One Night with the Prince (25 page)

Chapter thirty

Zachias

Wow, Anna can sure get weird when she’s drugged up! Demetrius couldn’t get enough of it. I was now looking after her and Demetrius is trying to figure out who did this by interrogating that chef. I also sent out some of my men to go to Egypt and stake out Lady Jasmine, to make sure if whether or not she was involved.

“Zach?” I looked sown to see Anna still sleeping. She must be sleep talking.

“Yes Rose?” I asked a little bemused to what she could possibly say.

“Stop hogging all the cat food! I want some too!” She sounded upset. I couldn’t help it as I burst out laughing effectively waking her up. She looked around alarmed for a moment as sleep clouded her eyes.

“What? Zach?” She started confused. I chuckled some more and kissed her forehead.

“It’s okay love, sorry I woke you. How are you feeling?” I asked. She rubbed her eyes with a slight frown. It looked adorable.

“I feel weird but, I guess I’m not in pain anymore. How long was I out?” She asked, laying back down looking up at me with those wide hazel eyes. Today they’re more of a brown color. I traced my thumb over her cheek and I got the pleasure to see a slight blush rise.

“You’ve been out of it for the past two days. We gave you the shot just six hours ago. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” I bent down and kissed her forehead. Suddenly she shot up. I looked around alarmed then I checked her over.

“What’s wrong?!” I asked making sure she was okay. She hopped out of bed and hobbled slightly.

“I have to pee like a freakin race horse!” And she took off into the connecting bathroom. I just shook my head at her, smiling. She was a crazy girl, but she was my crazy girl. I scooted back so my back was against the headboard. After a minute I heard the start of a shower. She must be taking one.

Demetrius came in and flopped down on the bed,

“Nothing! That little traitor won’t crack! He won’t say anything! Hey where’s little Red?” He asked, suddenly looking around the bed to see she’s not there. I shook my head at his slowness, but smiled.

“She’s in the shower. She’s feeling much better, and my other men have come up empty as well.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Demetrius shook his head and heaved himself up so he was standing.

“I’m going to go talk to Missy. She’ll let Anna’s mother and Danny know about her update that she’s doing well.” He walked out and shut the door behind him. I laid my head back thinking of what else I could do, but nothing came to mind.

Suddenly the bathroom door opens a crack and with the steam rolling out in billows, Anna’s hand pops out, “Sorry but I forgot that I didn’t have any clothes! Can you grab me some?” She hollered out. I could tell she was embarrassed.
This would be a good time to mess with her.
I thought with a smirk.

Sauntering over to my closet I grabbed a plain black shirt and some drawstring shorts I still had from years prior. I held them out for her, but just out of her reach. She caught on quickly.

“Zach! Give me the clothes!” She whined from behind the door. I laughed but shook my head.

“No way! Come on out and then I’ll give you the clothes!” I said while wiggling my eyebrows even though she couldn’t see me. She huffed.

“If you don’t give me the clothes I will sleep in my own room without you for the remainder of this competition!” She threatens. I knew it was an empty threat since she liked sleeping in the same bed with me as much I did with her, but I figured she had suffered enough. Heaving a sigh, I gave them to her rather reluctantly.

“You’re no fun.” I pouted jokingly. After a few moments she stepped out with wet messy hair, towel drying it. The shirt was pretty big on her, but she looked cute. Her eyes narrowed at me,

“Do you see this hand?” She asked holding up her left hand. I saw nothing wrong with it so I shrugged. “Until there is a wedding ring on it, you’ll not being seeing me naked. Got it?” I nodded at her serious tone.

“I was only joking Rose. I’d never want to pressure you like that. I’m a patient guy, and I can wait.” I wanted to reiterate that to her so she knew I was serious. I’d never do anything to jeopardize what I had with her. Suddenly Demetrius walked in.

“Demetrius! You should knock.” I warned. He looked at me suspiciously then when he saw Anna in my clothes he grew suspicious. His face went from suspicion, to knowing, to shocked then to amusement.

“Someone got laid!” He yelled out scaring Anna as she jumped. She brushed out her hair with a roll of her eyes.

“We did not!” Anna said defensively. Demetrius waggled his eyebrows.

“The clothes you’re wearing says different.” He was grinning at her as her face turned red. She huffed and walked over to him and pointed a finger at his chest.

“We did not have sex!” She said annoyed. He snorted.

“Well you two did something…” He trailed off suggestively, now just trying to rile her up. Anna was as red as a tomato, and I had a hard time not laughing at her cute face. I stood up and walked over to her but then turned to Demetrius.

