Word Count: 2079

I woke to all the feelings of frustration and anger having vanished, leaving a hollow feeling in my stomach. Another morning of waking up to my own cruel reality, and yet another day of trying to recover from it, trying to move on.

As usual, the day dragged on, Tai gone off like he usually is, dealing with both the rebel presence, and the cruel reality of the war, which has been bothering the King more recently. He hasn't shared much with me about the war, other than that it's been a financial and emotional drain, knowing that he is sending men to die.

My father never spoke much about the horrors of the war either, leaving much up to my imagination. All I know is that it's a battle between independent rebel groups within the Jade Province and the Scarlet Province that ended up causing so much conflict, political powers, including Tai and his family became involved.

Now other rebel groups are threatening Tai's reign, that may or may not be connected.

Tai and I ate dinner together, talking about anything other than the war, rebels and Tani. Instead I told him about my writing, how my story is coming along. He listened, like he always does, and then I went up to my bedroom.

I couldn't convince myself to stay there very long, deciding to take my small writing book outside to enjoy the night, even if the winter air is cold. But tonight, for the first time all week, it's not raining.

The marbled porch is cold underneath me as I sit down, resting the book between my thighs.

The tip of my pen doesn't even touch the paper before I hear footsteps from behind me, causing me to turn. Marek settles next to me, resting his forearms on his thighs as he looks at me.

"What happened to your face?" I question.

A deep blue shadow entrenched in his skin from his jaw to his left eye causes me to flinch, trying to decipher what it is. He watches me carefully, waiting for me to put it all together.

"Some of the other hunters roughed me up for calling off anymore hunts for Tani," he murmurs. Oh, it's a bruise. It's so strange looking, so different. I have to remember that Marek does not bleed red like a human, but pastel blue like a Summoner. That means his bruises are going to look different to mine. I'm surprised I didn't notice earlier, after the Beast attacked him.

I was so worried about Tai...

"Seriously?" I question, reaching up to touch the bruise, noting the cut on his lip. He let's my fingers gently brush against his skin, gaze soft. "I know I got angry but...it wasn't worth getting yourself hurt."

"You were right. It's wrong, us killing innocent creatures like that and ruining people's faith," he breathes, reaching up to grab my hand, bring it away from his face, but he doesn't let it go. "I should have learnt from you earlier that those things mean a lot to people."

"I'm sorry for taking it out on you, when it was Tai's demands," I relent. "I was just so frustrated, knowing I now don't have a Tani and that feeling is terrible. I don't want anyone else to go through that."

Marek looks down at my hand that he still holds, cradling it like an injured animal.

"You're far too good of a person to even be in my presence," he admits, his voice hoarse. I shake my head, looking out into the border of the forest at the end of Tai's property. I forgot that Marek and I used to come out here a lot in the beginning, but now it feels like a distant memory.

"Why do you hate Tani so much?" I ask absently, brushing away a few stray strands of hair that flutter against my face, carried by the gentle breeze.

"I grew up believing in an Azure Province Tani. It wasn't necessarily local to my village at the time, but there were some sightings. It was enough for people to see it as a Predator, but my mother quickly decided it was more of a Guardian," he admits, looking toward the sky, where the start glitter and wink in total contrast to his grave words.

I had my surprise, realising that this is one of the first personal things he has ever said to me. "Really? Why's that?"

"My father is a Summoner. My mother was so fascinated by him, and his power, that she immediately wanted to marry and have children with him, in hopes she would have mystical, powerful children," he explains.

"And she got what she wanted?"

"Partly. I was born first with Summoner abilities, then came my sister, who had none," he tells me. "There is a fifty percent chance it will be passed down."

I'm struck by how intensely he is looking at me, glacial blue eyes passed over by a dark shadow. I've never thought much into what a life beyond this with Marek would look like...I mean, could it include children? If it did, there's a good chance we would have a Summoner baby, which would be an entirely new challenge.

"What does this have to do with your Tani?" I ask softly. I want to know as much as I can about everything, but I'm curious about the idea of him putting faith in a Tani once.

"Just after my sister was born, my father vanished in the night, leaving my mother with two small children. I'm not sure what got it into her head, but she began to despise Summoner's, seeing us for the demons we truly are," he explains. All because of his father?

"You're not a demon," I assure him.

"She didn't seem to think so. She hated me, and adored my sister. We all adored my sister, she was loving, and curious and kind," he exclaims, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. Clearly he loved her, but the word was deeply concerns me. "When whispers of a demonic creature, from an ancient line of predator Tani was spotted, everyone was frightened, except for my mother."

