20Renai couldn’t bring herself to feel at ease. She was tapping her feet, her hands secreted cold sweat and heart raced like she had run a marathon. It had been ten hours since her escape. She glanced at the windowpane and wondered if the king had gotten wind of her stunt. How would have he reacted? She was sure he would be searching high and low for her and the fact she could be caught any second made her more anxious. She bit her lip and looked at the boy who was running in circles with a ball in his hand. Her eyes then darted to the plates that were resting on the mini table. To allay her anxiety, she picked them up and took to the sink to wash the dishes. The woman—Mary—was out on her duty. She was a sweeper in the Queen’s chamber. She said she would come home in the evening which meant she would be coming back anytime as it was almost dusk. After doing the dishes, Renai dried her wet hands with her robe while walking toward the bathroom. She had hardly taken a step inside when
Her hands started to tremble as she glanced up and tried to climb the ceiling. She tried to jump and reach the spot but couldn’t. She tried again and again but failed each time. “Mary, push me, I can’t reach up,” Mary averted her eyes at her and hummed heedlessly. She grabbed her legs and pushed them upward. Renai clutched the edge of the cement and pushed her body up. She was applying every ounce of her energy but the ceiling was too high for her reach. Out of the blue, she felt a hand on her hand. She immediately jerked away her hand and panted. “M..Mary, there’s something up,” Renai stuttered while gaping at the dark area. And just then, a hand came out of the ceiling, scaring her till her body turned white. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” She closed her eyes and rattled out like a broken record. “Don’t fret, she is not a ghost. Grab her hand and climb, he can be here any minute,” Mary ground through her teeth as she hoisted her legs with more force. Renai was indecisive. Sh
21The Eight states of Sebria were under the risk of imperilment, for their king was in a towering rage. His fists were painfully clenched, cutting his palm’s skin as he madly paced around the stage of the courtroom. It had been seven hours and twenty-six minutes yet there was no sign of her being dragged back to him. Oh, God save him, for all he saw was red, blood red. He felt this abounding hunch of making every member of the royal harem feel the pain he was going through by thrashing, flogging, waterboarding before finally executing their pathetic beings for being reckless. For they couldn’t nursemaid his greatest possession. His need. His rose.He cracked his neck in a circular motion with his shoulders tensed. His feet couldn’t stop marching here and there. His heart was crushed as if someone had placed mountains of rocks on it. It was bleeding, it was screeching, it was calling her out. Fuck for being the king and still not being able to clip her wings. He loudly fumed as his
He climbed onto the bed and laid in between the mattress, on his back. He glanced at the guard. “Step near the bed,” He murmured and averted his eyes to the ceiling. The guard reluctantly stepped ahead. His hands were already sweaty as he knew what was going to happen next. “Tighten your hold on the whip,” The king said. He complied. “Raise it in the air and show me,” He lifted the weapon and showed it as ordered. Zebian glanced at the whip. His nails were white with the pressure. He hummed pleasantly under his breath. “Now flog me with all your might and do not stop even if I’m dead,” He stoned his gaze at the ceiling as the command slipped out of his lips. The guard’s complexion blanched in the following. His mouth parted in shock with eyes wide open. “Y…your m…majesty,” He stammered, couldn’t decipher if he actually picked up right on his words. “It is your king’s order. I have said it and you shall be obeying it,” Zebian gritted. The guard closed his eyes and sighed breathily
The door ever so slowly opened and revealed a petite brunette woman wearing a translucent robe, not a single curve of her body was hidden from the two men, her nipples were peaking through the see-through fabric and the line of her pussy was smiling at them. Lucian rolled his eyes and side-glanced at him. “No, Zebian. You are not,” He warned him in a whisper, but Zebian was already walking toward her.“Come here,” He halted in the middle and softly ordered. Thea, with no wish to anger him more, walked closer and halted two steps away with a lowered gaze. “Kneel,” She fell on her knees. Zebian sorely smirked and collected the blood off the block of the left chest on two of his fingers. He brought them to her mouth and smeared one finger on his cheek and inserted his middle finger in her mouth. Thea unresistingly took his finger and sucked it. Her forehead creased a frown when she tasted the metallic flavour. “Taste the blood and tell me how it feels?” He knuckle-deepened his finger t
22It had been two days to the incident, but ever since then Arinia and Renai had grown impeccably close to each other. They already had started acting like a mother-and-daughter duo. Renai couldn’t stop appreciating her presence. Every night she would narrate her fairytales and the little one would end up sleeping on her shoulder. They talked, played, ate, and slept. Almost stayed side by side. It was like both lonely souls had found a home finally. Renai even taught her different hairstyles as she had lusciously long strawberry blonde hair, it had become their favourite pastime so far. Apparently, it seemed the kid was yearning for affection but in reality, it was Renai who needed her closeness more than she ever needed her breath. This kid was unconsciously mending her broken pieces. This was the first time she had felt better after weeks of torment. It was evening. Both the parents were off to their duties. Renai and the kids spent a playful evening and now, both kids were dozin
