Cherish

I bury my face in the book in my hands, shaking with laughter.

“I am not whining,” Lyra complains.

“Masha, you’re whining,” Xander states matter-of-factly as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Lyra snarls at her son. “Well, you would too if your only baby didn’t invite you to his wedding.” Lyra’s lip pushes out in a pout. “You didn’t want me there, did you? Is that why I wasn’t invited?”

“Masha,” Xander growls, clearly losing his patience, “we didn’t invite anyone.”

“It was kind of spur of the moment, Lyra,” I offer, attempting to keep the peace between mother and son.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Cherish?” Lyra asks abruptly. “Maggie knew, didn’t she?”

My eyes widen, and I gape at her for a heartbeat before answering. “No, Maggie didn’t know, either. The guys didn’t exactly tell me what was going on, Lyra. They kept the whole thing a secret from me until we were all standing there.”

Xander rolls his eyes and cuts his mother off when she starts to speak. “It’s already been done, masha. Now, can you please chill out?”

“You can’t blame me for being a little upset, Xander,” Lyra insists. “You would want to be there for your children’s wedding too.” Her eyes lock on me. “Speaking of children. I want grandkids soon. I’m too old to not have any grandbabies.”

My eyes widen in shock as Kade laughs and Xander sighs tiredly.

“Uh, I’m not ready for kids yet, Lyra,” I say slowly, hoping she’ll drop it. “I’m only eighteen.”

“Only?” Lyra scoffs. “Please, there are plenty of females that have children at sixteen. Eighteen is all grown up compared to that.”

“Masha,” Xander snaps. “Drop it.”

Lyra sighs sadly. “Fine. I’ll drop it.”

The library door swings open, and Andrei storms through the doors. I send up a silent thought of thanks because maybe this means that we can get off this subject and fast.

“What’s up?” Kade asks Andrei as he and Xander straighten in their spots.

I study the strain on Andrei’s face and without thought, I put my book down and move to him, cupping his face in my hands. “Are you okay?”

Andrei holds my hands to his face and bends over to place a brief, bruising kiss on my lips. When he pulls away it’s only to rest his forehead against mine. He’s silent for so long that fear over what is causing this reaction takes over.

“Andrei? You’re scaring me,” I whisper.

“We need to get you out of here,” he says, his voice hoarse.

“What? Why?” I frown up at him. “What’s going on?”

Xander and Kade move closer as Andrei pulls my hands away from his face. “What is it?” Xander asks.

Andrei studies my face before turning to Xander and Kade. “The Ikishri.” His attention turns back to me. “A messenger came, said he would only speak to the Queen, and clammed up after that. He turned chatty enough when I informed him that I was one of Cherish’s Kings.”

“What’d the messenger have to say?” Kade asks, warily.

“The Ikishri want us to turn Cherish over in two hours’ time. Or they’ll send their men and allies to destroy Tira and everyone in it.” Andrei keeps his gaze on me as he speaks, his expression a mixture between agonized and furious. My stomach drops as I swallow hard.

“Do we have enough men to stop an attack like that?” I ask cautiously.

Andrei shakes his head sadly. “No, and with only two hours to give you up, we don’t have time to call on our allies,” Andrei explains. “Which is why you need to go into hiding for a while.”

The room booms with a stunned silence. My heart aches at the thought of having to leave them, especially after getting married the night before. Even if it would only be for a short amount of time. But there’s no guarantee it’ll be for a short time. It could be years before I could come back.

I meet Andrei’s eyes. “No.”

His eyes widen briefly before narrowing on me. “Cherish, you nee-“

“I said no,” I snap before taking a calming breath. “Hear me out before you freak, okay?”

Andrei eyes me warily and I can feel Xander and Kade’s eyes on me. “Alright. We’ll hear you out,” Xander says, his voice hard and holding no room for argument. He probably answered because Andrei’s too busy glaring at me.

“We’ll turn me over to the Ikishri,” I start, but have to stop speaking when all three of them start immediately trying to veto that idea at once. I hold my hands up. “Stop!” They stop talking and I can see the anger and fear blazing in their eyes. “Listen to me.”

I eye each of them before they give me nods of agreement. “We’ll turn me over to the Ikishri. That’ll give you guys time to get our allies and our own men to Ikishri land. We won’t let them get away with this. We all know that something’s changed. They don’t want to kill me anymore.”

