Russian Mystique (On Hold)

Mackenzie Kane was introduced to Xenia first and then to the two sons. She made an immediate impact with the young teen princes. The first year together, they spent time getting accustomed to each other.

When Val turned 14 and Nikita turned 13, another attempted kidnapping happened.


Nikita ran a hand down his face as he looked out the window of his room in the castle. He scanned the buildings of the village, as he did every morning. Like clockwork, he woke at 8:30am and got himself some breakfast. Some days it was pancakes, other days it was waffles and other times it was a meal. He sighed as he looked down at the small figures on the dirt street, too busy with their own lives to notice anyone watching.

He went to dress in his clothes for his morning run. Val joined him.

Nikita’s life had been run from the very beginning by his parents and the fact that he was royalty. It was nice to get out of the castle and since his childhood accident, he and Val remained close and were often escorted around the village by one of the palace guards. He had always complied with their wishes but it wasn't for the votes; he did it for his father's approval. Something he had never gained. No matter what he did, nothing seemed to be enough.

Nikita met up with Val and they warmed up with stretches. When they felt stretched enough, the two boys started into a slow jog. The cold air pierced their lungs and their brow furrowed as they tried to ignore the freezing bite of winter on their faces.

As they could toward the outermost part of the village, Nikita heard a second pair of footfalls behind him. He turned his head slightly and looked behind him with his peripheral vision. A tall man dressed in black jogged behind him. Something felt off to the young prince, so without placing attention on himself, he turned to his half-brother, Val. The two continued on, following the trail over a bridge and Nikita noticed another man, dressed in black karate pants and a royal blue sweater, fell in behind him next to the other.

Nikita felt his breathing pick up and not from his exercise. His gut was telling him to get out of there quickly. He stopped suddenly and carefully watched the men pass by him down the trail. He laughed at himself when he saw that they really were just joggers. Val had stopped as well, looking at him with bewilderment. He decided he had enough exercise for one day and turned to Val.

“Good?”

“Yeah, good. Let’s get back to the castle.”

“Everything okay, Niki?”

“I’m fine, Val. I’m just feeling a little anxious today.”

“I can see that. It’s alright though, we shall go back.”

They turned around and began their way back to the castle, when Nikita felt himself get grabbed roughly from behind and shoved in a different direction. He started to struggle. It was the two men that had been behind him earlier who harshly yanked him toward a carriage.

Val was on the ground, screaming in agony. The two guards were missing. Everything was off. Val scrambled to his feet, recovering from what had happened to him.

"Get off me!" Nikita shouted.

"Shut up!" the one in black spitted.

Nikita continued to struggle and began yelling for help. “RUSSIAN MYSTIQUE!! RUSS--” A gloved hand clamped over his mouth as he continued to struggle and pull at the grips on him. He was pinned against the carriage, but before he could be forced inside, Val recovered and darted to the rescue.

Val pulled at the arms of the men, trying his best to get them off. He was soon whacked in the face by one of them. A thunderous thudding noise sounded.

“Let the boy go!” a snarl came.

Val blinked and backed up.

“And what are you gonna do about it, princess?”

The smoke cleared and Mackenzie darted forward from it. She leapt at the first man and slammed him against the carriage, jamming his head hard into the wooded exterior. Then she turned to the other, who stepped back with Nikita at knife point. The hand was still tightly clamped over the frightened boy’s mouth.

Mackenzie spun around and kicked at him, managing to miss Nikita. She let out fighting noises and then jumped into the air and flipped over the bad guy. She whipped around and clocked him over the head with a heeled booted foot. The man stumbled to the side, releasing Nikita, who darted to where Val was. Val wrapped his arms around him. Mackenzie kneed the man in the chin and then whipped out one of her small hand guns. She grabbed the man’s arm and flipped the gun in her hand, flashing it at him, as she managed to hold him in a headlock too.

“Who are you?” the man spat. He had a black, bruised eyes and was bleeding from a cut on his lip and forehead.

“Russian Mystique, and I’m not princess.” She jammed the barrel up against the man’s temple and clicked the trigger in place. “Now, here’s what’s gonna happen, you and your little friend are gonna leave here and never show your faces again...otherwise, I won’t hesitate to blow your brains sky high.”

Mackenzie removed the gun and sheathed it once more into his holster. The man nodded and scrambled off, scared. The other man was dazed, but joined his buddy. They got into the carriage. Val patted Nikita and they both stared at Mackenzie.

Nikita backed away from Val finally and took deep shaky breaths to calm himself. 'What just happened? I thought the kidnapping was done!'

The carriage sped away and the woman warrior came running back over to him, "Are you alright, Nikita?"

Nikita looked up at her wide-eyed and frantic. He attempted to control his fear as he nodded quickly. He took the woman's hand as it was offered to help him up. “Come on, let’s go back to the castle.”

“Thanks, Russian Mystique.”

“Please, call me Mackenzie.”

“Well, thank Mackenzie.”

The sixteen year old warrior princess smiled at them and led them back to the castle, rapidly. “I’m just doing my job, young prince. It’s nothing really.”

