To Wed A King

Naked

Lucan broke into laughter, his fang like canines exposed, his hair falling to one side of his shoulder.

"What a beautiful coincidence. This tickles my heart."

"Evander," Adeline said, sitting up, her chest heaving as she watched the tears gather in the eyes of her former lover. "I swear, this is not..."

"Of course, it is, princess. Do not lie. You left your room almost naked and came here and seduce me. Things got out of control, and I got seduced. The heat, the passion..."

"Lucan!" She yelled, turning to him, her eyes wide.

Lucan smiled. He absolutely loved the way she looked when she was angry. It only made his desire for her even stronger.

"Tell me, Adeline." Lucan was still shielding her, so Evander could only see her face and nothing else. "Has he ever seen you naked?"

Her lips parted, her anger rising. "Unlike you, he does not go around, forcing women to bow to his desires. He does not..."

"You want to see her naked, do you not? You will love to see the perfect body you could have had."

"Lucan," she said, her voice now a little pleading.

Lucan raised his brow and turned to her. "You do not want him to? Such a shame."

Evander bit down on his lips. "I shall bring another bow of..."

"Forget it. I need private time with the princess. You can keep guard if you want to hear her moan my name."

Adeline blinked, tears streaming down her face, her chest heaving. Evander gave a bow and picked the bowls up, then walked away, leaving them alone again.

Lucan started to turn towards Adeline when she graced his right cheek with a slap so hard she had to grit her own teeth.

His eyes widened as he lost a bit of balance, his chest heaving, his eyes blinking rapidly. His hand cupped his cheek, and she had left a few nail marks on his face.

"You are a brute. Nothing short of a bastard. Nothing short of one of the dirty, moral lacking..."

He turned, his eyes blazing so hard that she stopped talking. "How dare you?"

She swallowed, her hand reaching for the glass. "You..."

He suddenly stood up, and her eyes moved with him. He moved away from her path, then swallowed. "Leave."

She didn't need a second invitation, and she stood up, her feet swiftly moving. Just as she passed by him, however, Lucan held her hand, stopping her in place.

"I do hope you are ready to pay the price for this slap. We will soon reach Vahrenhall. Do not count on the mercy I have shown you tonight once you step foot in my palace. The only way to escape is to either die before we get there or disappear from the world itself so I can never find you."

She knew better than to think those were empty threats. Her lips parted, and she tried to yank her hand away from him. His grip was impossibly strong, and she found herself helpless against him.

Slowly, he moved, then grabbed his abandoned cloak. Without a word, he wrapped the cloak around her, covering her body, his eyes dark.

Once he was done, he left her hand, then turned away, sitting back down. He grabbed his hookah pipe and took a long draw, then closed his eyes, letting the smoke lift upwards above him.

Adeline stood there for a while, her mind racing. If she could escape, if she could just run... far away from her family, far away from Evander and Lucan... she would be safe. She knew she would rather die than submit her body to him.

With a resolve in mind, she walked out of the chamber. Evander was leaning on the wall close to the chamber when she went out.

His eyes were closed, his face pulled, and she stopped, her eyes taking him in.

"Evander," she whispered, scared to get him in trouble with Lucan.

He turned to her, and for a while, none of them said a word. Evander took in the disarray of her hair, the way Lucan's coat hung on her shoulders, the smear of colour on the side of her lips.

"Look at you, Adeline. Wearing the cloak he wore to conquer my kingdom."

"Evander, I was..."

"You were indeed naked under him, were you not?"

Her lips parted, and she drew the cloak even closer. "I was... Evander, I swear, it is not..."

"Your father was brought to his knees, your prospective family massacred, and you went naked in front of the very man reaponsible? Maybe I need to thank him for not letting me marry you, Adeline. I did not know you were such a slut."

"Evander," she said, her lips quivering, tears streaming down her cheeks freely.

He gave a small, disappointed shake of his head, then walked away, leaving her unable to put together the pieces he had just shattered with his words.