by Dahlia Lu
“I have something I must do first before then. Believe me when I say that I look forward to coming home.”
“What do you need to do, Nala?”
“I must help someone reunite his nation. I owe it to him.”
“I am bored out of my mind. Maybe I can lend you a hand.”
“Are you sure?”
A smile tugged on Alex’s face. His hands unconsciously held the handles of his twin swords. “Hell yeah! I have been perfecting my skills for an opportunity like this! It’s going to be like the most epic MMORPG ever!”
“Don’t get too excited, Alex,” Trent said. “She doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Plus we are talking about real human lives here.”
“I may not have lived through as many wars as you have, but I’m already desensitized to death by now. I’m helping out family and it is for a good cause, right?”
Nala turned to her mother. “I have so many questions I want to ask you, mother. When will I be able to meet my father?”
There was a hint of sadness in her mother’s eyes when Nala asked that question.
“He will be awakening soon,” her mother said while forcing a smile. She could not hold the smile, so she broke into tears. “I hate that I love him so much! I just hate it!”
“I’m sorry, mother. I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Nala held her mother to comfort her. “Please, I feel horrible for making you cry at our first meeting. Trent, do something.”
Trent and Alex stood frozen with a helpless expression on their faces.
Noctiam leaned against the frame of the glass window and stared out into the early dawn. It was also early dawn on the streets of Egypt when he first met her. He was still very young at the time and still very curious about the human world. He dwelt among them and took pleasure in all of the good wine and sex the humans had to offer. He often wondered why the other demons did not have any interest in living in this realm.
The first demon he encountered in the human world was a little horse thief with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The second thing he noticed about her was that she was only a hatchling less than a few decades old. Her strength was not that much different than a normal human’s. He was one of the youngest among the demons and he was already fifteen thousand years old. Encountering a hatchling was more than just a rare occurrence.
He was very curious about her and later, when he thought about it, he shouldn’t have been. He should have just given her the damn horse and sent her on her way, but he didn’t do that. He didn’t do what he should have done. He misplaced his heart and then he had to pay for it. He had been paying for it ever since.
There had always been only one person inside her heart.
There was a time when he thought he could change that. He thought he could make her fall in love with him. He thought he could win against whatever it was that was pulling her and her other self together. She had tried everything to be with the person she loved and he had done the same. How unfortunate that neither of them succeeded. The only thing they got out of it was heartache and more heartache.
Unlike her, he knew when to give up. He admitted defeat while she still relentlessly tried to make Trent fall in love with her. Little did she know that it was not Trent’s heart that she needed to win. It already belonged to her.
He admitted defeat, but only to Trent! He admitted defeat to the hands of fate, but not to some lowly human!
Noctiam turned to watch the human king sleep soundly in his bed. Her scent was on the linen and even on the tip of the bastard’s hair. Noctiam knew how little effort it would take to kill a human, but he would not do that. Nala would hate him for destroying her precious little toy. He would make Nala hate this bastard instead. That would be a deserving punishment, wouldn’t it?
But this man is not just a mere toy to her. Nala had never allowed anyone, but Trent to take her. Not any of her lovers and definitely not him. Her face was soaked in her own tears when she came asking him for help. She offered herself, her body, in exchange for him removing her core. She was in so much torment that he did not want to put her through any more despair. He helped her without asking for anything in return.
He could not forgive her for letting this lowly human taint her. He could not forgive any man for achieving what he could not. If her heart was unwavering toward him, then she should be fair and not let it waver toward anyone else. If he could not win over fate, then how dare this human attempt to.
Noctiam mouthed a spell and then placed his slender fingers on the king’s head. “You will not find comfort even in your dreams, human. Abandonment is what you fear most, isn’t it? She will be torn from your arms night after night, so that you can never be secure in your happiness. I will drive you to the edge of your sanity before taking your insignificant life. This shall be your punishment.”
Noctiam sank back into the shadows and vanished.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“The Spring Festival was one of the most important days for the people of the Northern Kingdom. It celebrates the end of a long and harsh winter and welcomes Daime, the goddess of spring and fertility. It is essential that you, the future queen, attend the ceremonies and ask for a blessing from the goddess.”
Nala let out an irritable sigh. The servants had been grooming her since that morning and she was adorned with so many jewels that she wouldn’t be able to move if she were a normal human. They dressed her in a thin white silk gown with decorative gold pieces on top of it. It made her movement feel incredibly stiff.
“Where is His Majesty?” Nala asked. “I have not seen him for the past three days.”
“His Majesty is currently living at the Goddess’s temple. Custom demands that he undergo three days of purification ritual before he lies with the goddess.”
“Lies with the goddess?”
“I forgot that your ladyship is not originally from our kingdom. The priestess Miya must undergo the same purification to receive the goddess into her body. That is why to lie with her is the same as lying with the goddess herself.”
