"She did what???"
"Oh it was quite powerful magik, Your Royal Highness!" The wizard Raphael Summer made a motion as if to draw something from a side pocket. "The Princess pulled out her pink caduceus, all dripping with pearls and pink gemstones, and in the blink of an eye had reduced that powerful wizard from Amber into a bloody lump on the floor with her magik."
"Hahahaha!" Erick threw back his head and laughed. "Oh---My---God!!! I am so in love with this woman!"
"Those old fools. They thought they could scare her with their little blue zaps," Raphael fluttered his fingers as sparks flew from his fingertips. "Even old Griswold Toblerone tried to bully her."
"What did he do?" Erick shot a dangerous look at the young wizard with the heavy-lidded cornflower-blue eyes and a face that looked too pretty to belong to a guy who was in his late twenties.
"He charged the silver throne chair with energy so it gave the Princess a shock when she first touched it."
"Oh he did, eh?" Erick's eyes grew dangerous. "We'll have to do something as a return favor for old Toblerone then, won't we Raphael?"
"Just say the word, my Prince. Just say the word." Raphael Summer laughed and downed his fruit wine in one gulp.
"Do it." Erick slapped Raphael hard on the shoulder, nearly knocking his thin wiry frame to the ground. "I command you to do something obnoxious as repayment for his actions against my gorgeous woman. And it better be something good, or your bonus will be far less than what it can be."
Raphael's face twisted with pain as he rubbed his wretched abused shoulder. "Have mercy on my poor frail body, Your Royal Highness. You're a large virile muscle-bound warrior and I'm just a thin sack of bones!"
"Hahaha. You skinny rat. Help me gain favor in my lovely lady's eyes. I'll definitely make it worth your while."
"I will do my best. She is a work of art, this precious Princess of yours." Raphael flicked a wrist. "The old birds disrespected her so she plunged a knife into the silver table that King Leo had especially made for his Court."
"No way!" Erick clapped a hand to his head and laughed so hard he could barely breathe. "Royal Uncle Leo is going to have a heart attack! That table is priceless!"
"Not any more. It's got a huge knife cut in it! She impaled the knife into the table as a very graphic warning to whoever dares cross her!"
"Hahahaha!!! That's my Love Light." Erick wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "But that table is almost pure silver. What in the heavens kind of blade did she have that could do that?"
"It was some sort of folding knife. A sexy knife with a blade so strong, it cut through that silver table like it was a slab of butter. A couple of men were salivating over it, but at the end of the Court Session, General Alfric retrieved it and handed it back to her."
"I can't believe I missed seeing something this amazing." He slapped the Ashryan wizard on the back. "Come Raphael. Let's take a trip to Diamond."
"Now?" Raphael turned his head and looked at the three beautiful mermaids surrounding them.
"Yes now!" Erick laughed, throwing up his hands.
Raphael snorted with disgust. What in hell was wrong with this Prince?
They had barely arrived at this paradise on the beach, and already, Erick wanted to go into the depths of icy hell known as Diamond. All because he was in love with a woman who was already married.
Part of the reason they were in Turtle Cove was because Zander had sent them there to take care of a few loose ends. The more important reason was so that Erick could get past his dark mood over the loss of this woman he was so infatuated with.
They had only been there for a couple of days when Erick got word that Mira had gone missing after the chiro attack. He had literally gone insane.
The Crown Prince had driven Raphael crazy.
Every chance he got, Erick kept pushing Raphael to get everything wrapped up at Turtle Cove as quickly as possible so that he could go look for Mira.
But then she turned up again in Diamond without Zander.
This time Erick was ecstatic. He was going to get his chance while Zander was away. It was now impossible to keep him from porting to Diamond. The only thing Raphael could do was to keep him company and hopefully keep him out of trouble as much as possible.
"Come on. Let's go!" Erick drained his wine goblet and stood up. He paid zero attention to the luscious pieces of fishtail that were surrounding them.
It wasn't because they were non-entities but because he treated them like the courtiers and servants who surrounded him every day of his life. In his eyes, they were just the assistants and servants around him and not potential concubines.
