22 Amashumi amabili nambili

The air was heavy with expectation, but I could not be bothered to feel uncomfortable. I was happier than I had been in living memory. Melissa Nøkkenson had finally, after years of proving how extraordinary she was, agreed to be mine for the rest of our lives. Sammy had taken the chiefs out of the room, along with the resident genius. Thus, leaving me alone with a furious Princess and my new fiancé.

Fiancé – future wife – future mother of my children.

I was grinning like an idiot at the thought until a growl stole my attention. Riley's normally immaculate braids were slightly distressed, and her skin seemed flushed – from the anger I presume. She was clenching her fists, palms, as her claws remained retracted.

"Are either of you going to tell me you left the territory without informing anyone where you were going?" she seethed. I rolled my eyes and my usually meek fiancé scoffed; arms still crossed in defiance of the arrogant lioness. I liked this side of her. It elicited feeling in me that we could definitely explore together later.

"Riley, I don't know if you're aware of this… but we are not your subjects. I may call your father king but that doesn't mean he or you have any say about my comings and goings," I said coolly. She glared at me. If she didn't stop with the aggressive eye movements, she might risk losing them.

"That is where you are very wrong! I do have a say about that – about you," she said moving closer to us. I moved protectively in front of Lissa as Riley stepped up to me when we were a breath away from each other, she growled, "You are mine, Nikola!"

I laughed at her. Really laughed. The kind of laugh that makes your belly ache and your ears ring with lightheaded relief. She actually believed the stupidity she was sprouting. She couldn't be more incorrect if she tried.

"Actually, she is mine!" Lissa said. I smirked at my girl's confidence in us. She should be confident in my feelings for her. They wouldn't change. I looked at Riley and she looked there seconds away from detonation, so I decided to put everyone out of their misery.

"Look, I don't know what your father had planned. Well, I do. But you need to understand that he made those promises to you without my consent and when I had different obligations to fulfil. I don't belong to your father anymore and I am allowed to choose my own path. That just so happens to be beside Melissa. If you at all care about me as much as you pretend to, please respect that," I said. I even went so far as she takes her hands into mine, ignoring the usual warmth that spread through my body when our skin touch. Muscle memory ran to deep for time to erase.

"But I thought, when you found out the truth… that you would…" she grumbled. She looked off to the side and sighed. She looked so small. Instinctively, I placed my finger under her chin to make her meet my eyes. I saw a few tears well up in her gorgeous hazel eyes and trace the path over her flawless skin. Her beauty used to annoy me when we were growing up. How can someone have a sculpted face that still feels soft on the eyes? The rounded angles of her cheeks caught the water light effortlessly and contrast the darkness of her plumb lips breathtakingly. Again, muscle memory reminded my lungs to stop functioning around her. That's okay, I would retrain them with time.

"I know why you did it. And I know it hurt you too," I said. She was fighting back tears so hard at this point. I wiped them away with the thumb. "I'm still here. I just have a lot to think about. The only reason we're here is that I thought I needed to repent for my short comings. I cost my people a king, what better way to redeem myself than to ensure they didn't lose their Queen. But now…" I looked back and met Melissa's conflicted eyes.

"What? Now that you know the truth- you are going to leave again. Abandon me again. To what? Go off and elope with your phantom love?" she spat at me. I knew her well enough to translate the venom into heartbreak it really was. I wasn't sure how to feel about her. One lie had stolen so much from me… from both of us. In theory, she was still the girl I had grown up beside and she had never done anything to harm me. She was as much a victim of this as I was but I had no idea how to erase a lifetime of hatred for her in my eyes.

But, for the sake of the girls we used to be and the life we never got to live, I was willing to rebuild our friendship. That was the least I owed her. Friendship.

"I'll stay. We deserve a second chance at friendship," I said. She scoffed at my choice of words but that didn't remove the flickering hope from eyes. "I'm still gonna say and protect you but on one condition this time."