“Yeah, but who knows what the hell else they could have planned for you,” Kade snaps, running his hands through his hair.

“He’s right,” Xander mutters, his gaze burning into mine. “There are worse things than death, Cherish.”

“I’m aware of that,” I assure them. “I really think that this is the only way to find out what they have planned. Nothing else we’ve tried is working. Our informants in their Kingdom haven’t been able to get close enough to their King to learn much about what his plan is. This way we can stop the Ikishri from destroying our land and our people as well as find out what the hell he thinks he can use me for that would cause him to stop the kill order on me.”

“I don’t like this,” Andrei finally grits out after several moments of strained silence.

“I know, but what other option do we really have?”

“Hide you,” he states firmly.

“And lose the entire Kingdom in the process,” I counter softly. “My life isn’t worth all of theirs, Andrei. I know you want to protect me, but if it truly comes down to it, I know you’d do the right thing. Not what you want to do.”

“Cherish,” he says my name with so much pain that it breaks my heart, “don’t make me agree to letting you use yourself as bait.”

I smile sadly at him. “You know it’ll work.”

“As much as I absolutely fucking hate this plan, she has a point, Andrei,” Xander says honestly, his voice rough, as if the words were hard to say.

“Yeah,” Kade mutters as he places his arm around my waist, his fingers gripping my hip tight. “I don’t like it either. Not a single fucking bit, but she’s got a damn good point.” Kade presses his lips against my temple. My eyes close as I relish the contact.

Andrei’s voice has my eyes snapping open to look at him. “Fine,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. “We’ll do this your way, Baby.”

* * *

“You’re sure about this?” Andrei asks again as he opens a portal to the Ikishri castle walls.

“Andrei,” I murmur reassuringly, “I’m sure. We’ll get this shit done and over with once and for all.”

Andrei stares at me for a long moment, almost as if he’s trying to memorize my face. Kade and Xander did the same thing before they went to Meryn and Phentis to get aid from our allies.

He puffs out a breath and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his body, holding me tight. “You be careful, Baby,” he mutters into my hair. “You know nothing can happen to you.”

I give him a squeeze. “I promise. I’ll be careful.” As careful as one can be when they’re technically being held prisoner, anyway. I pull my face away from his chest to look up at him. “Try not to worry so much. I’ll get word to you soon,” I promise.

“That’s a lot easier said than done, ma hai,” he expresses before brushes his lips gently against mine. He pulls back, his eyes roaming over my face again as he brushes his thumb against my cheekbone. “I never knew something could be so damn valuable to me,” he admits. “I didn’t think I’d ever know how to love until I met you.”

Tears fill my eyes. “Andrei,” I whisper shakily. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Baby,” he assures me. “You come back to us, got it?”

“You got it,” I respond with a shaky grin.

Andrei lets go of me and clenches his fists as I step closer to the open portal. I turn back and give him a reassuring smile that is incredibly fake before taking a step into the portal and into Ikishri land.

The portal closes behind me as I step on to the grass.

“Who are you?” a voice demands from the gate. I look up and see a guard glaring at me.

I swallow back my fear and clear my throat, speaking in a clear voice. “I believe your King is looking for me.”

The guard looks me up and down. “Oh? And what makes you so special, little girl?”

I give him a rueful smile. “My name is Cherish, Queen of Tira.” The guard straightens, and his eyes sharpen as they study me. “I’m here to speak to your King.”

“You understand I’ll need proof,” he says, gaze narrowed on me.

I raise an eyebrow. “Who the hell else would come here claiming to be the Queen of Tira? Knowing that we’re at war?” I ask, incredulously. His cheeks turn pink, from anger or embarrassment, I don’t know, but it’s hard not to laugh.

“You have a point,” he mutters before raising his voice. “Open the gate!”

He steps towards me, pulling rope out from behind him. Once he’s in front of me he grabs my hands and ties them together. So tight that it’s painful.

“You can’t loosen these, just a bit?” I ask, wincing.

He smirks at me. “Sorry, Your Majesty, but no.”

Dick.

He turns around, keeping hold of the opposite end of the rope, starts dragging me past the open gate and into a clearing.