Word Count: 2098

~Akara

I twist the ring Tai gave me around my finger anxiously as he slides into bed next to me.

"What if something happens to us while we are in there?" I ask mindlessly, staring out the window. It's been awhile since I joined Tai in his bed, and I'm not sure why it hasn't been more frequent. Sleeping in the same bed means we have to talk about everything going on in each other's heads, and that's harder than I would like to admit.

He turns, wrapping his arm around my shoulder to tug me in closer to him, which I welcome. "I don't care what happens, as long as you get out of there alive."

"You're more important Tai...You have an entire Kingdom relying on you to return," I remind him, resting my palm on his chest, feeling his steady heart beat below. Because he is still ill, a lot of the muscle he acquired while we were on the run has faded away. Nowadays, he spends most of his time behind a desk, staring at paper and coming up with ideas. It's been worrying me.

He grasps my chin with his other hand, making me look up into those emerald eyes I find it too easy to get lost in. "Don't say that, otherwise I'm not going to let you go."

Even though we need to do this, it's tempting to tell him to stay here, out of danger.

Because what if Vaia does kill him?

"I really love you Tai. I'm sorry about everything I've put you through with Marek..." I draw off. Wherever Marek is now, I hope it's far away, and I hope he's happy...Even if him leaving has seemed to carve out a hollow in my life that has been left unfilled.

"Don't. I'm the one who ensured you two got so close in the first place," Tai mutters. So what happened all those months ago still haunts him? It seems like forever ago. "I wish I never forced you to stay in the first place."

"You were doing your job as King."

"I say that, but honestly, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I was scared that if I let you go, I thought I would never see you again," he murmurs. I close my eyes, resting my head on my chest, letting his fingers gently brush through my hair, soothing me. Had Marek not betrayed me, would Tai and I have ever come together? It's a thought that makes me shiver, the depths of the shadows I have to delve into to come to terms with that ones I don't want to spend too much time within.

"Once we get out, once this is all over, we work on getting a cure for whatever is wrong with you," I tell him firmly. I will be spending every waking moment searching for one to end the pain I know he is silently dealing with. "Day by day you're running out of energy sooner."

"And a cure for you," he adds.

I sit up, winding his fingers through mine, enjoying the warmth from his touch. I haven't felt any worse since drinking Tani blood, and mercifully, I haven't become addicted. Tai hasn't admitted to taking any, but I know he has, figuring Zavian finally got through to him that it is better than facing death before we have had a good chance to find him a cure.

"I can't lose you, okay Tai?" I whisper, to which he smiles weakly.

He kisses the top of my hand. "You won't. I love you."

My heart aches painfully as I lean forward, capturing his lips with mine. They are soft, so warm and so inviting that when I kiss him, I can't remember what it is like not to. He doesn't stop me either, deepening the kiss as he pulls me in closer against me, letting the blankets slide over us as we sink endlessly into the darkness.

I'm not sure what the hour is when I next wake.

Tai is dozing peacefully next to me, the blanket half discarded off his body. Slipping out of bed, I pad through the pale moonlight, shivering. Something woke me, which I vaguely remember to be a nightmare including frosty blue eyes and a silvery marking. And death. A lot of death.

Slipping out the door, I make my way downstairs, consumed with emotion. I love Tai. I know I love Tai, and everything he has done to protect me when he hasn't needed to. And yet something in the depths of my mind is waking, prodding at me like it's trying to tell me what I've yet to discover.

The musky scent of Tai's workshop greets me as I turn the light on, revealing a myriad of half done projects that lay untouched. He hasn't been down here in months; at least not with Vaia being a threat and Kailor dying. Yet I know he loves his technology, loves creating things that haven't been done before. When I look at each project in turn, I contraptions I wouldn't even know where to start when identifying them.

My fingers trace through the dust as I weave past the main table and to one pressed up against the wall, a small lamp facing downward, which I switch on.

Blueprints, everywhere, all showing impressive builds that will likely never get off this paper. And on a small shelf above, a small painting hidden behind a layer of glass, hazy with dust. Tentatively, I lean forward, wiping the dust with my sleeve before examining it under the light.

A beautiful woman, with long black hair that curls around her shoulder and down to her hips, bright green eyes look directly at me, painted with such fine detail it makes all my senses come alight. Beside her, a young man, with brown hair, so dark it's near black, with eyes to match. His smile is large, commanding my attention in a way that makes me smile back.

