The King's Possession ✔️

TWENTY FOUR

Word Count: 1988

My midnight snack run has become quite the common occurrence.

Padding down the stairwell, I let the thick rug beneath my feet soak up any sound. No one is awake at this hour, giving me the perfect amount of time to slip into the kitchen and steal some sweet pastries. Tonight, it may be the only thing that gets me to sleep.

Moving down the hallway, fingertips gliding along the walls as I guide myself toward the kitchen, I notice a buttery glow dousing the area right outside Taius's downstairs office. He's awake, or one of his men are working.

Regardless, I'm going to risk a glance.

Holding tightly onto the doorframe, I lean in. Taius is sitting behind his desk, elbows propped up against the surface as his hands delve into the depths of his ebony curls. He stares into nothing but the glassy surface, seeing himself and those green eyes swirling with turmoil.

"I'm glad the Noble's have left," I say quietly to avoid frightening him.

He glances upward, drinking in the sight of me as I do the same to him. His exhaustion is evident in the dark stains under his eyes, in the tired way they regard me. Gone is the powerful, controlled King who needed to appear that way for a few Noble's. Before me, is a man, stripped down to his barest, truest form.

"To gossip to my father, no less," he replies, swirling a red liquid around a crystal glass, transfixed by the way it leaves a glossy stain before vanishing. How much has he had to drink?

"It's your fault if they do," I whisper, stalking into the room. The door shutters closed behind me, caught on an icy wind from a window left open at the other side of his office. It's a small space, which explains why it's so deathly cold in here.

I hardly notice his reply as I pull the window shut. "I'm sorry. I truly am."

"Take it back then. You don't actually have to go along with this," I breathe, whirling around to face him with as much confidence as I can muster. Tai just stares at me blankly, lips parted as he breathes softly.

"What is done is done," he tells me slowly. "The Nobles will return with the news to my father. Angered about my choice to marry my mistress, he will come here, and I will kill him."

I nearly flinch at that word. Mistress.

Tai hasn't so much as looked at me sexually, let alone acted upon it.. Not once has he made it his intention to lure me into his room, either with seduction or with a King's irrefutable command. Thankfully I've been spared of the title so unceremoniously places upon me, however the alternative one I now carry is far more terrifying.

Being married to a King...A heavy, painful thought. What would it entail?

"And you decided to marry me on a whim, to kill your father on one?" I question. I'm not sure what would be worse; that, or he planned it in advance without consulting me...After knowing me less than a week.

He waves his hand around dismissively. "Yes. I suppose I've snapped."

"You could have snapped when Marek had a knife against my neck," I say with a far more vicious tone than I intended. He doesn't even blink.

"Indeed."

Loosening a breath in an attempt to calm myself, I wander toward the chair seated on the opposite side of his desk, sliding into its leather clutches. He's had too much to drink, and will likely be impossible to reason with, but it's worth all the energy I have.

"I can't stay here forever. You promised that at some point soon, I would be able to return home," I remind him.

He closes his eyes. "Things change."