Raphael grimaced. Erick was very clear cut in his treatment of women. They were either within his circle of love and devotion or they were invisible hands who hovered around him serving food and drinks.
So far, the only female who had managed to slip into Erick's inner circle was the one woman who already belonged to someone else. It was too bad for Erick that 'someone else' was none other than his very powerful wizard prince cousin.
🌺🌺🌺
It was still morning when they slipped through a portal Raphael had made on the sly.
"Ugh, where the hell did you stick this freaking portal, Ralfie…" Erick put his hands out to steady himself as he stumbled around in the dark.
"Not my choice. Zander has erected a ward all around this palace. There are only a couple of open areas that we can port into and one of them has been locked. This is the other open portal."
"But it's dark and cold in here, damn it."
"Hang on, let me close this port and I'll give you a little light." Raphael muttered and with a quick flick of the finger, a blue flame burned on the tip of his digit.
"Holy Mother of goddesses!" Erick gasped as a huge bogboar stared him in the face.
Raphael guffawed until his sides felt as if they were ready to burst.
The portal had dropped them directly into the meat cellar. Typical of Zander to place his portals of entry into highly inconvenient spaces, the sly dog.
They floundered about until they found their way up from the food cellar.
"Wait, Ralfie. Nobody knows I'm here, right? Do you think maybe we can sneak into the King's Court and see for ourselves what's going on there?"
"I could probably get us a couple of black Advisor robes, but you are far too shiny Your Royal Highness. I can use my magik to make you less….appealing."
"Wait, you are going to cast an ugly spell on me? I'm going to see the woman of my dreams and you are going to make me ugly?"
"No, no, your Royal Highness. Not an ugly spell. We're just going to...blunt your devastating good looks down just a tad. You really are far too shiny and attract way too much attention!"
Erick scratched his jawline. "I haven't shaved yet. Doesn't that blunt it down quite a bit?"
Raphael rolled his eyes. In what fair world does a beard shadow make such a devastatingly handsome man look any less mesmerizing? Erick was so good looking, he could make a straight guy bend.
It was a good thing Raphael didn't bend that way…really...truly...
"No, your Highness. We need to make you a little uglier. I will get you into the King's Court without anyone the wiser, but you have to trust me."
"I trust you, Ralfie. You are my closest confidante. Let's do it."
The two slunk around until they got closer to the Great Hall, where the King's Court was held. It was half an hour before Court was set to commence but the waiting area in front was already filled with black-robed Advisors.
Word of the Princess Consort's outlandish behavior the day before had spread far and wide. Everyone who was able to get a foot in through the King's Court wanted to see her in action for themselves.
Raphael snuck a look around the corner, then pushed Erick in one of the broom closets. "Stay here while I go get us a couple of robes."
"Are you freaking out of your mind???" Erick hissed. "I am the Crown Prince of the Ashryan Empire and you're making me hide in the freaking broom closet?"
"Hush and stay there." Raphael glanced back out the door. "I won't be long. Just stay out of sight for a few minutes." He winked and shut the broom closet door on Erick's protesting face.
Left with no choice but to wait, Erick growled under his breath as he stood stewing in the dark closet among all the smelly mops and brooms of his uncle's palace.
True to his word, Raphael returned within ten minutes with two black robes.
"Where did you get these? Or do I want to know?"
"I snagged them off two guys in a darkened corner snuggling with each other."
Erick's eyes widened. "Why would two guys be snuggling...never mind, I don't want to know." He blinked. "So what happened to them?"
Raphael grinned. "You don't want to know."
"Yes I do."
"Fine. I threw them into the meat cellar stark naked."
"Oh you sly dog." Erick laughed.
"Stand still. I have to put an ugly glamour spell on you."
"Don't make me too ugly now."
"Your Royal Highness, even if I took half your good looks away, you would still easily be one of the best looking men in the kingdom."
Erick pressed his flat palm over Raphael's face. "Stop. You're giving me the creeps."
"Well, it is the truth…"
"I said stop..."