Word Count: 1897

~Akara

I ran all the way there.

It was easy to ignore the painful burn in my chest, the way my legs ache and protest as I push myself to continue running through the forest toward the nearby village. My mind is clouded, thinking of Vaia and her plan to have Marek publicly executed. Evolet could be lying to me, but I know in my heart that's not true. Marek could already be dead, but I need to do something...

Vaia's voice echoes loudly through the forest as I approach, taunting me, knowing that I'm going to attend this. If this is a trap, then I'm running right into it with no remorse.

"Some of you, I imagine, have become quite familiar with this face, am I right?" I hear as I make it to the edge of the forest and into the town, weaving through the alleyways and into the main square. There are no guards around, just a mass of people, which I melt into.

And upon the stage, is Vaia, standing tall, wearing a long, deep violet cloak that reaches all the way down to her ankles. Her hair is wound up and covered by a hood, covering herself from the soft drizzle of rain that I hadn't even realised had begun to fall. In fact, all my clothes are damp from it. I've been too focused on my run here to care.

Right beside Vaia on the stage, is Marek, his head bowed as he stares at the surface of the wood. His bronze hair covers half his face so I can't see his eyes, but I know there will be no emotion to see anyway. He wouldn't give Vaia that satisfaction.

"He has spared no expense in the past for information, although would you believe that this information never came back to me?" Vaia exclaims loudly over the square. The sick smile curling at her lips makes me feel ill...

But not as much as the dagger in her hands. Marek's dagger.

"As the new ruler of this territory, all information relating to my cause should always be communicated to me." She speaks to the crowd as though she owns them, even if this is technically Kailor's territory...If he were alive, if his people weren't still reeling from his death, then she would be dead. "And anyone who works for me who fails to do this, is committing a crime."

Vaia rests the blade of the dagger on Marek's shoulder, and he doesn't so much as flinch, his hands cuffed in front of him. "After some consideration, I've come to the conclusion that the only viable punishment for the hunter's betrayal, is his execution."

I go to step forward, not a single plan in my head, but a hand from behind me grabs me.

"Who knew you could run so fast," Evolet pants, wiping sweat off her brow as she looks down at me. She seriously followed me all the way out here?

"We need to do something, we need to get him out of there," I inist frantically.

Evolet frowns, shrugging a hood over her head. "Why? He deserves to die."

"He's saved my life too many times for me to allow this to happen," I explain, trying to calm my trembling voice. It doesn't matter what has happened between Marek and I, I can't possibly allow him to be publicly executed like this by Vaia's hand. "I may not trust him, but that doesn't mean I want to see him get killed."

"We don't stand a chance against her and those guards," Evolet hisses lowly, pointing through the crowd where at the edge of the stage, a few tall, muscular people stand who are likely armed, eyes pinned to the crowd.

I look at her, wiping the rain from my cheeks, that very well may be tears. "Evolet, we have to do something."

"I can't let her know you are here. She will kill you too," Evolet insists. I look down, and her hand is still gripped tightly around my arm. When I yank back, she keeps a strong hold of me, not allowing me to break free. With horror, I realise Evolet really is going to keep me pinned here instead of allowing me to help Marek, even if it gets me killed in the meantime.

"Let me go!" I snap, aware I'm being loud, but my voice if drowned out among the crowd, lost in whatever Vaia is saying now.

Evolet yanks me back so my back is pressed against her front, my struggling futile. Looking up onto the stage, Vaia now stands behind Marek, pulling his head back so she can poise the knife near his neck. "Any last words, Hunter."

"No!" I can't even hear myself, an all-consuming buzz filling my ears.

Marek is looking up at the sky, nothing on his face, in his last moments, revealing fear, or pain. My eyes slam shut the moment Vaia moves her knife along his neck, ending his life in one swift movement.

Colours dance behind my eyes as I squeeze them so tightly shut it's painful. Dizziness strikes me at the same moment nausea consumes. He's dead.

Lurching over, I vomit all over the cobblestones below me, a scarlet red mess splattering back onto me, onto the feet of the crowd around me, who all leap back with horror. The numbness of shock isn't enough to mask the excruciating pain that stabs right into my stomach, as if Vaia had killed me instead of Marek...

