A Royal Mess

6. Snakes

They are like poisionous snakes.

The paparazzi hide out in plain sight, circling their prey until it is forced to come out into the open and then just like the crawling snake they pounce on it and swallow their prey alive.

Right now at least five of them have surrounded Jenna and are almost invading her personal space. They seem to be asking or rather throwing questions at her in rapid fire speed. Each of them holds some kind of recording device in his or her hands.

Three of Alexius's guards are busy struggling to control other reporters in groups of five. Sean looks like he wants to go help Jenna but can't find an opening without unleashing his horde of paps our way. So in all there have to be at least twenty of them.

Even though Jenna seems fine and there are no immediate signs of  danger I still inch towards her, but Alexius beats me to it. We had been momentarily paralyzed by the scene in front of us and he is the first one to recover. I have no other choice but to watch as he swiftly moves towards Jenna, places his hand on her wrist and then successfully pulls her behind him.

Now that they are aware of his presence, an eerie calm settles over the crowd.

"This is outrageous and downright harassive." He states dangerously. His tone does not go any higher than it's normal pitch but it still has the intending effect he wanted it to have. It's just like the incident at the cafe where even though he didn't shout at me it had that very effect. His words portray a threat and a warning.

Without showing any outward signs of aggression he used his words to fight. I grudgingly admit that I feel a little bit of admiration and respect towards him. Then I look at Jenna and guilt lodges itself in my throat. The poor girl looks scared, her gaze is fixed at her hand where it is being held by the prince, she appears afraid to look up. It looks like she has started shaking from shock and this moves me into action.

I quickly descend the steps that lead to the driveway and move towards her. Before I reach her though I notice Alexius give her a brief glance, his gaze softens slightly and then he tightens his grip on her arm.

He turns away almost immediately, his hold still firm on her hand and starts speaking again, "Like every human out there, I too have some basic rights which you just violated and not only mine, but this young lady's too. Now there are legal actions that can be taken here." His words stop me mid-step and seem to have shocked the living daylights out of the reporters too because all around us they start waking up from whatever trance they had been in. They begin making sounds of protest but before it can proceed any further Alexius raises his hand that is not holding Jenna's and the voices die down immediately. "But I will not make matters worse if, and only if, each and every one of you disappears as soon as possible."

By this point I have reached Jenna and I quietly take her into my arms. She gives me a small smile to tell me that she's okay and only then does the tightness in my shoulders soften.

As expected the crowd starts dispersing almost immediately. All around us reporters turn around and flee to their respective vans. Everyone is gone in under ten minutes.

Alexius then turns to us, "Are you okay?" He questions Jenna politely but his expression remains neutral.

Jenna perks up almost immediately, "Yes! I mean thank you!" I give her a wide eyed stare. Her fangirl mode scares the shit out of me. She takes a few deep breaths, ignores me and continues, "You just saved my life (wow what an exaggeration, talk about blowing things out of proportion)." Then she adds, "Thank you. I feel fine." She blinks her blue eyes innocently at him, giving him a grateful look. I can't stop staring at her. This girl is so unbelievable. Moments ago she was shaking with fear and now she is full out flirting with the guy who is supposed to be my big brother (ugh).