A Royal Rebellion
A Royal Rebellion
Bred For Love Book Three
By
Revella Hawthorne
Bred For Love
Book Three
A Royal Rebellion
Copyright © 2015 SJ Himes
Writing as Revella Hawthorne
All rights reserved.
Edited by Amanda Coolong
Cover art by
Book Cover By Design
http://www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk/index.html
All artwork, series emblems and designs by
Kellie Dennis of Book Cover By Design
Property of SJ Himes
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you are reading a pirated version or a copy of this e-book that you did not purchase yourself, or was not gifted/loaned to you through allowable and legal means, please keep in mind that you have effectively stolen this e-book. That means you have taken money directly from the author, making it harder for the author to continue to write.
Please purchase your own copy, and remember to review.
Dedication
I want to dedicate this book to the fans of the series. Honestly, all of you keep me going. A huge thank you to the members of the Mpreg Book Rec group on Facebook. The support and interest you have all shown in the series is what helps keep me going.
I almost didn’t finish this book on time. Severe health issues, living arrangement problems, and then moving 1400 miles away from hearth and home to start over put me so far behind that it is a miracle this book is done.
A clean slate is what I needed, and hopefully the stories in my head will benefit the most.
Thank you to Andrea. For everything. Literally, everything.
To Kellie, for the artwork--you leave me breathless with your talent.
Amanda C., for your patience and time.
To friends and family, for believing in me–
Thank you.
Prologue
***
At the end of all things…
***
Screams ripped apart the expectant silence.
The men waiting outside in the narrow hall all jumped, and the oldest of them gripped the youngest man’s shoulder, holding him up just as much as imparting comfort. There was no power, their battle fought earlier having knocked everything down but what the generator was running in the make-shift operating room. They were too tired to pace, too drained emotionally and mentally to do more than flinch every time the precious life in the next room cried out in pain.
“Please, let them live,” whispered the youngest, eyes drawn tight, sweat dripping down his face to blend with his tears of frustration and fear. The silver at his temples belied his age, and the lines long his eyes were deepened by grief. “Please, by the grace of the Saints and the Blood of Our Line, let them live….”
A wail, thin and hopeless. The second man swore viciously and spun, punching the wall, the sound of something breaking filling the empty quiet that fell just as suddenly. The oldest barely reacted, swallowing, the youngest grew taut as cable, and vibrated in horrific tension. Two of the three people he loved most in this world were in there now, fighting to bring a fourth into the world.
The door behind them creaked open, a bare sliver of light spilling into the darkness where they waited. The youngest spun, tottering as he almost fell over, and he anxiously approached the light, hoping even as he despaired. The oldest, gray-haired and used to death, watched impassively, accepting of whatever outcome. The second man gripped the youngest’s shoulder, keeping him upright.
“Are they…” he swallowed, and tried again, asking the form standing in the doorway, the light haloed behind the figure making features impossible to discern.
“Edward, is Percy…Is Percy alive? The baby?”
Chapter One
***
All new things begin with hope.
***
Percy
“Hold on!” Reynard shouted, taking the corner too fast, the left side wheels coming up off the ground. Tires squealed, and Edward pulled Percy closer to his side. The sleek car roared forward, the city streets not as narrow the further they got from Mason’s neighborhood.
The deception must have been discovered. Barely thirty minutes had passed since they left Mason’s townhouse. The two black cars behind them were as expensive as the one they were in, and were so close on their tail Percy feared they were about to be rear-ended. Percy squeezed his eyes shut and clung to Edward. The speed, the sharp turns, the blaring of horns from other vehicles all left Percy screaming in terror.
A hard thump almost sent Percy to the floor. Edward shouted at Reynard, holding Percy tightly to his chest, and another harsh acceleration pressed them to the seat.
“Saint’s blood, Reynard, if the guards don’t kill us first, this chase will! End it!”
“I’m trying not to kill the guards!” Reynard shouted back, sending them around another corner.
“It’s obvious they don’t care about whether or not they kill us or anyone else on the streets! End this now, and get us out of here!”
“Yes, my prince!” The car shot forward again, but then Reynard did something, and Percy moaned, desperately trying not to get sick, as they spun. Percy felt the car stop, and Reynard got out. There was a tremendous bang and thump off to the right, followed by a loud cacophony of gunshots. Shouts, screams, orders to halt, followed by some more shots.
Silence.
Percy opened his eyes. It was quiet, the engine purring. The city street was empty, pristine in front of them, and Percy lifted his head, trying to spot Reynard.
Edward grabbed his head, and pressed his face to his hard chest. “Don’t look, Percy. Keep your head down.”
“Is he...is Reynard…?”
“I’m fine, Perseus,” Reynard said, getting back in the car and shutting the door. The scent of ozone and something metallic filled the car, and Reynard buckled his belt.
