“Great!” Ella replied, punching the air triumphantly. She added a little spin, giggling as she watched her skirt flare. “Just a few more days, and I will be marrying the man of my dreams!”
Luna laughed and sat down on her bed. “How many hours to go?”
Ella smiled and threw herself onto the bed too. “Don’t tease me. I’m not going to apologize for being happy. And I can’t help it if I get silly when I’m deliriously happy.”
Luna smiled gently at her future sister-in-law. “You make him happy too. I’ve never seen him like this, Ella. So, thank you.”
Ella rolled onto her back and shot her soon to be sister-in-law a pointed look. “Care to explain what happened between you and my brother last night?”
Immediately, Luna’s mood dropped and she moved over to her dressing table. Very carefully, she aligned each of the tiny bottles and knickknacks, focusing with all her might on making sure that the comb and brush were set at a perfect angle. “I don’t know what you mean. Your brother is a strong leader. I respect him and–”
“Don’t even try it,” Ella interrupted with an amused snort, moving over to stand behind Luna. Their eyes met in the mirror and Ella couldn’t stop grinning. “You two were snapping at each other throughout dinner last night. And Tasim couldn’t stop glaring at you during the dancing. So what gives?” she asked, sitting down in one of the chairs by the window.
“Nothing gives,” Luna replied. “Your brother–”
“He loves broccoli,” she interrupted. “Is that why he piled so much of it on your plate?”
Luna stared at Luna for a long, stunned moment, then laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “No. No, he did that because I mentioned that I hated it!”
Woah! She hadn’t meant to be that vehement. Glancing sideways, she realized that she should have been less…irritated. After all, the incident had been minor and happened over twelve hours ago. “Don’t worry about the broccoli,” Luna said to Ella. “I took care of it.”
Ella grinned. “Tasim does have a strange sense of humor.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, Ella, but your brother doesn’t have a sense of humor at all.”
“Oh, he does,” she argued, standing up and…looked sharply towards the bed. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” Luna asked, peering in the direction where Ella pointed.
“That! There’s something under your…!” She backed away, shaking her head. “Luna, don’t make any sudden moves!”
Luna caught a hint of movement under her bed.
Quickly, she pulled Ella behind her. “Stay very still!” she hissed.
A snake peered out from under the bed. The ladies jumped back, startled by the sudden appearance of the serpent. Their alarm caused the snake to coil up, ready to spring. What happened next…well, everything quickly became a bit chaotic.
“Get out!” Luna hissed, grabbing her shoe and throwing it at the snake. Given two targets, the snake leapt towards the smaller, more easily obtainable target. “Get out of here Ella! Get out and–”
Tasim had heard the yelling and his temper flared! He’d just started to soften towards the beautiful princess, thinking that he’d misjudged her, that he’d allowed the rumors of her spoiled nature influence how he perceived her.
But as he walked by her suite, the yelling, “Get out!” halted his progress. He eyed the door, which stood slightly ajar, and heard, “Get out of here, Ella!”
What was Luna doing to his sister? She’d gone through too much over the years and he wasn’t going to allow some self-righteous, self-centered brat, regardless of her rank, to hurt his little sister! Granted, he’d piled Luna’s plate with broccoli last night, but that was no excuse to yell at Ella like that!
Bursting into the room, his eyes scanned the situation, taking it all in quickly. As Tasim watched, he saw Luna pushing his little sister behind her. Luna was protecting Ella? That appeared to be the case but…why was she telling E
lla to get out of the room? Whatever issue Luna had with his sister, he wasn’t going to stand for his baby sister to be insulted.
Another shoe went flying towards the bed. “Are you seriously having a temper tantrum…?”
“Get out! Now!” she hissed, slowly inching backwards, her arms spread wide to ensure Ella stayed behind her.
He was livid at being ignored, but before he could respond, he registered the fear in his sister’s eyes. “Ella, come here!” he snapped, ready to scoop her up and carry her away. He wouldn’t stop in the hallway either. Ella had gone through enough in her life and he wouldn’t let her stay in this palace a moment longer if Luna, her future sister-in-law, was going to insult Ella. Not a chance!
Unfortunately, before he could get any sort of answer, another shoe went flying. Tasim finally realized that both women were looking down at ground level. The awkwardness of their body language finally clicked. This wasn’t a spoiled brat kicking someone out of her room. Something was wrong! A threat?
His blood went cold at the idea of his sister, or even Luna, being in danger. In the blink of an eye, he shifted from protective older brother into battle mode.