Four Heirs: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (The Rothhaven Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  “Excuse us,” Zackary said to Serina.

  The petite brunette nodded quickly and scurried down the stairs.

  Zackary watched her go, then closed the distance between himself and Mariselle. With one gentle hand on her face and the other around her waist, he said softly, “I’m sorry, love. You cannot. The whole village knows about you. We would be mobbed on site. I’m going to cloak myself in disguise, grab the witch, and head back here. We won’t be gone but a day.”

  Mariselle stared defiantly into his stormy hazel eyes and slowly conceded. With a defeated nod, she looked away from him. As she tried to break from his embrace, he pulled her tighter and whispered in her ear, “I expect you in my bed when I get back. Don’t be mad, milady.”

  She hated the way he could disarm her so quickly. She was a puddle of goo in his arms, and she knew it. After leaning down and giving her a toe-curling kiss, Zackary headed down the stairs.

  “Look after her,” Zackary commanded before dipping his head and entering the carriage.

  His three brothers looked at each other, then to him.

  Griffin chuckled. “It’s not as if you need to say such things. She always has been and always will be our number-one priority.”

  Zackary eyed the three of them from his seat across from Serina in the carriage. He was shrouded in a black cloak that covered his head and body. “Still. She’s in a mood, so you’ve been warned.”

  Alexander narrowed his eyes at his brother. “We’re keen of her moods, they do not faze us.”

  Zackary shot what could only be interpreted as a warning look to Mathias, who’d stayed quiet, before he shouted to the driver, “Elliot, to the village!”

  Without another look, the carriage took off, Elliot controlling the reins up front and commanding the horses to make haste with the knight, Jack, seated next to him.

  Night had just fallen, and Zackary stared out the carriage window. It had been so long since he’d visited the village. He held town meetings occasionally, but the townsfolk would travel to the front of the castle so he could give his speeches from one of the many stone balconies jutting from the front of it. He wondered if the village still looked the same as it had when he’d first moved here to build Castle West Haven five years prior. He’d barely been 18, but still had to immediately take on the role as king.

  He turned his head and looked at Serina, who sat still, her red cloak’s hood over her head, making her look so small. Her pale face peered out at him from under it, and she smiled shyly at the king.

  “You look a little frightened,” Zackary said to her.

  She wrung her hands together. “May I speak freely, Your Majesty?” At his slight nod, she continued. “I’m concerned we won’t be able to locate my aunt. See, she doesn’t stay in one place very long, and being that I have been working in the castle for almost a full year, I haven’t really spoken to her. I hope there will be no repercussions brought upon me if we cannot locate her, sire.”

  Zackary grinned. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. If we can’t locate her, we will simply find another witch. Are there many in the village that you know of?”

  Serina furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure, sire. But I will be thinking about it on our ride there.”

  “Wonderful,” he replied, and then looked out the window at the passing landscape. The dense trees of the forest hid the moonlight, and the night seemed eerily quiet. Even the animals weren’t around making their usual noises, or popping out from behind the trees, curious as to what or who was passing through their home.

  Zackary knew the trip through the forest only took a couple of hours, but he suddenly wished Elliot would speed it up. Something in his gut wasn’t sitting right with him, but he couldn’t explain it.

  You’re just being paranoid, mate, he told himself. It’s been way too long since you’ve been off the castle grounds, and you’re being irrational.

  “Are you all right, Your Majesty?”

  Serina’s voice broke him from his thoughts, and his gaze slid to hers. “Yes, of course. I’m fine.”

  Serina thought the young king looked a bit peaked, but daren’t say a word. His response to her seemed forced, but still, she her thoughts to herself.

  She drew her attention back to the passing landscape and prayed to any god who would listen that her aunt was still in the village. Though the woman was quite the gypsy, she highly doubted it. They would literally have to get lucky and hope she was there visiting her sister, Serina’s mother, or needing to grab something from her modest home. Otherwise, there would be no telling where the woman could be.

