Tie It With a Ribbon

The next two weeks were spent sneaking out of our respected rooms to see each other. I could not have apologized enough, but he promised that he knew I hadn’t meant a word. We were to be released later that day, so we were just relaxing in my room until we were told that we could leave the premises.

I made the mistake of bringing up Alexandros.

“Alena, you do realize that I must kill him. There is no way I am allowing him to live after he almost killed you, and even now I’m still worried. He cut you pretty deep,” Zanzibar mumbled into the top of my head.

“But we’re fine. I’m not arguing about sparing him… I just—I don’t know. He was my friend.”

“No, he was pretending to be your friend. Don’t think of him as your protector any longer, because he was never a true soldier.”

I glanced towards the only window in the hospital room, thinking back to the conversation when Alex had been safely contained. He had made some very good points, not that it mattered at the end of the day. I looked up at Zanzibar, who met me for a gentle kiss.

“Something is on your mind, sweetheart,” he murmured, stroking my cheek gently.

“It doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to start another fight, but it’s about that girl, Monica.” Zanzibar nodded quietly, sighing inwardly. “Alex actually told me about her, but just a little. I get that she’s dead, but I’d feel a lot better if I knew about her, considering you two used to be, you know, together.” I couldn’t look at him.

“Alena, it’s okay,” he promised. “I’ll tell you about her, but don’t say anything until I’m finished.” I nodded, catching his hand. “She was a friend, and I’d known her since I was six. I watched my closest brother and sister die. Carmen and Alec… Camden and Talon were still alive, but I was told to be prepared for the worst.

“Monica was there for me, insisting that I never be alone, so I could not be sad. I fell head over heels for her after she proved her endless devotion to me. She was this all-around perfect Leonian, which I liked at the time.” I smiled. “I decided that if I had to be King, she would be my Queen.”

“But then… Then Camden died. That night I visited you at the Nest, but you already know that story. I returned home to tell Monica, but…”

“She was dead, too?”

“Sweetie, I begged you to keep quiet.” I apologized, zipping my lips. “She was thrown into jail, because she was accused of having helped Alexandros kill my brother. I was devastated, but what could I do but obey my duties? Talon had sworn himself to be a soldier, and he said that he did not want to be King—he wanted to avenge his fallen brother. That meant I was the next King, and she was one of my people.

“I killed her, Alena. I was her protector and provider, because I had previously told my parents that she would be my Queen. I was also the next King, which only condemned my fate as well as her sentence. She harmed Camden, who was of the Royal family as well as the next King, and as I said before, the only punishment for that crime is death.

“I had to kill the woman I loved, because she had confessed to being a traitor. As I took her to the waiting crowd to be maimed, she promised that she still loved me and that she always had and always would. I killed her, and I had to hear her screams as her blood was spilled by my hands…

“I know what it’s like to find out that the one you love is a traitor, though Monica claimed to still be in love with me. I do not know if she was telling the truth, but I will not lose any other loved ones. I had been infatuated with her, but if I had lost you, Alena, I don’t know that I could recover.”

I bit my lip, regretting ever having thought him capable of scandal or anything of the sort. His hand squeezed mine gently, as if silently forgiving me, if I was worthy of such a thing.

“I’m so sorry, Zanzibar,” I whispered, resting my head against his beating, no longer wounded chest. Thankfully both of our kinds healed quicker than humans, or we would have been bed-ridden for much longer than six weeks. “I love you.”

“I know you do, and I know that I love you more than I could love any normal lion.” He smiled absurdly, though I could see the pain locked behind his soft gaze. “I could never have loved her more than I love you at this very moment, Alena. I swear on Merit’s grave. And you would never wish any harm to any of my family, you just fit so wonderfully.”

“Zanzibar, I know that I said I didn’t want to rush things,” I mumbled into his chest, “but I don’t think it’s rushing anymore.”

“Alena,” he breathed, his body rigid. “You do realize what you’re saying. You’re not hyped up on medication?”

I shook my head. “If we want sixty-one children, we need to pray for a miracle.”

“I don’t need sixty-one,” he murmured in my ear. “I couldn’t share you with so many people.”

I blushed for the umpteenth time since I had met him, and he kissed me quickly, mumbling “I love you” over and over against my lips.

“Zanzibar!” Salina cried, rushing up to us and throwing her arms around her older brother. “You’re coming home today,” she told him, as if ordering him to obey.

He smiled apologetically, turning his attention to his younger sister. “Yes, I am.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, if Salina interrupted; she got away from me,” Cadence apologized as she peered into the room with Grayson and Camille waiting behind her.

“He promised he’s coming home,” she told her mother, sitting in the seat beside the bed. “Any why are we in Alena’s room? I think someone is disobeying rules—because he’s being romantic again!”

“I sure am!” Zanzibar admitted happily, helping himself out of the bed as I stood up beside him. “So are we allowed to leave now?” His mother nodded, catching Grayson’s hand.

“Is Alena coming back with us?” Cadence asked innocently.

Zanzibar glanced over to me for a moment before saying, “Actually, I was wondering if I might stay here, at the Nest. I know that you want to protect me, but she spent the night at the Den last time, however long ago that was.”

She glanced over to Grayson, who smiled gently. “Just be careful.”

Camille ushered them in as my mother rushed into my room, glancing around at the company. “Oh, I don’t mean to interrupt. Alena, you’re leaving now, alright?”

“Mom, Zanzibar is coming with me.”

She stumbled to find words, but she took in a deep breath. “Okay, sweetheart, you’re Queen now, and if you wish to be with your…King, then I cannot refuse. You can have the guest suite, and Reginald will personally guard your door.”

I recalled the way he had left my coronation ceremony and tried to argue, but she refused to listen. Zanzibar bid his family a good night before walking with me from the Nest’s hospital and to the guest suite, managing to ignore Reginald’s scrutinizing glare as he opened the door for me, allowing me to enter first and closing the door behind him.

“I want you to know just how much I love you, Alena. And if you want to wait, I’ll wait happily for your consent,” he promised, watching me carefully.

“No, Zanzibar,” I mumbled, reaching up to kiss him deeply. “That’s not what I want.”