40!

BRIANNA

“Your grace, we have to go. The chopper will explode any moment,” Commander Blackburn said beside me. How the chopper went down is still a mystery but there is nowhere in hell I'm leaving my betrothed in there.

“How do you want to explain to the King that you let his son die or the senior Beta's,” I looked at the chopper and there was a bit of smoke coming out of the left side.

I raised my hands towards it, “stay calm, stay secure. Until all four of them are out,” the smoke went down but I'm getting weaker.

“How much longer?!” I yelled as I was losing the grip.

“You are stronger than you think,” I heard a voice inside of me.

“Dia,” I whispered. I closed my eyes, I could feel my magic coursing through me. The grip I had on the chopper increased and all four men were saved.

“Are you alright?” I asked, hugging Liam.

He held my face and then hugged me, “yeah, I'm alright. What you just did was incredible,” he said and I smiled.

“We need to get the pilot to the med bay, your grace,” Commander Blackburn said and I nodded.

“Let's move!” He ordered, “around the clock security around the duchess and the prince,” we got into the car and headed to the castle.

I could feel some tension in the car but I couldn't tell what it was. “Focus,” I heard Dia once again.

I closed my eyes and exhaled, “I hope she is alright?” That was Liam's voice.

“If Brianna is here, where is Trish?” That's Ethan's voice. His thoughts with a lot of tension and uncertainty.

“Trisha is fine. I left her to take care of the wounded,” I said to him.

He looks at me surprised. I smiled, “I just thought that you needed to know,” he smiled at my words.

I looked at Mason, his mind was dark. I was even going to try to read him. He has made it clear on his dislike of witches. I'm not going to make it worse. At least for Layla sake.

We haven't seen Layla since the day she walked out of us in my chambers, wanting to be a spy for the King to look for her Mom. I hope she is fine wherever she is.

“We are here, your grace,” Commander Blackburn said and we got out of the car.

“Are we headed straight to the command center?” I asked him and he turned around immediately.

“No, your grace,” he said and I looked at him confused. “It has been shutted down,” he said and walked away.

“What was that?” Liam asked as I watched the commander walk. I moved a bit closer and waved my fingers without being since.

“What was she doing saying that with the Prince there. She could have jeopardized the integrity of the command center,” his mind was full of disappointment.

“This place is chaotic, Brianna. What happened?” Liam said and I turned to face him.

“We were attached,” I said and the three of them gave me a puzzled look.

“What do you mean by attack, you were safe in the castle at the palace,” Mason said.

“Well, my people won't have been saved!” I said firmly.

“Saved from what?” Ethan asked with compassion in his voice.

“One of the owners and caretakers of the second largest plantation came to me and told me the plantation wasn't getting any water for weeks. That something was blocking its access,” I said to them. The three of them looked at me with so much attention.

“I knew I had to come here so I did. It turns out the stream was blocked using magic,” I glanced at Mason at the sound of magic.

“After freeing the stream we had to help a man get out because he was trapped. When he was freed he pointed at Akire as the perpetrator,” I said and all three of them scoffed.

“That's not possible. Akire is part of the Elite Warriors. She will never do something like that,” Mason defended her immediately.

“Why am I not surprised that you would defend her,” I said to him. “Is it because Magic was involved in the beginning?” I asked him.

“It doesn't matter, Akire isn't a traitor,” he said with gritted teeth.

“I never said she was,” I inhaled, “but she did confess to blocking the stream,” I said, walking towards the med bay that we had created.

“If she is not a traitor then why did she confess?” Liam asked, I could see he was getting impatient with my storytelling.

“You need to have patience Liam,” I said and heard him groan. I turned around.

“She said she was on a mission for his Royal Majesty,” I said, giving a pretend curtsy.

“You are kidding right?” Liam scoffed, “no matter how ruthless my father is he will never leave his people to starve,” he said.

“Not when the people are my people. And we all know he wants me dead,” I said, firmly staring at his eyes.

“Forgive me if we can't take your word for it,” Mason said, sarcastically. “We will need to see Akire and have a talk of our own,” he said and I smiled.

“I'm not done yet,” I clicked my tongue. “We left the plantation and came here. Then she said, she is on a mission for the King to infiltrate Castillo Army's and to get as much information as she could then return back to the palace,” Mason and Ethan looked at me like this was their first time hearing this but not Liam.

“Why do I get the feeling that you have heard this before?” I asked Liam but he wasn't looking at me.

Ethan coughed slightly, “the two princes have a squad of Elite Warriors, one more than the other of course. Maybe he overheard something from his brother's squad,” he said. But I'm not buying it. It's his duty to protect Liam even if Liam is lying.

“Thank you for that information but I don't believe that's what is happening here,” I said to him.

“Liam what is…”

“I sent her in there,” he said and I hissed. “I sent her to infiltrate Castillo Army's and report back to me,” he said and I sighed.

“When she told you, she was given orders to block the stream to a plantation in my park?” I asked him.

“I asked her to do it to maintain her cover,” he said with any emotion.

“How could you?!” I yelled and the whole ground shook.