Interruption War Year 3: An Academy Reversed Harem Paranormal Bully Romance (Fallen Fae Academy Book 4)

by Rachel Angel

  “Their loyalty is most appreciated,” Colin said.

  They walked on and Ethan pointed out another couple.

  “Francis and Pam have three sons and two daughters,” Colin said after introducing them to Harley.

  “Yes,” Francis said. “And we’re so proud of them all. They insisted on joining the army. They’re determined to do their part to defend their kingdom.”

  Time and time again, they met people who had daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters who’d joined the army.

  They were prepared to risk their lives, to sacrifice their lives even, if it meant conserving the way of life the Kingdom of Spring offered their family members.

  “I’m amazed by the people’s loyalty to this kingdom,” Harley said.

  “Like we told you,” Colin said, “we’ve worked hard to make it an enjoyable and pleasant place to live. The people also realize they have a leader, a queen, who truly cares about her subjects.”

  As they continued to walk through the streets, Harley realized that the people of the village really lacked nothing.

  In addition to the bakery and ice cream parlor, a butcher shop, fruit stand and seafood store ensured the people were all well fed. Across from them, the cobbler, seamstress and leather worker created everything one could need to protect themselves from the elements with style and flair.

  They continued on to the outskirts of the village and Harley gasped with delight. A beautiful, clear running stream gurgled over smooth round rocks. Beyond the stream, fields of wheat, barley, oats and sweet corn.

  A small wooden bridge crossed the stream and led to a path that ran between the fields.

  “I love it,” Harley said as she moved to go to the bridge.

  But Colin held her back. “I think we’ve gone as far as we should,” he said.

  She looked curiously at him. “The fields seem to go on forever,” she said. “I just wanted to take a look.”

  “Maybe some other time,” Colin said.

  “Besides,” Ethan said with a crooked grin. “You wouldn’t want to accidentally end up in another kingdom.”

  Colin gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs and glared at him, but Harley disregarded their silent dispute.

  She turned to look at the village. Behind all the small, quaint buildings so prettily painted, she could see the castle high above on the hill. It was all so majestic and magical.

  “This kingdom really has everything, doesn’t it?”

  “And you haven’t even seen it all,” Ethan said with a proud nod. “We have rich mines of iron ore, precious minerals and access to more water than we know what to do with.”

  “We suspect that’s why all the other kingdoms of the Faery Realm have joined together to defeat us,” Colin said. “We have a wealth of natural resources.”

  “And don’t forget our talented and skilled fae,” Ethan added.

  “I’ve seen the other kingdoms,” Harley said as she looked all around her. “None of them compare to the beauty of the Kingdom of Spring. I mean, Kingdom of Woods has its forest and minerals from the surrounding mountains. The Kingdom of Sea has direct access to the ocean and waterways and all the seafood it can capture. And as for the Kingdom of Fall, it takes in a healthy harvest, but it’s nothing like the abundance the Kingdom of Spring can boast.”

  Harley turned around and headed back to the center of the village with the guys on either side of her. She was proud of her home, proud of the importance her mother had put into the comfort and appeal of the village.

  “It’s as if life is completely renewed here,” she said softly, reverently. “There’s something special in the air. That light and pleasant fragrance that you find nowhere else.” She looked at the happy, smiling faces of everyone around her.”

  As they strolled around to the main square, Harley noticed the open-air market with its colorful carts, stands and kiosks. Merchants sold basket, blankets, pottery and cookware. Some sold confectionaries, jams and smoked meats.

  Once again, she was impressed by all the Kingdom of Spring had to offer her people.

  “Well, guys,” Harley said as she turned to face them. “You’ve charmed me. The Kingdom of Spring is by far the best place to live.”

  “You hear that, people of Spring!” Ethan called out to the people around the main square. “Our princess has returned to the Kingdom of Spring. Our daughter, Princess Harley, has found her way home.”

  Chapter 10

  The crowd cheered and applauded her. They came up to her, offered her flowers, and welcomed her home. The warmth and sense of belonging filled her, and she looked to Colin and Ethan and smiled.

  “Thank you, guys,” she said when the crowd dissipated.

  Colin nodded, his eyes solemn and noble. “You are their princess, and they, your subjects.”

  “And with Queen Harvestia and Prince Harris off to war, you are essentially left holding the fort,” Ethan added.

  Harley frowned. “But I don’t know anything about those kinds of responsibility. I’m just a girl from…” She frowned and looked up at Colin and Ethan. “I’m from…” She couldn’t remember where she was from.

  “You’re from here, Harley,” Colin said, eyeing Ethan.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Ethan winked at Colin. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re from here. You were kidnapped and held hostage by a rogue prince from another kingdom.”