“I see,”
She had heard of this before while she was traveling with the caravan. The priestess of the goddess of Diame must be a virgin and can couple only once with the King on the night of the spring festival. She must not take another partner for the rest of her life or suffer the penalty of death. If she were to conceive, it is said to be the blessing of the goddess. The current queen must take the child in as her own. Does that mean there is a different priestess every year? If that is true then it is such a pitiful life for the priestess.
“Is it possible for me to meet the priestess?” Nala asked.
“I can escort you into the temple, my lady, but it is the priestess who decides.”
“Forgive me, but this is ridicules!” Nala ripped out the elaborate gold pieces in her hair. She then strips her wrists and ankle of bracelets and bangles.
“My lady…” the female servant sighed. “Follow me then,”
Nala followed the woman out of the palace and was escorted to the temple of the goddess Diame. The guards in front stopped them at first, but then bowed to her when they were informed of her position as future queen. The title helped her move around so much easier within the kingdom. She waited out in the hall for permission to see the priestess.
“Please go in, my lady,” said the female guard who helped her to deliver the message.
Nala entered into a gloomy private chamber lighted by hundreds of candles. There was a young girl with very light brown hair and shy blue eyes waiting for her inside. She was dressed in a simple white gown, but simplicity could not hide the girl’s true beauty.
“Are you the priestess Miya?” Nala asked.
The girl nodded. “I am. Have you come to frame me of some indecent crimes so to make me unfit to be the priestess of this spring festival? Like my predecessors, I cannot defend myself if that is your intentions.”
That is rather a grim view. “Not really, I just came by to
have a little talk.”
“…A talk? What does a future queen have to talk to a lowly priestess like me about?”
“If you do not welcome me, then you should have denied meeting me,” Nala turned around. “I know where I am not wanted.”
“Have you really come just to talk?”
Nala turned around again. “Yes, just to talk.”
“I apologize for my rudeness,” the priestess said. “Please come and have a seat. There is still plenty of time before sundown and I am desperate for company.”
“You sound frightened,” Nala noticed the girl’s voice.
“It is my duty,” the priestess forced a smile. “I have been serving as priestess in this temple since I was a child and I knew this day would come. Still, it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“Sayan is a very gentle person despite the rumors about him. You mustn’t be frightened of him.”
The priestess stared at her. “Are you not jealous, my lady?”
“Jealous?” Nala flinched at a sharp stab on her chest. Her own voice echoed in her head. You are mine, Trent! If any woman dares to lay a finger on you, I will tear her to pieces and send her back to you in a box! Every strand of hair on your head and every drop of blood that flows through your veins are mine!
“…My lady?”
Nala snapped out of her illusion and stared into the girl’s clear blue eyes. “I’m sorry, I have a terrible headache. I think I will leave earlier than expected.”
“Please stay with me a little longer,” the priestess pleaded. “I am awfully lonely. Are you alright? Do you need to summon a physician?”
Nala shook her head. Physicians cannot cure mental illness. “It is not that I am completely immune to a thing called jealousy. The truth is that I can be a very jealous person, but Sayan is someone very important to me, and I want to know that he is well taken care of once I leave.”
“My lady, you are the future queen of this kingdom. Where are you planning to go?”
“I want to go home to where I belong.”
“Are you going back to your country?”
“You could say that.”
“Does His Majesty not treat you well?”
“He treats me very well.”
“Does His Majesty not love you?”
She didn’t know how to answer that one. “He loves me like family.”
“What more can a woman ask for, my lady? Why do you want to leave?”
“It is because I simply do not belong here.”
“It is unfortunate that you think so. I am sure His Majesty will be very sad.”
“He would be even more disappointed if he found out the truth about me. He would be disgusted with me if he found out what I have done in the past. I would rather leave him a good impression of me before I go.”
“I am sure you don’t want to talk about it with a stranger like me.”
“I am very sharp at distinguishing people, Miya. I think His Majesty will like you very much. If you come to like His Majesty too, would you consider staying by his side?”
“…My lady!”
“That is, if you like him. I won’t force you into anything.” Nala smiled. “Kings are allowed to take priestesses as wives, so I don’t think there will be anyone objecting it. I think it is more favorable than the alternative.”
The priestess blushed. “Am I allowed to think that way, my lady?”
Nala looked outside of the small window at the top of the chamber. “It is almost sundown. I should be leaving now. I think it would be easier for you to think of yourself as a bride than a priestess with a duty to her goddess.”
The priestess blushed even brighter. “Thank you for your advice, my lady.”
Nala quietly exited the chamber and walked down the hallway she had previously entered.
A cloud of thoughts shrouded her mind.
“Nala…?”
She turned around when she heard Sayan’s voice. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. He only had a white sheet skirted around his waist and his hair was dripping wet.
“I thought I smelled your scent in the hallway. What are you doing here?”
“I…I…” Why was she stuttering at such a simple question?
