The King's Obsession ✔️

THIRTY FIVE

Word Count: 1652

~Akara

"We should go down and-"

Tai grabs my arm, yanking me back from approaching the door. I yelp, wrestling out of his grip, frustrated. He has no shortage of guards who are downstairs, where something dramatic is clearly is happening.

"Are you insane, Akara? Were you not there for Vaia's rebellion?" he questions. I frown, rubbing where he had gripped me.

Of course I remember that night vividly. I nearly died at Vaia's hand, but whatever is happening downstairs feels different from that night. There can't possibly be another Rebellion, right? Vaia is safely locked up, and people are relieved the political uproar has finally settled with Tai returning to the throne.

"Yes, I know, but-"

"We need to hide. This could be anything," he says, glancing at the door anxiously. My eyes narrow, realising that this isn't coming out of nowhere. Tai isn't shocked at the estate being attacked again, having anticipated it, because he knows his new motivations have angered people.

"Anything? But what is it really?" I question, folding my arms over my chest. If I'm in more danger here than I would be as a free woman, Tai's entire façade would start to crumble.

He rubs the back of his neck, beginning to pace. "I have no idea. I didn't think I had enemies, considering Vaia is locked up..."

"We need to get down to the prisons and make sure she is still in there," I exclaim.

Wasting no time, hearing the chaos of whatever is going on downstairs starting to rise up toward us, I shuffle through Tai's closet, pulling out two long coats, tossing one to him. We need to get out of here, which means going into the cold night, with no guarantee we will step out of it for a while.

"You're right." Tai shrugs on the coat. "Let's go out my window."

We make out way carefully down the trellis plastered to the side of the wall, careful of the thorny vines that grow up it.

Outside, there are no guards...in fact, it's eerily quiet. Whoever is taking over the estate, they are doing a methodical job about it. It's so disturbing, not knowing what is going on in there, while knowing we can't intervene without risking our own lives.

Even more disturbingly, there are no guards present outside the prison, or within, as we go down to Vaia's level.

The guards are gone entirely...Are they all inside, or have they completely left?

Vaia, however, is sitting in her cell, chewing on her fingernails. I nearly collapse in relief upon seeing her. Part of me suspected she was behind all this, and was staging it to get herself out of the prison.

She immediately scrambles to her feet. "What the hell is going on?"

Tai leans against the metal bars. "You tell us..."

"Me? You think this has to do with me? I've been stuck in here for weeks," she snaps. She appears genuinely irritated as well. I would feel bad for her, if she didn't do this to herself. And although she is the last person who can be trusted, I actually feel as though I can believe her. Were she related to this, she would have been out of this prison in an instant.

Tai narrows his eyes. "Liar."

"I'm not lying," she seethes.

"We need to flee, at least until we know what's going on," I say, drawing both of their attention to me. Vaia regards me like I make her physically sick. She tried to kill me, and almost succeeded, so I have no interest in playing nice with her.