Aladdin looked to me, his jaw tight as the Prince was carried away and Gothel led Kahn to the edge of the ring.
She cleared her throat, gathering herself together. “Not to worry, I'll have the best doctor brought to him.”
Someone clapped, but most remained silent, still in shock.
Aladdin elbowed me, leaning in close. “Guess we know what those pills do now.”
My heart pounded as I watched them carry Prince Gurvine's body away and Kahn strode after him with Gothel, his ugly face covered in the other man’s blood.
“Are you feeling okay?” Kyra inquired under her breath.
I glanced at her, forcing my features to relax into nonchalance as if the idea of facing that brute didn’t concern me any more than deciding what I might have for dinner. Although as someone who had spent his fair amount time unsure whether I’d even get dinner maybe that wasn’t the best analogy as it had been pretty damn worrying at times.
My mind snagged on the bottle of pills back in our chambers as I wondered if this whole thing was my fault for stealing them from Gothel at the ball. If Kahn had taken his pill before the fight then he’d have stayed in control, he wouldn’t have lost it like that and maybe...
I shook my head. I wasn’t the one who’d birthed an unstable demon baby into existence which needed to be controlled with medication to be able to function in the real world. This was on Gothel. That Shaitan had a lot to answer for.
As the mild stirrings of guilt fizzled away, I turned to Cassian. His face was written with concern. I guessed he was having more trouble than me at pinning this on the Queen.
I pushed the idea of facing Kahn firmly out of my mind, making a mental note to return those damn pills to him before I went up against him in the next bout. That had backfired hard and I was sure as shit going to make sure he was properly medicated by the time I faced him.
Captain Marik led a few of the guards out into the ring to rake new sand over the blood, and there was a hell of a lot of blood for them to cover. Marik’s face had been hastily wiped but the blood from his injury still marked his skin.
I turned my eyes from the ring as Captain Hariot approached the Princess, carrying a handful of colourful roses to give her. Since my gift to her before the first bout, all of the suitors were now replicating my gesture and I smirked at the pathetic display as she placed the bouquet down alongside the two Kahn and Gurvine had given her. I’d moved on from pretty flowers or useless trinkets, my gift to her today came in the form of all her hopes and dreams. I was going to have a go at granting a wish of my own and the idea of it felt pretty damn good.
“Kyra, could you summon that contract from our room and give me a fancy tube thing to put it in? Maybe give it a nice ribbon?” I asked in a low voice as I turned away from Hariot’s pathetic attempts at flirtation. The mild disgust on Rapunzel’s face was enough to let me know her feelings on the idea of him winning and I needed no further motivation to kick the shit out of this asshole after what he’d done to my face.
Kyra leaned close to me conspiratorially behind the cover of Cassian’s back and I moved closer to conceal her use of magic from any prying eyes. The contract appeared in her hands and she smoothed out the paper magically, removing a few stray blots of ink before placing it in an elaborate cream tube with a golden cap on the top of it.
“What colour ribbon?” she asked and I opened my mouth to say gold just as Cassian said. “Blue.”
“Why blue?” I asked with a frown.
“It’s her favourite colour.”
Why the hell does he know that? Poor bastard.
“Fair enough, blue it is,” I said and Kyra quickly added lengths of ribbon in twelve differing shades of blue curling around the tube.
“You’ve outdone yourself yet again, Kyra,” I muttered as I accepted it from her and she beamed in response.
Cassian stepped aside so that I could approach the stage as Hariot descended it.
He scowled at my unblemished face and I smirked at him tauntingly.
That’s right asshole, you can’t screw up perfection and expect it to last.
If he wanted to call me out on my miraculous recovery then he’d have to admit to what he’d done. And as the rules stated we were to keep our fights to the bouts I was confident he wouldn’t do that.
Rapunzel stood as I approached her and I bowed low, lower than was expected of me. She smirked in response and I held out my offering.
