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One
Atlas
From the moment I first laid eyes on Ilaria Shaye Kitarni, I knew she was going to bring me nothing but trouble. In a moment of sheer dumb luck, she fouled up months' worth of work. She stabbed my brother, sank my ship, and ensured our journey through Bava was taxing. Not to mention we had Soul Eaters nipping at our heels, which resulted in having to rescue her from the Necropolis in the Lava Underground. And now, she's giving my uncle shit. I should be ecstatic she might talk her way onto a ship and sail home to Midori, so why am I afraid I'll never see her again?
When Eris and I were tucked in the servants' alcove in the Golden Palace, I was so consumed with figuring out where Bastian had disappeared to that I hadn't noticed anyone eavesdropping. It wasn't until I heard Nyx grunt that I slithered around the corner to see a dagger plunged into his chest. Even though I've seen Nyx stabbed more times than I can count, it never gets easier watching him agonize in pain. He used to ask me or Finn to pull whatever weapon had been wielded against him out of his body – daggers, spearheads, arrows, you name it – Nyx has probably had it protruding from his flesh at one point or another. But these days, he's so used to handling his own injuries that once his Midorian attacker stabbed him, he grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it out of his chest. Blood oozed down his leathers, but as always, the wound slowly stitched back together.
I knew my little brother would be fine, so I turned my attention to his assailant. Without thinking, I snatched a golden candlestick and hit her against the back of her head. She dropped to the floor, and as I approached her, her eyes fluttered closed. Crouching down, I put my fingers to her neck to make sure she was still breathing but once I realized who I was staring at, I knew for sure our mission had been compromised. Months of reconnaissance; weeks of hiding in Midori, avoiding detection by soldiers, counting down the days before we could fulfill the orders my uncle had given us and return home, were all for nothing, because crumpled at my feet was Princess Ilaria Shaye Kitarni, heir to the Golden Throne and the Beast of Midori's fiancé.
She'd seen too much, heard too much, and I made the split-second decision to kidnap her. We might have failed in assassinating Bastian, but we could use her as a bargaining chip to lure him out. A trade could be made, a life for a life; to get the princess back to Midorian shores, Bastian would have to give himself up. It might be a longshot and could start a war with our longstanding enemies, but if we left her to inform her parents and her menace of fiancé what she witnessed and overheard, there would be war regardless. Better to have something to hold over them, to keep them in check, and to be the one wielding the heavier sword than to be the ones who were groveling for their mercy.
Eris checked the back of the princess' head to make sure there wasn't any blood. I could tell she'd grown fond of the Midorian, even if she didn't openly admit to it. I knew the second Eris took on the role of her lady-in-waiting that she would form a bond with the future queen. The Hydran can't go anywhere without making friends with someone. I hoped her charisma and charm would help us once the Midorian woke up on our ship, because we were going to need all the help we could get.
Realizing time was of the essence, I slipped my arms underneath the princess' neck and knees and hoisted her up against my chest.
"You didn't have to hit her so hard." Eris popped up from the floor, fury blazing in her eyes.
"I didn't mean to," was all I said, and I meant it. I didn't mean to knock her unconscious. I only intended to stop her from escaping and alerting the guards a few levels below us of our presence. Being captured and left to the benevolence of the Midorians wasn't on my list of things to do.
"Her room is this way." Eris started walking down the hall but stopped and turned around when I said, "I'm not taking her to her room. She's coming with us."
"What?" she hissed. "Atlas, we can't take her! Kidnapping her would be a declaration of war."
"And if we leave her here to tell them about the Tronovians who plotted to assassinate her fiancé, they'd declare war on us."
"You don't know if she realized Tronovians -"
"She got a good look at Nyx. There's no mistaking him for anyone other than a Tronovian. We're fucked either way, Eris." I glanced over my shoulder at Nyx. He was no longer bleeding and seemed to be in good spirits twirling the gold-hilted dagger that had been lodged in his chest minutes ago. "Nyx, what do you think?"
My brother reluctantly looked up at me, clearly more interested in the blade than what Eris and I were debating. "I say we take her," he finally said, holstering the knife in his belt alongside the others he insisted on carrying with him. "She can be a good bargaining chip."
"My thoughts exactly," I nodded and turned to a hesitant Eris. "Are you in agreement or not?"
She sighed, clearly conflicted, but bobbed her head. "Agreed."
"Let's get to the ship before any other Midorians take us by surprise."
I carried the princess down the castle halls, through the unpatrolled gardens and the sewers, until we made it to the abandoned cove where Finn was manning our boat. With her resting against my chest, breathing softly, I felt something I hadn't before. I was drawn to her. She was beautiful to be sure with her long brown hair and olive skin, but there was something deep within me, festering in the pit of my stomach, that made my heart race.
At the time, I thought it was partly anger for failing our mission, and partly nerves for kidnapping the Midorian heir the night before her wedding. Now, I realize she possesses the magic that rivals my own. Perhaps it was her magic calling out to mine – perhaps it was her soul that touched me, but either way, I knew once I picked her up and held her that I didn't ever want to put her down.
When we reached the ship, Finn was confused, and borderline outraged with how the night turned out and was firmly against us kidnapping the princess.
"Too late to turn back now," was all I muttered as I stomped down the few steps to go to my quarters.
For three months I lived in this tiny room and counted down the days until I could go home and sleep in my bed. I loathe the water and avoid swimming at all costs, so living on a boat, constantly feeling the sloshing of the waves, had me itching to never step foot on another boat again.
I tapped my bedroom door open with my foot and laid the princess in my cot. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was better than throwing her in the cellar where our food supply had dwindled to almost nothing. We'd be lucky if we made it back to Tronovia on what little we had in that pantry.
I turned to leave her so she could rest but stopped at the threshold and twisted back to stare at her. What was it about this woman that had me questioning myself and my decisions? It was like she called to me, and I answered, willingly walking to my ultimate demise.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder and I flinched. No one had ever gotten the drop on me like that. What the hell was going on?
"Finn wants to know if we should cast off," Nyx said, back to his fully regenerated self.
I nodded. "Keep an eye on her," I instructed, closing the door behind me and making my way back up the steps to give Finn his orders.
For an entire day, I waited impatiently for her to wake up and when she finally did come to the upper deck, my breath was nearly snatched from my chest. She was feisty and stubborn and even though she should have been afraid of us, she never cowered before us, never once showed us an ounce of fear. She did what most people couldn't. She surprised me, and it was at that very moment when I knew I'd follow her to the gates of the Underworld if she asked me to.
