Cherish

I swallow hard as I study my reflection, taking in my coronation dress and trying desperately not to lose my shit.

“Damn, sis, you clean up good,” a voice I’ve been missing for what feels like years says from behind me.

I turn and smile at the ghost of my little sister. “You came.”

Ella frowns at me. “Why the hell do you look and sound so surprised by that fact?”

I snort. “Because you fucking up and disappeared, Ella. You said you had some things to look into and then went poof.”

Ella’s lips tighten into a line as she meets my eyes. “I’ve actually been doing some spying for you. I know that some elves can see me, but not all of them can. I’ve been in the Ikishri Kingdom. Learning as much about them as I can. It’s a little weird though. I’m never able to find the King when I’m there. But, anyways, I just want to help you, Cherish. I can’t rest in peace unless I know that you’re going to be okay.”

Tears pool in my eyes. I have to fight to keep them from falling. “Ella, you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I wanted to.” Ella falls quiet for a minute. “I also checked on Lucy and Zoe. I know you’ve been doing your best to avoid thinking about home and your friends, but I just wanted to check on them for you.”

Lucy and Zoe. God. I miss them so damn much.

“How are they?” I ask around the lump in my throat.

“They’re alright, for the most part. They miss you.” An odd look flashes on Ella’s face. I narrow my eyes at her.

“What?”

Ella sighs. “When we were killed and you disappeared, apparently the cops believed that you were taken by the one who had killed us. I overheard Zoe and Lucy talking. They were pissed because several people in town believe that if you were kidnapped when we were killed then you’re dead by now. They refuse to believe it. They believe you’re alive.”

I puff out a breath. “I wish I could see them,” I murmur to myself, “just let them know that I’m okay.”

Ella steps closer, bringing my attention back to her. She flashes me a smile. “I shouldn’t have said anything. You need to be smiling. This is a big day for you. You’ll be crowned Queen in front of your Kingdom today.”

I give her a sad smile. “Yeah, but I will still have tomorrow to face and I’m really not sure I can do that, Ella.”

“You can,” Kade’s voice says from the doorway. “And you will. Not because it’s what you want to do, but because it’s the kind of woman you are. You will always do what you have to, even if it’s something that you’d rather not do.”

I smile at him. “That’s a glossy picture you paint of me.”

He grins as he steps close and plants a kiss on my lips, apparently uncaring of my lipstick now smeared on his lips. “Everyone’s got flaws, mia. Your flaws just don’t take away your appeal for me, Andrei, and Xander.”

I grin up at him.

“Awww, that was so cute!” Ella says, her voice high pitched. She points between Kade and me with a big smile on her face. “Your new guys are sooo much better than Adam was. They actually give a shit about you.”

“Adam was the guy you punched in the face during school, right?” Kade asks, eyes faraway as if trying to remember.

Ella snickers as I sigh. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Guys, we’ve gotta get going,” Xander announces as he walks into the room. “There’s a lot of people out there waiting.”

My eyes widen as my stomach lurches. “What?” I squeak out.

Kade frowns down at me. “Yeah, you knew that you would have to do this in front of most of the Kingdom right?”

“Most of the Kingdom? No one freaking told me that! I just thought it would be like a handful of people.”

Kade’s mouth twitches. “Really? A handful of people watching the crowning of a new ruler?”

I glare at him as I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t care for your tone.” 

Xander laughs and the door opens again, showing Andrei wearing an impatient expression.

“What the hell is taking so long?” Andrei inquires, moving to lean against the wall.

“Cherish just found out that the crowd is going to be a lot bigger than she expected it to be,” Xander explains, trying and failing to hide his laughter.

“And she’s freaking out,” Kade adds.

Andrei frowns at me. “You did fine before.”

“Well, yeah, but this is a little bit different, Andrei.”

“How so?” he challenges, eyebrow raised as he studies me.

“Because that wasn’t really planned! I mean, we knew that I would have to stand in front of a group of people, but that was just one village. Not the whole damn Kingdom.”

“It’s not the whole Kingdom now,” Andrei points out, deliberately keeping his voice calm.

I narrow my eyes at him. “’Most of the Kingdom’ might as fucking well be the whole Kingdom, Andrei. It’s close e-fuckin’-nough.”

All three of my guys exchange looks for a brief second before Andrei sighs and moves into my personal space, placing his hands on my face, and forcing eye contact with me.

“Cherish,” he whispers, “you’ll be fine. Kade, Xander, and I will all be by your side the entire time. You’re not alone, Baby. You only have to stand there while you’re introduced. Then when you’re announced as Queen and that crown is put on your head it’ll all be over.”

I suck in a deep breath then slowly let it out to calm my racing heart and to let his words sink in.

“You got this, Cher,” Ella encourages. “I’ll be watching the entire thing, too. So don’t fall on your face.”

Andrei’s mouth twitches as Xander, Kade, and I burst out laughing.

“You’ve got such faith in me, Ella.”

Ella shrugs unapologetically. “You’re the crazy ass wearing heels.”

“Just because you couldn’t wear heels without falling on your ass doesn’t mean we’re all that way,” I counter with a smirk.

