ARGH!BASTARD!"How could you bringitinto my territory?" Rorin tilts his head, confused as he tries to put together what information I'm demanding. I heave out a long sigh, "how could you bringherinto my territory?" His smirk melts off his face."Not feeling so smug now, are we?"I bark into his mind, his pupils dilating at the sudden intrusion.
"Who told you?" He grits out.
I cock my head to the right, a cynical laugh escaping my lips as I pull my Wield back. His knees instantly give, a hand throwing out a hand to stabilize himself against the wall before he ends up on the floor. He rubs at the red mark already blooming across his throat, while I dust my hands off.
“The better question would be, why didn’tyoutell me?” Rorin looks up at me from his prone position. His hair, now cropped, no longer hangs in front of those piercing hazel eyes, allowing me to see every emotion that flickers through his face. And right now? Right now, he looks guilty.
I step away from him and stride over to the passageway door.
“Eveera.” He calls, and I tilt my head over my shoulder.
“Are you coming? Or are you no longer desperate to spend time alone with me?” He gives me a pained look and falls into step behind me.
The dungeons were a far cry from spacious, so I had the princess moved up to my Room.
Her fear permeated the air of the passageways the closer we got to the exit, and a chill ran down my spine.
"Eveera," Rorin warns as he takes in the sight of the princess sitting in the center of the room.
"Buh buh buh." I chide, cutting off his argument. My nails find the spot I’d scratched raw earlier, my Wield writhing underneath the thin layer of skin. "I want to know how you managed to put me in this position — put mykingdomin this position."
He lets out a resigned sigh, his heavy footsteps echoing with his strides toward me. He sidles up to my left, bowing his head to my ear, "I didn't have a choice."
I angle my chin up, looking at him through my thick lashes, "you did, and you made it. But it was the wrong choice. Because now, you see, I am put in the most uncomfortable spot of having to make a different choice."
"And what would that be,Nightmare?" He whispers, his words pouring over me like salt on an open wound.
I grind my teeth together and snap my head back to the princess, "it’s simple. She’s a threat, and she must be put down, just as all the ones who’ve come before her.” The princess whimpers, and I turn sharply on my toe. His hand snaps out, wrapping around my bicep, and halting my pursuit towards the weapons table. “Let go of me.” I grit.
"We can't kill her yet." Rorin hisses.
"YET?!" Pruella sputters loudly, and I release a tendril, fastening it tightly around her chapped lips before staring back at him. His eyes are soft, that sad look returning to them.
"I can, but try and tell me again that I can't do something in my own home." I snap.
"Eveera, she's our leverage. We can't." I let out a strangled laugh, his grip growing lighter, his thumb rubbing circles on the inside of my arm.
"Is she now? Will you force her into a marriage next, then?"
His brows crinkle together, "what?"
"I was your leverage the last time we were together, remember? And now look at us."
Rorin’s eyes flash with hurt, and a cruel grin spreads across his cheeks. He drops my arm like I've burned him, both hands forming fists at his sides."Let her go, Eveera. We have more important matters to deal with than your need for play."
I turn back to the stricken princess and drop the tendril from her mouth. She gasps in a few obnoxious breaths while I walk around her, unlocking the leather straps binding her wrists and ankles. When they fall, she sucks in a deep breath, her body falling off the stool a nd onto the floor. "Up," I demand, and she looks upwards at me. For the first time, I see a new emotion on her face other than devotion or terror.
This time, I seehate.
I pull her up by her collar and shove her forward. "Where are you taking me now?" She squeaks out, her voice trying pitifully to sound confident.
"We have dinner."
“Millicent.” She hums in response, too busy plaiting her blonde hair loosely down her back, to look up right away at the sound of my voice. “Millieeeee.” I sing out, her green eyes finally lifting. Her head snaps around when she realizes it’s not just me – but the princessandme reflecting in her mirror.
Her head whips around, mouth opening and closing several times as I run her through my plan, and why that plan includes who I’ve brought to her.
“I– uhm…” Millie sputters, pushing up from the bench so fast that it topples over. “Sorry,”
