In an instant, the Royal Guards, seeing their Prince on the ground, drew their weapons and formed a tight circle around Aira, Ria, and Kael.
The air was thick with the threat of a bloodbath.
The Trio didn’t even flinch.
They stood back-to-back, their hands moving to their hilts, shifting into their combat stances.
Their eyes were cold, scanning the guards like predators.
They had faced thousands of enemies in the North; thirty palace guards were nothing to them.
Elias and Theo rushed forward to intervene.
“Lower your weapons!
Stand down!” Elias roared at the guards.
Meanwhile, the two youngest princes, Silas and Lucan, ran to the dirt to help Leon up.
Leon struggled to his feet, coughing and brushing the dust off his fine silk clothes.
His face was red with fury.
“Guard!” he screamed, pointing a trembling finger.
“Do not let them go!
Arrest them!”
“Enough!” Elias stepped between Leon and the Trio.
His voice was like iron.
He turned to the soldiers.
“I said lower your weapons!
Now!” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Slowly, the guards stepped back, though they kept their hands on their swords.
Elias turned to the Trio with a look of deep shame.
“We are deeply sorry for our brother’s behaviour.
He has no right to disrespect you, and he had no right to order your arrest.”
Elias then turned back to Leon, his eyes narrowing.
“Leon, say sorry.
Right now.
To all three of them.”
Leon looked at his older brother, shocked.
“Why me?
She is the one who started it!
She kicked me!
And you are still on their side?”
“I said,” Elias repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous level, “Say.
Sorry.”
The silence in the courtyard was deafening.
He looked at Aira, who was watching him with a bored, mocking expression.
“Sorry,” Leon muttered under his breath, barely audible.
Aira tilted her head.
“What was that?
I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you hitting the dirt.”
Leon’s jaw tightened.
“I said…
SORRY!”
He turned and walked away before anyone could see the tears of rage in his eyes.
As he walked, his mind was racing.
I will take revenge for this insult, he thought.
General or not, no one treats a Prince of Cloud Land like a dog in the mud.
The guards dispersed, but the damage was done.
The “calm air” of the morning had been replaced by a bitter rivalry.
Elias and Theo looked at the Trio, realizing that managing their brother might be harder than managing the Royal Army.
The tension that had nearly led to a massacre evaporated as quickly as it had arrived.
The Trio, ever the professionals, knew when to strike and when to show mercy