Princes Long Gone
Cohen
Goosebumps form along my forearms as I shuffle in the cold, damp cell. Dirt and debris clutter the stone floor where my feet shift. We’re still in our dress clothes from the ball—the ball held in our family's honor—what a joke that turned out to be. My brothers and I now restlessly sit under lock and key.
“Enjoying your stay?” Nash Turningten purrs. His fingers draw a careless line through the dust along the bars of the cell.
The beat of my heart echoes in my ears as anger boils under my skin.
The crimson color coating his nose isn’t nearly as satisfying now as it was when I punched him.
“What do you want?” Pushing myself away from the wall, I stand before the man who single handedly put us into this predicament.
Cormac rises from the dirty stone floor, fisting his hands at his side, while Cason growls from his seat in the corner.
“Guard, open the cell.” Nash motions to four guards to follow his ridiculous lead. As if his feeble frame could cause any one of us harm.
Cormac winces at the nasty sound of the hinges whining as the door opens. Cason jolts upright at the presence of multiple guards in our already crowded prison. Cason’s big, intimidating. He’s too kind for his own good, but the guards don’t need to know that.
The armed men don’t use any mercy as one grabs me by my wrist, the other yanking me down by the scruff of my hair at the base of my scalp.
“Eat shit, Nash!” Cormac steps forward only to receive a swift elbow to his gut.
“Cormac, it’s fine.” My teeth clench while I spit out the words.
Cormac laughs, a slow sneer crawling across his lips.
He just never knows when to quit.
“It. Is. Not. Fine.” Cormac’s eyes flash in unbridled anger before his dark hair flings back, his skull colliding with the bridge of the guard’s nose behind him.
Heavy boots sound against wet stone as more men usher into the room, wrestling him to the ground.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I sit kneeling before Nash. His laugh strikes every chord in my body. My jaw ticks, my glare resting on his thin face.
How did I even end up in this situation? I came here to end a curse and now we’re imprisoned.
The sick thudding sound of someone being kicked repeatedly is heard behind me and then I hear Cormac groan. He’s smaller, leaner, but he doesn’t act like it. Those guards outweigh him by a good twenty pounds each. He never knows when to just shut his mouth.
My eyes slowly close, my teeth grinding hard as I think through how the fuck to get us out of this shit hole.
When I open my eyes, Nash lowers himself, balancing on the heels of his boots. He’s eye to eye with me. A sneer twists his features, emerald eyes blaze into mine.
“Wrenley has been sent away for a little while. Until our wedding that is.” He pauses to enjoy the scowling look I give him. “I just want you to know,” he pulls a small knife from his belt, his fingers toy with the glinting tip of the blade, “while the three of you rot away down here,” he leans into me, a tormenting laugh accompanies his whisper, “I’ll be taking real, real good care of your princess.”
Something inside me cracks, the calm energy that always holds me together builds into a rage and I lunge for him. He teeters, stumbling back until his shoulders hit the bars of our cell. The guards keep a tight hold on me from behind and I breathe hard as I struggle against them.
Nash grips the knife, his pale knuckles turning even whiter. As he stands, his lips curl up and just when I think I couldn’t hate him anymore, he brings his right leg back and swings it up. His shining boot hits me hard, my head flipping to the side. My teeth jar from the impact. All I taste is hot blood flooding my mouth.
A chiming song begins, an older, slow, sorrow-filled melody that I haven’t heard for years.
“So, we’ll sing us a song of princes long gone.” The easy tone starts off calm and quiet, confusing me all at once. I can feel the melody swirl around us. Settling into us, scurrying within our skin and mind.
Cason’s voice caresses the room, drifting along the walls, seeping into my mind, saturating the old stone work of the castle. The words hold meaning, but worse, they hold power.
One by one, the guards halt their movements. A glassy look overtakes their eyes. Stiffly, the guards step away from me, away from Cormac and slowly they leave the room entirely.
“What are you doing? Get back here!” Nash cries. They ignore his protests as they march single file from the cell down a long hall.
Nash stands gaping. Only the sound of their boots echoing down the corridor is left in their wake.
A smirk touches my lips, my head still hanging low. The sticky feeling of blood running down my lip and chin reminds me of what he just did. It reminds me of what he’s done, what he will do.
Gradually, I lift my head, my eyes locking on his. The proud and arrogant demeanor he held just moments ago is lost, replaced with a look of pure fear.
Cormac lies on the floor behind me, clutching his ribs, his face smeared with dirt and blood. Cason kneels at his side, his large hand holding his brother's shoulder.
I rise and Nash stumbles back from me, his thin limbs no longer clinging to that composure he always seems to have.
I want to kill him. I want him to know he threatened the wrong people. He threatened the wrong princess.
My fists are held tightly at my sides as I glare down on his sniveling fucking frame. Logic carefully fills my mind and I shove my aggression aside.
“Cason, Cormac, let’s go.”
Cason’s dark eyes hold astonishment as he stares at me in disbelief. I ignore his look.
If I hurt this piece of shit, I’ll never see her again. Her father will lock her away into her royal life even more than she already is.
Cormac’s arm is swung over Cason’s wide shoulders as they stand and walk to my side. My jaw’s strung so tight it hurts. I give Nash one more hatred filled look before exiting the cell.
My back is to him and I hope, for his sake, I never see his face again.
A clanging sound shakes through the bars and I turn in time to see Cason smash Nash’s face into the cell door. The skinny man lands on the wet floor with a thud and I raise my hands from my side as I stare at Cason in disbelief.
Cason holds my astonished gaze.
“What?” Cason asks and Cormac shoots me a bloody, but approving smirk.
“I expect better of you, Cason.”
“You’re smiling an awful lot for someone who’s lecturing me right now.”
I bite back the smile, my eyes closing slowly. My shoulders fall with a tired feeling settling over my body.
The three of us sneak into the dead of night with more worry than we held when we first walked into the palace over a month ago. We thought only our lives were hanging in the pendulum.
Now we have Wrenley to protect as well.
If we ever see her again …