Gregor was just as relentless with training the next day, and even more so when the rest of the group would leave, as he'd make me stay back to continue with training.

Was this punishment because he didn't like me?

He would have to be a spiteful dog to think I would make a move, let alone try to take someone's mate from them, especially a girl.

"You're not even trying, are you?" Gregor's irritated voice sighs out, making me stop and glare at him, trying not to die from exhaustion as I pick myself up from the ground again, bloodied and bruised.

Why was he even training me? If he hated me this much.

Flashback

"Niff, stay, I'm not done with you yet." Gregor grabbed my shoulder, keeping me put as I turned and looked at him in disbelief.

What?!

No way... he had to be joking...

Was he actually messing with me?

"Haven't you had en-" I held my tongue and groaned out, too tired to argue with this person.

"Why? You let everyone else go, at this rate, I'm going to die before the test." I said seriously, as he looked at me pitifully with crossed arms.

He glared coldly at me and threw a wooden sword at me, which landed next to my feet. "If you have time to complain, you have time to shut your mouth and train."

"Pick up your sword, I don't have all fucking day."

End of flashback

I was starting to seriously wonder how nobody had killed this guy yet, not only was everything out of his mouth an insult, but he barely smiled, and constantly belittled and insulted the rest of the group, including me.

What was Zeri was doing with this meathead, I'll never know.

We'd been at this for two hours, and it was starting to get dark, my whole body was aching and all I wanted to do was pass out in my bed.

The fighting skill between me and Gregor was no match, I was nowhere near being as good as him at hand-to-hand combat, never mind sword combat.

A part of me thought he just liked to hit me and kick my ass, it looked like he was enjoying this way too mucheach time he knocked me down.

"Let's call it a day, I have better things to be doing than knocking you on your ass all night, as amusing as it's been."

What.an.asshole.

I rub my face and head back to the castle, but Gregor makes me pause when I hear him talk to me.

"A friendly reminder, before you go, Niff." He starts, as I turn around to look at him, to see that he now looked serious, as he looked me in the eye.

"I don't know what your relationship with Keial is, but if you want to survive next week, you need to seriously think if this is what you really want." He tells me, making me flinch.

Did he-?

"He is not someone you should get close to, without knowing fully what you signed up for."

*****

I made it back to my room, and amazingly without falling asleep on the way here.

I kick my shoes off by my bed and then collapse on the hard yet comfortable mattress as I give my tired and sore muscles a much-needed break.

Even though I was too tired to think, what Gregor said before he walked away, was playing over and over in my head, making me feel more on edge than the thought of going one on one against a daywalker.

It felt like he was almost... telling me to stay away from Keial, and leave Forgotten Valley.

One thing I knew for sure though, was Gregor had somehow found out about me and Keial.

The real question was, how much did he know? And how did he find out?

I was becoming even more uneasy now, I had sworn that I would lay low from Keial, but every time I tried to distance myself, it was like I was being pulled back the moment Keial got me alone.

If Gregor knew, who to say everyone in the castle didn't?

I didn't want to think about that, I'm already not fitting in as it is, I didn't want to make myself go crazy with 'what if's' especially when it came to Keial.

Just as I was about to accept that there was nothing I could do about it now, I closed my eyes, but a knock at my door stopped me.

What the?

Who was it at this hour? Nobody ever knocked on my door.

I dragged myself out of bed and then walked over to the bedroom door and then unlocked and opened it, and when I saw who stood there, I froze.

"Are you going to let me in, or do I have to command you to?" Keial said humorously, as he brushed past me and walked into my bedroom anyways.

What was the King doing here? And by the looks of it, he had come alone.

"Uh... sir, is something wrong?" I nervously asked, as I quietly closed the door, so the others didn't hear.

I turned around and saw he was wearing a cloak to hide his face and he was taking it off, and looking around my empty room whilst he hummed out.

"I was bored, so I came here." He then said, before sitting down on my bed, his eyes focusing on my face.

He... was... what?

I didn't know what to do, or say, but every moment I stood on my feet, the more I felt like I might pass out at any minute.

I was starting to get annoyed, not only had Gregor treated me worse than a criminal, overtraining me to near death, but now Keial was here, expecting me to entertain him because he was... bored?

"I lied." He then said, making me stop myself from glaring at him.

"Huh?" I blinked up at him.

He looked serious, as he hinted for me to sit on the bed next to him, so after a moment of arguing with myself in my head, I gave in after exhaustion won.

"I came to talk to you, and offer you a... proposition of sorts." He said, his eyes following my every movement as I frowned.

What the hell was he saying?

"I... don't understand," I mumbled confusedly, as his hard eyes stayed on mine for a long moment before his eyes trailed down my chest.

"It seems you've already started training for the test." He reached out and gently held my chin to tilt my head to the side.

"You're covered in bruises." He mumbled quietly, making me nervous from him suddenly touching me.

I couldn't understand a single thing he said, not while he was touching me, and his bright golden intimidating yet stunning eyes were looking at me like that... like he was on the hunt, and I was his prey.

He removed his hand and then got up from the bed and moved away, then turned around to look down at me, a stoic expression on his face as I felt the seriousness of what he really came here to talk to me about.

"What..." I cleared my dry throat.

"What was the... proposition?" I asked, starting to feel anxious with how quiet he had gotten, as he just stared at me.

Then the silence broke, as the next thing he said left me frozen, and completely bewildered in shock.

"I want you to act, and convince everyone that you are my lover." He said seriously, making me almost choke on my saliva.

What was he-

"You see, I'm in a bit of a predicament, I have... certain requirements that are let us say, expected of me, but before that, I want to delay it as long as possible, you don't need to know the details."

Was Keial serious? Or had I seriously passed out and this was just a dream because there was just no way this was real?

Keial moved forward and then leaned forward until I fell back and he was on top of me, keeping his weight off me by resting on his elbows on either side of me.

"I-" I was speechless... Why was he asking me, of all people?

"Why me?" I forced out, as his golden eyes never moved from mine.

Weren't there others who would give the illusion they were in love with him, much better than me?

Why was he coming to me with this?

Even though I didn't know why, my heart had never stopped beating in my chest, so loud I knew Keial could hear it, being this close to me.

Most importantly... what would I get out of this? By the sounds of it, he wants to use me to get out of producing an heir, nothing else made sense but that, but if I agreed to this...

It would destroy any chance I had of having a normal life here.

"What... w-what do I get out of this?" A ghost smile formed on his lips, and his eyes filled with amusement as he stared at me, his face coming closer until his lips hovered above mine.

"Anything you could ever want, or dream of, power, title, land, wealth, or perhaps something... more."

My skin was on fire, and his lips were barely touching me, but it was already hard just from listening to him talk, and now with him so close to me, I had forgotten all about the morning and day I had had, and my exhaustion.

Was he saying he... was offering himself to me?

Why would he offer that, I was a nobody, a nobody he didn't trust, we had sex once... I didn't understand what he was planning to get out of this.

Or what would get out of this, all his options were... tempting but, was this... worth it?

"What do you say then, do we have a deal?" His lips grazed the edge of my mouth, as his lips formed into a smirk.

"Think on it, but don't leave me waiting too long, Felix, I want an answer by the end of the week."