“Out.” I said. He pouted at me.

“I promise not to say anything else! I haven’t been able to talk to her in forever!” He whined. I gave him a stern look and looked back at Anna. She rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm.

“Fine! But no more talk about what Zach and I do or don’t do. Got it?” She said with an authoritative voice. He ducked his head.

“Okay. I’m sorry.” He mumbled kicking the carpet slightly. She smiled at him and I chuckled at them both. They always acted so childish with each other. Demetrius then grinned at her, picked her up and spun her around in a big hug.

“Little Red! You scared me to death young lady! Oh my poor baby!” He fake wailed as he kept spinning them. She was laughing like crazy and I laughed at them both. He put her down but in turn he made himself dizzy so he started to stumble like a drunken man.

“I-I don’t feel so good.” He swayed and finally sat down on the ground. Anna giggled at him and then tackled him to the floor. I swear they were long lost siblings with the way they acted.

“Suck it you cow!” Anna yelled loudly as she pushed Demetrius’ head into the carpet. I laughed loudly at the sight. His arms were flailing trying to push her off with no avail. He was bigger but she was quicker.

“You tiny little devil!” He shouted. She stuck her tongue out at him and when he lifted her off she squealed and ran behind the bed while he was on the other side.

“You cannot escape young one! I will get my revenge! Muwahaha!” I swear Demetrius is five and not twenty-two. Anna was laughing at his dramatics and Demetrius jumped across the bed to try and snatch her, but he underestimated the length and width of my bed and ended up landing short of her and so when he bounced he fell right off at her feet with an, ‘oomph!’

“Wow Dem! Nice going!” Anna said sarcastically. He growled and grabbed her ankle pulling her down to the floor. She groaned then a small smile broke across her face.

“Demmy, if you wanted to show me what it was like for your mom to be on her back all this time then you should have just told me.” She said sweetly. He gasped.

“Take. That. Back. Red!” He and I both know there was no insult behind it, so Anna knew he wasn’t really mad. It was a good burn. Anna got really close to his face.

“Make. Me!” She taunted. I could tell Demetrius was about to react when there was a knock at the door. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“You better sleep with one eye open.” He warned. She smirked at him.

“It’ll be good practice for when I want to be a pirate.”

I gave her a ‘what on earth?’ stare and she just shrugged. I wondered if there’s still that drug that’s effecting her. I got up and answered the door to find Anna’s three friends, Carol, Sydney, and Rachel.

“Is she awake?” Sydney asked, concerned. I nodded and allowed them in to see her. Sydney went to hug Anna tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. Let’s go and talk?” She asked her. Anna nodded and walked up to me and kissed me lightly.

“I’ll be back later.” I hugged her, feeling glad she was better. The doctor told me yesterday that it wouldn’t effect her too long, and it seemed like he was right. Once they left I let out a sigh.

“So, how far did you two go?” Demetrius waggled his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and slapped his head with a pillow.

Anna

Syd, Carol and Rachel were walking around with me around the hallways. We were stopped often from the workers saying they were glad I was alright. I have to say, I’m glad too! Man, I had never felt so much like crap!

I remember feeling like I was being burned, and then I felt so sore I could barely move. Some of it’s spotty though. Like I kept drifting in and out of it.

“So, you and Prince Zachias still going strong?” Carol asked. I nodded and let a goofy smile slip on my face thinking about how sweet he is to me. I felt like dancing just thinking about it. Love made a person feel and act stupid, but the great thing about it is that you don’t really care.

“Heck yeah.” I said giggling.

“Huh.” Rachel said like she was thinking.

“What?” I asked. All three of them shrugged,

“It’s just that…we heard that you were poisoned because, well, whoever did it wanted you out of the way. I heard that this was just a warning if Prince Zachias didn’t let you go.” Rachel explained. I stopped walking and placed both hands on my hips.

“What?! That’s it! Whoever is behind this I will make sure they can’t walk for the rest of their lives!” I growled out. They all looked shaken up, but I didn’t question it as I knew I can be pretty scary when I’m mad.

“W-Well let’s go to the kitchen?” Carol suggested. I nodded, suddenly realizing how starved I am. I haven’t eaten in over 2 days! As we walked I began planning on how to find out who’s behind this.

Chapter thirty-one

Anna

Carol, Rachel, and Syd were with me in the kitchen. It was pretty empty and my stomach was growling like crazy. I walked to the fridge and spotted some fruit.

“Are you seriously going to eat when you were just poisoned?” Syd asked concerned. I shrugged.

