A chuckle tickles the back of my neck. "Oh really? Try asking that Sam of yours what he has been up to over the past couple of days while your prince has been keeping watch of the border. Or better yet ask him what his motivations were for joining the king's guard."
How does this man know about Sam?"He has told me that before. He wanted to serve his kingdom."
"He is not even from Tikilium, if he wanted to serve his kingdom he would come back to it."
My brows knit. "You are a liar."
"Am I?" He laughs. "He seemed to appear so suddenly in your life. Have you ever questioned why?" I do not answer, because no I had not, not really. "As I assumed." His presence leaves my back and I once again try to wiggle free from whatever is holding me still, but I am held firmly in place from the neck down.
"It seems all the men around you like to keep secrets from you. From that prince of yours to your dearest childhood friend. How sad for you. Don’t you worry, Alaceandra it will not be too much longer. The day of reckoning shall come."
"Why are you telling me this? Why am I here?"
His presence returns to my back, but now it is accompanied by an electric heat. "I will not allow their secrets to continue. Nothing can hide here."
"Where is here?"
A finger traces up my back, causing my skin to breakout in goosebumps. "That's up to you, Alaceandra. Is this a dream, or a nightmare?" A searing pain travels through my spine and into my wrist as a dark portal opens in front of me. "I will see you soon," he whispers before shoving me into the darkness.
Screaming, I bolt up in bed. My hair is matted to my skull. The prince wakes with a start, his eyes wild as he stares at me.
"What is it, Alaceandra?" He jumps from the bed and looks around while I try to ease my pounding heart. After a moment he comes back and kneels at the bedside, grasping my face between his hands. "Alaceandra, please tell me what is going on?" He brushes a finger over my cheek.
"N-nothing. It was just-"A dream or a nightmare? It definitely felt like a nightmare."It was just a bad dream."
"Must have been pretty bad to have you screaming like that. What was the dream?"
I shake my head.Those who you surround yourself only want to hide the truth from you.The mystery man's voice rings through my thoughts. "I-I do not know."
He blinks at me, his brows scrunching slightly. "Alaceandra, dreams can be important in more ways than you know. If… if something happened in your dream. If you saw something. If you spoke to someone. It could be important. You need to tell me about it." He continues to rub his thumb over my cheek.
From that prince of yours to even your dearest childhood friend…The mystery man's voice continues to ring through my head. "I might have," I whisper.
"Might have what?" He keeps his tone gentle, something that is very uncharacteristic of the prince. His eyes encourage me to divulge more, his expression encouraging. I give in.
"Spoken to someone," I continue to whisper and pull away from him, hugging my knees to my chest. He sits beside me on the bed, his chest on full display and I try to ignore it. My brain whirls at all the information-or lies-I remind myself, that the mystery man told me.
"What did they say?" The prince coaxes me.
"What all do you have planned for me?" I ask the prince looking up at him.
"What?" His face is filled with confusion.
"You mentioned that I was a pawn for you, but what is that game? What are the plans?"
His face shutters. "What does that have to do with your dream?"
He is avoiding the question."You refuse to tell me? Even after all that happened yesterday?" I try to hold back my emotions but can hear my voice crack.
"It is not a refusal, little dove. I am just concerned about the origin of the question."
"Am I not to be concerned with what our marriage does to suit you? Why you chose to follow us here? Especially now that-"I have had your cock between my lips.I cut myself off as tears gather in my eyes. "When we first met in those gardens you were clear about your intentions with me. Your intentions to use me. Regardless of our current state: The sleeping in the same bed, this gentle, protective persona of yours, or your countless declarations since we got here, I cannot help but wonder if this is just the same long game to whatever plot you were hatching. All I am asking for you to do is let me in on whatever plot that is." I look towards him, knowing my gaze is desperate. "I can help better if I know the end goal. I could want to help. I do not have to be an unwilling pawn- we can work together."
He sighs, looking towards the ceiling before his eyes come back to meet mine, his expression a mask. "You should be careful in asking things with answers you are ill-prepared for." I feel as if I have just been stabbed.
"Ill-prepared?" My sadness quickly morphs into anger. "How can I ever be prepared if I do not have answers? I just have puzzle pieces to a future and no way to see how they all fall together. There is no way I can grow stronger when I just keep being fed minimal information-" I clear my throat as the tears come crashing down as my anger grows. "I cannot go along with a plot that I have no knowledge of!"
The prince stares at me, but after a moment answers, his voice a bit hollow. "Revenge, Alaceandra. My father has done nothing but make my life miserable since the moment he took the throne. He has killed countless people, kept me under histhumb, and has destroyed Helomasi from what it once was. I will defeat him and restore it— restore the life around it, but for that I need you. Without you, I cannot come into power."