*****A loud slamming on the door had stirred her senses. She tried to open her heavy-lidded eyes as the door kept banging. By the third bang, her senses jolted awake. She lurched forward and glanced at Mary who was also awakened by the disturbance. Quickly, Renai lifted the sleeping girl in her arms and rushed to hide in the bathroom. Mary straightened her hair and strode to the door to open. Renai’s back was hitting the wall which prompted shots of pain momentarily. She tossed Arinia in her hold to position her head on her shoulder. Her ears perked in its wake when she heard a loud sob coming from the outside. She frowned and slipped close to the door. “No, this can’t happen. He can’t do this to them. No, no, nooo!” It was Mary who was screaming in pain. Renai frowned in pain. She was tempted to go out but didn’t. She desperately waited for the person to go away. “Oh my God, Atlas. What would I do without him? I will die,” Mary sobbed louder. Renai’s heart clenched when she hear
23Zebian’s arms were wide open. His head staff was wrapping gauze around his broad chest. He quietly stood on the soapbox with a straight face. No expressions, no remorse. No one could tell he was the same man who sentenced nearly fifteen hundred men to death an hour ago. The head staff snuck a glance at his face and immediately snapped down when their eyes contacted for a blink. His heart trembled badly. For the state which the king was in, he could even kill the poor man for simply looking at him. Abruptly, the doors of the dressing chamber slammed open. Everyone’s eyes darted in that direction except for Zebian’s. He knew who had the audacity to disrespect him. “I command you all to empty the room,” Lucian commanded as he stormed inside the chamber and halted in front of Zebian. Zebian didn’t look at him. The whole staff remained still in their position. The head kept wrapping his wounds. He dressed the king in a black shirt, tunic and long faux black cape and after clicking hi
******All the royal children were present in the hall. The hall was echoing with chirping voices. Little birds were spread everywhere until the king and queen’s arrival was announced. The boys back-stepped on the left and the girls took to the right lane. Zebian and Renai treaded between them and took to the stage. They settled on their respective thrones. The instructors rushed close to the stage and bowed. Zebian nodded and permitted the class to begin. They explained the moves and coordination to the children and showed how to combine the steps. After that, they paired the couple. Zenia was paired with Aurelio and that happened on the king’s order. He wasn’t unaware of her daughter’s interest in his sword of honour’s son.Lucian glanced at Zebian and smirked. Zebian smirked back and watched the pair stepping closer. The instructor told Aurelio to place his hand on her waist and grab her hand. Zenia put her hand on his shoulder and began swaying along to the music. She was deeply
Stepping inside the hall, the announcer proclaimed their arrival and both of the kids stood from their seats in respect. Rebian, who turned fifteen last month, was on the right side of the table along with his sister. Zenia will turn ten next week. The youngest one watched her parents advancing close with blurry vision. She wiped her tears with the back of her hands and dashed toward them. Zebian stepped faster and kneeled with his arms open. Zenia hurriedly slammed into his chest and hugged him tightly. He lifted her in his arms and stroked the back of her head. Her soft muffling caught him cooing. “I missed you so much, papa,” She mumbled against his neck and wept. Zebian smiled and closed his eyes. “Papa missed his angel too. Now, why are you crying?” He asked as a tear smeared over his skin. He tried to pull her face away but he snuggled into him and shook her head. “You didn’t come to meet me last night,” Zenia grumbled. Renai smiled and watched Zebian grin. “I thought you w
Bonus Chapter “Oh…oh…oh..ss…s…stop it, you are…t…tickling m…” Renai held his head and tried to pull it away but her husband was keen on sucking her neck while tickling her belly with his unforgiving cold fingers. The queen was erratically wobbling underneath him and he was chuckling against her skin, making it more hard for her. Zebian undid his lips and pasted a mischievous smirk before glancing down at his artwork. It was raging bright and purple sitting on the side of her neck. He was proud of every mark he owned on her body. “Will you ignore me again?” He aligned himself outside her entrance and gritted contemptuously. The mushroom tip was massaging her clit. Renai bit her lip to press her smile and nodded her head, doing hard to keep an offensive frown on her forehead. Zebian lifted his brows and stared at her in amusement. “Are you sure, my queen?” He leaned closer to her face and locked her gaze with his stern one. “If it comes to our children, I shall be ignoring you f
