Page 8 of Princess Takes Academy
“Guard my daughter well, young Blood. Protect her.” His words echoed inside my head, crashing thunder and pounding drums. “Keep her from harm. Even from herself.”
I lowered my head slightly, a king rhino showing respect to the mighty god. Inside me, his words sank deeper, etching themselves into my bones like a blood oath.
Protect her. Keep her from harm. Even from herself.
My solemn oath before the god.
“My life before hers.”
The crushing weight of the god’s will eased until I could straighten my shoulders and breathe easier. Smiling, he gestured for me to follow as he turned to the door. “Very good, young king. Let’s go find breakfast before Xochitl eats it all.”
3
Xochitl
Age Fourteen
Ever so quietly, I slid my legs out my bedroom window, balancing precariously on the sill. The heart tree had obligingly grown a sturdy limb close to my window. Perfect for quickly sneaking out of the house—if I was willing to make a slight jump.
Taking a deep breath, I launched myself out the window, ignoring the lurch in my stomach. I grabbed a smaller limb in both hands and used my momentum to swing a thigh over the top of the thicker branch. Just like mounting my horse. From there, it only took me a few minutes to shimmy down the trunk through the heavy branches until I dropped to the ground in a crouch.
Leaves rustled with the gentle breeze, making the tree whisper. If I listened very closely, I could probably hear the heart tree’s chastisement.
Even the giant ceiba worried about me—as if I would ever fall from its branches. I didn’t want to find out, but I was pretty sure the tree would catch me before I could hit the ground.
Mama had sent me to my room for the third time this week. Frustration burned inside me, and yeah, resentment. She wouldn’t let me do queen things yet, but she’d also forbidden me from roaming the countryside outside the nest. All because I’d scraped my knee climbing with Keras down by the river.
A simple scrape. It wasn’t going to kill me.
Yet all she could think about was me getting hurt, stolen, or killed.
Or worse, accidentally leaving a few drops of my blood behind, which might draw unwanted attention to the nest. As if I would be so stupid and thoughtless. As if Queen Shara hadn’t already killed the god of light who’d been taking young princesses. As if a stupid human could ever hurt me.
Me. Xochitl, princess of unicorns, future queen of House Zaniyah and sole Isador heir.
“You’re going to get in trouble again,” Keras whispered behind me.
Ignoring him, I stood up and checked my pocket. My fingers wrapped around the curved ivory, tangling in the leather string I’d carefully threaded through the jaguar canine tooth. I’d spent weeks working on it with Papa to make sure it was just right.
If Keras knew his birthday, he refused to tell me. So I celebrated the day he’d come to me as Blood instead. This year seemed particularly momentous.
Not just because it was ten years, either.
I was closer than ever to becoming a queen. As a human teenager, I’d be dating and thinking about kissing. But as an Aima queen, all I could think about was making Keras mine. I just couldn’t figure out how to make the step from childhood best friends and playmates to…
More.
I’d seen Mama and her Blood all my life. She made it look so easy. A kiss, a touch, and her Blood were all putty in her hands. Even Papa, though there was a deliberate heaviness in his hands and manner when he touched Mama. I didn’t fully understand it, but I recognized the gentleness and love in his eyes. He’d never hurt Mama. He’d left his eternal sleep in Atzlan to live with Mama, so she could have me.
He was like a fallen angel in that respect. He loved Mama—and me—enough to leave the Mexica paradise behind.
Keras didn’t act or look at me any differently, even though my body was definitely changing. I still preferred jeans or cutoffs for running around the countryside, but I had plenty of curves developing. Worse, for me at least, Keras was changing too. He’d always been lean and skinny, but now he was starting to pack on muscle. Mama’s alpha, Eztli, had been practicing different fighting techniques with him, and it showed.
We were growing up. I would be a full queen sooner than later. And I had my perfect Blood right here—completely oblivious to me.
It made me so… so… crazy.
I wanted to punch him in the stomach and kick him in the balls.
