by Lisa Daneils
Nissa turned to her father. “I promise to visit as often as possible.”
Ethan cleared his throat, “We can visit at least once a season for a couple of weeks at a time. I will need to return home for a couple of days, but you will have your daughter for the full duration.”
The king looked between them, then couldn’t help but laugh, “Here is my second worst fear realized. That you would be chosen to wed one of them. Keeping it from you clearly didn’t work. But at least my worst fear isn’t coming to pass.”
“On that, you have no worry, Father. I love him and I dare say we have already been tested in ways that most couples never are.”
“Please tell me that we don’t have to have the wedding within a few days, though.” Her father was almost pleading.
“You do not need to worry there, Your Highness. I am not Liam, and we can marry in our own time. It will need to be done back home, though, unless you don’t mind me bonding with your lands.”
“What?” Nissa pulled away from him a little.
Her father simply sighed, then smiled. “I heard about Liam and the lands down south. You know, if you can protect my lands like you protected my daughter, I think it will be alright.”
Ethan bowed low, then pulled Nissa back to him. “I do have one condition, though.”
The king looked apprehensive. “What is it?”
“I must stay with Nissa every day to make sure she doesn’t do anything else that will put her at risk. I cannot tell you how many times she—”
“Ethan!” She gave him a little push, and he started chuckling as she scolded him, “You are going to scare him.”
“I will keep my mouth shut on that score as long as my condition is met.”
The king frowned, “I agree to you staying here until the wedding. However, I must require you to tell me about what happened. My daughter has told me virtually nothing. Now we get letters from all over the kingdom, and it feels like she is trying to steal my throne out from under me.”
Ethan nodded with a sage look on his face. “That is definitely her modus operandi. Such a devious woman.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before lifting her off of the ground. “If you will excuse us, I need to start conferring with the bride about the wedding.”
The king waved them away, “Just don’t go breaking too much.”
“Father!” Nissa said, shocked at her father’s words.
Ethan’s laugh echoed through the palace as he took Nissa to her quarters.
Alannah’s Royal Rescue
Northern Realm Royal Dragons
Book 3
By: Lisa Daniels
Prologue
The whole thing was ridiculous. Aiden smiled at his fellow princes, wondering why he had even bothered. Sure, he had a multitude of guesses as to why Liam had called all of them to the Golden Kingdom, but it wasn’t like he could agree with any of them.
Three of the four princes had been in agreement: the demand of the three kings for the three heirs to marry humans was something that had no obvious benefits for anyone. It was almost as if the kings got a sick pleasure out of seeing just how many hoops their sons could jump through to gain a position they were guaranteed to have. Well, it wasn’t all three of them. Usually his father was the only one with unreasonable demands, but it looked like his stupidity had spread to the other two kings. Knowing that none of the three heirs would be willing, they had dragged poor Liam into it. Why Liam had agreed was something that Aiden already understood, even if he hadn’t told anyone else. It was obvious from the things that Liam had said and not said that he had been promised the possibility of his own kingdom. And Aiden had a sickening suspicion over just how that would be possible when there were only three dragon shifter kingdoms. Just because Liam may have been the most agreeable of the four friends did not mean he was an idiot or a fool. Quite the contrary, he would have the most reason to refuse if there had not been something much bigger for him to gain. Of course it wasn’t inheriting his own kingdom that was the goal. Aiden knew that if Liam wasn’t telling them why he was doing this, that meant the way that he was to get his kingdom was dangerous. Several princes had already tried and failed. But the idea of starting his own kingdom was the only reason Liam would go along with being forced to marry a human. It was also the best way to heal the problems that had been plaguing the Golden Kingdom.
Just what are you willing to give up to save the Golden Kingdom, Liam? Aiden’s thoughts did not reflect on his face. Instead of a pensive or concerned look, Aiden simply smiled at the youngest yet most mature prince who was about to reveal just why he had called the heirs to the Golden Kingdom.
