Reign of Rivalry

Chapter 7

I was being slowly pulled from sleep by hushed voices.

Where was I? Why was I so cold?

Before I moved to try to find where my blankets had disappeared to, the events of last night came flooding back to me. Fraser, the stables, my flames, and the dark-eyed stranger in the forest. I tried to keep the shaking that was threatening to take over my body to a minimum, and didn't dare open my eyes. I didn't know if the guards had found me or if the stranger had taken me, but neither were good options.

How could I have been so stupid to believe a word that awful man said? Tears pooled behind my closed lids as I remembered Fraser's hands grabbing me, his tongue on me.

Suddenly, the voices got louder, snapping me back to the reality.

"Who's to say this isn't a trap!" A female voice whisper-yelled.

"It wasn't a trap. She was running away from the castle guards. Why they hell would they be chasing their Princess?" It was the voice of the stranger from the forest, and he knew who I was. I could barely hear over the sound of my heart beating.

"A great question, Finn," A second male voice purred. "Perhaps the Princess can answer it for us. Seeing she is now awake."

Shit, well, no hiding now.

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up on the lounge I had been placed on. Standing in front of me was the male who had saved me in the forest. His dark eyes watched me warily. He was still in the same dark clothes he wore when he grabbed me, dark hair fell almost into his eyes, and curled over his ears, softening the sharp line of his jaw. His muscular arms, the same ones that must have caught me when I blacked out, were crossed over his broad chest. In the forest, I remember how gentle and concerned he had been with me, but right now, he looked like if I made the wrong move, one of the knives strapped to his sides would be lodged in my throat.

Next to him was a very short female with long dark hair. Her green eyes were striking next to her creamy, dark skin, and they were currently glaring at me. Despite her small stature, she looked just as capable of stabbing me in the throat.

"Sleep ok, Princess?" I whipped my head to my right. Leaning on a large dark desk was the king of the Darklands. He was just as tall as my forest saviour; however, Arius was impeccably dressed in a black, sleek suit. Dark hair and dark brows framed bright blue eyes, while not as muscular as the other male in the room, Arius was lean and had an aura of pure power. He wouldn't just stab me in the throat, he would rip me limb from limb.

Fear kept me silent as I carefully watched the three people standing in front of me. Maybe being captured by the castle guards would have been a better option.

"We've met before, Princess, but let me reintroduce myself," he said, pushing himself off the desk to stand in front of me. "I am Arius, King of the Darklands, you've apparently already met the commander of my armies, Finn, and the small, moody one is Jax, my bodyguard."

I raised my eyebrows and glanced towards the petite female.

Interesting choice for a bodyguard.

Jax must have seen my curious look based on the fact her scowl deepened. I quickly glanced away and back to Arius.

"What were you doing out in the stables, Brenna?" Arius asked. I flicked my eyes between the three of them. What was I meant to say? Would they even believe me?

Arius knelt down in front of me. Finn tensed behind him, and Jax watched my every move. He gently lifted my chin, so we stared at each other.

It had been so long since I had been in the same room as Arius, let alone this close. I wonder if he saw what I saw.

The long dark lashes...
Framing almond shaped eyes...
Bright blue irises...
Pale, creamy skin...

My mother had told me my blue eyes came from my grandmother, but that wasn't the truth. I got them from my birth father, seems Arius did too.

Did Arius see the resemblance between us that I did?

Finn clearing his throat broke me from my trance. I had been staring too long at my half-brother. _Shit_. Arius raised a dark brow.

"This is useless, let's just knock her out and send her back over the border," Jax huffed.

"No!" I practically yelled. "I can't go back."

"Go on," Arius encouraged. I had figured out my birth father was the former King of the Darklands, Xian, about a decade ago. Between eavesdropping on Cassius' conversations and his hate for the Darklands, I had been able to piece together that my mother and Xian had trained and fought together for years and Cassius had been jealous of Xian's powers. I managed to scrounge up a few paintings of the Darklands King. Cassius had found them in my room and burnt them and half my room down. That had mostly solidified it for me. Xian was my father and Arius was my half brother.

I didn't know much about Arius, only what I could find out from the staff at the castle and listening in on Cassius' meetings. I had dreamt of running away to the Darklands, to Arius, and even if I desperately wanted to tell him the whole truth, I knew that he wouldn't believe me. So instead, I stuck with the most recent truth.

"I killed Lord Dunn's son," I shrunk into the couch, shame washing over me. I had killed someone.

"The fire. You started it?" Finn asked.

"Yes. I... He attacked me and I couldn't control it," I rambled.

"He attacked you?" Finn growled at the same time Arius asked. "Why was Lord Dunn and his son in the Fire Kingdom?" 

I flicked my gaze between the two males, and decided it was easier to answer my brother.

"The King signed a marriage deal with Lord Dunn, I was meant to marry Fraser," I said.

"That sneaky bastard," Arius rose next to me and turned to his first and second in command. "Cassius is trying to run The Valley."

"But why? What is he trying to sneak in... or out?" Jax replied. Finn watched me with intent, making me squirm, as the two others discussed what Cassius could be hiding.

"That is, if she's telling the truth," Finn announced. He turned from me and spoke to Arius. "What if this was a way for Cassius to claim passage here? He could announce we have made an attack on the Fire Kingdom."

"He wouldn't admit to me being taken or that I've run away," I huffed. They turned to me, all brows raised in question. "Admitting I was taken or ran away would be an embarrassment. A wedding doesn't actually have needed to happen for Amarayus to believe the alliance. Cassius and Lord Dunn would be telling the land that the wedding happened and Fraser and I are on a honeymoon." I practically rolled my eyes.

Arius looked to Finn. "It is what I would do," Arius admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Did anyone see you take her?" Arius asked Finn.

"No," he said.

"Then there is no reason for Cassius to look for her here."

"So we do believe her?" Jax asked. I held my breath as Arius stared at me.

"I don't know," he finally said, and I felt I had been punched in the gut.

He didn't believe me. Would anyone ever believe me?

"But until we are sure, the Princess should stay here." Arius said. I gave him a small smile, before he continued. "Jax, Finn, take our new guest to the underground wing would you."

Jax's scowl changed into a menacing grin, and before I could ask them what an underground wing was, Jax was on me, wrenching her fist back and knocking me out cold.