The King's Possession ✔️

TWENTY

Word Count: 2026

Dusk has turned to night, moonlight bleeding in through my gauzy curtains.

I haven't been able to find sleep. My mind is clouded with the events of the day; of Tai and the Nobles and their lethal boredom. But Marek takes the top spot for why I can't sleep. His eyes, deep and threatening, bluer than the ocean, and colder than ice. He wouldn't have killed me today, even if Evolet held a knife to his throat herself.

A thought glides into my mind, persistent as ever.

Swinging my bare legs from my bed, I hunt around for a shawl to wrap over my shoulders. It's a balmy night, the heady scent of the forest stalking around the room, leaving senses heightened. I'm going to do this; I need to see him.

My anger toward Tai and Marek has reduced slightly, as I allowed myself to stop and properly considering their motives. Both were to put on a front, to appear as someone they are not. Thankfully Tai released Marek from the prison, despite what Evolet may say.

I'm careful in my walk to Marek's room, footsteps soaked up by the plush carpet beneath my feet, dwelling in the shadows until I reach his door. I'm not worried about being caught. If Tai is truly apologetic about tonight, then he will be far less likely to punish us.

And it's not like I'm coming to his room for licentious matters.

He answers the door almost immediately, indigo tinted moonlight greeting me along with a very naked torso. Despite the strange hues drifting around his room from the moonlight, I can still see the vicious purple ebony shadows that stain the right side of his ribcage. I figured he had been hit beneath his clothes, but just seeing the extent of his bruises again makes my stomach turn over uneasily.

Despite this, they seem to be healing rapidly, the swelling almost completely vanished at this point. Even the pigment of his bruises are fading at a rate not many people could keep up with.

"How are you feeling?" I ask softly, heat gathering in my cheeks as I realise how strange it must be for me to show up at his door at this hour. He must have been close to sleep, his bronze strands mussed around his forehead, hiding part of his marking, his cheeks flushed. And his wholly bare torso, which takes all my self-control to not even glance at.

He looks behind me, leaning imperceptibly closer, his pine and cinnamon scent washing voice me. "Akara...you shouldn't be here."

"I know. Let's go somewhere private," I offer. I need to speak to him, to share my experience of the day and vent about how much I hate it here, these people. And I want to know more, hear him justify why he had me pinned against the wall. "Someone spoke about a garden."

He chews on his lower lip, yet another movement to avoid concentrating on. The corners of my eyes betray me, as I note the taut muscles of his abdomen, a single tattoo which I can't decipher without looking straight at it creeps up to his ribcage and down to his hip, disappearing below the line of his pants.

"With the Noble's here, it will be heavily guarded," he warns warily.

"Do I look like I care right now?" I questions, brows raising as I lean against the door frame.

I'm in the mood to defy Tai, to test his control over me. Maybe he will have mercy on me and throw me into a prison to, so I don't have to face the realities of his court. I somehow doubt it though; perhaps Marek is right about me being in the King's favour.

"Your bravery is becoming of you. Let me put a shirt on," he comments, not bothering to close his doors as he disappears into the shadows of his room, rifling through a dresser that was likely filled as promptly as mine was. His room is smaller, however, having been moved from where it was that first night, to a quarters that are likely inhabited by others who work for Tai.