The King's Possession ✔️

EPILOGUE

Eight days later.

I stare out the window, but see nothing but my own face staring back at me.

The nights here in the Azure Province are long and cold, snow falling ever since we arrived a few days ago. We decided this would be the best place to flee to, hidden in the back of a freight train that Tai smuggled us onto. We almost didn't survive the cold, but we had both agreed this Province would be the last place Marek would look.

It's too obvious.

The door opens from behind me, the heavy wood creaking on it's metal joints. Glancing over my shoulder, I watch Tai walk in, wearing the ons woolen coat we were able to buy at a small price from a lady who also guided us to this abandoned cabin. She didn't ask any questions, despite all the blood dried on my person.

"This should be enough wood for tonight," Tai notes, breath billowing around him as he kicks his shoes against the door frame, sending stray snow dancing about. "A blizzards setting in."

I note the pile of wood in his hands, wrapping my cardigan around myself more. When we first arrived we had nothing more than the clothes on our back. Yesterday I braved the cold to search for a job in the local village, just down the hill from our old, abandoned cottage, and managed to be successful. A clothes washing service decided I was worthy enough. After my first shift today I managed to take home a few spare items that hadn't been collected in weeks. No one working there seemed to mind.

"Will this place even stand up against it?" I ask uneasily, looking up at the supporting beams that already creak in protest to the rising winds outside.

Tai dumps some extra logs of wood by the fire, dusting himself off. "It should be fine."

I haven't had time to sit down and think about our reality since we arrived. We've done so much running, felt so much fear...Now that we are far enough away to feel safe, I'm consumed with nothing but numbness. I figure the anger, the shock will sink in later, when my mind and body are ready to embrace it. But right now, I don't want to admit that I've trusted all the wrong people, I've allowed myself to be completely manipulated.

"We haven't talked much...About what's next," I say softly, watching Tai prod the fire gently, staring into it. The betrayal on my end doesn't compare to his. Vaia, his own sister has taken away his throne, his entire life.

"A need a week or so to recover, to wrap my head around it all and find a solution," he sighs, glancing at me. The golden light of the fire plays in the darkness of his pupils, the green surrounding it muted and cold, enough to match our cruel surroundings.

I bite the edge of my lip, careful with my next words. "We need to get to your father."

"He will have been alerted and will be dealing with it, hopefully," Tai murmurs, although his skepticism doesn't glide by so easily. It's quite possible his father will be unbothered by this event. "But yes, you're right."

Tai finally sits back, resting on the wooden floor. Everything about him that was once defined by his role as King has vanished. His attire suits that of a commoner, his hair an unruly mess of curls, skin sallow and tinted with shadows, especially around his eyes. Yet he remains determined, unflinching. I doubt this has done much more than shaken him; we will get through this in time.

"Right now we should wait. They will be hunting us," I comment. Tai has also been looking for work, to gather enough money for us to survive out here. He hasn't been as lucky as I have been on that front.

"I won't let them hurt you," he says darkly, the intensity of his gaze making me shudder. "I made that mistake once."

"Do you think they will send Marek to hunt us?" I ask, although I already know the answer.