"Why?"

"This Snow Demon targets Summoners. It buries itself in the snow, using the victim of it's last kill to set up a trap to lure unsuspecting people to it. Because it only killed Summoner's, it was able to use the remnants of ones power to turn the last corpse into something else. If someone was walking by, it would see what appeared to be a loved one in danger, but it would just be a trap."

"That's terrifying," I shudder. It's a cruel reminder that Tani after often not innocent, but can be cruel and disturbing.

"It was. My mother loved the idea because she despised Summoners so much," h a darkness settling over him, brought on by the reminder of his own past trauma. "She forced me to believe this creature was doing the right thing, exterminating demonic Summoner's from the land. She even convinced me into thinking that if I used my powers, I would be killed by it."

I wince. "That's so sad."

"The worst part is that I actually had faith in this Tani. I thought it to be good, believing in my mothers ideology. I let her hate me, convince my sister to hate me, even if she never succeeded."

My eyes drift to the silvery blue marking on his forehead, a reminder of his power to not use his powers unless absolutely necessary. Even though I have faith that he wouldn't, it is a relief to see him everyday and know that he hasn't used his powers on anything, on anyone.

"It's damaging for a young Summoner to not use their powers. It does things to you, makes you crazy. I blame a lot of that on why I'm so different to other Summoners," he admits, releasing a sigh.

I try to not push too hard. "Right."

"My mother died when I was fourteen of a terrible sickness, leaving me to care for my sister. It was hard but I managed it, until we started to run out of food. Eventually I had to teach myself how to hunt, to keep us alive."

The notorious hunter. It's hard to believe that the Marek I know so well is feared by an entire population in the Azure Province. I wonder what Fran is doing, still believing that rumour to be true.

Marek's jaw clenches tightly. "Then on one horrible day, I was out later than usual, having not much luck retrieving dinner. Curious and a bit worried, my sister tried to follow me out there."

My heart sinks painfully. "Oh no."

"Snow Demon's are the only creatures who can trick a Summoner with their own powers," Marek grits out, the slightest sheen of tears in his eyes as he stares blankly into the grass before us. "But it didn't even try to trick me. It just let me see my slaughtered sister, let me know that it never kills humans, but made the exception for this one."

"Marek...I'm so sorry," is all I manage, tightening my hold on his hand, wishing I could do more to take away that pain. I can't imagine what the horror of witnessing your sisters death would do to someone, how it would alter one's perception of the world.

"Roselyn was only nine, Akara," he mutters, looking at me just as a single tear falls from his eye, gliding down his cheek. "That disgusting, vial Tani killed my sister. Ever since I've wanted revenge."

So the Snow Demon is the Tani Marek was hunting before he crossed paths. It must be relatively elusive to evade him, but I have no doubt he will not stop until his revenge has been exacted. Hearing this had made me realise why he couldn't understand why I had faith in the Beast...

"That I can't blame you for."

"After it all happened I was so lost, so angry that I walked straight up into the mountains with nothing. No bow, no way of getting food. I just walked, hoping either the cold or some other deadly Tani would kill me," he admits, wiping the tear away.

"Instead, I came across a camp in the mountains, full of other Summoners. I was so close to death, but they nursed me right back to health. I stayed with them for many years, learning to hunt better, use my powers, before I left," he tells me.

I release a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. "And now you're here."

"This is both the best and worst thing to happen to me," he notes, smiling slightly, the tears and the grief gone. "I'm just glad I met you, even if I can't have you."

A warmth sinks into my heart, making me smile as well. I've learnt more about Marek in this one speech than I have since I met him, and knowing this, even if it's sad, makes me surprisingly happy. Marek has been hurt in his past, and with time, I will learn more about him, and that makes me very content.

"Life is so odd, isn't it?" I murmur.

"All of it is worth it. You're worth it, Akara," he breathes, kissing the top of my hand before letting it go.

As he gets to his feet, I do to, wanting more time with him, wanting another one of those special moments with him...But I shouldn't, and I know I shouldn't. Not when these conflicting feelings about Tai have come to light. It wouldn't be fair to either

"I should go. Thank you for listening to me," Marek says before he turns around, walking back inside.

🤎••🤎

So KING'S POSSESSION is now completed on Radish! The sequel, KING'S SEDUCTION is now up and available to view.

Do no, and I cannot stress this enough, read King's Seduction without completing this novel. It will spoil everything!!

🛤••🛤

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 (:

Snapchat: midikacrane

Instagram: Sophie_Midika

~Midika 💜🐼