Liam’s strawberry-blond hair made him look even younger than he was, partly because he had styled it like a human. It was a hint of just how far the poor prince had gone in trying to do what their fathers wanted. He looked around at the other three princes, his usual pleasant smile punctuating his words, “I’ve decided to select a bride, and my search begins tomorrow.”
Almost as if on cue, Aiden leaned back, trying to repress his disappointment at being right about why they were there. Grayson now owed him 1,000 gold. Still, he was not pleased that this was happening. Knowing that trying to talk logic to the young prince was pointless, Aiden quipped, “I’m not sure if you are trying to show us up, make us feel guilty, or just convince us to get moving—and I expect very strongly it is mostly the last one—but it’s a mistake.”
Sitting beside him, the prince whom Aiden believed to be the voice of reality, Ethan, spoke up, “You are the youngest of us. This really isn’t your burden, and at the risk of sounding old, I don’t think that you should be doing this.”
Aiden kept from laughing at this. Poor Ethan, the heir to the Blue Kingdom thought. If only he was as good at understanding how the kings manipulate us. Shame he is so set on believing the best about them. Despite everything.
Liam’s reaction was just as predictable as Ethan’s ignorance. The smile he had been forcing faltered, and from where Aiden was sitting, it looked like it was taking everything to try to keep the secret of why he was going through with the insane demand to marry a human. Instead of helping the poor young prince, though, Aiden decided to just let him dig his own grave. After all, if Liam had said why, there was no doubt that Ethan and Grayson would find a way to lock him up until the deadline had passed. It wasn’t that Aiden didn’t care about Liam, but he very much understood the situation in the Golden Kingdom. If Grayson continued to refuse to be reasonable, the entire dragon shifter realm was at stake. Liam understood that as well as Aiden, though the young prince’s understanding wasn’t quite as in-depth as Aiden’s knowledge. If anyone could create a new kingdom to the south, it was Liam, and Aiden suspected that was why he had agreed to marry a human. Aiden had far more knowledge about what was going on behind the scenes in the Golden Kingdom than the other princes, and Liam remaining in it really was no longer possible without tearing the whole thing apart. As dangerous as it was, Aiden preferred to believe in the possibility that Liam would be successful in starting a new kingdom because the only other options were worse.
And there was one thing that Aiden could do that would ensure that Liam succeeded—though Liam’s moving so soon to marry was definitely grating on Aiden’s nerves. He had wanted to drag out that obligation a little longer. Once one of the princes did it—and they all knew that it would be Liam—the other three would follow suit.
Well, maybe not Grayson. The heir to the Golden Kingdom had a very good reason to refuse his father.
Aiden fought back a yawn as Liam spoke, “Yeah, I know you all feel that way. But as the mature one of us, I feel that I should set a good example, if only to get you guys to move. The three of you are more like boulders at the top of a hill. If this is the push you need to start rolling instead of gathering moss, I’m alright with it.”
Feeling slightly insulted by the young prince trying to school them on the world, Aiden let out an exaggerated sigh, “Yeah, we kno
w you feel it is your job, but honestly, my friend, it is unnecessary, and potentially fatal for someone like you. You’ll actually try to do the right thing, and if a human has the chance, she’s going to ask you to do something stupid and reckless that will get you killed. You aren’t going to turn her down, and her primitive brain won’t be capable of understanding what she is asking, let alone caring what happens to you. It’s a mistake that I for one must protest in the strongest possible terms.”
And that was what he really feared the most. Somewhat shocked at having mentioned that, Aiden sat back and mused as the discussion continued. He knew that this was the best solution, but that didn’t mean that he was any less concerned about the many risks Liam was taking. Though Aiden could act to improve Liam’s chances of succeeding at forming a new kingdom, there was nothing he could do to protect his young friend from a human bride.
Liam put down his glass. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” his words hid no sarcasm as he looked around at his friend, “but I will be alright. I’m just the first one going in where we will all go eventually. Might as well get it over with and see just what they have in mind. There has to be a good explanation for why they agreed to this.”
