The King's Possession ✔️

FORTY ONE

Word Count: 1869

Tai leads me from the ballroom, the gazes of those still inside dancing following us.

He doesn't reveal any of his plans until we are out in a foyer, the great expanse of the room making me feel small, the thin fabric of my dress allowing an icy breeze to crawl through it to kiss my skin. I haven't been to this part of the manor, although the grandeur of it suggests it's only for the most prestige's guests. 

Tai pauses in the middle of the foyer, a pine scented breeze coming through the open windows and us ruffling at his loose curls. He looks at me with an impassive expression, trying to reign in what might reveal whatever this surprise is. When he looks over his shoulder, I turn around, seeing what has caught his attention.

It's my mother.

It's strange seeing her like this, in such a lavish place when she raised me with such modest means. She worked as a teacher, while my father was always a soldier, so we weren't exactly impoverished, although definitely not having the scale of wealth Tai has. Yet here she is, wearing a simple dark green dress, clearly not here to indulge in the festivities. 

Immediately a smile erupts onto my face as I dash toward her. "Mother, you're here."

Before I have a chance to clasp her close, to breathe in her familiar scent while my emotions overwhelm me, realising how much I've missed her, she strikes me in the face with the back of her hand.

The physical pain that streaks through me isn't comparable to the shock and dismay that floods my senses, my hands coming up to cradle my cheek while I try to fathom what just happened. When I pull myself back up, the familiar features of my mother are contorted in rage as she regards me as though I'm the most disgusting thing she has laid eyes on.

"You have disgraced your family," she growls lowly, the sound turning my blood cold. I'm speechless; unsure of what to say, how to make sense of what is happening right now. My mother has slapped me when she otherwise hasn't laid a single hand on me in my life.

"I...I-"

"You disbelieve. You expect me to welcome you when you allow one man to sway your opinions," she snaps, taking a step backward as if being close to me utterly disgusts her. "And here I was thinking you were so much better than that."

"Mother...what are you talking about? Of course I believe," I tell him softly, my voice shaking uneasily. As I say that, the words taste sour on my tongue, as if I'm lying to her. Of course I am...I plan to have the Beast killed for what it has done, and yet I'm trying to convince my devout mother that not much has changed.

Her dark eyes narrow. "Rumours spread, Akara. You have done nothing but shame our family."

I blink, considering where these rumours have spread from. Perhaps it was the man we tried to get information from to leave here that has contact with my village, although that seems unlikely. It must be a servant here, someone who overheard and it trying to ruin my life...Right?

"How can you say that? I was kidnapped, and then forced to be here. I'm marrying a King, mother, can you not give me a break?" I question, motioning around myself. By the rolling of her eyes, it's painfully apparent she doesn't see how drastically my life has changed over the past few months. Of course my beliefs in life would begin to mould and change shape.

Tai still lingers behind me, thankfully having enough respect to not intervene despite my mother's sour reception to me. I can't imagine what his expression depicts right now.

She looks over me. "I thought I taught you that even in the hardest times, you look toward your Tani first."

"I want to believe, I want to have faith," I find myself saying, blinking at tears welling up in my eyes, spilling out down my cheeks uncontrollably. "But how can I, when more and more people are revealing how cruel the Beast is?"