Bronx said, “and her mind moves faster than a rocket.”
• “She fights as well?” I studied the princess. She was sitting away from the others with a notebook in her lap. There was something different about her, not her looks, they seemed normal, but she spent a lot of time off by herself.
• “Not as much, she will defend others, but she’s the lookout in most cases because she can climb anything.” Bronx stated. “And I mean anything.”
• “Autumn has no special ability but fights like no one I’ve ever seen.” Woods said with a proud note to his voice.
• I nodded. “I’ve heard. I still can’t believe she got Eunice Bosworth.”
• “I’ve lost count of how many they’ve brought in the past few months. It’s in the hundreds though.” Tim sat down and leaned back. “It’s been a hell of a ride working with the royals.”
• “I don’t know who is guarding who half the time.” Mac grinned. “Bethany, when she gets those fire balls flying, I just want to stand back and watch.” He nodded his head slowly, “and now that she’s learning other magic,” he shrugged, “there’s not much for me to do.”
• “I could only stand there with my gob hanging open when she bounced the warden and his mate out over the water on the island.” I told them.
• “Scariest time of my life.” Mac said in a hushed tone.
• I watched Crissy jump up and run over for her turn with the bow. The Justice stood there with an encouraging look on his face as Princess Kara was instructing her. “Does Princess Kara have any abilities? Other than rocking that bow like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
• “She can hear thoughts.” Bart said in a nonchalant tone.
• I turned to him. “Like anyone’s thoughts?”
• He nodded. “Even mages.”
• My mouth dropped open.
• He smirked. “She keeps it on lockdown most of the time, but if you see her fidget with that bracelet she wears, clear your mind.”
• I nodded. “Good to know.” I turned back to the royals to see most of them looking our way.
• “Oh shit.” Mac mumbled. “I knew they were going to make us take a turn.”
• “Archery?” I got up as well.
• “Yeah. The bow.” Felix said quietly as he walked by me.
• I looked at them watching us, then to the bow Kara held. “I wouldn’t mind giving it a try.” I whispered more to myself than anyone else.