The way Liam ran a hand through his hair was a sign that he was losing confidence, and Aiden knew that he had hit upon something the prince did not want to admit. Of the four of them, Liam was the easiest to manipulate, and he would do virtually anything once he made a promise. Even Ethan was more careful. Aiden glanced over at his friend, who had the same reasonable thoughts as himself, and knew that Liam had gotten to him. Oh what a web of pain we spin for ourselves. Our fathers say dance, and do we put on a show.
Trying to alleviate some of the pain that Liam had just inspired in Ethan, Aiden made sure to move into Ethan’s line of sight. Ethan would interpret his actions one way, while Liam would read something else. It was all about knowing your audience, as Aiden’s father had always shown.
Sure enough, Ethan found the courage through his guilt. He rose and approached their young friend. “Liam, you really don’t have to be doing this yet. We still have time, you know. I mean, a year is still a pretty long time, and you deserve your freedom for a bit longer.” To emphasize this, he gave Liam a firm slap on the back, causing the young prince to stumble forward a little. “I don’t even understand why you agreed to this. It’s not like you have any reason to marry one of them.”
A laugh escaped Ethan, but Liam simply shook his head, “I’m not as afraid of it as you guys. As for my reasons…” He simply shrugged.
The thoughts in Aiden’s mind were going a mile a minute, but there was little that he could do without really making things a royal mess. He displayed his usual feigned indifference.
Ready to give up, Ethan muttered, “Here we go again,” and walked back to his seat, his hands clenched into fists. Aiden knew that Ethan felt he was losing, and that his failure would be detrimental to the young prince. It was a shame he had no idea that there had never been a chance that he would succeed.
Liam’s brows knit together for a second before he let a small smile turn up the side of his mouth. “Feel free to keep fighting. I may not be happy with our options, but I like to think it might not be quite so bad as we’ve heard.”
“Is that why you are doing this? To show us that it isn’t so bad, and hope that it will be convincing? You do realize that would mean overlooking the fact that they are human. How could it not be worse than we are expecting?” Aiden looked at him intently, his face still resting in his hand. He was more curious to find out if that was honestly how Liam felt, because by the look on his face, it was a near complete lie.
“Pessimism really doesn’t suit you,” Liam said, his gentle smile reflecting in his reddish-brown eyes. Aiden knew why Liam was focused on him over the other two—Aiden was the least predictable of the four. If Liam couldn’t win by reason, he was giving it one last shot to persuade the group’s wild card. “I’ve heard some really good things about Bridget. Maybe she isn’t quite as capable as our women, but there are some definite charms to the humans. Grayson even thought so once upon a time.”
Any chance that Liam had had completely evaporated with this last statement. This definitely had an effect on Aiden, though not remotely what Liam had wanted. Instead of pushing his point, the second prince of the Golden Kingdom had just given his brother a reason to dig in his heels. Aiden played a quick dirge in his mind because the discussion was truly over now; all they needed was for Grayson to speak up and Liam would leave.
And the reaction was predictable. The silence seemed to stretch on forever, but all three princes waited for the response they knew was coming. Finally, the sound of a hand slamming against a table caused all three heads to turn. Grayson glared at his younger brother, and for a fraction of a second, Aiden wished he had something to snack on during the exchange. It was so rare for Liam to do anything so reckless. A wicked grin then crossed Grayson’s face as he quickly leaned back and kicked his feet up on the table. It was as childish a display as anyone could have made, and everyone in the room knew what Grayson was doing with this gesture. The Golden Kingdom’s future king’s tone managed to be both dismissive and biting, “Sure. If you don’t mind a weak, sheep-like creature that has nothing to offer but a womb.” Grayson threaded his fingers behind his head, disturbing his bright red hair.
Grayson was displaying a white-hot anger, and only Aiden knew just how close he was to doing something he would regret. Because Aiden had seen it once before. Mentally chastising Grayson, outwardly Aiden laughed, “At least they come with more coloring.”
