*LYCIA*Seff?What was he doing there?He was sitting on the ledge of my window in my room. The moon shone on his silhouette, illuminating his face. He looked sad, almost as if drained of any life. His bright smile, the first striking quality of his that I had noticed was missing. Why did he look so sad?“What’s wrong with you?” I wanted to ask him but I couldn’t speak, no voice came out of my mouth but I heard a voice similar to mine echo in the room.“I don’t care about you. Did you think this would bother me?” the voice said, making his eyes gather pools of blue in them that he shed looking down. Each tear a crystal jewel shining in the moonlight.No! I didn’t want to say this! I didn’t say this!“Why do you always hurt me, Lycia? Do you really hate me that much?” He said, his voice barely audible.No!“Yes,” I heard my voice say but I never meant to speak these words.“Then there is no use staying with you,” he said and rubbing his cheeks with one hand he smiled at me and said, “G
*SEFF*Looking at the pastry I sighed.“Was it really necessary to come out? I wasn’t in the mood,” I said wondering what Lycia might be doing right now.“Yes, it was necessary. Although your search had been kept under wraps from the public they were all starting to wonder why you hadn’t shown your face in so long,” Reemus said, making me feel annoyed at the way he was acting as the Royal Beta of this kingdom rather than my friend. “Your regular appearance gives the people motivation and builds trust with the empire.”“Basically you are using my face as a means to keep the people happy and loyal to my feared brother,” I said, already aware of the rumors that spread about him and his twisted ways.“Well we have a powerful and scary ruler without a mate so they look for that missing care, mercy and protection in you. Your presence is needed to balance the wrath the king incurs from time to time,” he said almost in a monotonous tone as we waited for the already ordered cakes to be packed
*LYCIA*How did I interact with Seff before?For some reason I had been struggling to face him since we met again. He somehow seemed different. Was it because he was among people of his kind that he was being much at ease now or was it because he had already gotten over me because he didn’t seem as flustered or happy to see me as I had hoped he would be.For instance he still hadn’t spoken a word to me throughout this ride unless it was important and neither had he shown any happiness on my arrival.I… I had been truly happy when he had helped me out with that Lycan. Even if I could have managed him on my own, just seeing him come to my rescue when I was in trouble had given me hope. I was ecstatic at his presence, at his touch and at his voice. I still hadn’t seen his face and I wanted to see it. I was desperate to see his smile and the twinkling of his blue eyes.“Just a minute more, I apologize,” Reemus said, sensing the awkward silence we had all been sitting in.As we approached
*LYCIA*“You really like me?” He asked with big blue eyes staring at me in disbelief still.“Yes,” I replied back walking in the palace interiors to his room.“No, say it properly,” he said, making me give him a blank stare but nevertheless he kept up with his performance and said, “Please.”Those eyes will be the death of me.“Fine, I'll say it again, I like you Seff,” I sighed trying to hide a smile because the way his face lit up when I said those words made it seem like it had been an incantation to his happiness.It had been a relief to my heart that he had accepted me back but even after this I couldn't receive the rest I had hoped for because now my heart sped for a different reason as I became more attentive of each of his actions and words.It was as if I had been discovering new sides to him. How he smiled at ease and in true happiness every time that he heard me confess to him and how after a few minutes, as if he had been in a daze, he would poke me to repeat my confession
*SEFF*“Don’t tell her who I am!” I pleaded, pushing him into the room in front of mine.If it was someone else they would have been dead by now but giving me a chance to speak my brother’s confused expression changed to concern when he saw the panic in my eyes.“Why? Are you in danger?” It was endearing how he cared for me but to still treat me like the five year old me who needed his protection, always made me feel a little childish.Moving away so that his giant demeanor wouldn’t loom over me even though I had been quite tall myself I said, “No, it’s nothing like that, it’s just that Lycia, my mate’s mother, hates lycans.”“That crafty witch? I knew that already. She has been a menace to us before too,” he said, piquing my interest. What did he mean by that? Did he know Lycia’s mother personally besides as the queen of Amoret? “If you want I can talk to her, I had been curious about the infamous Aldith Amoret.”The way he scrunched his fists tightly together with a dark expression
*LYCIA* Rushing towards the door when Seff hadn’t returned after so long I had just opened it a little when I noticed King Rozzen standing before me with Seff beside him. His gaze was unmoving from my face and awkwardly looking away from him I glided my gaze to Seff and said, “I was just going to look for you. Where did you go?” “I am sorry about that I-” Seff had started to say but Rozzen interrupted in between and said, “Let’s head inside and talk.” The authority that he held in his voice and his aura had been almost crazy dangerous, my body moved on its own as if listening to his command even when I wasn’t his subject. Thankfully I caught onto myself and then calmly nodding I opened the door for us all to step inside. While I had been trying my best to not show my confusion, my mind had been a battlefield of all kinds of thoughts and deductions clashing against each other, trying to imagine why and how Seff knew King Roz so well. And how did he come out alive after touching th
*LYCIA* “Is something wrong?” I murmured to myself walking towards the palace garden that Esme had called me to. For some reason she had insisted we meet there but it was weird because she had sent a messenger to fetch me instead of coming to see me herself. Did she need to talk to me secretly about something? Seff had been gone for the past hour to talk to the King and Reemus about his departure from the kingdom back to my Coven so I had been killing time searching for Esme when I received the message. I might sound like a bad friend but maybe I should have paid more attention to her instead of leaving her with a complete stranger. “Shit, I probably need to apologize and do some damage control,” I muttered looking at the heavily guarded palace with Lycans staying put at their posts in utter discipline. Their eyes followed me periodically and every move I made was assessed to guess if I had been a person with ill intentions. Well it was a given, I was the princess of the neighbor
*SEFF*“A month, huh?” I muttered to myself as I sighed and walked out of the throne room after having a serious conversation and some mild begging to my brother. He had allowed me to go back to Lycia’s Coven but wanted me to come back to the kingdom in a month. I am partly sure that it is because he still doesn’t trust the coven and Lycia that well yet but the other half could be because he feels lonely when I am gone.The palace always felt a little too big to me when I was alone here and Roz was away for official business.A month felt too short a span of time to probably sort everything and come back to visit him but I needed to try my best.“If it is a day more than a month then be prepared to see me present myself there the very next day.” That was his threat to me and given the history that Lycia’s mother had with the Lycans this type of a situation could only lead to both sides hating each other more.Why couldn’t people understand that a moth was too less a time to sort relat