  “You’ve suffered a great trauma, Harley,” Colin said. “That’s why we felt it was so important to immerse you in your kingdom. We wanted to introduce you to the role that is yours, to reacquaint you with the village you’ve always loved so much.”

  “As a girl,” Ethan said. “As a young princess, you ran to the ice cream parlor almost every day. Not only did you purchase a scoop of ice cream for yourself, but for all the children around.”

  “And when you were a teen, you regularly came down to the flower shop to purchase yellow roses for your mother.”

  Harley frowned. “I really don’t remember any of that.”

  Colin put a hand to her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. It’ll all come back to you at some point. You’ll remember just how evil the people from the Kingdom of Fall are, and how destructive everyone from the Kingdom of Woods is. Most of all, I’m sure you’ll remember that the Kingdom of Sea has been trying to destroy us.”

  “Oh,” Harley said.

  “The important thing is that you know how much Harvestia and Harris love you.”

  “And how much you love them,” Ethan added.

  She smiled up at them. “Yes,” she said. “I do love them.”

  “Good,” Colin said.

  But at the back of her mind, something nagged her. She sensed there was something missing from the story, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “Thank you once again,” she said, grasping their hands and squeezing tight. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. How can I repay you? How can I show my appreciation for all you’ve done for me?”

  Ethan looked over her shoulder. “There’s a chocolatier over there,” he said. “I could sure go for a sweet treat.”

  Beaming, Harley led the way to the shop. The moment they entered, Harley breathed in the sweet, sweet scent. As Ethan and Colin went to the display counter to look at the assortment of chocolate bonbons, Harley looked around at the quaint little shop.

  Small tables were set along the window where people could enjoy a hot cocoa, or chocolate treat. Displays offered sweet chocolate with almonds or peanuts or salted caramel. There was dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. There was even a spicy chocolate.

  As she picked up a small pouch filled with candy covered chocolate, she noticed the uniforms of the two men seated at a table beside her.

  “I’m not happy about this,” one said in a hushed but urgent tone.

  “With him missing, it potentially changes everything.”

  “I know. Every soldier in our army loves Prince Harris. They’re ready t
o lay down their lives for him. But with him gone…they’ll be devastated when they learn that he’s missing.”

  Harley froze and listened more intently.

  “We have to make sure they don’t learn of this, especially given that we don’t have a clue which kingdom took him.”

  “So, you do admit he may have been abducted?”

  “I’m certain of it.”

  Harley held in the aching gasp that threaten to escape her. She didn’t want the men to become aware of her eavesdropping and she wanted to learn as much as she could about the situation.

  But hearing that they had no clue which kingdom had taken him, she felt lost. She glanced at Colin and Ethan, still picking out bonbons at the candy counter. Her first impulse was to run to tell them and tell them about her brother’s abduction, to ask from their help in finding Harris. But she quickly set that notion aside. They were overly protective of her and she was certain they would refuse to go out looking for him. They would also prevent her from going out to find him herself.

  She adored them for being so loving and attentive, for putting every waking hour into protecting her, entertaining her, and loving her. But she had to do something about her brother.

  This was something she had to do on her own. As the reigning royal, it was her duty to remedy the situation. She knew she had it in her to find her beloved brother, Harris, to negotiate his release and to bring him home.

  Determined, she slipped out of the shop and quickly and quietly slipped through the crowds of shoppers. At the iron forge, she stole a small dagger and slipped it into the waistband of her jeans, silently promising the shop owner that she would reimburse him on her return.

  She returned to the stream and the small bridge and found the long path that ran between the field of oats and the field of barley. It would lead her to the barbaric faes that inhabited the kingdoms of Woods, Fall and Sea.

  Prince Harris was out there somewhere… and she was going to find him.

  Chapter 11

  Oak

  Oak sat outside his tent at the encampment that had been set up on the outskirts of his Kingdom of Woods. It had been a long day… a long week. He was tired, hungry and increasingly worried about the outcome of these ongoing battles. When it had all started, they’d expected a few quick skirmishes, a battle or two, but not the ongoing war that seemed far from any resolution.

  His life, his world had been turned upside down by these disputes and he longed to return to the life he’d know… his life at the Academy… his life with his friends… His life with Harley.

  He missed her terribly, and went to bed every night thinking of her, longing for her. His sleep was usually disturbed by dreams of her, and on more than one occasion he’d awakened hugging his pillow. The realization that she was gone, that he didn’t know where she was or what had happened to her turned the dream into a nightmare. More often than not, he spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling as he sought a way of finding her.

  The days weren’t much better.

  At least once a day, he thought he saw her. His imagination played tricks on him, and there had been dozens of time when he’d walked toward that illusion only to realize that there was no one there.

