by C. M. Cevis
She leaned back against the wall and sat the glass down on the table beside her just long enough light up a cigarette. She’d only come out because it had been a pissy day, and going home to dwell on it seemed like a bad idea. She didn’t really have any interest in being picked up or anything, though she wasn’t going to say no to a free drink, or ten.
“Hey, pretty lady, how are you doing this fine night?” She heard a deep voice say. She smirked and spun around to politely decline the attention, but stopped. He was huge. And not careful; she could see the royal guard tattoo peeking from his collar as he leaned against the wall and tried to look like he was just a normal clubber. Instead of answering, she threw the drink in his face and took off in the opposite direction.
Running in a crowded club is an art form, and the man — scratch that, men — following her were too big to be able to get through without bowling people over left and right, which also slowed them down. Sen, though, slipped through easily, having to duck and squeeze a bit but making way better time than her pursuers.
She tore ass out of the back door of the club, the door crashing back on the hinges as she came to a grinding halt. There had to be ten guys out there waiting for her, and a car blocking the exit from the alley. She laughed softly and sighed; it had been her fault. She never should have come this way, she knew this alley was one way in or out. She’d trapped herself.
“Shit,” she hissed, taking a puff of the cigarette and flicking the ash as the others finally came out behind her. No, she hadn’t lost her cigarette. Priorities, ladies.
“Lady Sen, we are here under the authority of your father to apprehend you,” one of the suits said. Sen smirked.
“Would this apprehension involve handcuffs?” she asked.
“Yes, Lady Sen,” the suit responded. Sen exhaled the last puff of the cigarette she’d had to rush through and flicked the butt across the alley with a sigh.
“That’s what I thought. Let’s get it over with then,” she said, glancing up at the men before her with a wicked grin.
When they were asked about it later, they all said the same thing: That her eyes glowed like they were on fire as they moved towards her. Her hands burst into flames at her sides, the fire licking its way up her arms and incinerating the sleeves of her jacket, and before any of them had a chance to yell a warning, there was a bright flash…
*~~*
ONAN SAT BACK IN THE fancy chair he was handcuffed to. No point in struggling, he couldn’t get loose. Hell, the only reason he was in that situation was that he’d gone to his sister’s for dinner straight from work and just had to shower. Otherwise, they might have trashed the place, but he wouldn’t have gotten captured. Both Sen and Seth had taken the time to make sure that he knew how to defend himself or haul ass, whichever one was needed at the time. His father paced on the other side of the room, talking with the overgrown douchebag that’d locked him to the chair. He couldn’t hear them, but his father looked a bit peeved. Onan smirked. Served him right. Geez, he hadn’t been in that damned house in years… But he remembered the last time vividly.
That had been the day that the nation of Artifice finally found out what had been going on in the big house on the hill. None of the kids said anything to the press, but they’d been spotted without their father at the hospital, and there were clear photos of Sen’s most obvious injuries. Speculation turned a few photos into a raging inferno that their father couldn’t seem to calm.
Their father had tried to redirect the attention by announcing that Sen had chosen to marry, but she hadn’t, and it didn’t work anyway. Instead, the next night, Sen, Seth and Onan ran away. It had taken the Royal Guard years to find them, because they had been careful.
“Get the hell off of me! Onan!”
O smirked. He knew Sen would come for him, even though he wished she hadn’t. They’d taken him to get to her and her brother.
“In here, sis,” Onan yelled back. She’d lose her temper and kill everyone if she didn’t find him soon, from the tone of her voice. He loved his sister so much. The door flew open so hard that O was kind of shocked it didn’t fly off the hinges.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, shaking off a guard. Another reached for her shoulder, but apparently the look she shot him made him reconsider.
“Nah, I’m fine,” Onan said.
“What? What in the holy living hell do you want, old man? I’m here, are you happy?” she said, her eyes locked on their father as she walked over to stand beside O’s chair.
“Almost. Where is your brother?” their father said. Sen narrowed her eyes.
“Tell me what you want, or I will burn this bitch down,” she hissed. If they hadn’t found Seth, she damn sure wasn’t going to tell them where he was.
“That language is very unbecoming of a noble lady of your stature,” her father said, doing his best to ignore the obvious venom in her voice.
“Bitch fuckity fuck, how about that? We left this hell hole years ago so you could wallow in your misery alone, why are you bothering us?” she asked. Onan snickered at the beginning of that.
“I’ve arranged a marriage for you,” their father said with a wide grin.
“Haven’t we been down this road before?” Onan asked. His father shot him a look that he promptly ignored.
“The man is Sir Ethan. He’s the only son of the King of Irencia,” their father continued. Sen shrugged.
“Why do I care?” she asked.
“Am I the topic of conversation already?” an amused voice said from the hallway. Sen and Onan both turned as the speaker came into the room.
