Chapter Three — Possessive Princes
1133 Words
Elara quickly discovered that having five mates came with complications.
Especially when all five were princes.
Especially when all five were completely obsessed with her.
The council meeting lasted until sunrise.
No one reached a conclusion.
The oldest records confirmed that the five bloodlines had been named in the prophecy, but none of the surviving texts mentioned five mates. The royal archivists searched through sealed scrolls, forbidden grimoires, and even the private journals of dead queens.
Every answer created another question.
Why had the princes arrived on Elara's birthday?
Why had the mark appeared only after Caelan touched her?
What had awakened beneath the castle?
And why had the five princes known, in some way, that she belonged to them?
By the time the meeting ended, Elara had a headache and five guards assigned to her.
The guards were not ordinary soldiers.
They were the five princes.
Kael followed her everywhere.
Training grounds?
Kael was there.
Library?
Kael was there.
Garden?
Kael was there.
Breakfast?
Kael was sitting beside her.
When Elara entered the eastern courtyard the next morning, she found Kael standing near the fountain, watching her approach.
He had changed out of his formal clothes and wore a fitted training shirt beneath a leather vest. His silver eyes followed every movement she made.
Elara stopped several feet away.
"Do you ever leave?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you're mine."
She stared at him.
"I'm capable of walking without supervision."
"I know."
"Then why are you following me?"
Kael shrugged.
"Because I like looking at you."
Elara tried not to smile.
She failed.
Kael noticed.
His expression softened, and for one brief moment, the dangerous prince disappeared. He looked younger then. Less like an heir trained to command armies and more like a man who had just discovered something precious and did not know what to do with it.
"You smile when you're annoyed," he said.
"I smile when I want someone to stop talking."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Neither does following me into the garden."
"I told you why."
"You like looking at me."
"Yes."
"You're very honest."
"I don't know how to be anything else with you."
The words caught her off guard.
Before she could answer, a low growl came from his chest.
Kael's eyes shifted toward the hedge.
Elara turned.
A young nobleman stood on the other side of the garden, pretending to examine a rosebush. He had been watching her.
Kael took one step forward.
The nobleman immediately lowered his gaze and hurried away.
Elara looked back at Kael.
"Was that necessary?"
"He was staring."
"So are you."
"I'm allowed."
"Why?"
"Because I'm your mate."
She folded her arms.
"That excuse is going to become unbearable."
Kael's mouth curved.
"You'll get used to it."
Lucien was worse.
He spoiled her shamelessly.
Jewelry appeared in her chambers every morning.
Rare books.
Ancient weapons.
Enchanted gowns.
Vampire artifacts that had supposedly been lost for centuries.
The first gift arrived before breakfast.
A servant carried in a long black box lined with red velvet. Inside lay a necklace made from dark diamonds, each stone glowing faintly from within.
Elara touched the clasp.
"What is this?"
"An heirloom," Lucien said from the doorway.
She looked over her shoulder.
"Whose?"
"Mine."
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"Because it looks better on you."
"Lucien."
He crossed the room and lifted the necklace from the box.
"May I?"
Elara hesitated.
He waited.
That small act surprised her more than the necklace.
When she nodded, Lucien stepped behind her. His fingers brushed the back of her neck as he fastened the clasp. His touch was cool, but the bond between them warmed beneath her skin.
His breath moved against her hair.
"Beautiful," he murmured.
"The necklace?"
"You."
Elara looked at him through the mirror.
"Do you practice these lines?"
"No."
"That makes it worse."
One morning, Elara found an entire carriage filled with black roses.
She turned toward Lucien.
"What's this?"
"A gift."
"How many roses?"
"Three thousand."
"Why?"
"Because three hundred wasn't enough."
"Three thousand roses are not a reasonable birthday gift."
"It isn't your birthday."
"Then why are there three thousand roses in my carriage?"
"I wanted to see whether you would smile."
She tried to remain stern.
Lucien watched her carefully.
Elara sighed.
"You're impossible."
"Did you smile?"
"That is not the point."
"It is to me."
Damien preferred extravagant gifts.
He gave her an entire enchanted island.
Elara stared at him.
"You bought me an island?"
"I conquered it."
"Damien."
"Would you prefer two?"
The island appeared on a map spread across the dining table. It was located beyond the western sea, surrounded by storms that no ordinary ship could cross. According to Damien, the island contained black-sand beaches, a ruined palace, and a forest filled with trees that bloomed only beneath moonlight.
Elara looked from the map to him.
"I don't want an island."
Damien leaned back in his chair.
"Everyone wants an island."
"I don't."
"Then what do you want?"
The question was unexpectedly sincere.
Elara opened her mouth, then closed it.
No one had asked her that in a long time.
Not what she needed as a princess.
Not what would strengthen the kingdom.
What she wanted.
"I want one day without someone trying to give me something."
Damien considered this.
"That can be arranged."
She relaxed.
"Thank you."
"I'll give you the day."
Elara narrowed her eyes.
"And the next day?"
"The island."
Elias gave her magical gifts.
Protection charms.
Spellbooks.
Amulets.
Ancient grimoires.
But his favorite gift was a tiny silver bracelet.
Elara touched it.
"What does it do?"
"Nothing."
She smiled.
"Then why give it to me?"
"Because I wanted you to have something from me that wasn't designed to protect you."
The bracelet was simple, made from a thin band of silver with no jewels or markings. It looked almost ordinary among the treasures the others had given her.
Elara turned it over in her fingers.
"Where did you get it?"
"I made it."
"You made jewelry?"
"I can make many things."
"Can you cook?"
"No."
"Then the bracelet is more impressive."
Elias laughed quietly.
The sound was rare enough that Elara found herself wanting to hear it again.
Caelan was different.
He brought her treasures from beneath the ocean.
Pearls that sang.
Crystals that glowed.
Ancient seashells containing memories of forgotten civilizations.
He placed each gift in a bowl of seawater so it would not lose its magic.
One shell showed Elara a city beneath the waves, its towers made from coral and glass. Another contained the sound of a whale song so deep that she felt it in her bones.
But all five had one thing in common.
They hated anyone who threatened her.
And unfortunately, their exes were very much alive.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD