He stood up and paced toward me rather quickly. Before I could process it, he took the dagger out of the sheath and placed it at my neck.
My eyes widened with shock. My back pressed against the couch as he cornered me against it, putting his foot on either side of my feet.
I felt weak in my knees, leaning back, longing for distance, and terrified.
“Don’t make me do amends in my good deeds, half-wife,” he said, clenching his jaw, his voice low, bringing tears of fear into my eyes.
“Don’t call me that.” Yet, I stood firm on my ground. He couldn’t call me that.
His eyes softened, and his gaze followed the tear rolling down my cheek. He lowered the dagger from my neck and said slowly, shaking his head,“Please… leave.”
His words chilled me as if an ocean wave had hit me hard. Freezing me.
I stepped back with a promise to myself and turned my head away from him.
I’m never going to see him again.
I left his chamber, wiping a tear from my cheek.
Why did I go to him? I should’ve seen it coming. He was the prince, and I was just a maid.
I was becoming a problem in his marriage. What was wrong with me? I ran to my room and wrapped myself in the comforter.
Why was I even crying? I tried to focus on my breathing and think about how to avoid him in the future. I didn’t understand why I always seemed to sleep better after crying.
?????
4. Agastya
This couldn’t happen.
The past she had suffered and survived couldn’t become her future.
Putting the dagger back in the sheath, I stared blankly at the cold food. She knew so much about me.
Her words were deceptive, but her eyes revealed the entire story.
When I caught her staring at me with wide, innocent eyes, I felt overwhelmed by the growing sense of duty beyond mere protection.
A part of me felt responsible for her happiness as well. At one moment, I sensed her eyes searching for a man more than a saviour in me, but at another, she seamlessly reminded me of my sins.
I sat, holding my face in my palms. I shouldn’t have pointed a dagger at her neck. My anger heightened her fear.
But I couldn’t stop myself when she wanted to be with me, hear me, and watch me, and then brought up how I’m cheating on my fiancée.
No.
This shouldn’t have happened, and it won’t happen.
I had to stay away from her. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to fight my enemies or keep my promises to myself.
Stay away from women.
?????
It had been three days since we last talked, and things had heated up. I couldn’t shake off the flashes of her face. Her eyes pooled with tears, her shaky breaths, the sound of her heartbeats—it all added up to my growing insanity.
And the more I tried to avoid her, the closer I was drawn to her.
