Lord Rokkan’s Private Toy

by Hutchins, Hollie

  Instant, I’ll––”

  “You’ll what?” said Rokkan. “Attack your own son?”

  “If I have to!”

  “Do it then.” Rokkan closed the already shrinking gap between them. “I will stand for this district, and for the woman I love.”

  “You’ll stand?” Terak teased. “Alone? Against me and all of my men? Honestly, Rokk, I thought you were smarter than that.”

  “He’s not alone,” said Megan, stepping forward.

  The king again started to laugh, humored by the idea that a human would dare oppose him when a small voice could be heard behind Megan. “I’m with prince Rokkan.” It was the woman who had been sent to the kitchen for more beer.

  “Me too,” said a man pouring water into one of the draak’s classes.

  The king’s laughter dissipated as every present member of the kitchen staff offered to stand with Rokkan. Soon, Rokkan’s own soldiers also lent their support for him, and with that, the king and his men were dramatically outnumbered. Even Kidam stood up and declared her loyalty to the prince, which, Megan could tell from his facial expression, surprised Rokkan.

  Terak was quiet for some time. After a tense, confusing minute, he put his hands up. “Fine,” he said. “I know when I’ve been beat.” He shook his head. “I’m very disappointed in you, son. You and I were going to do great things together. But, you’ve made your choice.”

  Rokkan nodded and took a step back.

  “Do not think that I am just going to hand this district over to you,” said the king before leaving. “I will take what is rightfully mine. This pathetic, dirty district is not a top priority of mine, so go ahead and play house for a bit, just know I’ll be back.”

  The king left without another word, his men following in a line behind him.

  Nobody spoke for a long time. The silence was broken by the sound of someone entering the dining room through the swinging door of the kitchen. It was Rekk.

  He looked around the room and his eyebrows furrowed. “What did I miss?’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Safe for Now

  “Do you really think he’ll come back?” asked Amara that night, sitting on one of the beds in the room she and Megan used to share. “Or do you think he was just trying to have the last word?”

  “He was serious,” said Megan. Esma and Lou were both sitting on the other bed, across from Amara, while Megan stood by the window brushing her hair and watching the sky darken. “I thought for sure he was going to start something right there. You should have seen the look in his eyes. He will be back. It’s just a matter of when.”

  “That’s scary,” said Amara. “Did the prince seem scared?”

  Megan shrugged. “I think he was feeling a lot of different things.”

  She’d noticed Rokkan had gotten very quiet and introspective after his father left. She had tried to get him to talk about his feelings multiple times, but he clearly wasn’t ready. He apologized in the early evening, after the two of them had eaten their dinner in complete silence. That was when Megan suggested she could invite her friends over and have a girls night, that way he could have some time alone. He thanked her, hugged her tightly, and that was that.

  She put the brush down on the dresser on her left. “I didn’t want to pry. He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

  “But what is he going to do?” said Esma. “We can’t just wait around like sitting ducks.”

  “He’ll keep leading the district.” Megan pulled herself away from the view outside and sat down next to Lou. “And we will do what we can to prepare for when the king returns.”

  “Prepare how?” Esma pushed the issue. “He king has hundreds of soldiers at his disposal, and he gains more every time he takes over another district. He’s unstoppable.”

  “We don’t know that,” said Megan. “You saw what happened today, Es, you were in the dining hall. Rokkan inspires people too. He’s been such a great leader, he even had the humans of District One willing to risk their lives for him.”

  “And who knows, maybe the king won’t come back,” offered Lou. “I mean, you said he called this district pathetic and dirty right? Why would he even bother fighting for it when there are so many better districts he could conquer.” Upon seeing the faces Megan and Amara were giving her, Lou winced, realizing what she’d just said. “No offense.”

  Amara laughed. “No, it’s okay, You’re right. District One is kind of a dump, but it’s our dump. And hey, soon it’ll be yours too.”

  “Hopefully,” said Lou. Her first court appearance was fast approaching. “We’ll see how the jury feels.”

  “That reminds me,” said Megan. “Rokkan and I have been doing a lot of research lately. Looking into old law books from when the districts were first formed. We were hoping to find some kind of loophole that could help your asylum status become permanent.”

  “And?” said Lou. “Anything?”

  “Actually, yes,” said Megan. “If you can legally become a part of a District One family, you are granted automatic district citizenship.”

  “You mean like she’d have to marry someone?” asked Esma.

