Chapter 81

81 Follow me

Pen hurriedly pulled her dry clothes from the line as the clouds got dark. It seemed like it was going to rain. She folded them quickly, praying that the rain would not meet her outside.

When she was done picking the clothes, she turned and ran towards the Castle. She had not run for long when she saw someone familiar standing in front of her with arms folded.

Pen’s legs came to a halt when her eyes met the man in front of her. His gaze were fierce and he was staring at her as though trying to burrow into her soul.

She derailed as she walked to him and greeted. When Azriel saw the look on her face, he knew immediately that she knew about the gifts that were sent to the wrong person and had not said a thing.

She must really not want anything to do with him. He thought as she stood in front of him.

“”My lord;” Pen greeted. She waited a while and when Azriel did not say anything, she bowed and turned to leave but he held her hand, stopping her.

“I asked the king to give me a maiden from the palace and he said I should take any of my

choice.”

Azriel spoke and Pen’s face paled instantly. She quickly pulled her hand from his and lowered her head;

.....

“I do not want to go with you.” She said, and Azriel chuckled;

“There are somethings you just don’t have a choice in, Penelope.”

There was silence as Pen breathed in and out, her hands gripping the clothes tightly.

“Why did you let Princess Lyra take the gifts I gave to you?” He asked, after a long moment of silence and Pen froze. He had found out.

“I did not. I could not tell her, she would punish me for trying to seduce the commander.” Pen replied.

“Then you could have let me know. There I was thinking that you were finally going to accept my offer... ”

There was silence and Pen looked at him. As she raised her eyes, there was a thunder strike and rain started to pour.

“I was never going to accept your offer, my lord. I am sorry for making you think that way. I should have told you. The Princess was quite elated to receive the gifts, and they suited her better than they would ever suit me, so I thought she should have them.”

Azriel laughed lightly as he looked at Pen. She was really something. These were the lengths she wanted to go just to refuse him.

Well, he thought he was going to be interested for long, but now, he just lost all the zeal he had before. He didn’t want to chase her again.

There were other women who wanted him anyways, there was nothing special about her.

“Alright. It is fine. You’re free now, I would never disturb you again.”

At his words Pen looked up in surprise. Did he mean what he just said or was he joking? She stared at his face trying to make out an expression but the drizzling rain did not let her see him clearly.

“Do you not want to leave?” He asked and Pen bowed and quickly ran off. Azriel stood in the rain for sometime before he turned and walked away.

Pen returned to her room, slightly drenched. Her hair was soaked and the clothes she had tried saving from the rain were a bit wet too.

As she entered the room, the girls stared at her;

“Princess Lyra is mad as hell. She has been scolding all of us since she returned from seeing the commander. We are in trouble. I told you, we should have told her the moment it happened.” Sarah said the moment she walked in.

“Pen, she’s sad and angry. She thinks that the commander was just playing with her while it wasn’t her he was after all along. I don’t know how long she would remain mad.” Another added.

Pen sighed and went to sit on her bed;

“It’ll just take a few days, she’ll surely get over it. Besides, the second test is tomorrow, by the end of the day, she would barely remember what happened. We should be grateful that rumors had not began to spread that the commander had been sending gifts to her, at least this is just within us, and the Princesses.”

“I hope so, she didn’t even let any of us into the room. I hope she’s fine by tomorrow.”

The girl was still talking when the door pulled open and Lyra stepped into the room.

All color drained from her face as they turned to her in shock.

Lyra walked into the room as her eyes looked at the girls one after the other and stopped on the girl who had just been speaking;

“Who was the gifts intended for?” She asked, staring straight in her eyes. Her words were distinct, which meant that she had overheard their discussion.

The girl was frightened as she looked at the others for help.

“Talk! Or do you want me to make you!” Lyra blared and the girl pointed straight at Pen.

Lyra’s eyes turned slowly and they landed on Pen who was sitting like a drenched cat on her bed.

Pen wanted to disappear, she wished the grounds would open and swallow her whole.

Princess Lyra stared deathly at her for a minute before she walked towards her;

“Your highness...” Pen called as she stood up to apologize, but before the words could leave her lips; a dirty slap had landed on her chin.

“How dare you!” Lyra asked, as Pen’s face swept to the other side and she saw bright blue stars.

“How dare you make a mockery of me?” She asked, raising her voice.

Pen quickly fell to her knees, tears falling from

her eyes;

“I’m sorry your highness, it was never my intention to.”

“I’ll be fine in a few days, right? When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to talk so rashly again! Follow me.”

She said and turned, stomping out of the room. The girls stared at Pen with panic in their eyes. Oh Lyra was going to deal with her. She was in trouble!