The King's Obsession ✔️

NINE

Word Count: 1545

~Akara

I stare coldly at the door I once never thought twice about.

Months ago, I never insisted on going into Tai's workshop. It wasn't because I wasn't interested in what he was doing, I just wanted him to have a place where he could be alone and do what he was best at. At that time, I never knew he could be hiding something from me in there.

"Ready to go in?" Marek asks.

He stands quietly beside me, having let stand and stare wordlessly at the door for the past couple minutes. Not once has he pushed me, knowing this is a process.

I may be walking into this room and ruining my perception of Tai forever.

"Of course," I mutter, pushing the door open.

Vaia clearly didn't make it here, because everything is perfectly preserved. Some sick part of me wanted it to be trashed, so that if anything was in there that may reveal a dark past of Tai's, or maybe some demented plans, it would be gone.

"What's wrong with your finger?" Marek asks as we wander in.

Looking down, I realise I've been twisting my ring in circles around my finger. Silver flakes cover my finger around the ring, which I shake off quickly.

"Oh, nothing, it's just this ring Tai gave me is starting to erode."

Marek frowns, grabbing my hand so he can examine the ring intently. It was made only a few feet from us, a gift from Tai to prove our love. And the inscription now wearing off encouraged me to trust in him, but now, it's getting harder to do that. The table it was made on is scattered with paper and unfinished projects.

"It's been through a lot recently, it's likely made out of bad material," he murmurs, pulling away. He's biting down a harsher remark, a storm gathering in his eyes. He hates that Tai was the one who made me this, which translates to that he hates that him and I were ever in love to begin with.

"Shall we look around?" I ask quickly, turning my attention to the rest of the room. Nakoa and Zavian come in after us, starting with all the paper scattered about.

The more I look, the quicker I realise the papers don't depict anything out of the ordinary. They are mostly scribblings of ideas and vague blueprints. Eventually, my gaze lifts to the small door at the edge of the room that I once tried to enter, but was encouraged away from it by Evolet.

Marek follows my gaze, his mouth falling into a grim line.

"Go ahead," I encourage.

Marek stalks towards the door, rearing back before kicking at it. At first, it doesn't budge, until the second kick, where the wood finally splinters, giving Marek a chance to weave his hand through the gap and unclick the lock from the other side.

"Stairs," Marek notes, motioning for me to come stand beside him. "I should go first, make sure there isn't any traps down here."

"Okay..." I breathe, peering down the dark stairwell, the end shaded enough that I can't see through it.

Marek tests the first step with the weight of his foot, before progressing slowly downward. Zavian and Nakoa come to stand next to me, looking down warily, both clearly having seen this for the first time right now. Thankfully Marek finds a switch, illuminating the place with enough light that a door at the bottom of the stairs is visible.

"Watch you're step, the wood is rotting in places," Marek warns as I make my way down, hand gliding over the dusty banister.

Once we have all picked our way carefully down the stairs, Marek tries the next door, which mercifully swings open with no hesitation, revealing yet another dark room. Zavian and I exchange wary glances, both knowing that whatever is down there, Tai felt as though he had to hide it from us all...