The King's Possession ✔️

FIFTY

Word Count: 2493

I'm going to go home.

Hours have passed since I spoke to Marek, since I saw what he was doing under Tai's demands. I've been pacing back in forth in my room since, wondering if I should bother packing the clothing Tai's people have brought from nearby villages. I don't want a reminder of this place once I leave...Even if I don't know where to go yet.

I haven't changed, my clothing and hair still wet when I decide want my plan moving forward is.

I need to get away, but quickly. If I tell Tai I'm leaving, he will surely allow it, although will attempt to convince me out of it. So I'm going to steal his band, the one that can transport a human from place to place with a single thought. I'm assuming he has fixed it, as I've seen him wearing it since. Once I get a hold if it, I will go home, and hopefully convince my family to move away with me, so we cannot be tracked down.

Even by Marek.

My eyes have threatened to spill tears since the moment I came to this decision. I'm acting on a whim, on anger that I've yet to sit down and comprehend. Yet I know this place is so deeply corrupt and not want I desire to be involved in, so I should leave before I no longer can.

Once I leave, Marek will leave, and hopefully I will find him again, once I have calmed down. At least this is what I'm justifying to myself as I pace down the hallway, down the hallway into the main entrance hall, and up another flight of stairs towards Tai's wing.

If my predictions are correctly, he will be having a meeting with some royal advisors like he does most nights. Recently secret meetings and discussions have been taking up a lot of Tai's time, so I'm not concerned about being caught.

No one is near the entrance to his quarters when I arrive, and sure enough, they aren't locked. I've been here before, yet as I slip into the main living area, the sheer decadence of it all catches me off guard.

I don't waste any time, slipping in through his door, stalking straight to his dark wood nightstands.

My hands shake uneasily, flashing images of dead Tani in a pile fuel my anger, pushing down any second thoughts that dare convince me out of this. If Tai is okay with killing innocent creatures like this, knowing the repercussions on nearby populations, then I want nothing more to do with this life.

I open the drawer, I sort through odd pieces of paper and what looks like a diary, avoiding it all. I'm not here to invade his privacy anymore than I already am, even if I despise him.

Nothing. No band.

Pacing around the bed, I check the other drawer, also finding nothing. This late at night he wouldn't be wearing the band. I only know that because whenever we have dinner together, his band is always off, and the hour has ticked way past that.

Sure enough, the silver band sits upon a small wooden block covered in satin. I grin, grabbing a hold of it tightly. Last time I touched it, it had burnt me, but now it's icy cold, heavier in my hand than I imagined. Seeing it makes me realise how intelligent Tai really is, how adept with his skills he is to have created such a thing.

"What are you doing?"

I freeze, just as I was pulling my hands from the drawer.. Tai's warm voice invades my senses, forcing me to turn around and face him, trying to not look meek and embarrassed, even if I feel my cheeks heating. The band remains tucked in my fist, hidden behind my back.

"I was...looking for you," I stutter, inwardly cursing the weakness in my tone.

Tai blinks, looking me over. It's obvious he has been speaking to his royal delegates, those glittering silver rings adorning his fingers, his jacket a deep forest green, hugging his features handsomely. It's jarring, almost intimidating seeing him dressed like this after he's been recovering like any normal citizen.