Sayan’s eyes followed the direction she was coming from. “Have you met the Priestess?” he asked.
She nodded. “I came, because I was a little curious.”
He walked toward her and she unconsciously stepped backward. He finally trapped her against the wall. “It is because you’ve finally noticed that I have been missing the past three days? You came, because you missed me?”
“I was simply curious.”
“You could have lied a little to flatter me, Nala.” He bent down for a kiss, but she slanted her head to the side. “Or is it because you are jealous?”
She jerked her head back in shock and he stole a kiss as if he had expected her reaction. She gave in to the tenderness of the kiss. When he broke the kiss and aimed for her neck, she pushed him back.
“I have to leave before sundown,” she said and slipped under his arm. “Treat the priestess gently.”
“Wait a minute.” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to the spot she had just left. “What?”
“You have a very intimidating aura, so you should try and lower your voice when you speak to her.”
“How did this conversation turn wrong so fast, all of a sudden?” He gave her an incredulous stare. “I have no intention of traumatizing a virgin priestess and then discard her for the rest of her life. I am not that cruel of a man.”
She shyly looked up. “If you like her, you could marry her. Actually, I am very sure you will like her.”
Her words shocked him and it was displayed all over his face.
Sayan took a step back from her and then strode away. The pace of his steps told her that he was angry. He turned back and then strode toward her. He grabbed her wrist and led her into the chamber he had just left from. He shoved her onto the soft cushions by the poolside and then locked the door.
“Sayan, don’t be angry with me…”
“If you like the girl so much, why don’t you take her place for her instead?”
He crushed her lips with a kiss and then pinned her down on the cushions. The cold droplet of water from his hair dripped onto her cheeks. His lips travelled down her slender neck. She flinched when he bit the flesh at the base of her neck. He closed his mouth other hers when she murmured a protest. His hands travelled up the length of her leg, under her skirt, and pulled her hips toward him.
She protested again when he positioned himself. The expression on his face wounded her. She suddenly felt guilty for provoking him like that. He probably read through her intentions. If it were her, she would have been hurt too.
She latched onto him as he plunged into her with a decisive thrust. He was so much rougher than the first time they were together. He didn’t caress her or give her enough time to prepare herself. There was some pain at first, but that quickly made way for waves upon waves of pleasure. So much so that she was drowning in her own breath.
She didn’t know when she had become so sentimental of his feelings. Her feelings often correlated to the expression on his face. When he frowned, she became deeply saddened. When he smiled, she became filled with joy. This expression on his face right now made her heart ache.
If this kept up, she would not be able to leave him, but had this boy become so important to her that she would give up the thought of going home? What if he knew what kind of conniving person she really was? What if he knew that she deceived her own brother into marrying her? Would he still look at her with those same eyes?
She could not stand it if Sayan looked at her with the same eyes as Trent looked at her. His gaze was so cold and detached that it froze her heart on contact. She didn’t want to be hated again. She had not been successful in apologizing to Trent. She couldn’t have Sayan hating her too.
She could not think right now. She was so
out of breath. Her eyes flew open when she heard him say something in very soft whisper. If her hearing were not so impeccable, she probably would not have caught it. His love confession was like the phantom wind in the dark of the night. She was not sure if he had said it at all.
He wouldn’t have said that if he knew what she had done.
If there was a lovelier woman in the entire world, he would contest it. Her scent alone was maddening…a faint scent of ripe peaches and some kind of exotic flower. Her sensual expressions could even make the most beautiful women blush. And she was all his.
These things had never entered his mind before. He didn’t see any of this until recently. He knew that she was beautiful, but now he knew what those men were thinking when they saw her dance. They were imagining her like she is now, moaning pleasurably under him. The thought angered him. He wanted to lock her up so no one could ever see her again. This beautiful expression was for him alone.
Her pale green eyes stared up at him in shock and he realized he had said something unconsciously. He stopped himself when all of the thoughts in his head jumbled together. He knew he wanted her to stay with him no matter the cost, but since when did he fall in love with her? How long had he been in love with her?
He just wanted to claim those full and pretty lips for himself right now. Her soft lips were welcoming, even though he knew she was still as confused as he was. He kissed her gently as his hands found ways to remove the gold pieces from her gown. They clanged onto the ground, dragging the thin fabric of the gown with them. He lowered his head to her beautiful breasts and sucked on her flesh until she melted like candle wax in his hands.
“Sayan…?” His name was dripping with sweetness from her lips. Her pale green eyes stared out of the window “The sun was going down…”
“You will just have to be my goddess for tonight then,” he said teasingly. “I’ve said it before. I will not be gullible to you anymore. Don’t think that I do not know what you are thinking.”
“Are you still angry with me?”
He kissed the palm of her hand. He was short-tempered, but he was never the kind of man who could hold on to it for long. “Forgive me, I was rough.”