He was taller than their father, which put him at about 6 foot 2, give or take. He fit into the rather casual button down and slacks pretty well, the cut showing off exactly what he had. He wasn’t skinny, but he wasn’t too big either. Kind of like a running back or a swimmer who lifted a bit in his free time. There was obviously some muscle under those all that fabric. His hair was the complete and total opposite of Sen’s: a light blond that seemed to reflect the sunlight as it shone on his sun-kissed skin. His skin tone wasn’t quite as rosy-caramel as Sen and Seth’s, though it was close. Their extra dose of red was because of the Fae. Fae coloring was always a bit more pronounced.
“Ah, Sir Ethan, perfect timing,” their father said, ready to grandstand his way across the room.
“Shut up, old man. You. What the hell is all this?” Sen said, nodding at the apparent Ethan. He stopped, obviously a bit taken aback, but he recovered quickly.
“I’d heard that the King of Artifice didn’t have the best relationship with his children, but I had no idea that… Wait, is he handcuffed?” Ethan asked, glancing behind Sen to where Onan sat.
“Yes, because otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Focus, Sir whatever-your-name-is…” she said, crossing her arms.
“Ethan,” he said. Sen nodded.
“Right, Ethan. What is this about? Why in the world would you agree to marry someone you’ve never even spoken to before?” she asked. Ethan’s smile faltered just a bit at the edges, but she’d seen it. He seemed to hesitate.
“You are not like the other Ladies I’ve met. Something tells me not telling you the truth would not be a good idea,” he said. Sen smiled and Ethan had to stop himself from taking a step back. He’d never had a woman intimidate him, but the smile she’d just given him was a bit terrifying.
“It would not be a good idea at all, Sir Ethan,” she said, her voice low. Ethan cleared the fear from his throat and nodded.
“Right. Long story short, your father visited Irencia a few weeks ago and disrespected just about everything that our nation stands for during his visit. My father demanded his daughter’s hand in marriage for me, in return for not reducing Artifice to a large gaping hole,” he said. Sen snorted a laugh.
“I think I like your dad,” she said softly. Ethan continued with a grin.
“I am apparently not someone that most Ladies want to marry after meeting me. I have a temper, I am inclined t
o always want things my way, I have several girlfriends back home and a few sprinkled throughout other nations, and I have a tendency to act without thinking, which gets me in the papers more than my father cares for. I am incredibly good looking, but not the catch he’d hoped I’d be. This was his way of cementing your father’s cooperation, appeasing the people and getting me married off at the same time,” he said. Sen nodded.
“Got it. The problem is that I am not interested in an arranged marriage to some arrogant jerk son of some dude far away,” she said. Ethan was rather amused by her lack of concern for his feelings, he’d admit that.
“I have also been told to inform you that, should you not be willing to marry me, your father will be killed as recompense for his visit,” he said. Onan laughed and Sen shrugged.
“I don’t care, kill the little shit, the world will be better without him,” she said, which seemed to outrage the old man.
“You’re going to have to threaten something she actually cares about, Ethan,” Onan said softly.
“Then, your brother?” he said. Her hand was around his throat before he’d even registered that she’d moved, her skin burning against his, though he had no idea how or why.
“Touch him, and I will make you wish you could die long before I give you the pleasure of actually doing so.”
Ethan couldn’t breathe. How much strength did this girl have? She didn’t look like she should be able to do this, and yet…
“Let him go Sen, this isn’t his fault.” Sen immediately released Ethan and turned to the door as the speaker came into the room. Ethan stopped. Holy hell, he knew they were twins, but he’d never seen a different sex set of twins who looked as alike as they did.
“I assume that you are Prince Seth?” Ethan said, his hand nervously running around his neck, where Sen’s hand had just been.
“That I am. You should be glad that I arrived when I did, Sir Ethan,” he said, moving to stand beside his sister.
“Why is that?” Ethan asked.
“We have spent our entire lives protecting our little brother from having to pay for the mistakes of our idiotic father. Threatening his safety is the surest way to forfeit your existence,” Seth said, his face completely calm.
“My lady,” Ethan said, turning to face Sen. “Are you saying that you would actually have killed me?” Ethan asked, eyeing her carefully. He’d seen combat, so his life had been in danger before, but never like this.
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation.
“Understand, she let you go because I asked her to, not because she wanted to. Had I been a few seconds later, you’d have been at least severely injured, if not already dead,” Seth said, taking a step toward Ethan. His face was fixed in a calm smile, but there in his eyes was a darkness so deep that Ethan could see no end to it.
“What in the world has your father done to you all?” Ethan whispered. He didn’t really think about the fact that his thoughts were escaping through his lips, as it wasn’t intentional.
“More than you want to know, Sir Ethan,” Seth said. Then he turned his attention to his father. “What do you want, old man?”
“That’s funny, Sen said almost the same thing. But... louder and more violently,” Onan said. Sen turned to her younger brother and smiled. Ethan was almost dumbstruck with how it transformed her face. She was stunning when she was angry and trying to kill him, but her smile was heart stopping.
“Someone release my brother,” Sen said, turning to look at the guards. All of them glanced at the King, afraid to move since either choice would probably result in something unpleasant. Ethan walked over to the guard who looked to be the highest ranking and held out his hand.