  Serina’s mother also dabbled in the magicks, but she did not want the king to know that just yet. Asking her mother for help would be a last resort. She’d rather find another villager. She racked her brain, trying to remember which townsfolk practiced the arts. She remembered an older man who lived at the edge of the forest. She remembers growing up being scared of his home. He would rarely enter the village, and when he did, people would whisper about him being his back.

  “Crazy old wizard,” she could remember her mother saying about him one day at the outdoor market when they were shopping for meat and fruit.

  “Eh, he’s not all bad. Just a little touched in the head,” her aunt replied, laughing.

  Serina remembered wondering what that meant, but children were to be seen and not heard, so she kept her mouth shut and just listened to their conversation.

  She wondered if the old man still lived there. It had been at least eight or nine years since then, so it was possible he had passed away. She would suggest it to the king if her aunt couldn’t be located.

  Suddenly, the carriage lurched violently to the side, and Serina screamed out, having been slammed against the door.

  Zackary’s stunned face recovered quickly. He unlatched the door and swung it open to see why they had stopped. “Elliot, what in the devil—”

  With an arrow loaded into a bow pointed straight at his chest, Zackary stopped short and looked up at the bow’s holder.

  With a wicked smile, the man said, “Get out of the carriage.”

  Zackary hesitated, his mind whirling with what he might be able to do. He could see at least five other men, armed, and surrounding the carriage. He stepped down with his hands up slightly.

  “Lower your hood,” the man demanded.

  Fuck, Zackary thought. He continued to rack his brain as to how he might get out of this.

  “Now, arsehole,” the man said.

  Slowly, Zackary slid the hood from his head.

  The man smiled. “Your Majesty, come with us.”

  Zackary looked over to see Elliot, along with Jack, lying dead at the helm of the carriage, arrows through their chests. He swore under his breath and prayed Serina would stay inside the carriage and not make herself known.

  “What do you want?” Zackary asked the man. He looked to see the others behind him, all with arrows loaded and pointed in his direction.

  “No more questions.” The man grabbed the king by the arm and yanked him. He was quickly herded to another waiting carriage and forced inside.

  Zackary had a knife in his boot, but knew even if he could get to it, he could only take out one of them and not all six. He didn’t really have a choice, so he climbed inside the waiting carriage and prayed Serina knew how to command one.

  Serina froze. She wouldn’t even breathe. She could hear what was going on, but she daren’t peek out for fear of being taken, too. She had little to no fighting skills, and could not risk exposing herself. She listened with tears streaming down her face as she heard the other carriage’s driver yell, “Huah!” and the horses gallop away.

  Still frozen, she waited a few minutes, wondering if they had taken Jack and Elliot because surely they would have come to check on her by now.

  With more bravery than she felt, she peeked out, but all was quiet. She slowly stepped from the carriage, and while on the step, looked up to see Jack and Elliot s
lumped over. Using her fingertips, she nudged Elliot’s shoulder, but he toppled over onto the ground, a big, gaping bloody wound in his chest. Serina shoved her fist into her mouth to keep from screaming.

  Realizing Jack had most likely fallen to the same fate, she climbed up into Elliot’s bloody seat and slowly looked at Jack. His eyes were open and blood stained the front of his tunic. She whimpered and started crying again.

  What was she going to do?

  She had ridden in plenty of carriages before, but never had she watched how the driver commanded the horses. She grabbed the reins and watched as the two horses whinnied, ready to go. Then, she stared at the contraption holding the horses to the reins and had an idea. She jumped down, careful not to step on Elliot’s body, and quickly figured out how to dislodge one of the horses from the bridle. Not a fan of riding bareback, but seeing she had no choice, she got back up on the carriage and slowly maneuvered her way onto the horse. The bit was still in the horse’s mouth, so she used the reins to steer him back the way they came. She was grateful she’d been watching the landscape through the window, and that they hadn’t gotten very far, because she was sure she could find her way back to Castle West Haven.

