The Lonely God

40.

HER-

I lie in the darkness by his side. After I cried in his arms, we retired to bed. He seems to be fast asleep beside me. One of his strong and heavy arms is draped around my waist as if to make sure I am by his side. I am lying on my side while his front is pressed against my back. His nose is buried in my hair.

"Where are you going?" He asks sharply when I try to move his arm away.

"I... uh, I want to pee," I tell him and he sighs before he rolls over and rubs his face. I get up from the bed and head to the washroom. I could have sneaked out of his room and wandered this huge place if he were asleep.

When I step out of the washroom, I find him sitting on the bed looking at me. His eyes are half open and his hair is messed up. He somehow manages to look devastatingly handsome in his pajamas. I fight back the urge to crawl into the bed and snuggle into his lap.

"You're not sleepy," He says as he rubs his face once again and looks at me closely. I nod at him.

"Can I go to the library?" I ask him while batting my eyelashes at him and giving him an innocent look. I really want to sneak out and roam endlessly in this palace. He narrows his eyes at me before speaking, "I'll go with you,"

I huff in disappointment as he carries me through the dark corridors to the library. He's holding my hand all the time to make sure I don't run away. He looks really tired and sleepy. I am just dragging him out of his bed.

"You can go back if you're sleepy,"

"No," He growls and I roll my eyes. Is he going to follow me everywhere like this from now?

When we reach the library, he lights the torches up before having a seat at the grand table. I disappear behind the bookshelves instantly. I want to know more about Arles. I try to search for book related to him but surprisingly there are no books on him.

I peek behind a bookshelf to look at him. His head is resting on the table. He's really sleepy. I remember that he was away last night. I take out the book promising to feed me information related to the era when Arles rose to power.

He raises his head to look at me once when I take a seat beside him. He holds one of my hands before drifting back to sleep. Sparks dance on my skin where he's holding my hand. It's kind of making it hard for me to concentrate but I read anyway.

I don't find any relevant information about Arles in the book either so I give up. I look at him sleeping. I want to know about him so badly. What made him like this? My curiosity has escalated to a new level after he told me that Zair was his half-brother. What's the story behind him?

I could ask him and he might tell me everything but I want to find things out myself. I remember Archander told me to find things about him myself rather than asking him to tell me about him.

"Are you asleep?" I ask after a period of time. I am still not sleepy and bored. He hums. His deep and sexy voice makes the butterflies in my stomach flap their wings angrily. He raises his head and looks at me.

"You're still not sleepy?" He asks me instead. I shake my head while I bite back a yawn. He sighs before getting up.

"Are you hungry?" He asks me. My stomach growls at the thought of food so I nod hungrily. He nods dreamily before tugging my hand and taking me to the kitchen. The grand kitchen is deserted when we enter it. "Take whatever you want," he says while waving his hand towards huge shelves full of jars of snacks.

"What's that?" I ask while pointing towards a jar filled with something chocolatey. Since its placed way above my reach, I'll need him to get it for me.