Ileus: The Dark Prince

Anastasia turned to run behind the wagon. She didn't know where else to go because now in front of her was the group fighting the remaining bandits. 

The bandit rounded the wagon and stopped her. He waved his sword in her direction and said, "I am going to behead you this instant, bitch!" 

Anastasia was about to send her dagger to his chest when air drifted on her side, fluttering the strands of her hair. The next she heard was a snap of the bones. She gasped. The bandit had fallen on the ground with a sword plunged in his neck and a dagger in his chest. His wide eyes were wide with shock, as he looked at Ileus, the Dark Prince, and then they became fixed.

Ileus spun to Anastasia. He wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her. He ran towards a fallen log and made her sit on it as if she was a weightless porcelain doll. "Sorry wife," he said as he panted. "Let me kill them and I will return to you in a short while." 

When the fight with the bandits got over, Ileus stood to scan the area. While none was lost on their side, the entire bandit group was slashed and killed. He hated the fact that they were ambushed and he hated the fact that they were not allowed to use magic on the trade path. He had to make sure that all of them were killed so that none of them could go and report Anastasia's presence on the path. Darla approached him along with Aidan. Her mouth was set in a tight line when she looked at him. 

"I am sorry," she said in a low voice. 

Ileus frowned. "What are you talking about?" He was surprised that Darla even said that. When did she become so concerned about Anastasia's safety? But if she had, then it was a pleasant change, which he had hoped for and welcomed. 

Darla lowered her head and said, "I should have remained with Anastasia to protect her from those two bandits. But I couldn't hold myself when I saw that the group was attacking you all. Anastasia could have been dead if you wouldn't have saved her in time. If you want I can leave the group and head back to Silver Vales as punishment. You can call someone more trustworthy and better." 

"Have you fallen on the ground with your head first?" he asked. Otherwise how could she come to this conclusion? He saved Anastasia because he had to. The moment the bandits came for her, he could feel her fear and he rushed for her. It was not Darla's fault in any way. She was a great warrior, and had been with him on way too many missions. And in this particular one, what she did was absolutely right. He sighed and shook his head when he heard someone approaching them. He turned to find Kaizan near them. His gaze traveled to Anastasia who was sitting on a fallen log on the edge of the road. It appeared that she was about to fall off to sleep, as her head lolled to the side. 

"Anastasia." She jerked her eyes open. "Could you come here, please?" 

Dusting off the mold from her clothes, Anastasia walked over to them and found Darla, Aiden and Kaizan. "I hope everything is fine," she said, remembering how Darla shoved her beneath the wagon to save her. 

"Darla thinks that she failed to save you," said Ileus as he circled his arms around her shoulders. "So she thinks that she should leave the group and replace with someone else." 

Anastasia's brows creased to form a line in the middle of her forehead. "That's not true." 

Ileus didn't need those expressions of his wife to understand how she felt. Her heartbeat said it all. She was stunned. 

Her gaze flitted to Darla, then Aiden and then Kaizan. All of them were silent, as if waiting for her decision. "This is silly!" she exclaimed. 

Darla's body stiffened at her comment. 

"Darla here believes that since she failed to protect you at the right time, she doesn't deserve a place in the group." Ileus kept his voice as nonchalant as possible. "But it wasn't me who was affected… It was you. So you have to choose her punishment." 

Anastasia jerked her head back and stared at his golden eyes. Her husband was actually putting her in this shit while he deftly came out of it. She narrowed her eyes at him as he maintained the same stoic look. Game on, your scoundrel! She looked back at Darla and said, "Honestly, I don't think you have committed dereliction of duty. You did protect me by shoving me beneath the wagon. I wanted to fight against the bandits but you stopped me for my own good." She flashed a pearly white smile. "You are a fine soldier and a valuable asset to this group. So please stop wasting your time in thinking of abandoning the group and use your skills to good use. This is not the last attack we will encounter." 

A smile tugged Darla's lips up. 

Ileus wanted to hug his wife and struggled to keep his arms to himself. Anastasia had true royal blood running in her veins. She spoke to Darla with sincerity that was rare in noblemen. Not only she praised Darla for her skills as a warrior, she made her their accomplice despite having issues in the past. He was happy to see that Anastasia wanted to move on and satisfied that Darla also wanted to move on. This was how Darla announced that she was now interested in snapping the past that she held for so long. 

Darla's skin became heated and she flushed. Aidan held her hand and squeezed it tight. He said, "Let me coordinate with the rest of the group to do away with the bodies of the bandits." When Ileus nodded, they both walked away hand in hand. Ileus watched them giving orders to the Mozias, removing the dead bodies and limbs from the path. 

Ileus turned to his wife. She looked extremely tired and had dark circles beneath her eyes. "You would have been a fine diplomat, Anastasia," he said. "Then I would have made you my permanent emissary to the fae court." 

"And how is that?" she asked, feeling very sleepy and not willing to talk. "I would have been an emissary to one of the courts in the fae kingdom, not Draoidh." 

He scooped her in his arms and admonished her. "I wouldn't have let that happen, sweetheart. He made her sit on the fallen log again. "Stay here for a while. I know you are extremely tired." He adjusted her cloak. "As soon as we clear this area, we will head over to the next available inn and stay there overnight." 

"Must we stay here?" she asked in a slurry voice. 

"Yes, my dear," he said and kissed her temple. "According to the laws, we have to clear the path for the traders to keep moving otherwise this will create a jam. And that is one thing we can't afford right now—untoward attention." 

Ileus was tired as well. He wanted to sleep but after fighting with the bandits, this was a task he had to complete. When he walked back to help his men, Kaizan came to him and stopped him. "We need to talk."