  Chapter 7

  She giggled and pushed him in the chest. “It did not! Stop it right now, Mathias Rothhaven!”

  Mathias smiled, loving the tinkling sound of Mariselle’s laugh. “It did, though. You totally batted your eyelashes at your daddy and begged him to let you keep all four cats. And he fell for it, too. You were a little vixen, even back then!”

  “Papa was totally okay with me keeping all four kittens and you know it. It was Mum who didn’t like it.”

  Mathias shook his head. “Whatever you say.” Then, he reached over and began tickling her stomach.

  She giggled and tried to push his hands away, but she was laughing so hard, she could barely catch her breath.

  “I’m… going to… fall… off this… settee if you… don’t stop!” she said between laughs.

  He pushed her down onto the settee and straddled her legs and began tickling every exposed part of her body. He pierced her with his mischievous gaze. “That’s what you get for being too darn cute and irresistible!”

  She laughed so hard she almost passed out. “Uncle! I give up! Uncle! Uncle!”

  Mathias stopped tickling. “No fair, crying uncle.”

  “I can’t take it anymore!” she said, smiling, her face flushed beet-red.

  He looked down at the slight sheen of moisture on her forehead and his smile fell. His mind began to wander, and he wondered if that was how she would look if she were under him, naked, happy, and out of breath in a different situation.

  “What is it, Mat?” she asked.

  A grin found his lips. “You haven’t called me that since we were kids.”

  She nodded, “I know.” She stared hard at him, loving the way the candles caught his aqua-colored eyes. “Gosh, I’ve missed you so.”

  The way she was looking at him seemed like more than just an old friend who’s been missing him. She seemed to have a bit of storm behind those green eyes, and again his mind began to wander to inappropriate places. Unfortunately, he couldn’t control his physical reaction, and his cock went instantly hard. He was sure she could feel it, so he jumped off of her and turned his back. “I, uh, need to use the facilities.”

  With that, he disappeared out of the library and left Mariselle wondering what she had done wrong.

  Truth was, she had been getting aroused by the way Mathias had been sitting on her, and the look in his eyes. She knew eventually, if she wasn’t carrying Zackary’s baby, that she would get a chance to try with Mathias. As much as she was starting to really fall hard for Zackary—the same way she’d fallen for Alexander and Griffin—she was starting to feel a little excited at the prospect of getting to know Mathias a little better too. She didn’t want to leave the West Haven—after all, she’d made friends there, and was already very comfortable—but would go to the South Haven if she had to. If only for a month.

  She smiled despite herself, but that smile fell when a blood-curdling scream rang out from somewhere downstairs. She jumped off the settee and ran out of the library to find out what was going on.

  “Slow down, Serina. Slow down,” Griffin commanded, indicating for her to sit on the bench in the castle’s foyer.

  By now, all three kings, plus a dozen castle staff, including Shawna and Oscar, were standing around, concerned.

  Serina was sobbing, heaving big breaths trying to calm down.

  “Someone get her some water, now!” Alexander commanded.

  Oscar immediately darted off in the direction of the kitchen.

  “It’s King Zackary,” she breathed out. “He’s been taken. Men with arrows.” She began to break down and cry again. “They killed Jack and Elliot,” she wailed. “And they took his majesty away in another carriage. I couldn’t do anything. Nothing at all!”

  Mariselle was horrified. She rushed over to Serina and sat next to her. She put her arm around the maiden’s shoulders. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” She looked up to the three kings, worry etched on their faces that matched her own.

  “Can you describe the men?”

  Serina shook her head. “No, I only heard voices. There were at least four, I just don’t know. I didn’t even see the carriage leave. I only heard it. I’m sorry,” she began to sob some more. “I should have looked.”

  “No,” Mariselle consoled. “Staying safe was important. You did the right thing.”

