A Price for a Princess (12 page)

The tent cities were miles apart from each other, each group choosing to stay with their own people.  We stopped an hour before dusk, between tent cities, with a few more hours to go.  I was heartened that we would soon be in Lorence and could stop for the night.  My body ached in new and unpleasant ways and I wondered how cowboys could stand it.

After cleaning up in a small stream and resting for only long enough to eat some fruit and cheese to tide us over, we returned to the road and began again.  As Lorence came into view under the setting sun, the hissing sound of blades being unsheathed was like a thousand serpents in the grass and we were suddenly surrounded.

Rysk and Tyrant barked orders to the Dire Wolves and the cat-men flexed their claws while Perseus, Odin and Finn drew swords.  Around us came tall men that looked like pirates.  Their shirts were open at the neck with billowing sleeves, their trousers were dark and their knee boots were folded over at the top.  They were rough looking, with long, scraggly beards and unkempt hair.  Our procession had stopped and drawn in closer, and the Raiders, dozens of them, had moved around us like a black tide.  Some carried torches, lighting their faces in a menacing way.

"We've come for the girl," one of them said, stepping forward towards Rysk who was at the head of our group.  "Give her to us and you can all go about your business."

My hands gripped Perseus tighter.

"We are on our way to see Prince Aedan, he is ruler of this land.  If you have want of the girl, you must speak to him about it."  Rysk said evenly.  That was a very nice way of saying 'fuck off'.

"Aedan isn't our king, we're on assignment from a higher power."  The man said with a sneer.

He lifted his hand and a red light glowed in his palm.  In an instant, the Dire Wolves dropped like stones and the Raiders attacked.  The man with the glowing palm stepped back from the fray, his palm lifted high.

"Pers!"  I yelled above the noise, holding on tight to the sword sheath on his back as he slashed at Raiders that got too close.  "We have to take out the guy with the red hand!"

"Hold on!"  He yelled back and I gripped myself tight to him and he leapt over the heads of the Raiders and barreled down on the raider with the glowing palm.  The man screeched in dismay and reached for his sword but was too slow.  Perseus' sword cut through his arm at the elbow and the Dire Wolves came back to life, snarling and snapping and joining the battle.

"Get her to safety!"  Tyrant yelled as he broke the neck of one of the Raiders.  "To the next town!"

"Ekho!"  I yelled behind us as Perseus raced forward.  As the noise of the fight faded behind us, the sound of hoof beats filled the air and my tears of worry for my husband shifted to joy as Odin and Finn, with Ekho safely on his back, joined us.  We raced on towards the city, leaving our guards to deal with the Raiders.

When we reached the gates of Lorence, I slid off Perseus' back and into Ekho's arms with a sob of relief.  "Will the others be okay?"  I asked, worried about the cat-men and my guards.

"They're trained warriors, sweetheart," Perseus said as he and the others shifted to their human forms and donned trousers and boots quickly.  We ducked into the city and down a dark, empty alley to wait for our group.

"I don't like leaving them behind."  I fussed, sitting on Ekho's lap while he sat on the ground.  He nuzzled under my ear, purring lightly and holding me close.  Perseus rubbed my back and kissed my cheek.

"Jandor is king.  He knew what coming along meant and he accepted that.  He's the one that told us to follow you to make sure you reached the city safely."  Ekho said.

"Besides, if we'd stayed close, there could have been more.  We'd have been separated, in the dark, and vulnerable.  Coming here, where they don't dare, was the best choice.  You can't be taken by the wizard, sweet."  Perseus said.

"Why don't they come into Lorence?"  I started to relax, even though I felt guilty for the others fighting on my behalf.

"Because it's where the king's private army go to retire.  The Raiders know to steer clear, period."  Ekho said.

Well, a town full of retired royal army was a pretty good place to relax.  A thought struck me and I voiced it, "How will we get home safely?"

"What?"  Perseus asked.

"When we can leave the palace, how will we get back to, well, wherever we're going to live without all these guards?"

"The prince will surely see us back safely to Cholas."  Perseus said.

"Cholas?"  I tipped my chin back and looked at Ekho.

He raised a brow.  "Of course honey kitten.  The Centaurs are a close people and they'll accept me as your husband, too.  And as far as being safe, Jandor has already said that we only need to send word to him and they'll meet us here and escort us back to Netic Springs.  They haven't seen any action in a while.  The Tigerana are proud people, well renown warriors even among the other cat-people.  They're happy to help."

With that bit of information, I settled down against him, holding Perseus' hand while they talked quietly around me.  It seemed like hours, although it probably wasn't that long, before our group returned and we met them outside the alley.  We had lost no one, and although some of the wolves and cats were injured, none seriously.  The Raiders had lost many and eventually fled into the darkness to lick their wounds.

Two retired guards opened their homes to us and we spent the night on a thick mattress with the cat-people curled up on blankets on the floor around us.  I was tucked between my two husbands, all of us exhausted from the trip, and I fell into an easy sleep.

After breakfast and a quick clean up, the cat-men left, saying that going back through the Raiders' area during daylight was perfectly safe since they were night creatures, and also they wouldn't be attacking anyone anytime soon.  After saying thanks a hundred times, we left them at the south end of the city and found Rysk and Tyrant's horses, stabled on the north end.  The horses took one look at Ekho and screeched and reared.

"I hate to tell you this," Ekho said stifling a smile at the guards' annoyed faces, "but unless a horse has been trained to accept my people they won't want to be anywhere near me."

"You could ride ahead of us, lead the way."  Perseus suggested.

