TWENTY EIGHT

Word Count: 1802

Marek and I settle into bed next to each other, despite my better judgment.

I'm tired, and this is the only option unless I want to sleep on the floor. The bed is big enough that I don't have to be touching him, although I can feel the weight of his body next to me.

"Is she going to make me drink from the river?" I ask softly, tilting my head to look at him. There are no lights on, but the moon floods in through the gap in the curtains, allowing me to see enough of him to make it impossible to forget he is in this bed with me.

Marek frowns. "How..."

"Overheard," I mutter, watching Marek sign, looking exasperated. There are dark shadows under his eyes, and recently, his cheekbones and jawline are more pronounced. Even if I will never admit it to him, there is something in me that I can't hide from that is scared for him. "You look sick."

"Stressed. Vaia is on my case...hard," he admits, sweeping his hand back through his hair, dark strands fluttering across his forehead.

"You are lying to her. Whose side are you truly on? You've never once tried to convince me of this cause, if it's something you truly believe in," I say, turning onto my stomach, bracing myself up on my elbows. Marek releases a breath, knowing he has been caught in my trap, and now he has to answer.

"It felt...Pointless, I suppose," he shrugs, narrowing his eyes, daring me to continue pressing him. He could kill me right now, but I want as much information as I can get before I return.

"If people drink from the river, they will die," I remind him gently. The Marek I knew before would kill if he needed to, if they deserved it. Not if they were innocent.

Marek sits up as I roll onto my back. "They won't die. We are making sure of it."

"By testing on innocents?" I question, watching him stalk over to his dresser, pulling out a pair of loose black pants. He begins to unbutton his shirt, my eyes travelling down with each of his movements.

"Never innocents...They are always bad," he assures me, his tone soft, but I know better. People are starting to volunteer. Each of them are innocent, just blackmailed into thinking this is a good idea. I wonder if that's the case for Marek, that Vaia has been manipulating him into thinking this is for the best.

"And what do you gain? You're already got magic running through your veins. What more do you want?" I ask.

"Akara..." he draws off, brows furrowing as he looks torn on how to answer that. Part of me feels bad, something about his tone sounding broken, tired. Would he take an offer to join our side? No...Not only would Tai and Kailor never agree to that, but we would never be able to trust him.

"You want Tai dead, don't you? You want a reason to have him killed," I guess.

Marek pauses, before approaching the bed again, all the buttons of his shirt now undone, showing off the muscled planes of his stomach, and the new tattoo on his chest that makes my stomach sink. It's recent, likely a brand that ties him to Vaia.

My entire body stiffens as he leans over the bed, pinning one of my wrists down with his hand, the other resting beside my head.

"So what if I want him dead? So what if I want it to be at my hand that he dies?" he breathes, crystal blue eyes roving over my face, pausing briefly on my lips.

I don't know how to react. The sudden proximity of him is intoxicating, the hardness of his body pressed against mine, purposeful in every way that we touch. I'm frozen, not wanting to move at risk of brushing against him more, reliving the dark memory of the last time he was leaning over me like this.

"I knew it..." I whisper.

"He's not good for you Akara. You're too strong, too smart for him," Marek insists lowly. "You don't have to be with me, but don't be with him."

His words burn through me, as he gives me a lasting look, pushing himself up and away from me. I watch silently as he walks back to the dresser, pulling his shirt off. I only allow my gaze to linger for a moment before I look away, letting him change into those pants he pulled out.

"That's not up to you anymore," I growl, annoyed that he thinks he can tell me Tai isn't good for me. He wouldn't know how much Tai has changed since he ruled here. He has become stronger emotionally and physically, and has taken care of me better than I could have imagined.

Marek can think low of him all he wants, but I know Tai.

"I know," Marek mutter, getting into the bed beside me again. Something feels different about his proximity...Something feels dangerous. "But as much as you may not want to admit it, you are starting to trust me, to see that I still have worth in your life."

Gritting my teeth together, I roll over so my back is facing Marek, not wanting to admit that to him, to myself.

