Word Count: 2614

I'm not exactly sure how I've ended up here.

Kailor sits in front of me as we ride in one of his royal carriages, heading toward a nearby village. It was only last night that he proposed to me that if I wished to stay with him, I would have to work for it. Tai adamantly protested, but I agreed to do it after Kailor explained to me what he required.

It's simple, in reality. He requires me to show face at one of his speeches, where he coerces small villages into siding with him, trying to get enough support so people will be willing to turn into rebel sympathizers.

Kailor believes I was, and still am a symbol of hope for young boys and girls in the small villages that dream of growing up to marry a King. I came from a place like them, so they can relate more to their cause. If they see me at this speech ceremony, Kailor believes they will more likely to side with him.

I don't know how to feel about it, especially since Tai isn't joining us.

"I was afraid for a moment that Taius wouldn't allow you to join me," Kailor says, looking at me under dark brows. Zavian sits beside him, hands tucked on his lap, looking out the window. Kailor claims it's too dangerous to be out, which I agree with. Tai made the argument that it would be the same for me, but I'm willing to do this if it means less people siding with Vaia.

"He doesn't trust you," I say sharply, resting my gloves hands atop my lap, trying to reign in my frustration from being in such close proximity to Kailor.

Up close, he is somewhat less intimidating. His eyes are dark and void, shadows dusting under his eyes. His skin is less worn than what I would expect from someone his age, in his position, only a few creases littered around his mouth and forehead.

"Good. A King should trust no one, not even his Nobles," Kailor says smoothly, glancing at the man seated next to him. "Zavian, you will learn that in time."

Zavian frowns slightly.

"Allow me to maintain that I'm only doing this to keep my place here," Zavian drawls, not afraid to hold Kailor's gaze for a long moment before looking back out the window. He clearly doesn't enjoy being a Noble to the King.

"What happened to the rest of your psychotic toys?" I question.

"Evolet disappeared the day it happened, alongside Nesrin," Kailor says, shrugging. "Evolet may be dead, as she hasn't announced herself. Nesrin made it clear she was siding with my daughter. Due to Evolet's boastful nature I would assume that if she were against me, she would have announced it by now. Instead, I hope she is dead."

I shiver, remembering when Evolet demanded Marek to kill me. I can't argue that it would be a bad thing if she were dead, since she clearly liked to cause trouble.

"So you have traitors inside you own territory?"

"We have since investigated everyone within the premises and those conspiring against me have since been slaughtered," he tells me simply. Instead of sounding guilty or regretful for what he is done. My stomach churns uncomfortably, the thought of Kailor's men viciously killing people due to their affiliation with Vaia making me want to be sick at the King's feet. None of them deserve a fate that...Final.

"Tai really is nothing like you," I growl lowly, no longer frightened of what Kailor is capable of doing to m.

"The blood of King's flows through his veins, I can assure you of that," Kailor responds, eyes like a void of obsidian darkness. "He is fated to end up like me, in whatever way that may transpire. The man you trust hasn't lived long enough to be corrupted, but he will be."

I shake my head. "You don't know that."

"I know that, because I look into that boys eyes and I see what I once was," he continues, the firmness in his tone chilling my blood. "Like it or not, but he will walk in my shoes one day."

My throat is dry as I attempt to swallow. Zavian watches me carefully, gaze solemn, silently telling me not to argue the point anymore.

If Kailor wants to be right, he will be right.

***

The journey only takes us two hours to make it to the village, although it felt so much longer than that.

The village is eerily similar to my home village, although slightly better established, with cobblestones streets and well maintained brick homes. Crowds stare, some even approaching as we come into town, stopping once we reach the main square. This carriage isn't exactly inconspicuous. The outside is black, but accented with pure gold. The inside is even more lavish, the cushions beneath me thick and plus, wrapped in satin, similar to the walls and curtains.

The moment we stop, the footman opens the doors, ushering Kailor out. Zavian smiles tightly at me before exiting, waiting for me to follow.

