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Rune
“She is what?” my heart hammered against my ribs. I sat in shock as my father told me the news. “Emily is missing; she’s been kidnapped?” Suddenly I stood up, ready to fight an entire horde of dragons and find Emily.
“Rune take a deep breath; you should think about this rationally,” my mother cautioned me and I shook my head.
“I must find her, I have to get to the castle and see what happened,” I said and sidestepped both of my parents to get to the bottom of things. Quickly I made my way outside, shifted, and flew to the castle. My father only told me that Emily had gone missing and that she’d been kidnapped. I needed more information than that. I hurried to the throne room and found Luke already there with some members of the special guard.
“What happened to Princess Emily?” I asked King Lucas once I was close enough, and his eyes flitted over to me.
“She was taken from her room earlier,” was all he said and my chest seized up, I had left her in bed completely naked.
“There are no clues as to who took her, or where they could have taken her?” I asked and he gestured to the castle behind him.
“You are welcome to look for clues like the others were about to do,” he said and I led the charge so to speak. Luke and I were in the forefront of the small group and we found Emily’s room in perfect order.
“Fuck,” Luke muttered and we both walked around.
“How about we just follow her scent, we both know it well,” I suggested and he nodded.
“That’s the only way at this point. Let’s go.”
Emily’s scent was strong in her room, but it was fresh outside. Luke and I both shifted quickly and her scent grew stronger. It was like a trail we followed out into the woods. Luke’s few warriors followed us until we came to one of the royal family’s vacation cabins. Both Luke and I shared a glance and then we landed in front of the house to shift back.
“Kidnappers would take her to her own cabin?” Luke mused out loud and he sent his males to scout out the surrounding area while we went inside. The cabin was big and it actually took time for us to find her sitting in the second floor family room.
“You both are here?” she stood up from the couch she was curled up on and my eyes searched her for wounds or anything that could be amiss.
“You’re alright,” I breathed and she looked at us both rather sheepishly.
“Care to explain what happened?” Luke asked and she nodded.
“My dad thought you guys should compete to see which of you I should pick...because frankly I can’t pick just one or the other. But of course you guys had to work together and now...now I don’t know what to do,” she fell back on the couch and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
“Let me go and tell the others that they can return home,” Luke mumbled and then quickly went to dismiss his men.
“I’m sorry if I scared you or anything...” Emily murmured and I took a deep breath.
“I’m just glad that you are alright.”
She nodded and then took another long breath.
“My parents want me to have my choice by morning and I don’t want to choose...if I could have both of you, I would,” she sighed just as Luke returned.
I shared a glance with Luke and we both went to sit next to her on the couch.
“You know I’d actually prefer it if you didn’t have to choose either,” I said and Luke nodded.
“It’s clear you have feelings for both of us, we don’t want you to be unhappy...” he said and I think in that moment we both made an unspoken agreement. All that mattered was that Emily was happy and if it took both of us to give her that then so be it.
“Maybe we can appeal to your mother and father, perhaps get them to allow an exception in our case. In the old days it wasn’t uncommon for a ruler to have a lifelong consort as well as a wedded mate and be bonded to both,” I told her and she shrugged.
“Well I guess I could try but...you both are okay with that possibility? One of you being my husband and the other my consort, even if it’s like an ‘official’ consort?”
“As long as we both get to be with you without having to hide,” Luke answered. He reached out and stroked her cheek comfortingly. I had my hand lightly on her lap and she smiled at both of us. A small spark of hope was in her eyes.
“I really can’t believe you guys get along and stuff...” she trailed off and I watched her pupils dilate a bit just before she pressed her legs close.
“Are you alright?” Luke asked and she nodded.
“Yeah, it’s just...um...we’re all in an enclosed space and you’re both touching me and neither of you have fully bonded with me yet and it’s—kind of painful,” she said honestly and then stood up and paced around a bit.
There was an almost awkward silence and then Luke and I shared a glance and it was decided between the two of us at least. Emily gravitated towards the view of the surrounding woods, she had her back turned to us and we both stood, practically mirroring each other, and walked towards her.
“Maybe we should head back to the castle... or go for a flight, I could—” Emily realized that we were near her when I gently wrapped a lock of her hair around my finger.
“How about you let us take care of you.”
What Luke said should have sounded a bit cliché, but it fit the moment, and at that moment I doubted Luke or I wanted to go for a flight. Emily turned around, her eyes wide as they swung from Luke to me and back.
“Seriously?” she sounded more eager than surprised and I laughed.
“Yes, clearly it’s what you need. Come,” I led her over to the couch and she was quiet, though I felt the anticipation rolling off of her in waves.