This caught her attention.

"What condition?" she asked. I removed my hand from her face, my other hands still grasp firmly in hers, and slipped my arm around Lissa's waist. With all of us in a triangle formation like some kind of ancient symbol, I spoke again.

"This time, I want your pledge that you will protect my family as your own. Because, from tomorrow, they will no longer be strangers to our land. They will belong to a family that has existed since the birth of Africa. Do we have a deal?" I asked.

Riley didn't look pleased in the least by the offer, but she reluctantly nodded her head and promised that as long as they were under her domain, she would declare a royal order of protection of both Nøkkenson twins.

"I hope you know that I plan to confront the Koda for what they did to my brother, right?" I threw in last minute. She nodded her head.

"I would expect nothing less," she said curtly, but I caught the smirk on her lips.

Melissa cleared her throat. She looked at me and smiled before turning her attention to the princess. "I think you an' I got off on the wrong foot. I think that we should try to get on. For Nik's sake." She offered Riley her hand. I smiled proudly at the olive branch, to be fair it was a limb, but it was an olive branch none the less.

"Thank the Gods! So, is everything copasetic now?" An annoying voice called out from his not so subtle hiding spot in the middle of the doorway. I rolled my eyes, nodding.

This caused my idiotic best friend to skip over to his sister and hug both her and Riley into the world's most awkward group hug. Neither girl wanted to be that close to the other but neither moved away, Sammy's adorable enthusiasm was too infectious to reject.

"Finally! Can we eat now? I'm starving!" Zain called out.

"Me too!" Sammy whined, jumping away from his unwilling cuddle buddies and jetted towards the kitchen. I rolled my eyes reminding him that we had just finished breakfast. He waved off my comment as if it were an unrealised prophecy instead of fact.

"I thought you were on a pure oxygen diet?" Quaahir mocked Zain.

"That was last week, peasant. I need fuel. I know you wouldn't understand this, but it takes a lot of energy to maintain my unique level of excellence," Zain scoffed. Quaahir smirked in amusement at their comment before joining both of the 'starving' idiots at the dining island. I signalled the angels beside me to follow me as I joined them.

"So, are we still having this wedding tomorrow?" Merlin interjected at the perfect moment. I choked on my coffee and felt a bit of it travel up my nose. Luckily, I didn't turn into a human coffee canister, but I would definitely be smelling the eastern bean for a few days to come.

I must have looked like a petrified zebra between two predators in the summer, but I could only produce a pathetic nod in response. Melissa kissed my heated cheeks and intertwined our fingers. I felt something sharp graze my leg on the opposite side. I looked to find Riley's claws and hand hovering over my thigh before she relaxed, retracting her claws, and placing her hand back in her own lap. This was going to take some getting used to for all of us, it would appear.

"Yes," Riley answered to all of our surprises, before taking a calm sip from her own coffee before adding, "we can announce the new union and addition to … your clan." She was trying her best to sound regal at this moment. She was happy about it but I subtly moved my hand over her, squeezing it. She tenses and then relaxed under my touch. I caught her smile in the corner of my eye.

Everyone was silent for a second, exchanging worried looks, they were all waiting for me to reply or even reject the princess's offer. Deciding not to spit in the face of peace, I smiled at her and thanked her for her generous offer. It was one thing to support my union with Lissa in private but to openly acknowledge it and support it at her own suitors' ball was an offer I didn't expect from nor one that I could refuse.

We all ate in peace and joked around as if we were all friends for a few moments. I was more hopeful than ever that things would turn out well.

I was more determined than ever to find Riley the most amazing match I could. She deserved nothing less than to be happy. With the support of the Mpande pride, I would be more able to protect my family. Especially with Merlin here to help me realise my newest weapon ideas. My enemies would have to pray to their ancestors for all the help they could get. Not that it would help them against a God but hey, I kinda hope they put up some fight. It will make killing them that much more fun.