Chapter 8 - I Wish I Could Ignore His Lingering Kiss
1676 Words
THE COLD WAY back was hard.
I tried so hard to keep my legs covered with what was left of my ripped dress. Still, I could feel the cold from inside of me instead of the wind. My whole body shivered horribly as I passed each corner after corner. I couldn’t think about who could have seen me like this. Who would witness the lonely girl walking with her attire ruined before her? The guards wouldn’t bat an eye and none of the maids would care unless it had something to do with them.
Rosalie would have made great company right now.
I kept my head down the entire way until I felt myself hitting a wall.
No.
A man’s chest.
Someone’s massive chest.
As I looked up, I saw a storm of angry amber obsidians and furious-looking eyebrows.
Prince Larkin, the commander of the Deadchaser army was holding my shoulders together to keep me still from trembling too much. I didn’t know when I started to shake this hard. Maybe it was the cold from the wind. Or maybe, I was too shaken to even stand up straight. Like a leaf, I was quivering in his hands.
“Who did this to you?” There was wrath behind his voice.
Anger that shouldn’t be there but it was there anyway. For a second, I felt protected. Cared of. I felt as if someone had actually felt for me. But this was Prince Kaden and the prince wanted nothing to do with me. He cared more about the Kingdom than his fated mate. He didn’t care whether his destiny was going to be used as a bed slave or starve in the streets.
The Prince shook my shoulders a bit. “I said, who the f**k did this to you?”
My eyes fleet to his maddening eyes. It was enough to tell him. I didn’t need to say any names. There was only one person who could do this to me.
Prince Kaden had the audacity to curse out loud.
I laughed. It was laugh-worthy knowing he rejected me indirectly the moment we saw each other. It got him to look at me with unexplainable eyes.
“Are you angry? Surprised?”
He didn’t say anything to that.
“You don’t have any right to be angry,” I spat through gritted teeth as I shoved him away from me. “You don’t have the right to feel anything for me, Prince. When you gave me up, you signed me up for this. For your father to use however he wants. This is only the beginning. He would do so much worse to me. You can’t be surprised already.”
Prince Kaden knew I was telling the truth. There was nothing he could say to retaliate to those words.
I slipped past him.
He pulled me back to him and he didn’t say anything as he took off his jacket and put it around me. It fell on my thighs and it actually did something to cover me. I didn’t say thanks.
“He shouldn’t have done this,” he murmured.
“Why? I belong to him.”
He shut his eyes tight.
“I am his.”
“Margot.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“Go back to your room.”
“You are a coward, aren’t you? Moon Goddess, for all those titles, you can’t actually do something for your ma—“
“Go back to your room!” He barked.
The corners of my eyes twitched. I hated this man. This fated mate of mine. I hated him with a burning passion so that I shook off his jacket and turned on my heels, ignoring the way his glare burned the back of my head.
Screw him.
He didn’t get to be nice to me and reminded me of how he refused to claim me.
Kaden Darkthorn was a coward.
~ ~ ~
The next day was a blur. I trudged over my day like I was made from nothingness. I couldn’t feel anything except the self-hate that was slowly eating me alive. By the time the sun set, I was already too exhausted to even blink my eyes. I retired early to bed. Thankfully, the Alpha King didn’t even ask me for dinner.
I guess I could take that as a mercy from him.
No one was asking for me the rest of the night. I was slowly falling asleep when suddenly, I heard the door to my room being gently opened. I didn’t feel the Alpha King’s energy. No. It was his son. I could tell by the way my skin felt the gentle spark that electrocuted my heart. I could feel it from our bond.
The connection was utterly mystifying.
I hated how I was so tuned with his existence.
I wished I could ignore his presence.
Shutting my eyes tight, I acted like I was asleep.
And Prince Kaden only sat there, for the longest time. He was watching me without saying anything. None at all. At some point, it was starting to bother me too much. But when I was going to tell him off, I heard him rising from his seat. He walked closer to the bed. I held my breath.
The Commander kissed my temple softly.
Gently.
So desperately.
There was something about his kiss that haunted me all night.
Something about his absence that killed me a little.
Prince Kaden left me again. This time, with his lips painted over my forehead.
~ ~ ~
Rosalie woke me up with a smile. She was always so smiley even when I was treating him badly. Even when I was crying silently as she dressed me up. Even when I told her that I wanted to kill myself during bad hours.
“The Alpha King wants to take you out today,” she reported.
“Where?” I asked absentmindedly.
“The Garden of Eve.”
“What is that?”
“The King’s personal ground near the edge of the forest. It is the most beautiful thing in the world. It is an orchard of some kind. Filled with many beautiful flowers. A verandah. A maze!” Her eyes actually lit up. “I had the honor to visit once and I didn’t want to leave. It had been nurtured and taken care of for generation after generation.”
“Sounds great,” I muttered.
Rosalie smiled kindly. She worked to clean me up and when she finished, she took out the dress for me today.
I raised my eyebrows high. “That is what I’m wearing today?”
“Yes.”
“Rosalie.”
“You know, you should really stop calling me like that, my lady.”
“That is not a dress!”
“Whatever do you mean by that?” Rosalie had the audacity to look at the said dress with confused eyes. “This is a dress.”
“That is barely a top!”
I was mortified with what she was holding.
The dress was white. It was strappy with an open back. But looking at the dress, I really thought it was truly made for kids. I would barely fit it. It would make all my curves show.
“I can’t wear that. It wouldn’t fit.”
“I can assure you, it will.”
“Rosalie, no. Get me another dress.”
“But this is what the Alpha King wants you to wear,” she sputtered. “I can’t-I can’t give you another dress.”
“I’m not wearing that, Rosalie.”
“My lady, I don’t think you understand. You need to wear this because this is the King’s personal order. He wants you to have this.” Rosalie was starting to feel panicked. She gave the dress to me. “Please, wear this, my lady. Or else.”
“Or else?”
“I’m going to be in trouble.” Rosalie’s hands were trembling in front of her. “I don’t want to be in trouble.”
I eyed the strappy dress and sighed. I couldn’t possibly wear this, out in the open, but seeing the look in her eyes, I couldn’t let her get in trouble like she feared.
With another sigh, I took the dress and wore the damn thing.
I was right.
It hugged me too tight. I felt like I was naked. All the same.
Rosalie had tears in her eyes. This was the first time I saw her not smiling. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I wouldn’t want to force you to wear anything you wouldn’t like. But the—the Alpha said—“
“I know. It’s okay, Rosalie. It’s not your fault.”
I watched myself in the mirror. This wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t let this be bad.
Following the girl out, I had two guards flanking me from each side. I caught the way they eyed my appearance. There was nothing in their eyes, but I knew they were trained to keep their emotions from showing.
Hugging myself, I followed them out.
I saw the Alpha King already waiting near a horse. A massive brown horse that looked as powerful as him. He extended his hand to me and I had to take it.
“You look wonderful,” he complimented.
It fell on deaf ears.
Without saying anything else, he helped me mount the horse.
The dress did not cover my thighs below.
I swallowed the hard bile in my throat and just gripped the reign hard as the King mounted behind me.
He was too close.
So close.
Flashes of what happened crossed my head. I shut my eyes for a few seconds to get rid of the image.
As we started walking, I asked, “Why are we going to this Garden of Eve?”
King Larkin smiled behind me. “Because that is where I’m going to claim you, little one.”
- Writer
