"Arlen." Keial's voice made the room turn silent.

'Arlen' the elven man didn't look fazed by the sudden shift in the air due to Keial's mood change, if anything, he seemed amused looking at Keial standing in front of me.

"I did not expect you to show your face." Keial scoffed, his eyes going back to normal as he looked down at Arlen.

"Not after I sent your assassins back to you, one limb at a time."

Arlen laughed and then smiled as his eyes went back and forth between Keial's and mine, amusement swirling inside of them.

Arlen tried to kill Keial?

I had no idea what was happening here, but I desperately wanted to be kept out of whatever dangerous game this was.

I knew the history between King Keial and the elves wasn't the best, if anything, since the war and the death of the leader of the woodland elves, they have never been on good terms, even if it did 'end' the fighting.

"Well, what can I say? I do enjoy these... gatherings, to see how the other side lives, and after I heard the great King Keial, demon of the battlefield and the devil himself had taken a lover..."

"I'm glad I came, Felix has made the journey worth the trouble." He grinned, his pink eyes staring at me with curiosity.

A chill went through my body as it felt like his eyes were undressing me, but even I knew Arlen was simply doing it to get a reaction from Keial, who looked like he was ready to start another war.

"I didn't realize you came so far, just to flirt with a boy." Keial's hard eyes stared Arlen down, as Arlen shrugged.

"Not just any boy I hear."

The space between Arlen and Keial had gotten worse, and the overpowering scent of power emitting from both of them was making it difficult to breathe, not only for me but also for the guests.

"T-Thank you for coming despite the journey, Arlen." I break the silence before I pass out from the thick tension of two very strong creatures.

I was stupid for doing this, but if they fought now, this would only end badly.

"You m-must be tired, I know I am..." I laugh awkwardly, as Arlen and Keial focus on me.

I felt stupid, just when I didn't want to get mixed up in their business, I did without realizing it.

Yet, the tension was leaving, and now Keial only looked pissed, whilst Arlen looked amused, which was better than them seconds away from fighting it out in front of all these wealthy, powerful, and beautiful people.

"Yes, I am quite tired." Arlen sighs, as two elven guards appear behind Arlen, dressed in fine thin armor.

Suddenly, Arlen reached out and grabbed my hand then bent down to kiss my hand, his mischievous eyes on mine as I heard Keial growl warningly, which only made Arlen chuckle.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Felix, and I do hope we meet again, I'd very much like to know more about you." He smiled politely, letting go of my hand and taking a step back to half-bow.

"Your Majesty, thank you for the invitation and... until next time."

Keial simply glared coldly at Arlen, as Arlen smiled warmly and then waved back to the guests, who were whispering amongst themselves at the horror at what they just witnessed.

With that, Arlen turned around and left just as quickly as he appeared, and once he was completely gone, everything went back to normal, but Keial, as he stood glaring at the door Arlen left behind.

*****

I was too exhausted to think.

I was finally back in my room, and out of those tight, yet too-fine clothes that Keial had given me.

Since Arlen came and then left, Keial had gone back to normal, whatever normal was for him, he acted how he usually did around guests as he talked, but his face was anything from normal.

I could tell Keial didn't like Arlen, and after I realized who Arlen was, it all made sense why Arlen would send assassins to kill Keial.

How could I forget?

Since arriving here, I forgot just how bad things were this close to the forest, and just how deadly and dangerous things were here, other than being surrounded by pack members in the forest, away from the fear of war.

Arlen was the only living prince of the deceased royal elven family, and it was all because Keial had killed his father, the commander, the elven King, and ended the war between wood-elves and wolves.

Arlen had shown no fear of Keial, which to me was crazy, after all, Keial had killed what family Arlen had left, no... Arlen stood tall and was not afraid of Keial.

Since coming here, I have met all types of dangerous people, but only now am I realizing that I didn't know just how bad things were here, in Keial's world, and now everyone knew I was his 'lover'.

Was I in danger now?

Would Arlen also send people to kill me, just because I was Keial's lover?

If another war did break out, there was no way I could stay here, I'd be stupid to put myself in danger whilst playing the role of Keial's fake lover.

Everything was now so much clearer, and a part of me wished I had never gone to that stupid party, just so I could remain blind to the danger, just a little longer until I got what I wanted, and Keial got what he wanted.

A knock at my door made me sit up and move from my bed, to answer the door.

"Yes, who is it?" I asked as I opened the front door to see who it was.

Standing there was Keial, but before I could ask why he was there, he walked forward, making me stumble back as he closed the door behind him and dropped the cloak he was wearing until it fell to the ground around him.

This wasn't the first time Keial had come to my bedroom for something, but tonight felt different.

He looked... murderous.

I was too scared to talk, fearful of how he might react.

"I'm sleeping here tonight." He then suddenly announced, walking past me to sit on the edge of my bed.

I scrunch my brows in confusion and watch as he looks around my empty room, with only a pile of books near my bed that I had wanted to read.

"You read?" He asked, picking up a book to look at the front and the back of the book.

"Y-Yeah." I cleared my throat and scratched my neck nervously.

"There's not much to do after work, so... uh.. a friend lent me some of their favorites."

Keial put the book back down and then looked at me, the murderous look in his eye now gone, as his beautiful face now remained stoic.

"The farmer's boy?" He scoffed, reaching out to pull me to him.

I fell into his chest as Keial made me straddle him on his lap, making me blush at how close our bodies were, and his face inches from mine as his bright eyes stared into mine.

"His name is Ash..." I mumbled as his bored eyes looked into mine and his hands wrapped around my waist.

A silence fell between us as Keial looked at my face, as though he was trying to figure something out, all whilst making it hard for me to not escape his grasp as I sat straddled on his lap.

"Do you still fear me, Felix?" Keial suddenly asks as I look at him, his beautiful face inches from mine.

Was I still afraid of Keial, this beautiful scary powerful man?

Yes.

Of course, I was, if I had learned anything tonight, it was that Keial was just as dangerous as ever before if not more from learning how lethal Keial can be.

"Let me ask you something more simple." He then said as he pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes hard as they glowed in the dark.

"Can I believe that you will never betray me?"

Keial... What had brought him to ask me something like that?

Before I could open my mouth, Keial started to rub his cheek against mine in a gentle motion as he closed his eyes and sighed, making me freeze as the air in the room suddenly turned cold.

Keial's eyes were now suddenly fixed on mine, cold, and intimidating, sending chills down my spine.

"I said I would never harm you, but make no mistake Felix, if you leave or betray me I will hunt you down, and kill you personally, that's how much your loyalty means to me."