Cherish

I suck in a breath, shock filtering through my system. "I thought -"

He smiles sadly. "Guards can't be with any member of the royal family. The royal family always marries nobility or other royals. You don't looked shocked by those two things, so I'm guessing Xander told you that part already?"

"Yes," I mumble, trying to sort through the shock. I knew that Kade had called me mia and that mia means precious, but I didn't really think it was anything other than a nickname. Not something that he could have actually felt.

The fact that both Xander and Kade have both said the same thing to me is taking me a little bit to process.

Kade stares at me for a moment, his eyes showing that he's going through some sort of an internal battle. "Fuck it," he mutters a split second before capturing my mouth with his own. His tongue sweeps inside my mouth, exploring and dominating. A moan slips past my throat as I wrap my arms around his neck and press myself firmly against him.

He backs me up against the hard wall of the tunnel and buries his fist in my hair, pulling slightly. Not hard enough to cause pain, just enough to feel the slight bite of it. His mouth leaves mine and he trails his lips down my neck, stopping to suckle and nip at the sensitive skin.

A loud, shrill scream from the other side of the painting entrance pulls us apart, both of us breathing heavily.

"Stay here," he mutters and kisses me hard before letting me go to walk back where we came.

Shocking myself, I stay put as he opens it and disappears out the other side before shutting me in on my own.

I reach up and touch my fingers to my lips while I try to control my breathing and calm my racing heart. What the hell is going on with me? First Xander, now Kade. I can’t deny that my feelings for all three of my guards have been growing into something slightly more than just friends or guard and princess. I just hadn’t realized that those feelings could possibly be more than one sided.

Kade comes back several minutes later, his face a mask of rage. His expression softens slightly when he sees me leaning where he left me but not a lot.

"What's wrong?"

"We need to get you to your father. Now."

He takes my hand in his and navigates us through the tunnels for at least five minutes until we come to another entrance. He pushes it open, revealing my fathers office. We exit the tunnels and I frown when I see my father standing at the window with his fists clenched at his side.

"What's going on?" I ask.

My father spares me a quick glance and the rage and sorrow twisting in his gaze hurts my heart. He turns back to the window, breathing deeply, like he's trying to calm himself.

"What happened?" I ask again, looking from my father, to Kade and then to Elazer.

The door to the office opens and Xander, Andrei, Forrest, and his guard enters the room.

I look around at all the gloomy, furious faces, wishing like hell it wasn't just me that was out of the loop because I was starting to freak the fuck out and make me nauseous as hell from all the anger.

"Your brother," Andrei starts, "Crown Prince Dago, is dead."

I blink at him, unsure if I heard that correctly. "I- What?"

"Dago is dead," my father snarls from the window.

I meet Kade's eyes and he nods his head once. I look over at my other brother that I haven't really had the chance to get to know and I see that his face is almost carefully blank. Then again, his expression is always like that whenever I've seen him.

I look back to my father and ask the question burning to get out. "How?"

"The goddamn Ikishri bastards," he growls in answer.

Understanding dawns and I close my eyes. The Ikishri kingdom is the kingdom we're at war with. They've been killing off the royals as quick as they can. Considering that my father had a lot of kids but he's now down to Forrest and myself... I can't imagine the pain he's been going through.

It felt like my world was ending when Ella and my parents died. I can only imagine how it's feeling for him that out of the twelve kids he produced, now only two live.

For a long minute, no one moves or speaks. Deciding I need to do something, I move towards my father and I wrap my arms around him from behind. "I'm sorry," I mutter quietly.

My father's hand squeezes mine tightly for a moment before letting my hand go. I drop my arms from around him and step back.

He turns to face the room. "I don't believe I need to tell you all that security is going to need to be tightened more than before." His gaze sweeps over the guards. "This should not have happened. We've been without any incidents for months, we've grown careless with our security."

"Yes, sir," the guards answer as one.

"Elazer, Andrei, I want you two to ensure the castle is secure and find out what you can about who killed Dago then come give me a report after." My father turns back to the window and clasps his hands behind his back. "Now, leave me."

I open my mouth to speak but he shakes his head.

"I know you want to help, Cherish. I just want to be alone. Go with your guards and stay in your room for the rest of the day. Give my sanity some peace."

I nod at his back, even though he can't see. Kade takes my wrist in his hand and Xander places a hand on the small of my back, both of them leading me to back to my room.

Xander shuts the door behind us when we get into my room and leans against the door with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" I ask after we sit in silence for far too long for my comfort.

"It wasn't far from where we were earlier that it happened. I don't know if your brother knew and trusted the person who did it but there weren't any signs of a struggle. One of the maids found him with a dagger in his chest and his throat slit," Kade says.

My stomach churns. "Why go the extra mile?" I ask quietly.

"He probably didn't die quick enough for their liking," Xander says. He looks up to meet Kade's gaze. "I don't think it was just one person though."

Kade nods. "There were two. It's the only way that makes sense."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" I snap.

Xander and Kade exchange amused glances.

"Dago's throat was slit, but he was also stabbed through the heart," Kade starts. "The blade that slit his throat and the blade that was in his chest looked like they were two different blades. The difference is that the second one is nowhere to be found."

"I think whoever it was, wants us to believe that there's only one person behind it, and they don't expect us to suspect more than one person," Xander adds.

"Do you know if Andrei had any leads before he came to the king's office?" Kade asks.

"No, he didn't. All we all know for sure is that whoever stabbed him in the front should have been covered in blood. Every person we crossed didn't have a spec of blood on them. Hopefully they can find who that is before they disappear for good."

"Assuming they haven't already gotten away," Kade says cryptically.

"This conversation isn't making me feel better," I mutter quietly.

"We're not trying to scare you, mia. We just won't keep secrets from you. You've had more secrets kept from you in your lifetime than you deserve. We all made a pact after we brought you here that we wouldn't do it again."

I smile softly at them. "Thank you."