Angel Conrad

Keira's pov

How can I know what would interest the great kings just a few minutes after arriving? The Princess will never pass the test of patience if there is one.

"Your highness, I do not think it's possible to get the attention of the busy kings right now. We do not know much about them yet." I try to reason with the princess. But she scoffs as expected. She and reasoning simply do not get along. 

"You're useless to me if you cannot compose that letter. I should have picked someone with better brains." She says and I immediately become apprehensive. 

"I will do the best I can, your highness. Give me a moment to think." I assure and she shrugs her shoulders after a moment of glaring at me. 

I pick up my small bag that has two dresses and a couple of books in it. I make my way to the next room where Lady Doria said that there are beds for me, Lisa and Helen. I walk into the small room with four beds and a single wooden table at the centre. The room is much better than the dark basement of Silverthorn palace where I have been sleeping since I became Princess Lyna's third servant. At least I won't be alone here.

Lisa and Helen are Princess Lyna's best servants and I know better than to compete with them for the best beds. My stay here already depends on whether the mystery kings will like the letter I am supposed to write on behalf of Princess Lyna. 

I walk to the old bed at the corner and lay down to rest for a few minutes while thinking of what I should put in that letter that may be turned down anyway regardless of what I write.

So far this palace has hosted four foreign Princesses and each had her five days to prove her values to Lady Doria and the said council. But they all failed. Only one of them managed to get a meeting with the kings, obviously not by writing a letter on her first day of arrival. 

This is Princess Lyna's turn to prove her virtues, but she expects me to make the kings feel the need to meet her right away. She won't even give me a day to think. 

I can make a complain about the virtues beings tested and hope that the kings will feel concerned enough to meet and address it. 

I pull out a blank parchment from one of my books and walk to the wooden table to write the letter. It takes me an entire hour to put all thoughts into enticing words, going through each paragraph over and over again until the message in the text is as clear as daylight. 

I step out of the room and give the letter to the first uniformed servant I meet. I walk away after she promises to deliver it to the right people who will in turn give it to the kings. 

I know I am not welcome to touch any of Princess Luna's beautiful luxurious stuff so I must stay away while Lisa and Helen helps her settle in her new room. 

I decide to go on a tour of the beautiful palace now that I got some free time before the sun sets.

As I walk down the paved pathways, I notice that the sunset looks much more beautiful here than in Silverthorn. Even the grass is greener. I stroll around marveling at the stunning architecture of the buildings and inhaling the sweet scents of the flowers. 

The expansive training grounds at the back of the biggest palace building catches my eye. They have built up equipment for battle practice, including curved figures of enemy soldiers. 

My father would have trained me sword fighting if the rest of the pack didn't insist that I should be turned into a lowly servant or banished completely for failing to phase. 

My father wanted to give me a chance to learn how to protect myself anyway, but he could not negotiate with the angry alpha to allow me the freedom to train. It was as if I had committed a crime and had to endure the punishment. 

I get the urge to venture into the training grounds and take a closer look at a rare training equipment scattered around the field. Darkness is already setting in, but I can definitely check out a few things. 

I hurry into the unguarded fields and walk to the pile of wooden swords placed on raised platform next to a long line of curved sculptures of enemy soldiers. 

There are no visible soldiers anywhere close so I pick up one of the wooden swords and swing it a little. It's much heavier than expected, but I would relish a chance to train with it, try cutting the necks of one the curved figures.

"What are you doing with that?" I thick, husky voice questions from behind and I spin around instantly.

A tall, incredibly gorgeous man in a stylish black outfit and a thin, golden crown around his pretty head stands a few steps away from me, his thick arms folded in front of his broad chest. 

Wow! If he isn't the most breathtaking, talking creature I have ever seen. 

Judging from his refined looks and the golden threads decorating his coat, it's obvious that he is royalty. I should be bowing in respect, but I am too stunned by his looks to think straight. He clears his throat and I finally realise that I have been ogling at his beautiful face.

I quickly bow my head slightly in respect despite not knowing what prestigious royal title he holds. I am sure the angel kings have gorgeous relatives and this glamorous stranger must be one of them. He is however more bewitching than I thought the angels would be.

"Your . . . highness." I stammer in a shaky voice. I should act confident, but his piercing gaze feels like tiny needles against my skin. 

His attention shift from my face to the wooden sword in my right hand. I quickly place it back on the pile where I found it. 

"I was taking a tour of the palace and noticed them," I explain nervously gesturing at the sculptures and the pile of wooden swords. 

The man strides forward and halts very close. His devine scent fill my nostrils and I feel a strange sense of calm. But my body still tenses when his hand comes up and his long fingers gently brush a strand of my pitch dark hair. 