Kailor is confident being here without much security, as he strides toward the stage that has been erected especially for this visit. A large crowd has gathered in the square, more filtering in from nearby streets.

I stay near the carriage, knowing I'm not wanted on stage like Zavian is.

It doesn't pass by me that people are staring at me, wondering where Tai is, if we are still to be married again. The moment Kailor starts speaking, everyone's gazes drift from me.

He speaks for a long while, reintroducing me and claiming Tai is safely in his estate while they ready to take down the rebels. Everyone seems receptive to what he is saying, some even cheering as he shares details of how rebel sympathisers have been dealt with.

"The betrayal that has occurred within my family has called for an entirely new set of Nobility to assist me in bringing down the rebel groups plaguing this Province," Kailor says, motioning Zavian to step closer to him. "Nakoa remains, and now, will have Zavian Anler joining us, the son of the past Noble, Fenrys Anler."

I roll my eyes. I hardly want to be listening to this right now.

Following the crowd with my eyes, I mindlessly trace their faces with my gaze, absently trying to take my mind off anything other than Kailor speaking. People stare up at him, enamoured to be so close to a King, most hardly listening to what he is saying anyway.

A figure catches my eye, walking against the crowd. Narrowing my eyes, I follow their movements, their dark coat slung over their shoulders as they swiftly weave through the crowd. People don't hesitate, most hardly noticing the shadow-like figure sweeping through, graceful and ethereal.

The sun glitters across the square, catching their bronze locks for the briefest of moments. My blood runs cold.

I don't hesitate, pushing my way through the dense crowd, ignoring the grumbles and yelps of protest in my ear as I follow the man walking from the square, toward a swarm of small buildings. This could be foolish, following a complete stranger while isolating myself from the crowd. It could be Marek...

And if it is Akara, what are you going to do?

There's not much Marek can say that I want to hear, yet I find myself continuing to brush past people, muttering apologies under my breath. The moment I emerge from the crowd, I see the figure dip into a nearby alleyway, their dark coat the last thing that flickers in my gaze.

Holding my breath, I walk into the alleyway, my hand pressed against the brick building next to me, squinting through the darkness as I look for him...Whoever him is.

The alleyway is empty, Kailor's voice echoing distantly through, muttering some rhetoric about rebels being pure evil. I exhale slowly, rubbing my eyes. Was I imagining things, or is Marek biding his time before approaching me?

A warm hand lightly touches my shoulder, making me flinch. Whirling around, the fear dissolves as I realise who I'm looking at.

"Oh, Zavian," I breathe, resting my palm on my chest, feeling my thundering heartbeat beneath. "You followed me."

I'm not sure how he got off the state with Kailor, since I can still hear the King speaking. Regardless, I'm grateful to see him here and not Marek.

"I hope you don't think less of me for doing this. I need to, for my family, for the life I've grown here. This is the only way I can be secure," he says, voice lowly, eyebrows drawing together slightly.

I'm not sure how to react, how expecting him to say that as a way of greeting. I don't know enough about Zavian to judge him as much as he assumes I am, and even so, I wouldn't expect it to bother him.

"I'm not judging you. We are all in a weird time where we have to look out after ourselves," I reply.

"It is strange, what happened with Vaia. I never saw it coming, did you?" he asks, resting his back against the wall next to him. His gaze is intense, darker here amidst the shadows of the alleyway. My throat is dry as I swallow, wondering why he is wanting to talk about this right here, where anyone could be listening in.

I fiddle uncomfortably with the hem of my jacket. "No, it never crossed my mind. I was betrayed by everyone I cared about."

"Because if you know something, or just generally want to confide in me, you can," he assures me.

I've hardly spoken to Zavian, yet I get the impression I could come to him if I truly needed an unbiased person to speak to. Yet there is something about the way he says that, about the way his gaze traces the outline of my body, unworried about my reaction.