“The poison was directed at me. Therefore, this fruit will be safe since anyone could eat it.” I reasoned. She made an, ‘aha’ face and smiled.

“Smart girl.” She complimented. I took a mock bow.

“Thank you kind lady.” They laughed and I popped a grape in my mouth. We made small talk when Rachel spoke up.

“You know, Prince Zachias makes his decision in three days.” I spat out my fruit in shock.

“What?! Has it been that long already?!” I asked in alarm. They giggled and nodded. I sat back suddenly feeling like I haven’t slept in days then stupidly decided to run a marathon. My thoughts were racing.

Zach chooses in just a few days? I now knew I couldn’t not think about it any longer. There was a very high possibility that I would become a queen. Me!
A freakin queen!
My stomach clenched at the thought.

But Zach will be there to help. Just the thought of him made me relax. But, what if he takes this threat against me to heart? I needed to talk to him. I turned to the girls who were talking amongst themselves.

“Hey, how did you guys find out about why I was poisoned?” I asked as the question popped in my head. They all shrugged.

“It’s all around the castle that you were poisoned. Demetrius has a big mouth.” Carol answered quickly. Well, I do believe that. I sighed and hopped off the bar stool.

“I think I’m going to make a few phone calls. I’ll talk to you guys later.” I didn’t wait for their replies as I left. My head was hurting from all the thoughts roaming in my head. Zach gave me a spare phone a while ago, so once I had that I decided to dial mom first. After a few rings she picked up.

“Hello?” She asked.

“Hey mom, how are you doing?” I asked. She gasped.

“Oh Sweetheart! How am I doing?! I found out my one and only child was poisoned and in pain! How do you think I’m doing missy? Are you still hurt? Are they taking care of you? Is-” I cut her off.

“Mom! I’m fine now! Geez!” We talked for a little while and she made sure I was okay again before we hung up.

“Oh! And honey, guess what?!” I could hear the grin in her voice. I smiled.

“What?” I asked. She laughed.

“You’re valedictorian! Isn’t that great?! Your principal wasn’t happy but no one could dispute that you had the highest GPA in your class.” Huh. Seriously? Me? I bet Mr. Anderson is having a field day with this!

“Wow…oh crap! This means I have to write a speech?!” I squeaked. Oh I hate speaking in front of large crowds! She laughed.

“Okay honey you’ll do fine but I have to go. Love you so much and, I’ll see you soon.” I said goodbye as well and called Danny.

“You’ve reached kill a witch hotline. Where we can ‘take care’ of anyone who ticks you off. How can I help you today?” He answered. I laughed hard. He always could make me laugh.

“Hey Danny boy!” I greeted back. He laughed.

“What’s up my home girl? I heard someone tried to whack you off?” He tried to sound gangster. I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it.

“Please don’t try to do that again. You’re too white wonder bread.” I teased. He huffed.

“So not cool! Eminem is white!” He defended. I laughed.

“Yeah, but he didn’t wear a tutu for Halloween last year!” I snickered.

“Don’t blame me for my awesomeness! I’m just that cool!” He defended. I shook my head.

“Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night.” I giggled. We talked for a bit more then I decided to call Missy. We were talking about everything that has happened when I spotted Dem walking towards me. So I decided to mess with him a bit.

“He was that hot? Wow Missy, you get him!” I said loudly. Dem stopped walking and I pretended not to notice.

“What the heck are you talking about? Oh no. Demetrius is there isn’t he? Be nice Anna!” She pleaded. I nodded like I was listening.

“You have to tell me about your date tonight! I-” I was cut off by Dem who tried to grab my phone. I laughed at him and pushed him away.

“What’s wrong Demmy?” He huffed and tried for my phone again.

“Give me the phone Anna.” Uh-oh! He called me by my name.

“No worries Dem! I was just kidding! Seriously, Missy is too respectful for that.” I admitted. He looked at me for a moment before he blew out a breath.

“Don’t do that again! Geez, I almost had a heart attack!” He pouted. I looked up at him with big eyes and hugged him.

“I’m sorry Dem.” He chuckled and kissed my head. I handed him the phone where Missy was still waiting patiently. I walked away from him and made my way down the hall, just walking aimlessly. I stopped by the room when I heard my name coming from a T.V. What?

“In this generation’s competition in Bantaniomos there is an odd girl out. Anna Williams, a seventeen year old girl, stumbled upon the competition and we are told that the likelihood of her being chosen for the next queen of that country is high.” The news lady cut to, oh my gosh! Jasmine?!

