"The king also requested that you bring your newly chosen bodyguard," the servant spoke with his head down in submission. Adrion's jaw ticked and he then nodded stiffly. My heart made a dangerous thud.
Dear gods, no.
And then a sound from far echoed in the great space we stood in. Soft, heeled steps patted against the red carpeted floor. It was a young woman.
Beautiful, in a stunning white dress with purple flower prints that flowed around her. She looked at the group of us until her eyes landed on the prince. The beautiful woman gasped and rushed forward to jump into the prince's arms. He caught her immediately and hugged her into him. He didn't push her away... Did not scowl as she pushed her face into his neck and inhaled his scent. Did not smirk or chuckle. He simply held her. He looked relieved and... even peaceful. Like he needed this. Needed her. The girl with dark chocolate hair sank further into his arms and then whispered his name softly.
"Adrion."
My heart was frozen as I watched her pull back a slight and look into his eyes. Her doe like blue eyes looked innocently at him. I wanted to claw out the beating organ in my chest when he said her name like a prayer, "Izlana." She then pulled his cheek close and kissed him. Softly, slowly, carefully—nearly delicately. Like being burnt by a hot stove, my eyes immediately shifted and my whole body turned away in...what? Was it discomfort?Did discomfort feel like my bowels were churning and moving up to my chest. It had to be some ache I had acquired from the long travel.
It had to be.
Someone moved beside me from the corner of my eyes, and when I looked up I saw Inanov. He caught my eyes and nodded me toward him, where we moved away from the reunited couple.
"Hulin and Akiel will show Red to his quarters. You however, will be based in the royal wing of the castle," he spoke casually. I looked forward and nodded silently, feeling heated with embarrassment and... ashamed. That I had even let the prince kiss me when there was a lovesick woman waiting here for him. They both looked so... infatuated.
"Are you alright?" he whispered the question so quietly I had almost thought it was my imagination, but when I met his eyes, I knew my ears had not fooled me.
"I'm fine. Just tired." It was almost the truth. I was exhausted and just needed to block out the damned blinding sun and submit to mind numbing slumber. Inanov narrowed his eyes at me as if not fully believing me. We passed various paintings nailed on the golden halls of the royal wing. Each painting depicts a story or rather... history. The sun. Apollo. The ancestors of the Gideons. And lastly. A large painting of red, destructive cruel eyes. His ears slightly curved and cruel mouth straight. The frame was gleaming and gilded in glory, shining like how the sun shone. My body stiffened and turned to stone when I gazed at the painting of the king.
"You will meet him soon enough." Inanov looked at the painting with a thoughtful look. His expression different from mine, no doubt because he had become accustomed to the look of the painting. "He looks much more... threatening in person."
"That helps," I muttered and blew out a breath of nerves. After what seemed like minutes of walking through the maze-like halls of the royal wing, we finally came to a dead stop in front of a white door with gold engravings. "Thank you for showing me to the room." I touched the golden handle ready to open it and throw myself into the possibly too soft mattress.
"Your room," he answered. I looked at him in confusion. "You said 'the' room. It's your room. Your official room as the prince's bodyguard, set up for you before you had even been chosen. Look at the engraving on the door." He motioned his head.
Royal Guard.The gold fancy writing read.
"Myroom," I answered with little emotion.
"Your room until your service is over," Inanov answered softly and looked into my eyes. Inanov was unconventionally attractive with his charming dark eyes and his hard features. He looked atme differently... As if he cared and wanted to know more of what I thought of being stationed here.
"I apologise if your heart fell for the pretty words of my prince." His words stung, but he was sincere in his apology.
"His words never mattered. They were just... simply... words," I answered emotionlessly and yet my eyes were on fire and I was scared that if I blinked, a tear might just escape. Inanov's hand moved and to my surprise reached for my palm where he squeezed in what seemed to be his way of comfort. The usually quiet and grumpy guard actually felt bad for me. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. I had always known Inanov had a somewhat caring heart, but he was difficult to read. The air around us changed slightly when he looked down at my lips before he pulled himself away.
He cleared his throat. "I will send someone to fetch you for dinner so that you don't get lost."
And before I could ask if it was possible to actually skip dinner completely, he was gone, walking away briskly. I sighed, turning to my door, listening to his footsteps become softer and softer. I stepped into the lavish, overly done room. There was a large plush bed, a balcony overlooking the horizon, and a golden washroom that went with the overall theme of the castle. There was a white wooden desk and chair stationed with unwritten papers as well as a dresser, that upon inspection was filled with rich material trousers, shirts, and armour. There weren't many womanly items around which led me to realise that this room was meant for a male bodyguard. It made all the more sense why the soldiers at camp and especially the war general looked at me like I had a disease. I was a woman standing in a place a great man should have been.
My body stiffened and I held in a groan of frustration while discarding the armour I was glad to get off. A letter from underneath my armour fell to the ground. The letter from Fala...
I picked it up and squeezed it in its folded state. My final and only source of hope. The promise that the letter held of seeing my family.
Chapter 44
Lady Ferway
The royals of Darkness were the strongest beings on Terran to have ruled from recent history. They guarded the prison in Duvessa under the Night Ster Mountains that was rumoured to be the lock and key to the force-field in the Corvus. Without them, we will forever be doomed.
Notes from Avallen Leemaya's journal, Priestess of the Kingdom of Darkness.
Iwallowed in my misery in the golden bathtub that made my skin look like a rich bronze shimmer. My chest felt tight and my brain wouldn't allow me to relax even when I dunked more sage salts into the still water. There seemed to be no remedy for the anxiety of the dinner that awaited me.
Every time I close my eyes, I see the Izlana kissing the prince, the soft delicate way that only a woman desperately in love shows.
And whenever I submerged my head into the water, I saw the haunting red eyes from the painting of the king. My chest constricted tighter.