“Give me the key to Prince Onan’s handcuffs,” he said. The guard opened his mouth, stuttering his response.
“But, His Majesty said…”
Ethan took a step closer, almost nose to nose with the man as he interrupted him.
“Do you really want to cross me so early in this meeting? The man who is to marry your Princess one day?” he said. The guard’s eyes faltered and he slipped his hand in a pocket, handing the keys to Ethan with slightly trembling hands.
“The key, Sir,” the guard said softly. Ethan nodded his thanks, and then turned and walked around to the rear of Onan’s chair. The key slipped into each of the cuffs in turn until he was free to stand.
“Thanks,” Onan said, standing to be about as tall as Ethan was. Ethan gave him a friendly smile and nodded.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied. Onan turned and went to stand with his siblings as the King finally decided to interject himself into the conversation again. Ethan had almost forgotten that he was there.
“As amusing as this little exchange has been, none of you will make it out of here alive should you choose not to marry, my darling Sen,” he said, a smug grin on his face. Sen snorted a laugh.
“I seriously doubt that is the case. And, even if it were, I can guarantee we’re taking damn near this entire castle down with us,” Sen said.
“Why in the world is this so important to you, sperm donor? You haven’t seen us in over ten years, why bother us now?” Seth asked, his voice calmer than Sen’s, but just as much violence under the surface of the tone.
“You heard Sir Ethan’s explanation,” the King said.
“So? Irencia isn’t the first kingdom that you’ve thoroughly pissed off,” Seth said. Ethan turned to the King, surprised.
“Do you piss off nations for fun, your Majesty?” he asked. The King shot him an annoyed look.
“This is different,” the King said, ignoring Ethan.
“Because this time, you know that Ethan’s father will follow through on killing you,” Sen said with a sly smile.
“Sir Ethan, will your father actually kill the old man?” Seth asked.
“Yes, without hesitation. However, because of how upset he is at your father, he will probably also reduce Artifice to a pile of rubble,” Ethan said, which was one hundred percent truthful. His father was absolutely livid, and had only been hesitating because Ethan was there.
“Well shit,” Sen said, frowning and sighing deeply.
“If I may, Lady Sen?” Ethan asked, holding his hand out to her. She looked down at his hand, then back up at him with complete distrust in her eyes as Onan and Seth waited for her to make a decision, neither of them saying anything.
“What?” she said softly.
“I’d simply like to speak to you, alone,” he said, inclining his head towards her father. Sen’s face changed as she got it. Onan and Seth weren’t the issue; he wanted to speak to her without her father around.
“Out on the balcony,” she said, taking his hand. Her skin was a bit warmer than most women’s hands, but it was nice and comforting to Ethan, not something that he thought of as overly odd. Instead, he followed her instructions and walked her out onto the balcony. As her father turned to follow, she closed the large glass double doors in his face.
“The doors are soundproof, he can’t hear you out here,” she said. Ethan nodded.
“Good. First, please allow me to say that your strained relationship with your father is widely known, although I don’t think that is quite adequate in explaining exactly how strained it is,” Ethan said.
“Nothing really is,” Sen said softly. He caught of glimpse of that vulnerable part of her that felt sadness about their father, but as quickly as it had emerged, it was gone again.
“Second, I realize that this situation isn’t really ideal for either of us, but believe me when I say that my father will kill this entire kingdom if I return without some sort of appeasement,” Ethan said. Sen frowned and sighed again.
“Look, I was raised with the knowledge of being a princess, then eventually a queen beside some king far away. It wasn’t something that I ever really wanted to do, but no one cared enough to ask me about it. Even though I don’t want to be in charge, I don’t want all of these people to die because of my stubborn streak either,
” she said, turning and looking out over the view of the city. Ethan waited a moment, then stepped up beside her.
“There is no reason that we can’t make this as pleasant as possible,” Ethan said.
“Meaning?” Sen asked softly.
“Meaning, I understand that at this moment we are not in love. We don’t know anything about each other, except what has happened in the last few minutes, which isn’t much. But there is no reason that we can’t at least get along and be friends. I am not asking you to be monogamous, I’m not even asking you to date me, should you not desire it,” Ethan said. Sen turned and looked at him.
“What?” Sen said.
“I’ll be honest, as a man and nothing else, I found you achingly beautiful. The fact that you are so strong and willing to fight for what you are loyal to only makes you more attractive to me. Those are things that I look for in the people that I allow in my life. I would love to wine and dine you, impress you enough for you to allow me to take you to bed with me occasionally. But, as of right now, that doesn’t look like something that you’d allow to happen,” Ethan said.
“No, it isn’t,” she said, slamming the words down like a giant metal door between them.
“I have no problem with you dating others, sleeping with others and the like, as long as you don’t have a problem with me doing the same,” he said.
“And in return?” she asked.
“In return, we play nice for the press and for my parents, and we save the lives of everyone here,” Ethan said. Sen turned back towards the city and sighed, crossing her arms.
“I despise that man for forcing me to fix issues born of his own arrogance,” she said, more to herself than to Ethan.