“Yes. I was there for a couple of days. I was supposed to be one of the girls in the competition. Due to family circumstances I couldn’t be with the other girls the first day and Anna snuck in and took my spot! She is not fit to be Queen.” She said straight into the camera. My blood boiled.

“How so, Lady Jasmine?” The reporter asked.

“Well, she has appalling manors! She wasn’t raised in this society, so she has no clue how to act. She’s from a small town in Montana for goodness sakes!

And, I have a close source saying she is a troublemaker in her school. Multiple suspensions, and she also comes from a broken home! Her father ran off with a twenty-year-old prostitute! How is she meant to be Queen? I say to those who reside in Bantaniomos to stand up and demand a better Queen!” She finished.

My fists were clenched and angry tears stung my eyes. How dare she?! She brought my father into this?!

“You’ve heard it. Let’s go to Jackson with the weather.” The reporter cut off. I felt so angry and hurt. She was that bitter that she has to sink that low? I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Zach. I didn’t say anything as I turned around and buried my face in his chest.

“It’s going to be okay Anna.” He murmured kissing my hair. I sniffed and held him tighter. Great, so not only do I have some psycho, who’s probably Jasmine trying to kill me or run me off, and now I have her bringing up crap that I’d wish wasn’t brought up. Zach rubbed my back soothingly.

“I’m so sorry Anna.” I could hear the agony in his voice. I looked up at him.

“It’s alright Zach. I’ll be fine.” I tried to convince him. I don’t think it was working that well. He brought over to the couch and turned off the T.V.

“Anna, I’d completely understand if you don’t want to do this anymore.” I could tell it hurt him to say it. I let out a breath and looked him in the eyes and grabbed his face gently.

“I’m not going to roll over because of some prissy girl. I’m not that type of girl, you’re stuck with me.” I gave him a small smile. I could see love fill his eyes as he just stared at me. He leaned down and gave me such a soft kiss that it made my heart jump.

“You are incredible. I love you.” I smirked at him.

“I know. What’s not to love?” I teased. He chuckled and held me close. After a few moments he stood up.

“I have to go and take care of some things. I’ll see you in a little bit.” He kissed my forehead and left.

Zachias

It hurt to see how much all of this is affecting her. I need to take care of this. Leaving her in one of the many studies I made my way to my office. When I got there to say that I was shocked was an understatement.

“Jasmine! What are you doing here?” I growled out. I was pissed at what she did on the news. She had no right to be here. She smiled at me and stood up as she was sitting on my desk.

“I’m guessing you saw the news? Well, that’s good. I meant what I said Prince Zachias.” She smirked at me. I glared at her.

“Why does this mean so much to you?! So what that you got rejected! Get over yourself!” I was beyond angry. She let out a bitter laugh.

“You think I wanted to do this?! Try telling that to my father and his mean right hook! I still don’t want to be here but when you have parents who want nothing but power, then you’d understand!” She composed herself.

“Now, it’s not about that anymore. You choose Carol or I will kill Anna. I have enough people around here to make sure she isn’t safe. It’s a wonder what men a willing to do when you have a beautiful girl like myself make them false promises. The money helps as well.” I stared at her in hate.

“Why Carol?!” I asked. She let out another laugh.

“If you would have read the papers on all your girls here you would’ve seen she was my cousin! Who do you think talked the Chef into putting poison into dear Anna’s food? Oh don’t give me that look! Pick her since I’m not in the competition or Anna will die. Simple as that.” She paused to give me a curious look.

“If you really loved her, you would do this. Your people don’t like the idea of having a girl like her as their Queen. Do you really want to put her at risk for not only physically hurt but emotionally as well?” She questioned. I stared at her. She was right, but I loved Anna so much. She walked closer to me until she was just a foot away.

“I’m going to give you until your decision. Choose Carol, or you will regret it!” She hissed and walked out leaving me there slightly stunned. I walked over to my desk and sat down with a slump.

Groaning I rubbed my face in stress. It shouldn’t be this hard! Love shouldn’t be this difficult should it? I sat back into my chair and stared at nothing particular. It literally hurt to think about sending Anna away.

I couldn’t picture my life without her. But I also don’t want her hurt. I could have someone try and figure out who is loyal in my guard and who isn’t but there isn’t enough time, and at this point I can’t trust anyone except for Demetrius and my parents with Anna.

God! Then there’s Carol! Carol! How can she just smile and pretend to be friends with Anna and not rot with guilt?! I can’t believe that conniving woman! I slammed a fist on my desk in anger. This isn’t fair! How can I choose and only have 2 days to do so?

Placing my face in my hands I thought about what was right and what I wanted.