I can feel Evolet pulling me up, just as I raise my gaze long enough to see Marek's dead body slumped over the edge of the stage, bronze hair covering his face so I can hardly see him, pastel blue blood dripping from him, onto the ground below.

Another wave of pain hits me, black spots appearing in my vision before allowing unconsciousness to seize me.

***

All perception of time is beyond me as I my eyes flutter open, seeing my room, milky light peeking through my opening curtains.

I must be dreaming...A heavy weight is pressed against my chest, which I vaguely figure is grief, fear and panic, but there's no pain in my stomach. Turning my head, I examine my bedside table, a half empty glass of pastel green blood making my stomach churn. Tani blood.

A hand presses against my arm, making me flinch, twisting my attention to see Marek standing over me, a grim look on his face.

My eyes widen. "Marek?"

"Shh..." he whispers, sitting down beside me while I sit up, blinking rapidly, my still foggy mind still trying to make sense of what I'm seeing...I swear I just watched him die right in front of me, his neck slit by Vaia.

"Am I dreaming? Or am I dead too?"

"It's okay, I'm alive," he assures me, his voice, wary that anyone could be beyond the door, listening in.

"How?" I question, shaking my head in wonder. Something about him seems off, but it clicks almost immediately. "Your marking, it's gone."

Sure enough, his forehead is completely bare, the icy blue and silver mark having vanished. Aside from his ethereal beauty, he looks seemingly normal, like he could fit in amongst a crowd without drawing curious eyes. It's thrown me off, but I'm so relieved that he's alive, I couldn't care less what he looks like.

"I used my powers," I mutters tightly, not looking pleased.

"I watched you die with my own eyes. You...Your neck...." I stutter, flashes of the memory, however brief, swarming me. I'm grateful I didn't see anything too graphic.

"Part of my abilities allow me to project my appearance onto someone else."

"Summoner's can't do that..."

"You've always known I was different to others," he explains grimly, and I know he doesn't want to. He's kept this from me not because he doesn't trust me with the information, but because he hates that side of himself, because of what his mother thought of him. "It's not all I can do, but I still avoid using that ability unless absolutely necessary."

"So you projected your appearance onto someone else, and now they are dead?" I whisper.

He nods grimly.

"You killed an innocent."

"He was far from innocent," Marek shakes his head, looking back through my bedroom window and into the forest beyond. "He worked close with Vaia, encouraging her to start taking people by force and making them drink from the river. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone."

"Why did she want you dead in the first place?"

"I went back and confronted her. I wanted to know if she truly did stab you, and when I got angry, she restrained me," he explains darkly. My heart skips a beat, realising he turned his whole life over because of me. I refuse to feel guilty though, aware of how we came to be in this position in the first place. "I killed the guards as they were taking me to my cell and put that man there in my place, giving him my appearance."

My hands rest on my stomach, feeling the slightest amount of tenderness there. "Why would you care if she stabbed me?"

"It doesn't matter," he shakes his head. "What matters is that she thinks I'm dead, and I need to use that opportunity to escape this life."

"I'm glad you can be happy," I say sturdly. And I mean it. Something dark pulls at my chest, reminding me that if he is no longer in my life, it will be for the better. It will mean that Tai and I can concentrate on taking Vaia down, and not about what Marek is doing, and what his involvement is in it.

He chews on the edge of his lip, gaze sweeping over me. "I'll be far from happy. Unless you want to escape too."

"There are so many reasons why I'm not going to do that," I remind him. So many reasons I'm unable to put them all together. He's just as aware of what they are as I am, but he won't voice them either, not when there is nothing that can be done to change them.

"I understand." He looks down at his hands.

I glance at my bedroom door. "You should go."

Marek nods, leaning forward to kiss my forehead. I close my eyes, feeling his proximity, breathing in that familiar scent of him. My heart aches, as he pulls away, but I don't speak, watching him closely instead.

He backs away toward my window, holding my gaze. "I don't know if you will ever see me again, Akara. And if you don't, know that I love you."

🍄••🍄

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 💜