Blooming

Chapter 18 - blooming

“ Wait you?”

Recognition flashed across his face as he gazed at the woman from the shabby inn now standing before him. She had transformed since the night he first laid eyes on her. The fatigue that had marked her face was gone, replaced by an ethereal radiance that left him spellbound. The scars that had marred her neck and body were no more, the first things he had noticed about her back at the inn.

He struggled to keep his composure as she moved closer, stealing his breath just as she had on that fateful night. He should have been angry, should have sought retribution for her boldness at the inn, but instead, he found himself inexplicably drawn to her presence.

"What is this feeling?" he wondered silently, bewildered by the sudden urge to hold her close and never let go. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "I am the King of Nayak, immune to the charms of any woman."

Annalise sensed the tension thickening in the king's chamber and couldn't help but w