  “That’s one option,” said Megan. “Or––”

  “Hell, I’ll marry you,” said Esma. “I’ve always wanted to get married.”

  Amara giggled and Lou seemed to consider the offer.

  “Maybe,” said Lou, she smiled at Esma. “It’s funny, I wouldn’t have figured you for the monogamous type.”

  “Wait a minute, you mean I’d have to be a faithful wife?” said Esma. “Nevermind. I’m out.”

  “You could marry Ollie,” said Amara. “He’s like a love sick puppy, I bet he’d marry any girl who asked.”

  “Gross!” Both Lou and Megan said at the same time. “I’m not marrying my best friend’s little brother,” Lou added. “Besides, he’s basically like my little brother too.”

  “He feels the same way about you,” said Megan. “My parents too–– they feel like you are already family. So, if you want, there is another way instead of marrying into a family?” The other three girls stared at Megan, eager for her to reveal her genius idea. “My parents could adopt you.”

  Lou’s eyes widened. “Do you really think they would do that?”

  Megan smiled. “They already agreed. They said yes before I could even finished asking them.”

  Lou began to cry. Megan went to her and wrapped loving arms around her shoulders. Amara joined the hug soon after, and finally, with a little bit of prompting, Esma got in on it as well.

  * * *

  Her friends fell asleep sometime after midnight, but Megan was wide awake. It had been a stressful day and she hadn’t even begun to analyse how she felt about everything that happened. She’d been so worried about Rokkan and making sure he was okay, she forget to check in with herself.

  To her surprise, when she really started to dig deep, Megan found that she wasn’t actually all that worried. Sure, Terak’s threat was scary, and she had no idea what the future would bring. There was no guarantee that everything would work out, or that when the time came, Rokkan could protect her and the rest of the district against the wrath of his father.

  But one thing she did know, is that whatever happened, Rokkan would stay by her side, no matter what. And that was enough. He was enough.

  At the thought of him, Megan felt a pinch in her stomach. She missed him, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d last seen one another.

  You gave him space for a reason. Don’t be selfish.

  She forced herself to lay in bed and counted back from one hundred, trying to will herself to sleep. She lost track of her count a few times and kept finding herself glancing at the clock, hoping more time had passed.

  That thing has to be off, right? There’s no way it’s only two.

  At 2:30, it became obvious that Megan was not going to fall asleep in that bed, alone, without Rokkan. She slipped out of the bed and tiptoed towards the door. If any of he
r friends woke up from the creaking of the bed or the opening of the door, they didn’t say anything. She closed the door as quietly as she could and snuck down the hallway to Rokkan’s bedroom door.

  He was asleep when she came in, still fully dressed. There was a book sitting next to him and the lamp on his bedside table was still on. Before clicking it off, Megan picked up the book and read the title: “Great Speeches Made By Great Leaders.”

  She placed the book down on the table and twisted the knob at the base of the lamp, extinguishing it. She noticed that he was laying on the side of the bed he usually took when they were sleeping together, instead of taking up all the space. Megan wondered if he was hoping she would come to him at some point in the night.

  She went to the foot of the bed and carefully took the prince’s sandals his feet. He moved as she was pulling off the second one, and his eyes fluttered open. “Shh,” she said. “Go back to sleep.”

  Instead, he sat up and looked at her. The room was dark, and her eyes had just adjusted, but she could still tell he was smiling. “What happened to the girls night?”

  “It’s still happening,” said Megan. “I just came to check on you.” She crawled up on the bed next to him. He laid back down and lifted his arm up so she could put her head on his shoulder. “It’s a good thing I did too. Honestly, how did you fall asleep with all your clothes still on?”

  “I’m shocked I fell asleep at all,” he said. “I must’ve dozed off a few minutes before you came in. Last time I checked the clock it was 2:30.”

  Megan smiled at the thought of them both checking the clock at the exact same time, down the hall from each other, both unable to sleep. “I was having trouble too,” she said. “I really came in because I missed you.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I missed you too.”

  “It’s funny, how codependent I’ve become. I never thought I would be this type of person.”

  “What type of person?”

  “The type of person who doesn’t sleep well without her man laying next to her.” She sighed. “I used to be so independent, now I never do anything without checking in with you first.”

  “But do you check in with me because you feel like you have to or because you want to?”

  Megan thought for a moment. “I guess because I want to. I feel better knowing where you are and how you’re doing.”

