Word Count: 1942

~Kiva

A week passes and I hear nothing from Taven.

Good. He can listen.

Ark doesn't seem to share his propensity for keeping back, hidden. Although, he hasn't pushed me on the issue, nor has he brought Taven up.

Thankfully...It's been my focus all week to keep this mate issue out of my head.

So, when Caspian invites me back to his manor to go over what is going to occur at our wedding, I happily agree.

Anything is to keep my mind off Ark and Taven is a good thing.

"The ceremony will be outside," Caspian tells me, leading me into the backyard. It's a dreary sight out here, with the dark clouds that loom overhead and the lifeless garden that struggles to grow through the frost.

"A bit cold, don't you think?" I mumble, wrapping my coat tighter around myself.

I suppose on my wedding day my temperature will be the last thing that bothers me.

"It shouldn't be too long," he responds, breath clouding in front of him as he surveys the area.

Something seems off today. He's stiff, more reserved. When I arrived this morning he didn't greet me with a beaming smile, nor even much of an acknowledgment.

"How long is the wedding away now?" I ask.

"Two weeks. I want to make sure everything is as it needs to be," he muses, watching various staff flutter around, getting everything in order.

A tightness wraps around my ribs. I knew it would be soon, but two weeks isn't nearly enough time for me to...

To what? I don't even know anymore.

"Then we will be husband and wife." I say it more to hear the words aloud, to instil them in my mind. There is no backing away from this now.

Caspian's expression doesn't shift. "Yes, we will."

"Are you excited?"

Caspian has always been keen to marry me. His youthful approach to our relationship always made me feel guilty for being close to my mate. Maybe it's because he has always been so hopeful, so romantic.

But today, his deep blue eyes are as cold as the ground I stand on. He even looks a few years older with all this seriousness.

"Why would I be excited?" He questions.

"Oh. Well, you don't need to be. It's just since I was a little girl I dreamt of my marriage, my husband," I admit breathily.

He frowns. "We are Royals. Those dreams are pointless."

That stings. The tightness only strengthens, like a phantom grip on my lungs. I can feel the beginnings of panic, of my world starting to crumble down on top of me.

"It's nice to dream..." I mutter.

He slides his hands into his pockets. "Perhaps. But what you should be dreaming about is how you are best going to serve me and my people."

I twist, fully facing him now. This just went from depressing to infuriating.

"Serve? What does that mean?"

"I mean you are expected to be a good, giving wife," he exclaims with no tact at all. "You will be living in my home, after all."

I gape at him. I feel as though I've tumbled into another reality. Is this Caspian's stoic, cold twin brother? This isn't the man who has been courting me these past few months.

"Our home, you mean?"

He just stares down at me, no emotion in this steely eyes. "No. I don't."

My numb fingers roll up into fists.

"I owe you nothing. This marriage to you does not mean I will be a sweet, submissive wife for you to walk all over," I growl. I will not be spoken down to by him. I will not exist to be walked over.

A muscle in his jaw tenses as he regards me with quiet contemplation.

Then, he leans closer. "I think the cold has gotten to you. Maybe you should go inside and heat up, and we can talk about this later."

Dismissal. Plain and simple.

Frustrated breaths fog before me as I look around helplessly. His staff pass us by, unbothered by his tone or manner of speaking.

It's as if they are used to this...

I'm not going to win this battle. Not today.

"Whatever," I grumble, brushing past him and back into the house.

Maybe it's the years of being pampered as an only child, as a Princess that has finally caught up to me. So people live like this? Is this what marriage looks like?

I shake the thoughts from my head. I'm deluding myself for Caspian's benefit. Not mine.

Gritting my teeth, my breath shortens, my throat tightening as I fight back tears. I cannot cry. Not when this is my duty. Not when I always knew that I would be marrying for power, not for love.

My eyes cloud with tears, some even spilling down my cheeks as I rush up the stairs, leaving the hustle of wedding preparation behind me.

Love. I've come so close to love. It's in my grasp and I'm throwing it away.

A choked sob forces it's way past my lips.

I don't even know why I'm crying. I can't stop the tears now that they have started, and my breathing is so laboured I think I may be panicking beyond what I can reign in.

I turn the corner to my room. Ark is by my door, pacing back and forth.

I stop short, staring at him.

He's so perfect.

I hate it.

His dark gaze immediately sweeps me to me, a frown and a little confusion tainting his expression.

He's a pillar of sturdiness, of strength and masculinity. Everything about him is sure and true, even if his past is ambiguous.

His feelings for me are not, though.