She eyed the tube with interest.
“Is that...”
“Signed as requested,” I assured her and her eyes glimmered as she released a breathtaking smile filled with pure joy.
“Truly?” she breathed like she couldn’t believe that I would willingly hand over such power. But the kingdom would be in much better hands with her wearing the crown than me and I had no doubts whatsoever about that.
“Anything for you, love,” I replied easily. “How about you just think of me as a pretty bauble to dangle on your arm? I’ll be your pet.”
She laughed. “I think there’s a lot of advice against keeping wild animals as pets,” she teased.
“You think I’m wild?” I asked with a laugh of my own.
“Absolutely,” she agreed.
“Well just you wait until our wedding night then.” I winked at her as I pressed a kiss to the back of the hand and I couldn’t help but smirk at the blush I drew from her in response to the implication.
I jogged back down the steps and into the ring where Hariot was waiting for me, sporting a scowl. I imagined he didn’t like the way the Princess was looking at me but on the plus side it wouldn’t be his concern for much longer. I was about to knock him out of this bout and I was planning on humiliating him as thoroughly as possible as I did it.
“I don’t know what magic you used to fix your face, Nazari,” he growled low enough for his words not to carry beyond the two of us. “But I’m going to enjoy breaking it all over again.”
“You can certainly try,” I replied with an easy smile. “And while you do, you may like to know what the Princess just said to me.”
“What’s that?” he spat like he didn’t care but I could tell he did.
“She begged me to win this bout because she said that the idea of taking you to her marriage bed made her want to jump out of her window. She fears your manhood will be as shrivelled as your wind-beaten face and said the thought of you laying so much as a finger on her made her want to set the bed on fire with both of you in it.”
His face turned beetroot but before he could reply, Captain Marik approached us to start the fight. I grinned at Hariot as his gaze slipped to the Princess, a flicker of vulnerability showing in his eyes before he fought it away.
“Count Nazari, Captain Hariot, are you ready to begin?” Captain Marik asked loudly, his voice carrying to the crowd who fell silent with anticipation.
“I am,” Hariot snarled, anger, hot and pure burning in his gaze. But that was okay. I wanted him angry. Angry made people sloppy. I wasn’t angry, I was calm as hell and I was about to rain a whole world of pain down on this asshole.
I nodded to show I was ready too.
“Then please bow to your opponent,” Captain Marik said firmly.
I held Hariot’s gaze as the two of us fell into the formal bow, though I moved as little as possible and I was sure the sign of disrespect was noted by many amongst the crowd. Marik retreated, leaving us alone in the ring and my heart started pumping a little faster in anticipation of our fight.
“Commence!” Captain Marik shouted.
Hariot fell straight into the pattern Cassian had predicted. He feinted left before diving right to get behind me and I twisted away before he could take out the backs of my knees.
I laughed tauntingly as his failed attack made him stumble and he charged toward me again with a cry of anger.
I skipped aside, slapping his face hard enough to send his head wheeling to the left and staining his skin pink as blood rushed to the site. Su
re, slapping wouldn’t hurt like a punch but it sure as hell made him look stupid. The tittering laughter that filled the air let me know the crowd agreed with me on that.
Hariot rounded on me again and I moved lightly, keeping to the balls of my feet as I ducked and weaved, letting him tire himself out as he continued to hound after me.
I didn’t tire though, I’d been running the streets alone since I was six years old. No one could catch me if I didn’t want them to and some old sea dog wouldn’t get close until I let him.
I ducked another of his attacks, spinning behind him so that I could slam my foot into his ass. The force of my strike coupled with his own momentum sent him crashing to the sand and I grinned as I chased after him, kicking him in the kidney as hard as I could.
Hariot snarled in rage, twisting beneath me and managing to catch my ankle as I aimed my foot at his gut again.