"That's his mother," I hear from behind me. "And his brother."

Flinching, I whirl around, not surprised to see Evolet standing at the door frame, leaning against it with her arms folded over her chest. She looks curious, black brow raised as she looks over me.

"I figured. What are you doing down here?" I exhale, trying not to sound breathlessly.

She shrugs. "I was just about to ask you the exact same thing."

"Looking around. I live here, remember," I exclaim, gesturing around the workshop that I haven't come into in far too long. It seemed wrong to intrude on Tai's personal space, and yet tonight, it feels right, to getting a look into the man I love, and remind myself of why I fell for him in the first place.

The edge of Evolet's mouth lifts up as she steps into the room, letting the door close softly behind her. "As do I, it seems."

"Yes, but I imagine Tai would only trust one of us to be in here." I don't bother hiding the bite in my tone. Evolet knows I don't trust her, and never have. At least not since she last tried to get Marek to kill me in cold blood.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she replies quietly.

She looks around the room, vaguely interested. She's dressed as though she has been out, her dark, brown leather coat dusted with a fine mist of rain, although her cropped hair is dry. It can't be too late, as it appears as though she hasn't been sleeping.

"Why are you here, really?" I ask, voice barely above a whisper. "Can I trust you?"

"I am your best hope at survival." She strides forward, pausing to inspect what looks like a bracelet made out of thick metal. "I want Vaia gone, and for Tai to be on the throne."

"We all want him to be King again."

Her eyes glitter as she looks up at me again, slowly shaking her head."I think we want him to be King for two very different reasons."

I frown. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"This mission has to go right, Akara. If it doesn't, we may not stand a chance against her," she responds sturdily, resting her elbows on a nearby bench while I tightly clutch the one behind me, hoping it doesn't come down to me needing to defend myself against her. Everything here has enough weight to it that I could maybe get a good hit in before making a run for it.

"I know." My voice is trembling. "It's going to work. Just protect Tai."

"You should go back to your room," Evolet says finally, although she makes no move to leave.

My eyes drift past her, noticing a short door carved into the wooden wall behind, no doorknob in sight, but I can tell by the slightest crack that it opens. It could be anything. A safe to protect something of worth, maybe another room for Tai to use at his discretion...The possibilities are endless, and my curiosity peaks.

"Do you know what's beyond that door?"

Evolet turns to look at it, staring at it for a beat too long before she looks back at me, something seeming to have shifted in her expression. "A basement. I doubt there is anything in there."

"I forget you were once one of Kailor's Noble's," I sigh. She probably knows where every door in this place leads whereas I still don't have a clue about half the manor. Most of the doors are locked anyway, even with Kailor gone. I was always too scared to wander when he was alive at risk of bumping into him and having to hear him tell me I wouldn't be good enough to be the Queen. I've never wanted that anyway, I just want to be with Tai.

Evolet looks grim as her eyes drop to the hands that fiddle with Tai's contraption. "If you were his Noble, you would have killed him too."

I let that hang in the air for a moment. For a moment, something softens within me, and I can't bring myself to remember why I hate Evolet. Her dark brows knit together as her mind wanders to dark memories. One's that even though Kailor is gone, it's obvious it still haunts her. For her, being a Noble would have been expected by her high ranking family...

"What did he do to you?" I breathe.

She blinks, inhaling sharply as she straightens. "It's late. We don't have all night."

"Remember when you tried to kill me?" I offer lightly, although the taunt of it all seems to fall flat.

She holds my gaze steady, swallowing tightly. "It was all part of the game. The facade."

"I believe that. I believe you."

She offers me the briefest smile, that's so soft it leaves an ache in my chest, before she turns, hiding her face from me as she motions for me to follow.

"Let's go then."

My eyes drift to the door, that my mind just begs to open. "I just want one look."

"Akara." Her strained voice is barely above a whisper, the slightest shake of her head suggesting that if I open that door, the consequence from it will be impressive.

Realisations settles on my shoulders like a heavy weight, dread pricking at my skin. "What's he hiding from me?"

"We are all scared. We all want Vaia gone. Right now, we just need to concentrate on that," she offers, lips forming a grim line. "Then you and Tai can marry, and everything he is afraid to tell you won't matter anymore."

"Okay," I whisper, knowing that a moment longer in this room is going to make me fully break down. "Goodnight Evolet."

As I turn to walk out the door, for once, I don't ignore the fear mingled darkness that blooms within me.

❤️••❤️

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 💜