"Thank you Zavian, you're very kind," I murmur in response.

"I can see why Tai is so enamoured by you," he says after a while, voice deepening with each word. I blink, frozen in place, not used to the usually subdued Zavian speaking so brazenly. "It wouldn't take you much to lead him astray, I'm sure."

"I would never do that. Him and I just happened to make similar decisions," I say uneasily, trying to decipher what he means by that. I can't tell if he means it as a compliment, or if he is implying I'm the reason Tai fled from his estate, from his place as King.

Zavian pushes off the wall, a sense of intensity about him that is making me wary. We are alone in this alleyway, and although I doubt he would do anything to hurt me, and I could easily make a run for it, I can't shake the uneasily feeling coursing through me. I have little allies in this village, with Zavian the only real person here I trust right now.

"I hope that here, I can get to know you more," he says softly. With each step he makes toward me, I match backward. He's only slightly taller than me, yet I would struggle to fight him off it came to it.

What are you thinking Akara? It's not going to come to that.

"You're making me uncomfortable, Zavian," I note calmly, not yet being harsh, only firm.

His advances don't cease until my back is pressed against the wall, stopping close enough that I can breathe in his unfamiliar scent, feel the warmth radiating off him. This isn't how Zavian has reacted before, that fact manifesting fear inside me that blooms out to consume me.

"You're not afraid, are you?" he questions, almost tauntingly.

I want to admit that yes, I am afraid of how he is acting right now, yet I can't choke the words out. Just as I'm about to pull my body away from his, I catch sight of something in his appearance that seems off.

His hair, usually a soft, ebony black colour, has the slightest hint of dark brown around the roots. When my gaze drifts down, I realise the entire picture is falling apart...His eyes are too far apart, nose crooked in the wrong place, mouth slightly too large. I flinch, exhaling all the air from my lungs as I realise what I'm looking at.

Reaching for my side, I slide my knife from it's place tucked against my thigh, drawing it fast enough that it catches him off guard.

A feral part of me doesn't hesitate, slashing the arm of the man as he jumps away from me, tearing through his jacket sleeve and into the skin below. When I draw my knife back, it's slick with pastel blue blood, the sight dizzying.

"Summoner freak," I growl, backing away from him as he holds his arm, gripping the wound tightly. I'm not sure what has shaken me the most...the fact that I just cut this man, or that for a split second, I believed I was cutting Zavian.

A grim reality washes over me as I watch Zavian - the Summoner - straighten. Had it not been for Marek teaching me how to spot the inconsistencies in a weak Summoner facade, I may not have even realised.

"Bitch..." he curses, the voice no longer belonging to Zavian. I watch with horror as his body begins to morph, first his face changing, and then the aspects of his body. I stumble back, wanting to look away as a completely new person comes to stand before me, replacing what had once been Zavian, yet I can't bring myself to, fascinated by the magic I am witnessing.

I'm half expecting to see Marek standing there, being the only Summoner I am familiar with. Yet it's not Marek. They have similar features, although this man has dark brunette hair and darker blue eyes. He's still holding his wound, a sour expression painted onto his face.

"Who the hell are you?" I growl, holding the knife out threateningly in front of me.

"This is Elan, a friend of mine," someone says from behind me. I turn around, watching Kailor walk down the alleyway toward us. I hadn't even realised his speech has ceased. "We were just making sure you could be trusted, is all."

I flinch, looking back at Elan, the Summoner. He has turned away from me, examining the damage I've inflicted.

"Seriously? You were testing me?" I snap.

"We have far less desirable ways of testing ones loyalty, Akara," Kailor says, hands gliding into his pockets as he shrugs casually. "I'm trusting you, because Vaia clearly wants you dead. That means something to me."

I shudder. Does Tai know about? Surely not, otherwise he would never have allowed me to come here with Kailor.

This was a set up from the start, I realise. Which means the rest of my stay here with Kailor isn't going to be easy.

🤍••🤍

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 💜🐼