“Guards!”
“No! Keep them out!” Luna whispered harshly, her arms still wide as she stood between Ella and whatever was on the floor near their feet. When the guards stepped into the room, quickly followed by Elon, every one of them took in the scene, assessing the situation, and coming to the same conclusion.
“What’s going on?” Elon demanded with a lethally calm voice, carefully stepping forward. But Tasim put a hand to his chest, stopping his momentum.
“That’s my sister!” Tasim growled in a low, nasty tone of voice.
“That’s my future wife!” Elon hissed right back. “Get out of my way!”
“Both of you stop right where you are!” Luna ordered, and the only reason she got through to her brother, Tasim, and the guards is because she whispered.
Both women were still staring at the floor near her bed, backing slowly away, inch by measured inch. “Just keep on slowly backing up and get out of the room,” she whispered to everyone, keeping her gaze on the floor.
“Luna?” Elon prompted.
“Just…go…now,” she repeated with a voice that seemed calm, but Tasim realized that she was terrified. He could see it in her eyes, sense it in the way she was backing up. And in the way she was protecting Ella.
“Luna,” Elon said in a smooth, even voice, “I’m going to toss this to you. When you catch it, you’ll only have seconds, but you know what to do.”
Luna nodded, still backing up, still herding Ella behind her.
“Now!” Luna whispered.
Tasim didn’t have a chance to figure out what was going on. A flash passed by his peripheral vision. He was still watching the two women. One moment, Luna’s hands were empty. The next moment, there was a lethal looking knife in her grip. And then it was gone. Flying through the air. A half of a second later, there was a dull thud as the knife landed.
And then Luna spun around, pulling Ella into her arms as relief surged through them.
Elon flew across the room, pulling both women into his arms and holding them steady. “I’ve got you both,” Elon assured them softly.
“I’m okay,” Luna whispered. “Take care of Ella.” She pulled out of Elon’s arms and stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself.
The guards hurried into the room, seven of them, all looking at the place where the knife had landed.
Tasim looked as well, moving around the guards to find out what was going on. A snake. A large, sand colored snake with “horns” over the eyes. It had a triangular head, which meant that the snake was venomous. A damn snake! A venomous snake, at that! In the palace? How had that happened?
Before he could ask, one of the guards collected the knife, snake and all, and took it from the room. Tasim looked over, wanting to ensure that his sister was safe. She was being carried out of the room by her fiancé. It was at that moment that Tasim realized that Ella was completely devoted to Elon. And he reciprocated that devotion. His sister’s face was buried against his neck as he whispered into her ear.
The doors closed with a soft snick, leaving just Tasim and Luna alone.
She looked as if she were frozen, unable to move. Then he watched as she reached out, a hand touching the window. Her fingers trembled so badly, he knew that they wouldn’t support her. He rushed across the room, pulling her into his arms just before her knees gave out.
“You’re okay,” he whispered, reassuring her softly. He tightened his arms when he felt her tremble, trying to give her some of his strength. He felt her bury her face against his neck and something inside of him relaxed.
“You were protecting Ella,” he whispered roughly, rubbing his cheek against her hair, absently noting the softness. In fact, her whole body was soft and silky and fit against him perfectly.
“I knew what to do,” she murmured, snuggling against him. “I knew what to do but…dear heaven, I hate snakes!” She shuddered and hid her face more firmly against his shoulder, hiding her face from him. Tasim tightened his arms around her, holding her close as he tried to reassure her. She’d been so damned brave! And what a throw!
She must have suddenly realized that she was being comforted by “the enemy”, because a moment later, she stiffened and pulled away.
She put several feet of space between them, rubbing her forehead hard, as if trying to punish herself for accepting comfort from him.
Tasim watched, impressed at how quickly Luna rallied. With a sigh, she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. With her hands clasped tightly in front of her, she bowed a fraction of an inch. “I apologize. I was just...” she didn’t finish the statement. Instead, she moved over to the chair and sank into it. She took in a slow, deep breath, then let it out through numb lips. A moment later, she looked up at him, trying to appear calm and composed. “What were you saying?”
Tasim walked over and knelt down in front of her, looking into her chocolate eyes. He smelled her feminine scent once again, remembering last night when her perfume had irritated him. But today, he knew that her scents were just a part of her. A very sweet, wonderful part of her. She smelled of strawberries today instead of lily of the valley. He liked both.
Which was a problem if he was going to continue disliking this woman.
He stood and surprised both of them when he lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as he sat down in the chair, his arm strong against her back as he settled her in his lap and pulled her close.