Page 122 of Princess Avenged

“No need.” King Dunkan raises his hand. “Gentlemen?”

A door at the side of the room sides open, and Crusher enters, followed by Flame, then Blade then Phil.

“What?” I shake my head in shock, as they file in to stand in front of the fireplace, facing me and my father. “What are you doing here? I thought?—”

“Crusher contacted me from Paris, requesting an audience,” Dunkan says. “To confess their crimes.”

My heart stops. “No. Please.” I drop to my knees. “Don’t arrest them. If you put these men in prison… If you put them in prison, I’ll join them there too.” All my dreams of the future shatter. But even if the five of us are doomed to spend our lifetimes in captivity, perhaps we can at least be together. Vampiric prisons are less barbaric than human ones.

The king bends over in his chair and tucks his hand under my chin, tipping my view up to his. His expression is baffling. “I’m so sorry, Ana.”

My heart breaks.

“I shouldn’t be teasing you like this.”

“Teasing me?” I’ve never felt so confused.

Standing, he guides me back up to my feet, and then holding my shoulders, he looks into my eyes. “Daughter. Please forgive me.”

I shake my head. “Please. Please, don’t put them in prison. They shouldn’t have come here. It’s all my fault.”

“You misunderstand me.” He cups my face. “Your men aren’t going to prison. At least not because of anything they told me today.”

“They aren’t?” I look into my father’s eyes, then over to the men, but they’re all staring straight ahead, refusing to meet my gaze.

King Dunkan shakes his head. “Let me tell you what I told your men when they came to me.”

I nod.

“I told them that I trust your judgement above all others. And that if you vouch for their characters, whatever they’ve done in the past doesn’t matter. Not to me. What I care about is what they’re doing now and what they will do in the future. If we let our past mistakes define our lives, how would we ever move forward?”

“But…” My father believes in justice. The rule of law. So do I.

“One of my advisors,” my father continues, “knew of this institute where your men were raised.” King Dunkan glances toward them. “And I, for one, am very pleased that they found a clear path out of that horror.”

My body floods with so much joy, if my father weren’t holding my shoulders, I might float up to the ceiling.

“But that wasn’t all that your men discussed with me.” King Dunkan’s expression turns grave again.

“Are you going to tell me?” My chest is heaving now.

“I have another meeting at the moment,” he says. “And I think that it’s something you should discuss with them.”

King Dunkan kisses my forehead and then strides out of the room.

My knees start to shake again. A fear so intense I can barely stand.

Because I realize how presumptuous I’ve been. I was so worried about whether the men would be accepted into my life, that I never fully questioned whether it was something they wanted.

They’ve all declared their love and devotion, but mostly in the throes of passion. And given their lack of integration into traditional vampiric culture, their lack of experience with relationships and love, how do I know that they would want to commit to a lifetime with me?

If they don’t…

“Ana.” Crusher’s voice draws my gaze to him. He’s as nervous as I am. “We have something very important to tell you. Something none of us are sure you’ll want to hear.”

I stagger back a few shaky steps, but then straighten, ready to face my worst nightmare.

“Ana,” Crusher says. “I have avoided discussing the future.”

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