Royal Renegade

Chapter 14: Follow Me

Prince Leonidas

"No?" I challenge.

All evening she has been uncharacteristically insecure. I don't think I have ever seen her this apologetic and frail before. If it was simply a growth in humility then it would make things different, but she almost seems afraid.

I just want to protect her.

"It's none of your business," she frowns and the shadow of makeup above her eyelashes deepens the penetrating glare of her chestnut brown eyes.

Well, at least she's still characteristically stubborn.

"I know you want to protect people, but if you're protecting the ones hurting you it seems a bit absurd."

It's not like I said I was going to kill the person she would name. It's just likely they're Cadomian and I wouldn't mind a quality snack before my return to Rerimas.

"You don't know anything," she grumbles under her breath before reaching to grab a ladle of mashed potatoes. It plops onto her plate which she pulls close as she begins to attack it with her spoon.

I know so much about her it hurts.

I know how she always brings up something random during dinners. How she's incapable of containing her curiosities. I know she isn't afraid to ask questions others only contemplate in their thoughts.

Every dinner we attended together as kids was memorable. Conversations with her are my greatest treasure. Tonight is the first time in a decade she's acted like her past self in my presence. Reminding me of my youthful best friend, Xeli. Now, her guards are flying back up because someone is in her head and under her skin.

Sighing, I watch as me scoops other food items onto her plate. Long, green, string-like things, fruit, other meaty substances and finishing with fluffy, sponge-like delicacies topped with a cream that melts.

Watching humans eat is always so peculiar. I don't usually pay it any attention because I find the way they chew tediously annoying. However, I've not heard a human produce sounds of satisfaction the way Axelia does.

That resonant moan she made eating her steak sent the blood in my veins racing down my body with the force of a tornado, but it was the way she licked and swallowed the blood off her lips that made me hard as stone in an instant.

It took a series of focused breaths to calm myself back down.

I guess the other royalty maintain their poise better when it comes to their dining habits. I tend to be quite a vocal feeder myself, so I kind of respect her for it.

"If the guilty person were to go missing tonight--" I try to joke.

"You don't even know who it is," she murmurs between bites.

"It's someone close to you. In the way that they are around you often which means they probably dwell in your castle," I begin to unravel the mystery. Spending time with Elytis does me good. "That means they're someone important and since you compared yourself to the other Princesses--"

"Stop," she cuts me off with anger steaming through her tone. "Stop acting like you know me. You don't."

"I know you got your feelings hurt and I know you want to protect the person who did it."

"My feelings aren't hurt," she denies, meeting my gaze with cold eyes. "There isn't any one person I'm protecting. I have an entire Kingdom same as you."

Although I don't want to have to bring them up while we're here, I can't help but acknowledge an elephant in the room to end our banter.

"Then tell me who's responsible for the scars on your back."