Chapter 13

Drew

I want to murder him.

I am not a violent man by nature but still I want to fucking murder him.

Fergus is going to pay for what he’s done to Ash.

When I went marching up to the private dining hall, I honestly had no idea what I was planning to do. I told myself I was merely fulfilling my duties as a host by checking in on them, but I knew that was a lie.

And then, when I heard Ash’s trembling voice begging that fucker Fergus to stop and him laughing…

I wasn’t thinking anymore, merely acting. I saw Ash standing there, shaking, with her dress pooled on the floor by her feet, and Fergus’ hand about to undo her bra.

And all I saw was red.

My fist connected with his face, and I had Ash re-clothed and swept into my arms before I knew what I was really doing.

And now, I’m carrying her outside, away from the castle, away from him. Down to the beach, though not without grabbing a couple of spare blankets and a flask of water from the stables. With the sun down, it’s gotten chilly, and no doubt Ash could use the water to clear her head.

I gently place Ash down on the sand then unroll the blankets and flatten one out before me. I wrap the other one around Ash. Then, I sit on the blanket and place Ash in my lap, hugging her fiercely.

She’s still shaking; I can feel it in my arms.

I take a deep breath to steady myself before asking a question I might not want the answer to.

“Did he do anything to you, Ash?” I ask through gritted teeth, in a small, controlled voice.

I have to control my urge to slaughter the bastard like a pig.

Ash lets out a cough, as if she’s trying to clear her throat, so I hand her the flask of water, which she takes and immediately guzzles down.

When she’s finished, she shakes her head.

“He didn’t—he didn’t get the chance to do much.”

“Much?”

She turns around in my lap to face me, and the glow of the moon illuminates her pale face, tear tracks blackened with mascara running down her face, and—

Blood.

That awful excuse for a king, for a man, bit my princess.

I make to stand up, to march back to the castle and see how Fergus likes getting bitten himself, when I feel Ash’s hands on my arms pulling me back down.

“Please, don’t! Drew, sit down! The—the alliance—”

“Fuck the alliance!”

Ash’s eyes widen in alarm, and I immediately regret both my words and my tone of voice.

“Y-you don’t mean that,” Ash lets out in a small, small voice.

I can’t believe I could say something so insensitive, even in the heat of the moment. For what was Ash doing having dinner with Fergus, putting herself at risk, if not for the alliance and my insistence on keeping it in the first place?

I try to give her a smile to soften the look of absolute outrage on my face.

“I’m sorry, Ash. I’m sorry. I just…looking at you and thinking about what he was going to do, I—”

“It’s okay, Drew. I’m okay. You saved me.”

Ash’s tear-stained face is full of gratitude as she looks at me.

I kiss her, very gently, then wrap my arms around her once more.

“I’ll never let him touch you again. We can work something out for the peace treaty, but he’ll never lay hands on you again.”

I hear Ash begin to cry in earnest, sobs wracking her body as she lets it all out. I smooth her hair with my hand, removing the pins keeping it up as I do so to let it tumble down her back.

We sit like that for a while, Ash crying as I silently console her with gentle touches and small shushing sounds. In some ways, it reminds me of calming Ness, my stallion, and the other horses.

Maybe I need to find a more human way of dealing with upset. But the tactic seems to work; eventually, Ash’s crying subsides. When she finally looks up at me, her face is a god’s honest mess.

Reading the look on my face, Ash lets out an almost manic laugh.

“I must look awful.”

“It’s no matter to me,” I reply quietly, holding a hand up to her soaking wet face. “You’ll always be the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on, even with make-up all over your face.”

Ash laughs again, this time sounding much more like herself. She turns around in my lap to kick off her heels, letting the blanket fall from her shoulders as she stands up on somewhat trembling legs.

“Ash…?” I inquire, but she smiles at me.

She points to the sea.

“Just going to wash my face.”

She makes her way over to the waves, softly lapping at the sandy shore, and I watch her bend down to scoop some of the salt water up to her face and scrub it into her skin.

On impulse, I take off my shoes and roll up my trousers, then stand and walk over to join Ash just as she uses the skirt of her dress to dry her face. I hold my hands out, and she takes them, standing back up to look out across the sea with me as waves quietly crash around our ankles.

She takes a step forward, and I grab her wrist in alarm.

“What are you doing, Ash?”

“Walk in further with me, Drew. It’s such a beautiful night. I just…want to feel part of it. Wash away what just happened.”

She looks up at me with pleading eyes, and though I know the sea can be dangerous in the dark even when it’s calm, I oblige.

We wade deeper and deeper into the water until it leeches into the bottom of my rolled-up trousers and the hem of Ash’s dress.

Then she throws her arms out, tilts her head up to the sky, and breathes deeply. With the moonlight illuminating her pale skin and reflecting off her raven hair, Princess Aisling looks truly ethereal.

I am completely in love with her, I realize suddenly. Completely and irrevocably in love with her.

And then Ash leans backwards, as if to fall into the sea.

I catch her before she lands in the water and spin her around and around in my arms, kissing her passionately even as she laughs.

“Why’d you stop me?” she asks breathlessly as our lips break away from each other.

I grin; my revelation has brought with it a certainty that this girl is not going back to my castle a virgin tonight.

“Why, you’ll want to keep that dry if you’re going to be putting it back on later.”

Ash frowns in confusion.

“Later…?”

And then it dawns on her, and she smiles mischievously.

“I like the sound of that.”