No one has touched me since I failed to phase, this gorgeous man is probably an illusion in my head. I wouldn't mind keeping it though.

"Who are you?" I ask. 

The question seems to surprise him as he raises an eyebrow. "I am king Conrad." 

He answers and I freeze in shock. 

One of the triplet angel kings? I thought that one couldn't just meet them? I must have wondered to places I shouldn't.

"I am sorry for trespassing," I say, turning away to leave but a part of me dying to stay. I halt when he takes holds my arm. 

"What's your name?" He questions, his mesmerizing voice doing an amazing job of calming my nerves.

"Keira." I answer.

"I am pleased to meet you, Princess Keira." He says and I shake my head. "You're the newest contestant, right?"

I shake my head.

"No, I am a servant of Princess Lyna of Silverthorn. She is the contestant." I correct. His hand immediately leaves my arm and he steps back, a look of disgust on his beautiful face. 

"You're not supposed to be here." He states in a sudden cold tone, his fists clenching in overwhelming rage. 

What have I done to make him so furious? Did he really think I am a princess? Is that the reason he was touching me?

"Return to your quarters, servant, you're not allowed to be here." He orders on an authoritative tone and I turn away immediately and walk fast out of the training grounds. I hastily make my way back to the building we were ushered in first before the last rays of the sun disappear. I am human and cannot see in the dark.

It's strange how the angel king's demeanor changed suddenly from sweet to furious after learning that I am a servant. Is it attraction I saw in his eyes when he first brushed my hair? I was way too stunned by his presence to be sure of the expression in his eyes.

For the first time in my miserable life I felt enamoured by a man despite not having a wolf. He was pleased to meet me until he learned that I am a servant. Obviously I didn't expect the greatest of kings to like me, unless it's a lie. I don't know why I still feel heartbroken, like I had a chance. 

"Where have you been?" Helen demands as soon as I enter the small room we were given to sleep. "Her highness does not want you wondering around the palace unless she has sent you somewhere. You will embarass her." She scolds.

"I met one of the triplet angel kings." I inform and her eyes and Lisa's go wide in surprise.

"How . . . What did he look like?" Lisa screams the question. 

"He looked beautiful, more beautiful than any man of Silverthorn." I answer, deciding not to let them know that he spoke to me.

"I am sure the beautiful king will want a beautiful queen who matches his elegance." Lisa says with an excited smile. "Our beautiful princess is definitely the right match." She adds and Helen nods in agreement.

I don't know why I feel a pang of envy. 

I need to remind myself that I came here to help Princess Lyna win the contest and become the bride of the angel kings. 

She is the beautiful princess, they will love every piece of her. 

I walk to the bed at the corner and lay down, tomorrow Princess Lyna's tests will begin, and she will of course be expecting our help. I need to shake off the jealousy I suddenly feel.

* * * * * 

Conrad's Pov

"There is no way a servant girl can be our mate, you must have been hallucinating." My twin brother, Fenris, huffs in rage. 

"Such a misfortune would bring forth great shame upon our nobility. Let no one hear of this until we are certain that your senses were right." My second twin, Garren, states in a similar tone. 

I am not certain that the servant girl I met in our training grounds is our mate, her sweet scent was alluring but faint. I couldn't sense her wolf either. So she isn't just a lowly servant but a weak human as well. Not that I like werewolves much either. But I too cannot stomach the idea of being mated to such a weak, low life being. 

She must have thought I am crazy when I touched her hair. I had mistook her for a princess, but she turned out to be a servant of our newest contestant. 

I was the one that initiated the idea of a contest after we all got tired of waiting for our fated mate. Fenris had suggested that we pick one of the royal women from the neighbouring packs and make her our chosen mate. But none of us could agree on which one to pick, so we agreed on a contest for them to come here and undergo tests that will determine which one has all the virtues we imagined that our fated mate would have.

I know it sounds selfish to make them go through the humiliating tests, but we know that any of them would give up anything to be our queen. So a contest was actually the fairest way to pick the virtuous of them all.

Over the last four weeks, four Princesses have been tested, one after another, and none seemed to possess the right virtues. Our distant cousin Lady Doria said that there is hope that the Princess of Silverthorn will do better than the others since her application letter was the most impressive and hinted of rare wisdom. 

I hope that is the case, because we need to choose a noble, modest woman of royal blood and make her our queen before anyone learns that a lowly human servant might be our mate. 

"If she is human we cannot be sure of the mate bond until the day of the full moon. It's only two days away, so let no one know about this until then. We can reject her secretly and move on with the contest if it turns that there is indeed a mate bond." Garren suggests and the rest of us nod in agreement.