  Griffin, Alexander, and Mathias looked at each other.

  “Solar room, now,” Griffin commanded.

  Oscar returned with a tin cup of water and Serina drank it down. Shawna came over and sat on the other side of Serina and grabbed her hand in comfort.

  Mariselle stood, said a silent thank-you to Shawna, and hurried to catch up with the kings. “Wait for me, I’m coming.”

  The three turned around, and in unison said, “No, you’re not.”

  She snorted and crossed her arms. “Yes, I am. Just keep walking, you can’t stop me.”

  Griffin huffed, and the other two turned around and headed for the stairs. Mariselle followed silently behind, and the kings knew they weren’t going to win any kind of argument with her.

  Once they reached the solar room, they commanded one of the knights at the door to go get Lord Francis.

  “Right away, sire,” the knight said, bowing slightly before rushing out of the room.

  Mariselle, having held in her emotion for the benefit of Serina and the other staff, suddenly burst into tears. She folded herself into the chair by the fireplace and wrapped her arms around her legs.

  “Shh,” Mathias said, the first to reach her. “It’s okay. Zackary’s tough. We’ll get him back.”

  She swiped at her tears and looked up at the handsome brunette king. She flicked her gaze to his brothers, worry etched on their faces, and said, “Why would somebody take him? How come he didn’t take more security with him? Are they going to kill him? What is going—”

  Griffin put up a hand, right as Francis entered the room. “Enough, Mariselle. Enough. Sit there and be still. We don’t know the answers to any of those questions. Let us meet and figure out what we’re going to do.”

  Feeling foolish, and upset at Griffin’s treatment of her, she nodded and put her head into her arms, obeying. She knew he was right, but her emotions were on overload, not to mention she could feel that her menses were about to start, which didn’t help matters.

  Mathias squeezed her shoulder and went back to the massive table with the map on it to stand with his brothers.

  “Francis,” Alexander started.

  Lord Francis glanced in Mariselle’s direction, seemingly uncomfortable with her presence, cleared his throat, and looked at the young kings. It wasn’t the first time the maiden had attended official castle business, and knew it wouldn’t be the last, so he told himself just to get used to it
. “Sires, we need to assemble a team immediately to look for the king.”

  “Agreed,” Alexander said. “Any idea who these men could be?”

  Francis nodded. “I have a slight idea. The sheriff has reported a gang of thieves who occupy the forest. Honestly, when King Zackary said he was going into the village, it hadn’t occurred to me that he might run into these hooligans. They have been reported as simple thieves, robbing coaches for jewelry and other valuables. They hadn’t resorted to kidnapping, as far as I’m aware.”

  “Fuck,” Griffin said, raking his hand over his reddish-blond beard. “From what the girl told us, this sounded like a very planned attack. Like they knew the king would be coming through.”

  “Or not,” Alexander interjected. “The royal coach is much more ornate than the average carriage. Could have been a crime of opportunity. Maybe when they saw who was in it, they realized there was much more money to be made.”

  “How so?” Mathias asked, his hand to his mouth, his brow furrowed.

  “Ransom,” Francis answered for him.

  Alexander’s already somber face went straight to stormy. “It’s not going to get that far. We’re going to find my brother before they even have a chance to send a messenger here to deliver the ransom.”

  “Agreed,” Mathias said. “When do we leave?”

  “As as soon as we’re done here,” Griffin answered.

  Lord Francis cleared his throat again. “Ah, with all due respect, Your Majesties, I would not advise you all going out. Could have more victims than heroes, if you all end up getting captured, too.” He winced, knowing he was about to get his arse chewed.

  The three kings began yelling, arguing, and throwing hands up. The noise in the room grew so loud, Mariselle jumped up from the chair and stormed over to the table. She pounded her tiny fists down on it, and in an octave she was sure only dogs could hear, she let out the loudest scream she could.

  The arguing stopped. They all stared at her, wide-eyed.