He advances on my immediately. "Kiva...what happened?"

I should wipe my tears from my cheek, should shake off the panic and redeem myself as the strong Princess I know I should be. And yet I can't find any part of me willing to do it.

I just want to cry.

"I can't do this anymore," I sob, my head falling helplessly into my hands.

Ark grabs my wrists, gently pulling my hands from my face. I don't care about the state of my appearance, of who he has trained me to be. Not anymore.

"Hey, come here," he breathes, pulling me against his chest. "Can't do what?"

"I can marry him. He's a monster," I choke out.

He pulls me back enough to grab either side of my  face. His bare thumbs brush at the tears as they spill down my cheek, keeping my cloudy gaze locked on his.

"Did he say something?" He demands. "Did he touch you?"

I shake my head, holding his arms as if to pull from his own strength.

"No...he told me he expects me to be a good wife. I don't even want to be his wife."

Ark sighs through his nose. There's so much unsaid on that simple gesture.

"Come sit down."

He guides me into the room, seating me on the bed. I hate this room. It's too clean, to unlike home. It's the exact depiction of what Caspian expects me to be, and I want to burn it.

"I can't do this Ark..."

He crouches in front of where I sit on the edge of the bed, holding my tear soaked hands. His touch is so assuring. He won't let me go until he knows I'm safe, that I'm okay.

"Say the word right now and we go. I'll take you as far away from this fucking mess and we can start over. New names, new lives. Everything."

He's so serious my breath catches in my throat.

Would I do that? Would I run away with Ark? The beautiful, tempting thought is painfully stained with reality.

"I can't. I have a duty."

"Your only duty is to yourself, to your happiness," he insists, squeezing my hands.

I stare down into those beautiful eyes. They are rarely hopeful, and yet now they are. He is truthful about running away, about putting everything behind us. For a man who respects his duties as much as I do, this is not something to be taken lightly.

"Do you really want to be stuck with him? And if he's bad now, I imagine he will only get worse," he adds.

I shake my head, my voice pained as I fight away more tears. "I can't just go. It's not as simple as you think."

"Shh, I'm not going to let anything bad happen again." He kisses the backs of my fingers, not breaking eye contact. It's a point of sturdiness that I can grasp onto to pretend like I'm in my own fantasy.

A fantasy where it's Ark I'm marrying, not Caspian.

"You can't stop it. No one can," I tell him despite myself.

Something dark and otherworldly flickers in his gaze. "I'll kill him, if I have to."

"Ark, you can't do that." I get the feeling Ark is being entirely serious about his threat. If Caspian came to learn of this, he would have Ark arrested for conspiracy, and I would never see him again.

It's a marvel Ark is even allowed here. I imagine once I'm married he will be fired.

"Yes, I can."

I squeeze my eyes shut. "I need to go home. Even if it's just for a little while."

"We send word for your father tonight. For now, stay with me until you feel better," he instructs softly.

I don't protest and he pulls off my shoes and then my coat. I'm unsure of what he is doing as he kicks off his own shoes and jacket until he pulls the sheets back and helps me in.

To my surprise, he joins me, gliding under the covers, tugging me into his chest with his arms banded around me.

The tears stop. For a beautiful moment I'm blissful, comfortable.

The world stills. All my problems seem miles away, and the tightness around my lungs drifts away into nothingness.

"You can be so kind to me, I forget you're a mercenary," I murmur into his chest, my limbs relaxing as he twists his fingers through my hair.

"I'm your mate before anything else," he reminds me.

I smile faintly.

"Were I not a Princess, and you found out we were mates, what would you have done?" I ask. I often think about being a normal village girl and Ark a normal village boy.

Our lives would be so different.

"I would have made you mine immediately. No hesitation," he tells me. The hand that isn't playing with my hair is drawing up and down my back.

I tilt my head up. "Really?"

"Were things not complicated, I wouldn't hold back. You're my mate." He looks down at me, a warmth in his eyes that I relish.

Simple Ark. Uncomplicated Ark. That's who I would give everything up to be with.

"I wish it were simple," I murmur, yawning.

He kisses my forehead. "I'm going to make it simple."

I don't have the energy to ask him how. The weight of his arms around me, his scent, his warmth...nothing matters outside of this blissful moment.

Day fades into night far too quickly, and yet not once does Ark release me from his grip.

I doze in and out of sleep all night, knowing only one thing.

This is what love feels like.

🖤••🖤

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! and as always it is available 10 chapters ahead on Radish!

THE DARKEST TEMPTATION— OUT NOW ON WATTPAD!!

~Midika 💜🐼