He yanked backwards, sweeping me off of my feet and I hit the ground hard on my back. I rolled before he could get on top of me, aiming a kick at his face which may have thrown some sand into his eyes at the same moment.
“Son of a bitch,” he cursed and I was glad to be forcing his sailor’s mouth into action.
I scrambled away from him but he was faster than I anticipated, fuelled by his hatred as he threw himself at me, colliding with my stomach just as I made it to my feet.
The breath was knocked from my lungs as he tackled me to the ground and I wheezed as he slammed a solid punch into my jaw.
Why is he so obsessed with my face?!
Hariot clambered up my body as I tried to kick him off and that awful counting started up.
“One-two-”
I gripped him by the throat, releasing a cry of rage as I threw all of my weight at him until I managed to roll us.
My hair fell forward as I pinned him down, clamping him between my thighs as I let go of his throat and threw my fist into his mouth.
I released the feral animal inside of me who had always had to fight so hard to survive. This was why I was feared in the ring back in the den, not because I was bigger or stronger than all of those bastards but because when it came to getting what I wanted I wouldn’t hold back an inch of restraint.
I punched his face again and again, something cracking beneath my knuckles as blood coated the white outfits we’d both been given to wear.
Marik was counting and I grinned like a maniac in response. “Three-four!”
Hariot slammed his knee up between my legs and pain pounded through me in a wave so potent I couldn’t help but react to it.
I fell back as he shoved me off.
“Foul!” Marik bellowed, pointing Hariot to the far side of the ring as I was given a brief reprieve to recover.
Asshole! Sure, I may have gone for the cheap shot under any other circumstances but this poncy fight had rules. And I’d been sticking to almost all of them for pretty much all of the brawl.
I pushed myself to my feet, scowling across the ring at my adversary as he grinned at me through blood-stained teeth.
“One free strike to Nazari,” Marik instructed.
I walked towards the guard as he invited me to join Hariot in the centre of the ring. The Sea Captain stood with his arms held wide, waiting to let me take my shot.
I imagined I was supposed to deliver a punch before we fell into our fight again but I had something better in mind than that.
I leaned close to Hariot, drinking in the fact that I was several inches taller than him as he was forced to tip his head to look up at me.
I opened my lips as if I was going to say something to him but instead I swung my head forward, breaking his nose with a snap so loud the whole crowd heard it. Their gasps surrounded me as I dove on Hariot who was too blinded by pain to fight me off.
I bellowed a challenge, wrapping my arms around his waist and taking him to the floor once more. My knee slammed into his crotch on the way down but I was subtle enough about my strike that the act was hidden in our fall.
Hariot oomphed in pain and I straddled him as I started punching his face again.
I bit out words to him in between strikes as Marik started to count once more.
“You - should - never - have - hit - my - face!”
“Five!” Marik bellowed and the crowd went wild behind me as I got to my feet, grinning as my triumph washed over me and they started chanting my name.
I tipped my head back and laughed as the sea of noblemen screamed my name. I was the same kid they’d spat on and refused to feed their scraps. I was the shadow who’d haunted them in the night, stealing through their homes and taking what they wouldn’t offer willingly. And now I was the hero they chose to back in this pageant. The one they ached to call their King. It was hilarious and damn brilliant.
I looked down at Hariot as he lay panting and bleeding in the sand at my feet. Cassian had told me off for not offering Kalaviv my hand after I’d won my bout with him but I couldn’t bring myself to offer this prick that courtesy either. It was all I could do not to spit on him.
I moved away from my defeated opponent with a big, fat, smug-as-shit grin on my face as I headed straight for the Princess.
She was smiling at me, her eyes glimmering and I knew that she was more than pleased I’d won this. I’d win her too before this was done. No way should a prize like her go to a half-breed lump of shit like Kahn.
I moved up the steps confidently, my heart beating a rhythm all of its own.
Rapunzel looked down at me as I bowed before her and I winked as I looked right back, drinking in the sight of her in her pink gown with her golden hair glimmering in the sunlight.