Liam said nothing as he walked around and knocked Grayson’s feet off the table. To their surprise, Liam said nothing about the childish display, a sign that he was done with the discussion. He ignored his brother’s glare as he headed to the door.
Relief was etched on Ethan’s face as he flopped down in a chair. Still, the current situation was brought on by a much more serious problem. “What in all the names of the undead realms would make our fathers agree to this treaty? I will never understand.”
“We don’t have to understand Ethan, just comply,” Liam said as he reached the doorway. “You are always free to ignore it if you want to let your fathers try to pass on the kingdoms to someone else.”
The youngest prince didn’t wait for them to respond as he left.
Aiden closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath as the other two watched Liam walking away. Aiden envied the other three princes because they had no idea just how horrible it was to simply do as they were told. Sure, sometimes their fathers made strange demands of them, but not very often. Their fathers were still sane. Aiden had learned a long time ago just how much he had to think for himself and knew how best to push back on bad decisions. It was all Aiden could do to help hide the truth of the Blue Kingdom’s current predicament. The problems with the Golden Kingdom were much more obvious, so few had noticed how much the Blue Kingdom had deteriorated over the last few decades. That would not last long at its current rate of rising problems. Hiding his cynical thoughts, Aiden opted to keep the tone light, “Why does he insist on trying to make us look bad?”
Grayson sat forward, watching the doorway where his brother had disappeared. “Because he’s afraid.” His tone was so serious that it was difficult to imagine that Grayson had actually been the speaker. With that, he got up and left through a different door.
Always the emotional one. It’s so difficult to believe that those two are brothers.
“Well,” Aiden said suddenly standing up, “that’s enough stupidity and drama to last me a lifetime.”
“You always say that.” Ethan’s emotions were so obvious from his expression. Aiden had given him something familiar, helping to take the edge off of everything that had gone wrong.
Feeling a bit better himself, Aiden fell back into his usual persona. Sounding annoyed, he said, “And yet everyone keeps making me put up with more.”
Et
han couldn’t help but laugh, “I just wish I knew what our fathers were thinking. We don’t need the human lands, we don’t stand to benefit from human wives—”
“And we sure as hell don’t need to be allied with those weak things. If I were cynical, I would say that our fathers are counting on us dying young so that our bloodlines aren’t watered down. Our homes won’t benefit from us having children with those bipedal sheep.” Aiden gave another chuckle, “Or maybe they are sacrifices. We cover the lands with their blood after their short little lives are over and take proper wives after that.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ethan said, his thoughts clearly already wandering. “Only humans have been stupid enough to use sacrifices to the land. Still, as much as I hate to agree with the rest of what you said, I can’t think of any other reason to make us marry such a pathetic species. Humans are barely sentient. Might as well force a horse to marry a mole.”
Aiden let out a loud laugh, working to force Ethan back into the moment instead of letting the guilt pile up, as Aiden was sure was happening. “Ah, the words of wisdom. Perhaps I will tell my father to just kill me instead. It would be so much better for my heart and what is left of my soul than to be humiliated with such a union.” He moved to the window. Still facing Ethan, Aiden left him with one more concern. “If Liam is willing to prove our fathers are serious by doing something so ridiculous, I should do my part to prove that they aren’t.”
“Aiden,” Ethan’s voice was a mixture of concern and warning, “what are you thinking of doing?”
“I just told you. I’m going to ask my father to kill me because this is one humiliation I refuse to consider, let alone execute.”
Before Ethan could say anything else, Aiden spread his arms out and fell out of the window backward.
Aiden enjoyed the fall for a few seconds as he wondered if he should just let things go on and end. If he didn’t shift, his life would be over, and then the three kingdoms would have a much greater problem on their hands. It would be so easy, and Aiden would no longer have to deal with everything that had been eating away at him for decades. Then Liam might be able to bond with the Blue Kingdom.