Ella laughs, waving a hand in the air. “So, I didn’t get out much. We know this. Now get your gorgeous looking ass going, Cherish, or you’ll be late to your own damn coronation.”

I take another breath to prepare myself then nod to Andrei. He backs away, letting go of my face with a small smile. “Alright. Let’s go before I chicken out and change my mind.”

* * *

My stomach churns as I walk into the garden with my guys surrounding me and I see the giant crowd.

Don’t fall on your face. Don’t puke. You totally got this.

“You’ll be fine, sis,” Ella encourages softly from behind our little group. “And if anyone tries anything your guys will destroy them.” Her voice is weirdly cheerful as she says the last and it brings a reluctant smile to my lips.

“I know,” I mutter quietly back to her just before we reach the end of the crowd.

Seamlessly, the crowd parts, making a path straight down the middle for me and my guys to walk through. I swallow hard and take another deep calming breath before making my way through the hundreds of people gathered on the castle grounds, toward the makeshift stage that was put together for the coronation.

Once I make it in front of the elderly Fiela Mohi -very loosely translated to ‘Holy Man’- he gives me a soft encouraging smile.

“Majesty,” he greets quietly. I can’t help but smile back at him; every time I’ve talked to this man he’s been nothing but kind and he’s just got the relaxing personality that makes you stop freaking out by just being in his presence.

“Horith,” I respond softly.

Horith looks to the younger man beside him who’s currently holding the crown that will be placed on my head and barely nods his head before turning his attention back to me and the people filtered on the grounds. He spends several minutes speaking in the elven language before walking me through the vows that I have to repeat.

Despite the fact that I really have no idea what I’m saying, I think I did alright.

“I proclaim Cherish Marsh, last princess of Tira, first of her name, Queen of the Tira Kingdom!” The man holding the crown hands it off to Horith. Horith stands in front of me as he lifts the crown over my head and slowly lowers it to fit around the elaborate up-do that my maid had insisted on doing. His eyes meet mine. “Your father would be proud, my Queen. Now, turn and face your people, my dear.”

My eyes water at the whispered words and I flash him a watery smile. “Thank you,” I whisper. I turn to face the crowd and am extremely relieved to see that there isn’t a single person that looks pissed off about me being crowned Queen.

“Long may she reign!” Horith declares.

“LONG MAY SHE REIGN! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!” the crowd shouts back, almost making me jump by the sudden roar of voices and celebratory noises.

I look to the side at my guys, melting at the pride and love I see shining in their eyes as they look at me.

The earth beneath my feet shake slightly as a loud boom thunders through the sky. My guys exchange looks and then Kade is at my side immediately, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as he pulls me away. “Get her out of here! Now!” Andrei demands as he and Xander pull the swords dangling from their waists from the sheaths and run in the direction the boom came from.

“What’s going on?” I ask as screams, shouts, more exploding noises, and cries echo around us as we rush through the grounds.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Kade says, his voice steady as he leads me to the castle wall and hits a piece of the stone, opening a doorway. Apparently we’re going to be hiding in the tunnels again. Joy. “We just need to get you out of here. I’ll tell you in a minute,” he assures me as he herds me into the dark tunnel.

Once Kade has the tunnel closed off again, he turns to me and kisses me gently. “Sorry the assholes had to ruin your coronation.”

I examine his face for a moment, taking in the strain there and then meet his eyes. “You knew something was going to happen, didn’t you?”

He opens his mouth, most likely to deny it but then his mouth snaps shut again. He sighs. “Mia,” he starts, “it’s not- There was a reason we didn’t tell you.”

I raise an eyebrow at him when he hesitates again, looking like he’s expecting me to blow up. “I’m listening, Kade. I’m not yelling at you. I just want to know why I wasn’t informed that there was a possibility we would be attacked.”

“Because we’ve been getting threats ever since you took the throne from your brother. A majority of them turn out to be nothing but talk, so there’s really no way to tell which ones are serious and which ones aren’t. We’ve had security tightened since Forrest and we haven’t let it slack because of all the threats we’ve been receiving.”

My lips tighten into a hard line. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

Kade puffs out a breath. “Because Andrei suggested we keep it quiet so that we didn’t worry you or add to the stress you’re already dealing with. Xander and I agreed because we just want to protect you, Cherish. We didn’t keep it from you to hurt you.”

I close my eyes and rub my hand over my forehead. One on hand I’m pissed that they kept it from me, but on the other- I can definitely see where they’re coming from.

“I understand if you’re pissed, mia. We just want to keep you safe, if that means keeping you from constantly worrying, we’ll do it.”

I look up, meeting his electric blue eyes as I smile softly. “I know, Kade, I understand. I may not like it, but I understand.” I pause for a heartbeat before dropping a bomb that I know none of my guys are going to be happy about. “In the future, I want to know about shit like this. I don’t like being caught this much off guard. If I know about it, I can at least make things easier on you guys.”

Kade’s eyes widen as he opens his mouth, most likely to object before he groans and leans his head back against the wall. “Damn it. Fine. I’ll make sure we keep you in the loop regarding threats to your safety.”