Word Count: 1636

~Akara

I stare up at the manor, wishing the ground would swallow me up.

It feels wrong, being back here. My last memory of this place was me and Tai fleeing when Vaia and the rebels had taken control of it. Now Tai is King again, and my reason for being here is even more ominous than the first time, when Marek and I arrived in that carriage, having no idea what was ahead of us.

What remains the same, is the unpredictable King we are going to be forced to face. All I know is my goal is for both Marek and I to leave this property alive, and with no intention to ever return again.

"I can't believe I'm back," I whisper, exhaling slowly.

"Neither can I. I hoped I would never see this place again, after I betrayed Vaia," Marek mutters. I sometimes forget that my last time here was not the last time for Marek. He spent more time here, pretending to side with Vaia, pretending to hate me.

I shiver. I hate thinking about it.

"Remember when we first came here?" I ask, looking back at him. He's dressed as his old hunter self, which is dangerous. I hope he doesn't evoke old emotions in Tai that made him despise him so much to begin with.

He looks grim, jaw tight. "Like it was yesterday."

"I hated you so much, thought you were a monster. But you didn't seem as terrifying as the King we were about to meet," I tell him. We were forced together, but I'm glad of it. At that time, I would have preferred he took me away to kill the Beast then meet the King.

I can feel his gaze on me, as I continue to stare apprehensively at the manor. "I've said this many times before, but I wish I never took you that day."

"It happened, and now we are here. I'm going to have to face Tai again," I murmur.

There is no point wanting to take everything back. Despite what I've been through, I'm glad I met Marek. I'm glad he didn't come visit that inn and just see me as another girl working there, before he went on his way. I glad he took me with him, so we could be here now, falling in love with each other.

"You can change your mind. I know you don't want to hide anymore, but I can keep you safe if you don't want to go through with this," he assures me. He's said those exact words to me the entire trip here, and each time I've told him the exact same thing.

"I need answers. I need to know why he is doing this."

I get the sense that the Tai I know is gone. Whether it was the trauma of everything that happened with Vaia, or thinking I died that day in the river, Tai has changed and I don't want to be married to that person.

Marek nods, a storm gathering in his eyes, wanting to take me away. "Alright. It's up to you."

I turn around, pressing my palm to his chest. "Stay away. He will kill you if he finds you."

"No, I'm not leaving your side," he tells me firmly. "You are going to call off the engagement, and we are going to leave together. Today."

"Okay. Let's get this over with," I sighs, focusing back on the manor.

Marek winds his fingers through mine, striding with me toward the entrance. The guards only look at us as we enter, already anticipating our arrival. It's chilling, how planned this all is. Getting out of this engagement isn't going to be easy.

The manor doesn't look too different as we walk in, although the once lush plants that centred within the main dome area are all dead, and everything else looks relatively unkempt as well. Tai either just took over, or his time has spent elsewhere, rather than keeping his own manor maintained.

We don't have to walk far before he sweeps around the corner, opening his eyes wide as if he is greeting two old friends.

"Akara, I'm so glad you could make it," he grins.

I take an uneasy step back, confronted by the look of him. Aside from the slightly longer than usual black curls, he looks like a King again. His rings have returned, all different, but similiar. And his clothing is lavish and royal, looking so painfully alike to the Tai I met all that time ago for the first time.

"Did I have any other choice?" I question.

"I suppose not. I'm glad you're home though. It's taken some time, but I got this place back to how it was when you came here," he tells me lightly. I look around, not sure why he would think that would mean anything to me, because him and I were never on good terms for most of the time I was here in the first instance.

"All the plants are dead," I mutter distastefully. I remember being so impressed by the stunning centrepiece when I first arrived. In fact, it put me slightly more at ease. And now, it's nothing more than a gruesome mess.

"That may take some time..." he says, scrunching his nose up, before he turns his attention to Marek. "I'm not sure why you brought the hunter."

I can feel Marek stiffen next to me, his grip on my hand tightening. Tai purposefully not using Marek's name is a power play. He is in control here, and he wants to remind Marek of that fact. But It's going to take more to phase the man next to me.

"I'm here to call off the engagement," I tell him firmly, straightening. The sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can get out of here.

Tai frowns. "Call it off? That's not how it works."

"That's how it has to work," I snap.

"The only way this engagement can end, is if I release you from it, which I'm not going to do," he comments, folding his arms over his chest. I gape at him. I thought he would see in me how desperately I didn't want this, to be married to him, and he would release me from it because he cares about me.

I try not to let the panic rising up within me overwhelm me. "Why not? You know I don't want to be with you."

"I would rather you be here, where I can keep an eye on you, then out there with the hunter," he growls, his tone shifting. He knows trying to be sweet or kind isn't going to convince me. He's becoming exactly what he thinks a King should be.

I grit my teeth defiantly. "Why can't you just let me be happy?"

"You'll be better here. You've fallen in love with me before. You'll see this is for the best soon," he assures me.

I can't tell who is more disgusted; me or Marek. Thankfully he doesn't say anything, knowing this is something I need to resolve with Tai alone. But the anger coming from him is palpable, and I don't blame him. I can practically feel his restraint, trying not to lash out and kill Tai right now with no warning.

"You're a monster," I growl. The kind, loving Tai I once knew would have been sick at the thought of me being forced into a marriage like this, especially at his own hand. I can't wrap my head around how he could change so suddenly.

He looks over me. "I'm doing this because I care about you."

I back up a few steps. "I'm leaving."

"You can do that, but you will be imprisoned until you can stand at trial. But I can assure you, the courts will only tell you what I am, and you will be forced into this," he says gravelly. He's making is sound like he's doing me a favour, that I should be grateful that agreeing to marry him now will keep me from all that strife.

I blink, bewildered. "I don't want to be with you Tai."

Tai looks over my shoulder, motioning at two of the guards behind us. "Send the hunter to the prisons with my sister. I don't want him making this hard."

Before Marek can make any move, both of the men grab him, restraining him immediately. We both know he could escape if he wanted to, and kill all of us. But once he does that, even more terrible things will fall upon us.

"I'm going to kill you," Marek seethes, as the guards hoist him up, starting to drag him back. I knew Tai would do something like this, but seeing it happen is horrifying.

Tai rolls his eyes, smirking. "I'm sure you are."

I step forward toward him, capturing his attention, hoping I can remind of who he is, who he is meant to be. "Tai...I know you know this isn't right."

He looks down at me, and unreadable look in those once familiar emerald eyes. "We will marry in a months time, once this territory is in a stronger place, and we will rule together."

Rule? I couldn't imagine such a burden, especially with someone like Tai. He is not fit to rule.

"Please don't do this," I beg. Please Tai. See some sense.

"It's your choice whether you want to make this easy or not. But there is no way out of this," he says firmly, as the doors close behind Marek and the guards...

Locking me in forever.

❤️••❤️

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

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

~Midika 🐼💜