Sleep came to him after two weeks. After bending fate in his favour, he finally had her sleeping in his arms. His eyelashes fluttered as he woke up to her sight. Her soft petals slightly parted, her nose twinkling in pink hues. She was breathing peacefully as if she knew she was safe and protected. His heart drummed quietly against her left shoulder as he brought the back of his fingers to trace the outer-rim of her jaw. He keenly swirled his route down to her chin, grazing it with his thumb. As if her body acknowledged his touch, her lips got closed. He softly smiled and danced his hand all the way down to her stomach, underneath the duvet. He placed his hand on the bare surface and drew circles on it. She was only wearing gauze on her shoulder, the rest was her skin. Closing his eyes, he imagined caressing their baby. How much he dreaded losing him when she was injured by the arrow. That time he thought he would lose everything. Him, her. Every single hope to live.His heart walls
******Renai was being taken to the king’s chamber which was also hers now. Her chambermaids had dressed her in a black nightie and a gown concealing her beauty. “Her Grace, the Queen,” the announcer said. It felt oddly good to the queen as the doors opened for her. The king who was no other than her husband was gazing out with his hands tugged back. He was wearing a silk black gown like her. She stepped inside and the door shut behind her. Her gaze fell on the envelopes. Was he planning to tease her again? She wondered.He turned around. “My queen,” He stepped toward her and curtsied. Renai smiled amusingly. “You may rise,” “With all pleasure,” He straightened, both of them grinned.“You are holding something?” She mentioned. “Your wedding gift,” He presented it to her. She frowned. Wedding gift? Was it really a wedding gift in an envelope?She took it from his hands and took note of his reaction. “Open it,” He jutted his chin. She inhaled deeply and opened it. It was a paper
*****She squeezed the nosegay in her hands. Her palms were sweaty and she was slightly shivering in nervousness. She lifted her anxious eyes and glanced at the children dressed in royal suits and gowns ahead of her. They would escort her to the altar where she was going to marry the most powerful man in the world; who also happened to be her childhood best friend. Then why was she feeling so nervous? She didn’t know it herself. “My lady, it’s time,” Evelyn put a hand on her arm. Renai glanced at her with tears filling her eyes. She didn’t know why she was feeling mawkish. This was the biggest day of her life, it was supposed to make her happy. “This is the last time we are calling her ‘my lady’,” Cora piped in. Renai chuckled out of the blue and a tear tripped down as she closed her eyes. Evelyn smiled warmly and pulled her in a sisterly hug. “He will love you with his life,” Evelyn whispered in her ear.“You think so?” Renai whispered back.“I believe so, we all have seen in hi
Three Months LaterRenai detached the baby’s mouth from her nipple. His tiny lip formed a pout as he rubbed the back of his fist over his right eye. She purred seeing his little move. Her eyes admired his round, chubby sleepy face as he perfectly snuggled in her embrace. She brought her fingers and moved his fist down before bringing them to his cheek and lightly grazing his skin to the chin. The baby sighed in peacefully, coaxing a smile on his mother’s lip. She leaned down and placed two pecks on his cheeks, settling him on the mattress after that. She shielded his body by stuffing pillows around him as she had to leave him to take a bath. A chambermaid would be here to take care of him but she still chose to keep them for the safer side.Renai stood straight and was about to turn around when she heard the indistinct voices swinging from afar, coming through the window. It was early morning but she had been hearing these voices since last night. She smiled and thought to glance out
Renai had seen Zenner killing people. She first saw it when he was taking her to Calmia on Gordian’s—Bancroft’s Sword of Honour—command. She woke up in a carriage after she passed out in her house, looking around she discovered she was not in Sebria anymore. They stopped in a market. A few minutes later, she heard a commotion, she glanced outside the window and saw Zenner stabbing an old man for not giving him the apples on the rate he demanded. It was her first time witnessing a murder. She never recovered from it. Neither had she the courage to see people getting butchered by him. She also didn’t want him to hurt Zebian. King or not, Zenner was close to him. He could have easily killed him. “He said if I told you anything, he would behead you and your people would turn up against you. I didn’t want that, I never want you to get hurt,” Renai flitted her misted gaze at him and snivelled. Zebian was over the moon. His insides were dancing in happiness. The effect her words had on him
She was staring at his face as he blew air on the hot soup. His eyes were swollen and he looked exhausted. Of course, the war and fighting had tired him out. Her heart was filled with pity for him. He lifted his lashes to her mouth as he fed her. “You c..cried?” She asked, gulping the brew. His eyes flicked to her eyes. If only he could tell how many sleepless nights he had spent beside her, praying for her, feeling dreadful whenever he thought she would give up on him. If only he could sob in her lap and tell her how powerless he felt in all these days of misery.“Did you make it?” She asked him to change the topic as he was only staring at her face, it was making her feel awkward. A soft smile crossed his lips as he forwarded the spoon. “Who else could make it with such fine perfection, my beautiful?” He sneered, keeping his gaze on her sparkless orbs that still held the whole world for him. She looked self-conscious. A small bubble of wrinkle sat between her brows.“I’m not beau