“You won,” she breathed.
“Don’t tell me you ever doubted it, love. You’ll have me thinking you don’t want me for your King,” I teased.
“Well maybe I’m starting to think that that wouldn’t be the worst of fates,” she murmured just for me as she pinned a blue rosette to my chest.
Her eyes danced with excitement and her words gave me the confidence to do something I probably shouldn’t have done in front of a whole crowd of nobles. But screw it, what were they gonna do to stop me?
I stood swiftly and caught Rapunzel’s cheek in my hand.
Her eyes widened as she realised what I was going to do but she made no move to stop me and I pressed my lips to hers before she could think about it too much.
The crowd cheered excitedly behind us and I pulled back after a moment, not wanting to chance my luck by taking it too far.
As if she just couldn’t resist a little rebellion of her own making, the Princess caught my hand in hers and lifted it into the air as she turned me to face the crowd.
“I name Count Nazari winner of this bout!” she cried, deviating from her allotted script. She turned to me as the crowd cheered and applauded, lowering her voice so that only I could hear her following words. “Let’s hope he can make it through the next.”
White petals were thrown over me as I exited the stadium with my attendants in tow. My heart was humming with the joy of Aladdin winning, of him handing me the most precious thing in the entire world.
But my thoughts were soon sullied by the memory of Kahn and Prince Gurvine's fight. If the Prince recovered from those injuries it would be nothing short of a miracle.
My gut knotted tightly as I headed back inside, four guards crowding me in. I waved them back, needing some air. Did they always have to walk so close?
I turned to Zira and Jacinda behind me. “Go do something relaxing. I'm sure we all need a breather after those brawls.”
“But ma'am, I'd rather stay at your side. It is like being a boat in the guiding light of the north star,” Jacinda begged.
I sighed wearily. “It's an order, Jacinda. Go do something that you like doing.” It struck me for a moment that I didn't really know Jacinda at all. What does she like doing beyond nattering in my ear about how great I am?
“I like attending to you,” she said keenly and Zira barely concealed a laug
h.
“And what do you like doing when you're not attending me?” I asked, stumped by her unwavering devotion. Did she not have a life of her own?
She vaguely shook her head, trying to come up with something. “Oh! Well when I'm alone I like to memorise all of your favourite things so I won't forget them. And sometimes I hang your clothes out near the lavenders so they'll smell delightful for you the next day.”
Holy hell...
“Jacinda...” I took a step closer to her, taking hold of her wrist. “Go and do something for yourself.” No wonder the girl irritated the crap out of me, I was her favourite hobby.
Jacinda's eyes sparkled with confusion, but she bowed her head in agreement and headed off with Zira.
I walked in the direction of Gothel's tower, unsure where else she would have taken Prince Gurvine. I could feel the guards trailing after me, practically breathing down my neck.
What I'd give for some time alone.
As I entered the east tower, a chill rushed over my skin. It was always colder in this part of the palace, maybe it was Gothel's icy heart...
The sound of voices led me up another level and I emerged in one of the spare chambers. The curtains were drawn and the low flicker of candles was the only thing to light the space. The guards moved silently to either side of the door as I stepped further into the room. Gothel stood at the end of the bed, shrouded in darkness. There was no sign of Kahn which I was eternally grateful for. After what he'd done to the Prince, I didn't know if I'd ever feel safe in his company again.
Gothel turned as I approached, her face seeming extra pale as if moonlight was living in her skin. “Gracious Rapunzel, this is no time for you to come and start bothering people.”
“I just wanted to check on our guest,” I said firmly, pressing my shoulders back as Gothel tried to warn me off with a glare.
I ignored her, stepping around the bed to approach the Prince. I could barely see his face in the darkness and was fairly sure he was unconscious.
“He's fine,” Gothel sang. “Just a few bruises. The doctor's been and gone.”
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 41
