The Rightful Queen

Twenty-three

I had been avoiding Zain and Feras since the training session and I didn't know how to face them. I had already formed a lie in my head for the reason behind why I freaked out, but it was no longer about the lie. I was in a war against myself. I was such a disappointment to my parents. My uncle had been preparing me for that moment. I had been pushing myself to avenge my parents, but I foolishly fell for my enemy. I fell for Zain.

"What has gotten into you?" I jumped upon hearing my uncle's voice. I had been sitting on my balcony for God knows how long.

"What's wrong?" I decided to play dump. I had been avoiding everyone, desiring nothing but pure isolation. I wanted to hide from everyone. Maybe if I limited my contact with people I would stop my heart from softening. I hadn't even talked to Mayan during those two days.

"You have been staying in your chamber, refusing to get out. Zain has asked about you more than once and he even mentioned to me what happened at the training session you said nothing about." I was in no mood for questioning. I had enough on my plate. If he found out about my thoughts and feelings, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me with a blatant knife.

"I'm testing him," I lied. I was testing myself. I was testing how long I could endure without him.

"Elaborate," Laith ordered.

"I feigned that panic attack during the training session, then I decided to disappear for a couple of days to see how he would react. I want to know how much he cares about me." It was so easy to lie to my uncle, the man who raised and trained me, yet I couldn't do that to Zain.

"Why was he training you in the first place?" More questions that I had no energy to answer.

"I showed interest in the idea of knowing how to defend myself and he said he would love to teach me." Another lie.

"All right. Don't keep him waiting for long though. We don't want him to lose interest," Laith said and I just nodded. I glanced at him for a moment and frowned when I did not see him in his sleepwear.

"Are you going out now?" I asked, suddenly giving him my attention.

"No, just taking a walk in the gardens. Have a good night." The way he walked quickly out of my chamber had me intrigued. Where was this man going at such an hour? It was almost midnight.

Something felt off. I stayed on the balcony for a while, trying to get a glimpse of him, but I couldn't. He was nowhere to be seen. My balcony overlooked the whole backyard and if he was taking a walk, I would have seen him.

My uncle was lying.

Where did he go?

I had not been paying him too much attention lately as I had been focusing on my relationship with Zain. I didn't think that he would be planning something, but I believe I was wrong. Laith was a cunning man with great abilities and nobody should ever underestimate him. He was manipulative and could toy with anyone's thoughts. I had seen him digging his poisonous fangs in the mind of a Lord to turn him against his lifelong best friend and he succeeded to end their friendship.

I had seen how kind he was among those he was fond of and how vicious he was among those he hated. I had seen a lot that was enough to make anyone fear him. Enough to make me fear him. Although he did manage to scare me from time to time, I still had some courage left in me. I still knew how to hold my ground in front of him.

That night, I stayed awake until I heard the door to our suite being opened. It was three in the morning. Had he been walking for three hours? Something wasn't right. Laith was hiding something and I was surely going to find out what he was keeping from me. 

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Do you trust Laith? 

Published on August 5th, 2022

Sara