To Kiss a King

Chapter 3

A bright sun ray snuck its way through a crack in the curtains and laid across Fiora’s face.  Her eyes fluttered open and she turned over trying to avoid fully awakening. 

“I’ll do my chores later in the day. The farmers market is on Tuesday...what day is today?” She mumbled groggily.

“Today is Monday.” A deep voice startled Fiora into a sitting position. 

Standing over by the window was Rafael, his midnight black hair looked slightly disheveled  and there were dark bags under his eyes. 

Fiora merely stared at him, far too sleepy and too scared to raise her voice. 

“How are you this morning?” The sentence seemed foreign to him and he shifted uncomfortably avoiding Fiora’s gaze. 

“Well lets see...” Fiora began finally finding her voice and her anger. “I’ve been held prisoner in this horribly cold dank room. My mother is on the brink of death without me to tend to her-” 

Rafael turned to face her, his dark eyes flashing with anger and something else. 

“and...” She continued gaining momentum “the scum of the earth is standing in my presence. So I’m doing just wonderfully!” Fiora spat.

Rafael winced as if physically harmed by her harsh words.  

“How can you think so lowly of someone you do not even know!” 

“Well...King” Fiora acknowledged his title for the first time bitterly. “Actions speak louder than words.” 

He took a step towards her, his massive frame bulking up menacingly. 

“And these actions...these acts what are they?” 

Fiora turned her head sharply away. “A terrible war was waged...tearing families apart.” 

“Ahh so that’s what it was...you lost a lover in the war? That is why you hate me so?” Rafael growled putting an emphasis on the word lover.

“How dare you!” Fiora cried and flew out of bed to face him. 

“It was not a lover as you so disgustingly suggest! It was a stupid war you started all based upon your insatiable greed. Your soldiers ransacked our village daily, stole our only food, our only means of wealth, and raped our women. My mother is ailing because of you, because the only money we earned was used to pay for your war. All we could do was sell off our livestock.” She laughed bitterly. “Oh but most of our livestock was claimed by the king to feed his soldiers.”  

Angry tears began to glisten in her eyes. Rafael opened his mouth but a soft knock outside the door drew his attention.

A guard stepped in bowed then announced “My lord.” He graced Rafael’s side and whispered something into his ear. 

Rafael closed his eyes and his face looked pained. “Fiora...” He said softly in her direction.

“What...what is? What has happened?” She said hearty racing. 

“Your mother...has passed away.” Rafael said slowly eyes still closed bracing for impact. 

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All right I'm working on longer chapters from here on out! Things will start picking up very soon, I promise! :) 

Still sticking to uploading twice a day. As always leave feedback or any suggestions/requests you might have :D

Thanks <3