"I should get some sleep," I murmur.

"That's a good idea," he replies gently.

Even though I can tell he wants to keep pressing me on that, digging for an answer on how I feel about him, he mercifully goes quiet. Good, because I don't have an answer for him that doesn't have terrible consequences.

***

I spend most of the day locked in Marek's room.

Every time I hear someone pass by the door, my entire body freezes, but each time they continue walking. Marek has come back, and evening is approaching, making me all the more anxious. What if Marek is keeping me here so I can't leave, and Vaia actually does intend to let me go.

No, I can't allow myself to think about that. I'm trusting Marek, putting all my faith in him, whether I'm going to regret it or not.

The window sliding open behind me suddenly startles my attention.

Looking over my shoulder, the breath is almost knocked out of my lungs as I watch a figure crawls through the window, having me scrambling back, terrified of the fully dressed stranger with a long sword strapped to their back.

However when they straighten, looking me dead in the eyes, I realise it's not a stranger staring back at me.

It's Evolet.

Blinking, I try make sense of who I'm looking at, knowing this is the last person I expected to step into his room today. The last time I saw Evolet was the night Tai proposed to me, where she watched with a wicked smile on her face. Since then, Kailor's Noble has gone missing, presumed dead.

Until now, I suppose.

She pulls her hood back, revealing her once long black hair has been buzzed off, her violet eyes blazing wildly. Both her temples have been tattooed with some unfamiliar symbol, and all the lavish jewellery she once adorned has vanished. She looks as though she has been living in the woods these last few months.

"No," I whisper. "I'm not coming with you."

I look down at the gloved hand she offers me, shying away from it. Evolet has only ever had malicious intentions for me, so now is not the time I'm willing to trust her.

"I'm here to help you." she insists, her grin vanishing as she realises how unnerved I am by her presence. I have no idea how she knew I was here, or why she has come, but I don't trust her intentions. "I'm going to return you to Tai."

I frown. So she knows about the mission...Has she spoken to Tai or Kailor? Maybe Tai is behind sending her.

"What's going on in there?" I hear from behind the door. It's a guard.

"Nothing..." I respond, not taking my eyes off Evolet. She tilts her head, pulling her hand around to grab her sword. I lower my tone to whisper to her, "You need to leave."

Before Evolet can respond, the door opens behind us, and two guards emerge through. My mind scrambles for excuses, but it doesn't matter. Evolet lurches forward and pushes me to the side, sending me stumbling back toward Marek's bed.

The guards hardly have a chance to realise what's going on before Evolet strikes, slashing her sword with surprising efficiency, cutting across one of their stomachs and the through the throat of the other.

I yelp as blood sprays across the wall, the sight seared into my mind.

Evolet turns back to me, tucking her sword back behind her back, blood dripping from the blade and onto the carpet at her feet. With horror, I watch her wipe some of the blood that has sprayed across her face, only smearing it across her skin more. I feel as though I've witnessed death so much recently that all my head does is spin and my stomach churns, but thankfully I don't get sick.

"If you don't come with me, you put yourself and Marek at risk...and not to mention Tai," Evolet says calmly, kicking one of the bodies so they roll over onto their stomach. "You know he will give himself in if you don't come."

I hate that she knows so much. And I hate it even more that she's right, and that I'm going to have to take this risk and come with her. If I let Marek get me out of here, he will be blamed by Vaia.

And even though I hate him...I don't want that for him.

"Why?" I breathe.

She knows what I'm talking about. I want to know why she is here, what she has to do with this. Evolet is the last person I expected to ever help me.

"We all have our reasons," she breathes, grabbing my hand and yanking me toward the window. "Now let's go."

🤍••🤍

If you guys want to read ahead, you can read more of KING'S SEDUCTION on Radish! It's chapters ahead of Wattpad (:

You'll will find it under KING'S POSSESSION on Radish, as season 2!

👻••👻

I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radish! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!

I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:

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~Midika 💜🐼