Chapter 355 Double Middle Fingers To The Royal Guard
Vesper Willow was a General’s daughter and thus had been trained in combat since she was three years old. She was not going down without a fight.
The guards closed on her behind Tristan. He didn’t spare her a glance.
“IT WAS ALL HER PLAN, YOU MORONS! SEDUCE HER BROTHER. PRODUCE AN INCEST BABY. TAKE THE CROWN!”
One guard moved to manacle her. She kicked him in the balls so hard and fast he hunched over.
“I WAS BORN IN BLOOD AND TRAINED FOR WAR,” she thundered. “And she’s just a fake-ass princess trying to seduce her way into being queen, you blind fucks!”
She elbowed another in the solar plexus and bit him on the forearm.
“Don’t even THINK about it! My fated mate is RIGHT THERE, you brain-dead assholes! Tristan! Stop carrying that fake-crying problem! Drop her on the ground where she belongs. Right now!”
River’s pink magic continued to surround Vesper as her insults rang loud. But none of her words registered because River’s mind was elsewhere. The moment Tristan had picked her up, the comfort of it, the warmth of it, the specific safety of being held by the man who had been her entire world since the day he reached out his hand, broke through everything. Her resolve vanished, replaced by relief.
Tristan felt it from her immediately. But it was short lived, replaced by sadness and guilt, like she was doing something wrong by allowing herself to be comforted. Her emotions were so tangled, every single protective instinct he had flared in response. His arms tightened around her. Whatever she thought she needed to do was wrong. He would not let her think for a second that the crazy woman running around the courtyard changed a goddamn thing.
Behind him, the applause for magic shifted into something else entirely. Hundreds of people began cheering for the guards like they were watching a boxing match, completely forgetting that a bonding ceremony had been interrupted and the implications of who’d interrupted it.
An elderly Fae woman in the third row, who had not raised her voice in public in forty years, cupped her hands around her mouth: “SWEEP THE LEG!”
“SHE BIT ANOTHER ONE! THAT’S THREE!” the wedding officiant yelled.
Atlas knew full well he should call for order, but truthfully, he wanted to join in. He kept his expression stern and remained silent. Just a king watching his royal guard take down a crazy bitch.
“SHE’S GOING LEFT! LEFT! YOUR OTHER LEFT!” a pregnant woman called over the crowd.
Maids flooded the balconies, pink magic snapping around each of them on arrival. Within seconds, every single one was coaching the guards with the enthusiasm of women who had been waiting their entire careers for this.
“GET HER, BOYS! PIN HER DOWN!”
“GIVE HER THE CHAIR!”
The two standing arrest guards moved to tackle Vesper to the ground. They lunged. She sidestepped. They tackled each other. It was the oldest trick in the book and worked immaculately.
“ANOTHER TWO HIT THE DUST!”
“WHERE’S YOUR BACKUP? CALL FOR BACKUP!”
The crowd booed.
Vesper gave double middle fingers to the audience, then she made a run for it.
“YOUR GUARDS CAN’T CATCH A WOMAN IN HEELS! THIS KINGDOM HAS BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN ME!” she called over her shoulder.
The boos turned back into cheering.
“COME ON! HIT THAT BITCH WITH MAGIC ALREADY!” an elder who had been silent up until now joined in.
The six remaining non-arrest guards stepped forward to intervene. All of their palms extended in unison, aimed at the woman resisting arrest and assaulting their colleagues. Green magic shot out from six different directions.
WHOOMPF.
It hit her.
But nothing happened. The pink magic still surrounding her had protected her. So the green did absolutely nothing.
Vesper glanced down surprised.
The crowd gasped, then cheered louder, this time for the pink that was apparently stronger than six guard’s magic combined.
“THE PINK JUST TOLD THE ROYAL GUARD TO SIT DOWN!”
Atlas looked towards his daughter who was being carried away by Tristan.
“The TEARS!” Vesper roared. “ALL FAKE, you manipulative cunt! ’Oh DADDY! Wah, wah. I’m so scared and homeless. Please save me. Big brother, let me suck your dick for a crown!’”
More guards swarmed into the courtyard from every entrance, including the doors Tristan was planning on taking River through. Pink snapped around them immediately. None of them reacted.
It was at this point that Tristan turned around with River still in his arms, only to witness Vesper downing two champagne flutes at a full sprint towards their six-tier wedding cake.
Twenty new guards aimed their palms at the woman, confidently.
The crowd collectively screamed “NOOOO!”
Green magic hit her and did absolutely nothing. She dove into the giant cake, green magic still following her.
The cake exploded. Frosting went absolutely everywhere, spraying the audience.
Vesper didn’t stop running.
“’PLEASE DADDY, let me ride my brother’s dick straight to the throne!’” she yelled over her shoulder. “CRYING LIKE A BABY WHORE IN HEAT! FAKEST SHIT I’VE EVER SEEN!”
The guards surrounded her on all sides. This time, finally, they were able to get her. One had her chained wrists. Another had her waist. A third was trying to manacle her ankles that were kicking wildly.
“SHE SPREAD HER LEGS FOR A CROWN, TRISTAN — THAT’S THE ONLY TRUTH!” Vesper bellowed at the top of her lungs. “A greedy, crown-chasing cumrag bartering her fuck-hole for power!”
River’s hand flew to her mouth in utter shock. She hadn’t fully been listening until now and the vulgarity surprised her.
That surprise reverberated through her magic hitting the audience and guards. The sympathy was immediate, overwhelming, and very bad news for Vesper Willow.
“WE LOVE THE PRINCESS. YOU ARE A BITCH. END OF STORY!”
“I HOPE THE PRINCE BREAKS HIS FATED TIE WITH YOU!”
“YOU WILL NEVER BE OUR QUEEN. THANK THE GODS!”
Vesper struggled against the guards, yelling profanities back to them.
“I AM YOUR FATED QUEEN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, ASSHOLES! YOU WILL ALL BE PUNISHED THE SECOND I TAKE THE CROWN!”
A guard attempted to cover Vesper’s mouth with his hand. Mistake. She bit that too.
“—back-alley bitch WHORE with a BROTHER FETISH and a tiara! She’s healing everyone with her magic because that’s what WHORES DO, they make everyone feel GOOD!”
“That makes zero sense, young lady. Someone wash that girl’s mouth out with soap!” an elder boomed in response.
“TRISTAN, you gutless PRICK,” Vesper continued as they dragged her off. “I am your fated mate. The one given to you from the Moon Goddess and YOU are carrying a PROSTITUTE who is wetter for power than she is for you!”
Tristan stared in disbelief. Blinked a few times. Then, without a word, turned and carried River through the doors in the opposite direction of Vesper and the jeering crowd. His jaw was set and his arms were steady. But his chest was a war zone that his face refused to acknowledge and River felt it.
Gavriel Sterling watched the guards finally pin Vesper Willow to the ground, one missing a shoe and multiple bleeding.
Surprised? Yes. A woman had destroyed a cake with her fists and called a princess a cumrag at her own bonding ceremony. That warranted surprise.
Also not surprised at all? Also yes. Because Gavriel Sterling had met Guinevere Ashford.
Then he remembered what the goddess had told River and he almost wanted to laugh.
“Good luck, River, getting Tristan to accept that woman,” he said to no one.