Ekho agreed it was a good idea, as opposed to being behind us where the horses could see him.  They appeared to want to argue, but it was either use the horses or continue the walk, which would take much, much longer.

Odin offered to let Ekho ride him, but Perseus said he wanted him on his back with me.  Although Perseus hadn't voiced it, I was sure that he had been just as worried about Ekho's safety as I was when we fled from the fight the night before.  At this moment, he wanted the three of us as close as possible.  Perseus offered his arm to Ekho who swung up easily onto his back and settled behind me.  "Hello, honey kitten," he purred into my ear and kissed my cheek.

"Be good, you alley cat," I laughed as the fur on his cheek tickled my neck as he kissed down towards my shoulder.

"Hey, you two," Perseus chided as he kicked off, "I have a strict rule about fooling around on my back."

Ekho and I both laughed and I leaned forward and hugged him.  "Just how many times have you had to use that rule?"  I asked.

"It's new."  He looked down at me with a grin, his blue eyes dancing.

Because of Ekho's added weight, Perseus couldn't go as fast as before, but we still made good time to the next city, the last leg of our journey.  He promised he didn't mind carrying both of us and it actually made me feel closer to the two of them, sharing this together.  Instead of just me riding Perseus, Ekho was holding me tightly and joking with both of us.

When we stopped at another rustic home for the evening meal, Perseus shifted right away, anxious to get out of his shifted form and stretch.  After we ate and cleaned up in the bathroom, the owner offered us his bed, but since it was the only bed in the tiny house and they had two small children with them, I declined the offer.  Instead, we made a camp outside behind their hut, stretching out a blanket and cuddling up together.  Finn and Odin were nearby on their own bedrolls and Rysk and Tyrant settled some distance off, leaning against tall trees to sleep.  I shifted back and forth on the ground.  Although the grass was soft, the dirt underneath most certainly was not.

"Come here, honey kitten," Ekho said with a yawn, stretching out onto his back.  "Lay on me.  I'm a lot more comfortable then the ground, and I'll keep you warmer, too."

"You don't mind?"  I sat up, looking down at him.

"Of course not.  Besides, if you can't sleep then we can't sleep either, and I'm pretty damn tired."

I moved over him, stretching out on top of his tall length.  My ear pressed to his chest as I lay stomach to stomach with him, my toes against his shins.  I inhaled the heady scent of him and my bear rumbled in approval.  His arms slid around me as Perseus scooted closer on the blanket and captured one of my hands with his, pressing a kiss to the top.

After some adjustment, I thought I was comfortable enough to sleep when Ekho growled, "If you don't stop wiggling, a part of me is going to make a part of you very uncomfortable and then no one is going to get any sleep."

I peeked up at him and he was trying to look stern, but the look wavered between amused and turned on.  "Sorry, Ekho."

Perseus chuckled, "I don't believe that for a second."

I laughed quietly, sighed deeply, and settled in to rest.  Ekho began to purr as he stroked my back with his hands, and within minutes I was fast asleep.

Chapter 11

The following morning, after a meal of eggs and bread, Rysk declared we would reach the palace just at sunset.  I was thrilled.

After a shower, I picked the prettiest of the dresses we'd packed, a multi-hued purple number that gathered at one shoulder and draped nicely around my curves.  Since I wasn't walking, I put the sensible moccasins in the satchel and put on the decorative sandals that were studded on the laces with pretty stones.

The pace of the journey was more leisurely this time, and we stopped along the way to eat lunch and dinner.  The palace came into view, a huge sculpted masterpiece of stone and iron, towering over the land.  A tall, gated wall surrounded the palace, with iron spikes jutting against the sky.  Just outside of the wall was the royal city of Bowpoin.  The palace looked like a castle out of a fairy tale, with spires and flags flapping in the breeze, and guards in royal colors standing watch in towers.

The tall wooden gates swung open as we approached on foot, the Centaurs having shifted earlier so they could enter the palace in their human forms.  I walked between my husbands, holding their hands tightly in mine.  I was nervous for many reasons, the least of which was what the prince would say or do when he found me already married to two men.  If he was a nasty sort of man, he could try to take me away from them, imprison or try to kill them so he could have me.  I knew that my mind was creating a worst case scenario, but still, it was a possibility.  He was the law of the land.  If he wanted something done, it could conceivably be done. 

"You're trembling," Ekho said quietly as we walked up the white marble steps towards the open gilded doors of the palace.

"Nerves."  I said, as worry skated through me and fear lodged in my gut.  I really wished I knew what lay ahead for us.  My spine was tingling and I had the distinct feeling that danger was nearby.

We walked through a large open area where people were standing on either side of a thick dark red carpet.  They appeared to be mostly human looking, but they could be shifters.  Rysk and Tyrant proceeded through another set of gilded doors into what was a throne room.  At the end of the long red carpet was a stage bordered with thick drapes edged with gold.  In the center of the stage was a large golden throne and next to it was a smaller one that sat empty.  Odin and Finn stayed several feet behind us as we walked with Rysk and Tyrant towards the throne.  Prince Aedan was youthful and beautiful, with clear blue eyes, sunshine blonde hair cropped short, and a thin mouth.  He wore a white blouse with a red sash tied from shoulder to hip and his trousers were black as were his knee boots.  He reclined on the throne like it was an easy chair, looking bored.  I immediately didn't like him.

"Thank you, guards," Aedan said from his throne with a lazy wave.  "You did your jobs well.  Bringing the bear to me changes everything."