Word Count: 1652

~Akara

"We should go down and-"

Tai grabs my arm, yanking me back from approaching the door. I yelp, wrestling out of his grip, frustrated. He has no shortage of guards who are downstairs, where something dramatic is clearly is happening.

"Are you insane, Akara? Were you not there for Vaia's rebellion?" he questions. I frown, rubbing where he had gripped me.

Of course I remember that night vividly. I nearly died at Vaia's hand, but whatever is happening downstairs feels different from that night. There can't possibly be another Rebellion, right? Vaia is safely locked up, and people are relieved the political uproar has finally settled with Tai returning to the throne.

"Yes, I know, but-"

"We need to hide. This could be anything," he says, glancing at the door anxiously. My eyes narrow, realising that this isn't coming out of nowhere. Tai isn't shocked at the estate being attacked again, having anticipated it, because he knows his new motivations have angered people.

"Anything? But what is it really?" I question, folding my arms over my chest. If I'm in more danger here than I would be as a free woman, Tai's entire façade would start to crumble.

He rubs the back of his neck, beginning to pace. "I have no idea. I didn't think I had enemies, considering Vaia is locked up..."

"We need to get down to the prisons and make sure she is still in there," I exclaim.

Wasting no time, hearing the chaos of whatever is going on downstairs starting to rise up toward us, I shuffle through Tai's closet, pulling out two long coats, tossing one to him. We need to get out of here, which means going into the cold night, with no guarantee we will step out of it for a while.

"You're right." Tai shrugs on the coat. "Let's go out my window."

We make out way carefully down the trellis plastered to the side of the wall, careful of the thorny vines that grow up it.

Outside, there are no guards...in fact, it's eerily quiet. Whoever is taking over the estate, they are doing a methodical job about it. It's so disturbing, not knowing what is going on in there, while knowing we can't intervene without risking our own lives.

Even more disturbingly, there are no guards present outside the prison, or within, as we go down to Vaia's level.

The guards are gone entirely...Are they all inside, or have they completely left?

Vaia, however, is sitting in her cell, chewing on her fingernails. I nearly collapse in relief upon seeing her. Part of me suspected she was behind all this, and was staging it to get herself out of the prison.

She immediately scrambles to her feet. "What the hell is going on?"

Tai leans against the metal bars. "You tell us..."

"Me? You think this has to do with me? I've been stuck in here for weeks," she snaps. She appears genuinely irritated as well. I would feel bad for her, if she didn't do this to herself. And although she is the last person who can be trusted, I actually feel as though I can believe her. Were she related to this, she would have been out of this prison in an instant.

Tai narrows his eyes. "Liar."

"I'm not lying," she seethes.

"We need to flee, at least until we know what's going on," I say, drawing both of their attention to me. Vaia regards me like I make her physically sick. She tried to kill me, and almost succeeded, so I have no interest in playing nice with her.

Tai looks doubtful, although glances down the corridor as if he suspects his new enemies may come charging down to kill us. "Where do we go?"

"Zavian's. He can help us."

He shakes his head. "This could be at his hand."

"It's not, I mean, your guards turned against you, considering none came to your aid right away. Zavian has no motive to do that to you, when I'm in the manor," I explain. There's little point arguing to him that I know Zavian's character, and I have no doubt that the newly appointed King would never do such a thing.

Vaia smiles wickedly from amidst the shadows. "Your little wife is telling you Zavian wants her alive and not you. How charming."

"Come on Tai, we need to move now," I insist. Vaia will do anything to turn us against each other, but we need to concentrate on getting as far from the estate as possible until we can figure out what is going on.

He pauses, frowning as he looks into the cell. "Wait...We need to take Vaia with us."

"What?"

"If we leave her in here, they may use her against us," he reminds me. I grit my teeth, looking back at Vaia, who smiles.

"Or kill her, and take away the need for a public execution," I say sweetly. She narrows her eyes on me. Her execution was meant to be in a few days, although clearly that is no longer going to be the case. I was hoping to watch to, to see of the woman who tried to kill me.

Tai shakes his head. "I can't take that risk."

I look between him and Vaia. I know he's right...If we leave Vaia here, she's out of our hands, and although there is a chance they could kill her, if they are against Tai, then having Vaia to use against him would be more than beneficial.

"Fine. But hurry," I mutters.

Tai opens the cell, grabbing Vaia. She is weak, after being down in this prison for weeks, and unarmed, is no threat against the two of us. Still, I make Tai walk ahead as we stalk into the forest, keeping my eyes on her every movement.

"Any moves from you and I will kill you immediately," Tai seethes, yanking her forward with him, causing her to stumble a little over the uneven terrain. I don't know the forest, so we are just going to have to keep walking until we can find a village, and from there, we can make our way to Zavian's new territory.

"You have such a way with words, darling brother," she responds.

Tai eventually stops, looking back at me. "Where should we go?"

"Zavian's. It's our only choice," I remind him. Zavian will have resources, and a safe place for us to have refuge. Although none of that is certain, I trust in our friendship enough to know he will take us into his care in the meantime.

All of a sudden, a figure emerges from within the trees, causing us all to stop an gasp.

"Going somewhere?"

I breathe out a dramatic sigh of relief, pushing past Tai to approach the hunter. "Marek...What are you doing here?"

"I've been keeping an eye on the estate for a while now. I saw something had happened, so I followed you all," he explains, looking over me, checking for injuries before he looks over my shoulder at Tai and Vaia.

I should have figured Marek would be close. It's obvious he has been nearby, never leaving the Province while I am here, I just had no idea he was keeping such a close eye. That was foolish of me, though. Marek loves me, he cares about me, and he is never going to leave me again. I should have known that before.

"Great, yet another problem to my growing list," Tai mutters, keeping his grip tight on Vaia's arm as if he believes Marek is here to free Vaia and kill him. The latter may still be true, though.

"Marek, you have to get us to Zavian's," I insist. If anyone know show to navigate these forests, it's him.

He nods. "I've heard rumours about where it is. I can get us there."

"We don't need your help," Tai growls.

Marek turns his attention to the King, shadows playing off the sharp lines of his face, making him appear far more intimidating, which I didn't think was possible. "Yes, you do. Unless you want me to kill you and Vaia right here, because I would take great pleasure in it."

I press my hand against his broad chest. "Marek...Don't."

He looks down at me, that hard gaze softening . "I'm not going to help someone who doesn't want it."

"We can manage just fine," Tai adds.

I grit my teeth, turning around. "Really? Do you have any idea about the Tani in these forests?"

"Of course I do. It's my Territory."

"Then why aren't you terrified? You really should be," I snap. The Beast isn't the only Tani that dwells out here, especially at night. And each of these Tani would have no problems tearing us apart.

"Let's just all go. Please," Vaia groans, clearly having had enough with standing in the cold air, watching us all argue back and forth.

Marek folds his arms over his chest. "I'm not going until Tai admits he needs my help."

"I suppose you could be useful," Tai eventually concedes, shifting from foot to foot. He's only doing this because the forest has suddenly unnerved him. "It's like hiring a Guard. Not much going on in their heads, but at least their muscle can help at times."

Marek's brows dip. "Is that why they all turned on you?"

"Alright, enough. I'm exhausted. Let's just get somewhere safe for the rest of the night, please?" I beg, not even wanting to ask how Marek knows they turned on Tai. He must be watching closer than I thought.

Marek examines Tai for a moment longer, before he grabs my hand. "Okay. Let's go."

❤️••❤️

Remember that you can always find this story 10 chapters ahead on Radish (:

You will find it under King's Possession Season Three!!

~Midika 🐼💜