Command My Heart ~ Book 2 - The Royal Blood Collection

Chapter 20

I don't know why I woke; maybe my mind thought that Otanawa was stirring. I'd left the lid open a crack so that I could hear her; it was shut. It wasn't the only thing that was wrong with my sleeping arrangements. I wasn't alone.

Snuggled into my body was a pretty princess, the woman who gravitated towards me but looked at me like I was nothing but the dirt between her toes. Well, that might have been a little melodramatic. I didn't think I'd find Nisha in such a position after what we'd said to each other earlier.

Shifting Nisha off my body, I moved onto my side.

"Nisha," I whispered.

She grumbled, trying to move back into my body. I wasn't a fool, she was trying to deflect, and I wasn't going to take it.

"What are you doing in here?"

I jiggled her shoulder until she protested.

"What?" Nisha groaned.

"Why are you in my coffin?"

"I came to talk, and you told me to shut up and get in."

"So, you're now doing as I suggest? Because I have a few suggestions and I promise that they've got nothing to do with what's in my pants."

"You're so hilarious."

"I try my best. Now, are you going to get naked and into my pants or are you going back to your own coffin?"

Nisha huffed with amusement, lifting the lid. I thought she was leaving, but the wedge was put back into place. Muted light filtered into our dark love nest that was clearly loveless. Through the crack, I could see Otanawa asleep in her crib. Emmeline said that they were not affected by the light, so she was safe to be exposed. As for the two little vampires in the coffin, we were positioned so the lid opened facing away from the light, giving us a fraction of safety.

"I watched you tonight," She said softly. "I've watched Emme and Alaric. You all make it seem so effortless. I try it, and it's a complete disaster. I don't want to ruin her life because of some stupid need to have something I shouldn't."

I pressed my finger against her lips, seeing the pain in her eyes as she looked up at me.

"Do you really think I'd let you do that? Besides, you're so damned stubborn I think you'd refuse to fail. Let the fear go and tell me what you really want."

Nisha shrugged, frustrating but understandable. She's never been here, never thought she would be. I get it; she's been robbed of what could have been an easy-going life as a princess. Even if she'd maintained a low profile as a nobody, it would have been a vastly different life.

Instead, she's spent her entire life training to be Alaric's personal protection. No one in this place had said anything like that, but I could read between the lines. Princesses were not trained fighting machines. At least in other provinces they weren't.

They were not taught weapons or how to bring down a dozen men. Nisha has been trained with the future in mind, but it was Alaric's future. She was standing on the sidelines, watching everything, keeping him safe. It was her job to help him get their family back into power, and that has happened. Alaric is the king, and he has guards to protect him now.

That leaves Nisha back on the sidelines again, wondering what to do with her life. The woman in front of me has no idea how to behave like a princess; she doesn't have the proper training. She's wandering around this place with very little to do, aside from greeting the tourists. She's lost because her entire life has been about watching out for Alaric and now, she doesn't have to do that. Going north to set up the base was nothing, not really. Maybe she wanted to escape, maybe she wanted freedom, but the job could have been done by anyone.