Page 167 of Settle Down, Princess

“Always with the fucking knives.” Roan rolled his eyes.

“It wasn’t the blade itself or the fact that a beautiful woman with a weapon never fails to rouse me, but…” Silas’ throat worked. “My heart saw a woman with a lust for life, for experiences. You might’ve spent your life veiled and cloistered, but the minute you stepped free from that, you made clear you were ready to take on anything life had to offer, and I... I hope one day I’ll be one of those things.”

I couldn’t parse the meaning of his words, my mind reeling as I just stared and stared.

“We made a mistake, lass,” Roan said. “But we won’t again. You were furious at us for being away from the capital, but we’ve been hard at work on a plan. You won’t get within five feet of the king, that I promise. The commander has already gone to the palace to put the first stage into place. You might still hate us by the end of things, but…” A terrible kind of sadness seemed to settle over him then. “No more princesses will die, not on my watch. Fuck money, fuck power, and fuck the bloody king. I didn’t protect you when I should’ve, but I will now.”

“Selene and I have talked,” Silas said. “If we don’t succeed, if something happens to us, she knows what to do. He will not touch you again.” There was no need to specify which man Silas meant. “You needed our help, our protection, and now you’ll finally have it. There’ll be no need to sneak out the window of the temple and into the arms of men who aren’t worthy of breathing the same air as you.”

“And if for some reason you did and you found yourself trussed up in a cave again…?” Roan shook his head. “If some bloke had his merry way with one of my sisters as punishment for doing something stupid, I’d have punched him so hard he’d be shitting out his own teeth, but I did just that. I’m sorry, Jessalyn.”

“We’re sorry,” Silas said. “And if we’re admitting all our shortcomings, I regret my role in that as well. You needed our care and our protection, not our lust.”

“Well…”

I frowned for a second as I remembered that night. I was furious at myself for being so stupid, then furious those men would treat me so awfully when all I wanted to do was provide them with good coin for their assistance. That rage hadn’t stopped when Arik and his band cut down each man, leaving my enemies dead at my feet. I’d been fired up by it as they stood before me, watching me hang from my bonds as relief replaced anger, then disbelief, then right back to anger when I felt the first smack of Arik’s palm on my arse.

But that wasn’t all.

“Not just your lust,” I corrected. “I mean, if I am ever tied up with a bloody head wound, perhaps taking me to a healer first would be the best plan of action.” Each man winced. “But…” My eyes rolled up to meet each one of theirs. “There is a kind of savage beauty to the sight of men covered in the blood of my enemies.” My hands slid down both their chests, almost able to see the smears of gore there if I focused hard enough. “I admit, while I was raging at the time, being tied up, helpless, as the lot of you advanced was somewhat… diverting.” The two of them closed in like a pack of hunting wolves. “There was a ferocity to you, an intensity that was quite intriguing.”

“Something you’d like to re-enact, Princess?” Silas growled, as he grabbed my wrists in one hand, stretching my arms above me. “We could, you know. With proper ropes and much better knotting, I could suspend you from the ceiling, rendering you utterly weightless as you—”

“Kill the king.” My eyes bored into his, then Roan’s. “Free me. Free all the princesses on the continent from his loathsome touch. Gods, even free bloody Giselle from having to submit to his attentions. Do that and you’ll find me much more open to whatever it is you’re suggesting.”

They each sucked in a breath to answer but didn’t get a chance as the door was thrust open. Arik walked in, stopped when he saw we were still in bed, then frowned.

“You need to get dressed.” He barked orders like a drill sergeant, and the others scrambled to do as he said. “The king is setting forth for Fallspire and is requesting we attend him.”

“We?” Roan jerked on his pants. “What the hell does he want us there for? I thought we’d wait things out here in the capital, hoping for a raven to fly in with the good news.”

“The king has decided he needs witnesses,” Arik replied, his arms crossing his chest. “He intends to kill the golden stag, validating his claim to the throne, then… he intends to kill me.” When his eyes met mine, I knew I wouldn’t like what I was about to hear. “You’re coming too, Princess, with us as your guard because once he manages to execute me, you’ll be free to marry him.”

My hand slapped down on my throat, almost able to feel iron fingers wrapping around it and squeezing, but I sucked in breath after breath. Six other princesses had come before me and died. I just had to make sure I wasn’t the seventh.

Chapter 96

Arik

“Where is the stag!” Magnus’ voice echoed across the courtyard out the front of the Duke of Fallspire’s manor.

It was all happening again.

My father had brought me and Magnus out to Fallspire that last time the golden stag was sighted. The sounds of drunken or flushed lordlings spilling out of carriages now wasn’t too different to the last time we’d all come here. Father had brought his court to witness what he thought was a momentous occasion, wanting the lords he trusted to see his son, Magnus, take his place as heir.

The court had changed significantly since then.

Many of those who supported my father were at best, sidelined, or at worst, trumped up charges were brought to bear and each one of those men saw the nasty end of the executioner’s axe, their lands and titles gifted to those lords who worked hard to earn the queen, then Magnus’, favour. Men hadn’t stumbled on perfectly even cobblestones then, that was for sure, braying like donkeys at their own clumsiness. No, Khean had changed significantly since then.

But I hadn’t.

I stood quietly, just as I had then, my father instructing me not to catch the queen’s eye, not that his advice did me any good. I stood now, in front of the princess’ carriage, blocking off the door, Roan and Silas by my sides, praying I could keep a considerably lower profile this hunt.

“Where is my stag?” Did Magnus know he sounded like a petulant child? I was willing to bet he didn’t, not with the cluster of yea-sayers around him, but all their flattery went unheeded when his focus narrowed down on me. “Where is this stag, Arik? Where is—?”

“It’s been sighted in the north wood just this morning.” The Duke of Fallspire’s voice cut through all the chaos, instantly creating quiet. “I have stationed some of my best hunters in the area to keep an eye on the beast.”

Hunters, I knew exactly who they’d be. Smart men, clever men with knowledge of the land that came from living here for generations, the Duke made sure to employ the best of them. I’d found that out because I’d been forced to join them.

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