ততততত

𝐓 𝐎 𝐁 𝐈 𝐍

I hate daylight, because it's here that I have to let Imogen go.

As long as that sun remains above the horizon, Imogen will be the princess of Lagulon, a princess who I can't steal and pillage and love. It's in the night when I can go back home to my wife. Yeah, you heard what I said: my glowing moonbeam of a wife.

We tried to make it a one time thing—making love by the hearthlight—but stolen touches and kisses alter our clarity until it's blurred in the affections of one another. She makes me so weak, so brittle to any weapon in this world. She is the arrow that has pierced me, and now I bleed for her.

To distract myself, I indulge in meaningless chores as I spend my time by Mt. Elora and the lake. I chopped down a tree by the edge of the woods for firewood, chopping it into a stack of logs. The afternoon sun beats down against my sunkissed scarred skin, drenching my tunic in sweat. I wipe a stray bead from my forehead just as a figure alerts me in the distance.

I recognize the tan horse the intruder rides upon, as well as the devilish sapphire blue eyes and charcoal black hair. Gareth. It's always fucking Gareth.

I lower the ax in my hand. Right now, my sword rests back at the homestead. There's no use carrying a weapon around when there ain't supposed to be any threats. Gareth isn't supposed to be a threat, but he fights for a kingdom that longs to obliterate everything and everyone I love.

"What the fuck do you want?" I grumble.

His jaw ticks in annoyance. "Answers. I received word that you went awol from the Adoridian militia."

"I did."

"I thought getting Aspen back would be enough for you, but it turns out it's not," he retorts, narrowing his gaze on me. "I'm here to tell you that she's back in the same position as she was before: Leighton's handmaiden."

Rage simmers beneath the surface of my skin. I love Aspen, and I know she's a fucking powerhouse of a sixteen year old, but I left her behind knowing full well that she'd end up under Leighton's authority. There's a task I need to carry out, a revenge I need to seek out and pay before I can return to Aspen.

I need to end this war and save my princess.

"You don't need to remind me," I mutter, raising the ax so it sits over my shoulder. Gareth sees the gesture as some sort of offense, his hand grasping the hilt of his sword, but never drawing. "You of all people should be able to figure out why I came back."

"The princess," he answers without a hesitation. "You came to steal her away from Leighton."

I grit my teeth. "You're a motherfucking asshole."

"You've already fucked up your chance of saving yourself from execution," Gareth scoffs, shaking his head. "I gave you a way out, and you succeeded. Leighton pardoned you, but that wasn't good enough. You had to come back here to Lagulon and ride happily into the sunset with the princess."

That's what it's felt like these past few nights. My mind has been disassembled piece by piece and replaced by Imogen and her delectable vanilla scent. It's been sheets and skin and sex on repeat, because our marriage ends in just under two months, and neither of us intend to forget about the love between us. It's overflowing, and even it needs a release.

"There is no fucking sunset," Gareth hisses. "Imogen will marry Leighton, and I will guarantee that she does. And you? You won't be able to follow her into Adorid, because you screwed up. You left to come back here, and for that, the throne holds no forgiveness. You step a foot into Adorid, and you'll be sentenced to the gallows."

"Do you really think some dumbass threats are going to scare me away?"

"These aren't threats, Tobin. These are warnings."

"What the hell do you need to warn me about?"

Gareth finally releases his grip on his sword, his shoulders deflating. "Because you're making a terrible choice. She's a princess. A fucking princess. You gave up your sister and soul just to run back here and be with her. For her, you just wrote yourself a death sentence."

I tighten my jaw. "I will sneak back into Adorid. You know that I can."

"Of course I do, but I know Leighton better than anyone," he gulps. "He will dice you into the cubes if he captures you, and do you think that either of us want that?"

"Us?" I snap. "I'm pretty sure Leighton likes you as his personal pet."

"I'm just trying to protect you from getting yourself killed."

"I can protect myself," I grip the ax over my shoulder a little tighter, just to subdue the anger rushing inside of me. "Thanks for warning me, but I have a princess to visit tonight."

Gareth flinches.

My gaze meets those sapphire eyes.

There's just a flicker of it, a second of heated ignorance crossing through his pupils. The realization of what this is hits me like a rock. Sure, he came here to warn me, but he also came here to attempt to pry the gates of my heart open and persuade me otherwise.

Gareth is jealous. Not because I have Imogen, but because Imogen has me.

I've never been blind to Gareth's fondness for me. It started when we were entering adolescence as young tweens. Between the sparring and training, there were always moments of Gareth's stolen touches. We were rivals, yet equals with the same fate. Although, he always followed my prowess, living in my shadow. He coveted everything that I was, until he eventually desired me.

But I never reciprocated what he always longed for from me.

The Gareth of the past is only a fragment of the Gareth I see now. He's not the same man I used to know, and that was a man I called a friend. Here, all I see is a stranger.

"I don't need to be warned," I rouse. "And I get that I've messed up. Sure, I might be losing Aspen and Imogen because of my fucking decision to come back here, but this is where I need to be to finish what my father started."

He raises his brows, asking silently for my mission to be said in open air.

"He wanted to dethrone your fucking king. Now, do you want me to point out where the hell you fucked up?"

Gareth clenches his jaw tighter. He's done everything he can to reach the summit and there he is, right hand to that bastard of a king. We're so fucking different.

"I obeyed the orders of my superior," Gareth mutters. "It's what we've been taught to do at a young age. We were knights in the Adoridian army, and your father was right-hand to the king. I don't understand how everything and everyone I thought I knew disappeared so fast."

I swallow. "Maybe we just didn't see the world the same way."

"I don't want to see you or Aspen get hurt again," Gareth admits. "I know I've been a pain in your ass, but I've done everything I can to spare you, because I still fucking care about you."

"It's a little late for this, ain't it?" I look away. "Right now, my priority is waiting for me in her bedroom in the castle, because you know as well as I do that she needs me."

"Tobin, she's—"

"—she's incredible," I breathe, looking back up to Gareth's eyes. "All I ask is that you keep her safe when this goes to shit."

Gareth remains still, his gaze locked on mine, trying to search for answers for questions he's afraid to ask. Eventually, he gives his head a curt nod. "I won't tell Leighton, but if you slip up and he discovers she's in love with you, I can't spare you from the consequences."

"I'm not asking you too."

"Just remember my warning, even though I know you'll ignore me the moment I leave," Gareth turns back to his steed, taking a reign in a tight agitated fist. "I hope she's worth it."

"She is."

Gareth chuckles as he mounts his horse. "You're still a dumbass. Always have been for following that soft heart of yours."

With the lingering insult in the air, he rides off from the meadow back to where he came from. He came here to criticize me, to attempt to persuade me to go back to Adorid and live my days as a puppet in the militia. Instead, he failed to consider that I was born with Parias blood. I live and breathe for those I love. This is what my father started ten years ago, and somehow, I will finish it.

I have a sister. I have a wife in the most improper of ways.

No bastard of a king will tear them away from me.

Not anymore.

── •✧• ──

Tobigen's little secret love isn't so secret with Gareth lurking in every corner. Are they truly safe from Leighton's fist? Or will Gareth spill their secret and chaos will ensue? Stay tuned for the next chapter, which I hope I can bring to you soon!

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