  Sullen, he pulled a chip of dried beef out of his pocket and chewed on it. His concern for Harley had left him with no appetite, but he knew he had to eat something. He had to answer the relentless rumbling of his stomach that tried to remind him that life went on, that he needed that energy.

  As he chewed on the chip of beef, he looked out at his army, at his soldiers, and he once again imagined her. There she was, as beautiful as ever. Her bright eyes laughing eyes were narrowed with anger and she seemed unhappy. But he knew it was her. Her luscious hair and her sexy body made him ache for her.

  He turned away, refusing to be pulled into the illusion once again. He’d made a fool of himself too many times. Some of the younger soldiers had even taken to ribbing him about his constant sightings.

  A few moments later, he glanced over his shoulder and still saw her, but he shook the image from his mind and turned away once again and sat down to look out toward the neighboring kingdom.

  But when two soldiers walked up to his tent, a long haired prisoner held between them, he took a good long look. Standing between the two soldiers, was a beautiful woman with a magnificent mane of hair. Her head hung low as she angrily kicked the dirt at her feet.

  “Harley?” Oak said as he cautiously got to his feet. Still fearing an illusion, he stayed where he was until she raised her head and looked at him. “Oh, my God. Harley. It really is you.”

  She fought and struggled against the grip the two soldiers had on her.

  “We caught her just outside the encampment, just outside the mess tent. We think she was looking to steal some food. Or maybe worse. She was looking around and acting suspicious… like she was spying,” one of the soldiers said.

  Oak looked at his soldiers. “I know her,” he said as he took a tentative step closer. “You can let her go.”

  “She’s a wildcat, sir,” the other soldier said. “It was a fight just bringing her here.”

  “Yes,” the first soldier said pointing to his scratched cheek. “Look what she did to me.”

  The gash was impressive, but Oak was certain Harley had a good reason for striking out. Had his soldiers been inappropriate with her? Had they tried to touch her more than necessary in apprehending her?

  “She also did this,” the second soldier said, showing Oak the bite mark on his forearm.

  “I’ll take that into consideration in my dealing with her,” Oak said.

  “But, sir…”

  “I said, let her go,” Oak said more forcefully.

  The soldiers let go and Harley looked arrogantly at Oak.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.” He said softly, still reluctant to believe his eyes. “I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been sick with worry.”

  “There’s no need to worry about me,” she said, her eyes cold, almost hateful. “I’m perfectly able to take good care of myself.”

  Oak chuckled. “Yeah, I know you’re very capable.” He put his hand to her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

  Glancing warily at him as she shrugged off his hand, she entered the simple tent and looked around.

  “I thought you were a general or something,” she said with a grimace. “At least that’s what your soldiers said. Then again, they didn’t seem all too bright.”

  He frowned and smiled at the same time, not sure whether she was serious or fooling around. “You know how I like to live simply,” he said.

  He went up behind her and grasped her shoulders as he kissed her neck.

  She shrugged him off and stepped to the side of the small cot. “You really sleep in one of these little things?”

  “What’s wrong with you, Harley?” he said as he again tried to approach her. “Why are you so cold?”

  She backed away and sat on the bed then ran her hand over the rough wool blanket. “This thing is awful,” she said. “You must be all scratched up when you get out of bed.”

  “It keeps me warm on cold nights,” Oak said simply, increasingly confused by her attitude.

  “Well,” she went on. “The Kingdom of Woods must be really going through hard times to have their general, or whatever you are, live in such conditions.” She lay back, propped up on her elbows as she looked disdainfully at him.

  His body heated up at the sight of her, so relaxed, so sexy. His cock was suddenly so hard and in urgent need to get closer to her. He walked up to the bed and knelt before her.

  Grasping her knees, he pried her legs apart and buried his face in her crotch. With a violent shove, she sat up and pushed him off her.

  “Just what do you think you’re doing?” she shouted, giving him a second hard push.

  He fell back onto the floor. “Harley? What’s with you?”

  “How dare you take such liberties with the Princess of S
pring.”

  “Harley, you’ve always loved it when I…”

  “And where do you get off speaking to me with such familiarity. I am Princess Harley. I am the Princess of Spring. I demand that you treat me with respect.”

  “But, Harley, I’ve always…”

  “Princess Harley!” she shouted at him. “It’s Princess Harley.”

  Stunned, he just stared at her. Was she really just a mirage after all? Just an illusion? His disturbed imagination?

  The Harley he knew would never speak to him in such a tone, in such a way. He’d known her for over two years, had studied side by side with her, and had made love to her dozens of times. He knew every inch of her body, and while he still had so much to learn, he knew her mind, knew her humility and modesty. She would never treat anyone, even a perfect stranger, with such disdain.