  “And do you feel like you can’t do things on your own?”

  “No,” she said. “I just would rather do them with you.”

  Rokkan chuckled softly. “I think you are confusing codependency with being in love.”

  Megan cuddled closer to the prince. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “I know I am.”

  “There’s that cocky attitude of yours,” said Megan. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard you sound so self assured. I like it.”

  “Good,” said Rokkan. “I like feeling this way again. I think standing up to my dad today helped me realize what kind of man I want to be. And what kind of leader.”

  “A leader who gives great speeches?” asked Megan.

  “You saw that?” said Rokkan. “I was just trying to see how other leaders did it, how they inspired their people. Since I can’t use my dad as a model anymore, I’m going to have to find someone else to look up to.”

  “Or,” said Megan. “You can look up to yourself.”

  Without looking, she could tell the prince was frowning at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Think of everything you’ve done since coming here, all the people you’ve helped.” She put her hand on his chest and gently ran her fingers across his skin. “You don’t need to follow in any one else’s footsteps. You’re smart and inspiring and capable, all on your own. You need to do what you told your dad you would, carve your own path.”

  “I said that?” he joked. “You’re right, I am smart.” He squeezed his arm around her, bringing Megan even closer to him. “I could never have done what I did today without you. You inspire me to be better. You have since the moment I met you.

  “Really, the moment you met me?” Megan scoffed. “When I was staring you down and challenging everything you said? That inspired you?”

  “Okay,” said the prince. “Maybe not the moment I met you, but you get the point. I was trying to be romantic.”

  “Yeah, well, it was pretty cheesy,” said Megan. “That’s all I’m saying.”

  “Oh I’m cheesy!” Rokkan pulled his arm out from under her and sat up. He made his voice higher and cupped his hands together in front of him. “Says the girl who told me to abandon my family traditions and runaway with her to get married.”

  Megan sat up. “First of all, I never said any of that, and secondly,” she picked up one of the pillows and swung it, hitting the prince right in the face. “That’s what I think about your impression of me.”

  Rokkan was shocked at first, but his surprised expression quickly turned into a grin as he grabbed another pillow and brought it up above his head. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”

  Megan squealed and Rokkan chased her off the bed and around the room. The pillow fight lasted only a few minutes, and soon they were kissing and making love on the floor.

  They fell asleep by the fire, on top of a pile of pillows, wrapped in each other’s arms, neither one wanting to be the first to let go.

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  I'm on the ground, again.

  I have been punched and slammed by someone far bigger and tougher than me.

  I can hear the snorts and laughter; I'm the only girl on the training squad.

  "This is why someone like you should never be allowed to fight side by side with war brothers."

  Still, I get up. Not complaining.

  This is the life I chose.

  So when a stranger challenges me to a duel two minutes later, I don't hesitate to take him up and agree to his terms that I will do something for him if I lose.

  Then it all went black.

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  Two hours later, I'm presented to both, the prince's step-cousin and the prince himself.

  "You are lucky, you have been chosen to be our new human concubine. A rare opportunity, given only to the most worthy of women."

  You've got to be kidding me?!

  This was NOT what I meant by a favor!!!

  "Have you bred before?"

  WHAT?!

  "What about sharing? Two, three men, perhaps?"

  EXCUSE ME?!

  "Tomorrow will be your first training."

  Next thing I know, I have a royal collar attached to my neck, to denote I belong to them.

  "You either walk on your feet or you will be dragged," says the prince.

  He can't be serious.

  I'm gonna kill them both.

  Captain’s Claimed Property

  Get It Here

  REASONS TO ESCAPE FROM THIS PHYCO CAPTAIN:

  He basically bought me. To protect me? No. Of that I’m sure.

  He is cold-hearted. Obviously.

  Aggressive.

  Homicidal.

  Half-dragon.

  And everything else bad there exists.

  He just decided to keep me for himself instead of selling me as a human slave.

  But I’m not the little pet he thinks I am. Do you know what I do to *people* like him?

  I f..... destroy them. I’ll wipe his existence off this ship, along with all his ugly, unruly aliens on board.

  Captain Kylen will learn not to mess with me -if he is still alive by the time I’m done with him.

  My name is Sarah Dawson, captive of the Slipstream F6... but not for long.

  Let’s Be Friends!

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  Copyright

  © Copyright 2019 by Hollie Hutchins - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.