****

Two years later,

It was a dark night and there was a full moon in the sky. Nikita Zadorov was fast asleep in his bed. He was gripping the blankets in his hands and tossing and turning. He was having a nightmare.

Suddenly, he felt himself rocked still and his eyes flew open. "Go!" A woman’s voice shouted as the young prince was yanked from his bed and his arms were pinned behind his back and tied up. The woman pressed a rag to his face to knock him out, which didn’t knock him out at first, and then dragged him into the darkness of his room with some help.

Nikita’s muffled screams came from under the cloth, but he was soon carried to the window by the two new kidnappers. A third waited below on horseback.

"Alright," the woman whispered to him. "You're going to tell us all about your little secret power and its weakness and then we’re going to transfer it to ourselves."

The boy just stared at her and shook his head. She moved the cloth over Nikita’s nose and he felt back, unconscious.


Mackenzie was brought out of her dream, when she heard a deep male scream. She looked straight up at the ceiling and then kicked herself out of bed, snatching her gun up in the process. She headed in the direction of the scream, walking silently down the hallway. She saw the poor prince Nikita Zadorov, helplessly in the grasp of two female kidnappers, bound and unconscious. Nikita had been screaming in a muffled, high-pitched, female-like scream, it seemed. But he was unconscious now. A white cloth was on the ground…crap!

“Nikita, no!”

The woman leapt from the room, with the young prince. Mackenzie darted over to the window and looked out.

“So much for sleep. Don’t worry Nikita, I’m coming!” She stepped into the frame of the window and leapt out, landing on the ground with a somersault. She snapped her head up and darted after the kidnappers, who now wrapped a cloth around his head.

Mackenzie quickened her pace, however, she lost sight of the kidnappers around a corner.

After walking for another two blocks, Mackenzie peered around a corner and spotted a dark alleyway. As she walked closer, she could smell the fresh scent of the coffee the café served on the block.

However, one thing stopped the warrior princess in his tracks: Another scream. This time, it was shriller, more frightened, and manlier. Knowing that it wasn't muffled this time, reassured Mackenzie, who spun around to face the direction the scream was coming from, causing her to look into the alley. She darted forward, reaching for her two swords on her back, putting her gun away.

Instead of seeing a handsome young man bound, gagged and helpless, she saw a tall man in a uniform holding a knife to the throat of Nikita, who was kicking at him! A hood was covering the man's head. The two woman figures had their backs turned to Mackenzie.

"Keep it quiet, prince!" the man ordered. "I don't want anyone to hear you!”

But he was too late with the demand.

"What do you want with me?" the young prince asked, too scared to raise his voice. “I’m just Nikita Zadorov, please. Why do you people keep trying to kidnap me?”

"Because you possess great power in you," the man snickered. “And we want it.”

Mackenzie took immediate action. She rushed across the street, leapt into the air and landed a flying kick to the man's back. The man released his hostage, who backed against a wall.

The she grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close to his face. She looked the thug straight into the eyes.

"You fiend!" Mackenzie growled with a furious glare. "Trying to abduct a poor, helpless prince, who I was also chosen to protect to the death?!"

The warrior princess threw the thug against the wall opposite the one Nikita was backed against. The she started a barrage of punches to the thug's stomach, not giving him any chance to block or avoid.

"Impossible!" the thug shouted. "You CAN'T fight this well!"

“Think again! You're just a pathetic fighter!" Mackenzie taunted before throwing his foot into the thug's face.

The thug fell to the ground, defeated.

Mackenzie folded her arms and gave a triumphant smile, before it vanished and she spun around, whipping out her two swords from their cases. She swung them at the two women kidnappers and easily stabbed them. They both screamed in unison and crashed to the ground, bleeding out.

“Nikita, come here!” Mackenzie snapped, returning her swords to their spot.

Nikita scrambled over, but was halted in place by a hand gripping his ankle. “MACKENZIE!!” Nikita kicked frantically, as the thug guy recovered and was glowering with a wicked snicker.

Mackenzie saw the thug she had defeated, slowly getting to his feet once more. The man wiped away some blood and faced the princess.

“I can’t believe that I got beat by a princess.”

“Warrior princess!” Mackenzie snarled. “Let him go, or I’ll use the swords on you. Trust me, I’m being nice right now.”

The man took the threat and let go of Nikita. He darted off, heading in the opposite direction down the alleyway.

Mackenzie had to see if the young prince was alright. She turned to the victim, who was shaking and looking after the man, who was fleeing. "Are you alright?" she asked. “Are you hurt?”

"Y-Yes. I'm fine. I-I was just so scared. You’re remarkable! I can't thank y-" the woman replied.

Mackenzie smiled at him. “You’re safe. You’re always safe with Mackenzie Kane. Russian Mystique too. I won’t let anyone kidnap you or hurt you! Promise.”

Nikita nodded.

They walked back to the palace and Mackenzie helped Nikita back to his room. She stayed with him the remainder of the night, keeping watch over him.

“Don’t be afraid Nikita,” the princess whispered to him as he closed his eyes and fell back asleep, smiling.

Notes

Mackenzie Kane to the rescue!!


Next up: Nikita learns some defensive moves from Russian Mystique