Reynard drove, fast but not as fast as before. Edward let his head up, and Percy leaned on the front seat, worried, but Reynard looked fine. The captain gave him a smile, and jerked his chin, and Percy sat back.
There was no way he was asking what happened to the guards pursuing them. He could guess, and he had no wish to be sick in the car thinking about it.
Edward gathered him close again, and Percy snuggled on his lap. Percy put a hand on Edward’s leg, and he frowned, pulling it back up.
He had blood on his hand. Edward was bleeding.
***
Percy
A flutter. A simple, tiny, hesitant movement, but it was enough for Percy to catch his breath, and hold very still, hoping to feel it again. His hand smoothed down his borrowed cotton shift, the swell of his abdomen still so new to him. He waited, hoping, but his child fell back into slumber and grew quiet.
“Perseus! I need those bandages!” Reynard shouted from the other room, and Percy jumped, remembering why he was in the bathroom to begin with. He grabbed the stack of white bandages from under the sink, and ran back to the front of the cottage.
Edward was naked from the waist down, a small pillow over his groin for Reynard’s sake, since the former captain was kneeling at the blood prince’s feet where he sat on an old couch. Edward’s thigh was bleeding, his sutures from the gunshot injury and the resultant surgery ripped in several places. Blood ran down the thick column of his thigh onto the couch, and Percy nearly tripped over his own feet at the sight. Luckily he was close enough to Reynard all the captain needed to do was reach out and take the bandages from his hand.
“Little one, please breathe,” Percy shook his head at his master’s voice, and gave him a sheepish smile. Edward was watching him, dark eyes glittering. “Come sit with me.”
Percy took Edward’s outstretched hand, settling beside him on the couch as Reynard wiped blood from the incisions. Fresh blood welled up to take its place, and Percy turned away, burying his head in Edward’s firm shoulder. A hand came to rest in his hair, and tousled the long strands. He kept meaning to ask for some shears so he could cut his hair, but Edward’s delight in the length stayed him every time.
Edward’s shoulder was warm under his cheek, and Percy melted into his strength. Edward was speaking to Reynard while the other man went about repairing the damage Edward had done to his leg during his escape.
“Do you think Mason made it out alright?” Edward was asking, referring to the older blood prince’s assistance in Edward’s escape.
Percy lost track of the long hours since Edward boldly walked out of the hospital, dressed as Mason, fooling everyone in the royal guard, the press, and the public. Where the public believed him to be under protection of the guards for a botched assassination attempt, he’d actually been under arrest for going against his father’s commands and refusing to surrender Percy. It was the brothers’ remarkable similarities to each other that let Edward get away from the hospital and the guards…but it meant Mason had to stay in his place, and Percy was worried for the older blood prince.
The deception didn’t last long, but it held long enough for them to get out of the city. The car chase was the last they saw of the guards, and Reynard had taken them through hours’ worth of side streets and country roads until they made it to the royal highway. A few hours on the highway, and they stopped to tend to Edward’s leg when the bleeding failed to stop.
“Your brother has made it out of worse binds than the one he’s in now,” Reynard answered, and Percy peeked to watch as Reynard put neat, tiny stitches in place along the worst of the torn areas in Edward’s leg. Reynard was fast and efficient, and the flesh was swiftly returned to a semblance of order.
“He saved you. He helped us, and he didn’t have to,” Percy whispered, nibbling on his lip. He had quickly grown fond of the irreverent and mercurial middle son of King Henry the Third. When they first met, Mason alternated between frightening Percy with his too intense regard and teasing his master, but his warm welcome and stalwart support during their ill-fated return to the capital was the only reason the three of them were all alive and together. Percy was terrified that Prince Mason was paying dearly for helping them escape.
A thumb freed his lip from his teeth, and Percy kissed Edward’s digit as his head was tilted up, to see Edward’s dark, shiny eyes gazing at him with affection.
“I’m worried, too,” Edward confessed, sighing, shifting on the couch in discomfort. Whether emotional, physical, or both, Percy wasn’t sure. “Mason has always held himself apart, even when we were children. He showed us all only what he wanted us to see. Sarcastic, witty, occasionally cruel. But never outright dishonest, and he never shies from harsh truths. Out of all seven of my siblings, I have always been fondest of him.”
“He loves you,” Percy said, certain of this fact. He may have doubted Prince Mason in the beginning, wary of his actions and intent, but when Edward was arrested and Percy and Reynard came to Mason for help, the middle prince was unerring in his determination to see Edward and Percy reunited. When Reynard proposed the plan to have Mason substitute himself for Edward, the blood prince hadn’t even hesitated.
Reynard wrapped Edward’s leg, cushioning the new sutures and securing the thick bandages around Edward’s thigh. The padding was thicker, and would hopefully ease some of his lover’s pain.