“Kira,” it wasn’t until he called my namethat I snapped out of my stupor. I saw disbelief in his eyes as he scanned my features, almost as if he thought he was in a dream. Clyde finally managed to catch up with me, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Did you find them?" he asked, panting heavily. He looked between Damian and me, sensing something was wrong. I was still stuck to my feet, unable to process anything until Damian took a step forward, when I found my voice. "Stay away this instant," I raised my voice to unleash on him. I never thought I would see him in my life again. Everything was going on smoothly, and I had moved on from him, or at least I thought. But now that I was seeing him in front of me, I was not so sure anymore. My heart was beating so fast, and I didn’t know if it was because I was still in shock or the remnants of feelings I still had for him. "Kira, who’s this man?" Clyde tried to whisper in my ears. "Mommy!" Leah called, hiding behind
He didn't stop running until we were back in the woods. He finally sent me to my feet. With all the strength I had, I pushed him away from me. He was still much stronger than me, but at least it made him nudge a little. He raised one eyebrow, clearly surprised by my strength but closed the distance between us. "It is really you Kira.” He stared down at my face, not taking his eyes off me for even a second. He lowered his face, taking my chin in between his index finger and thumb, tilting my head a few times. This was it, my chance to let it all out, but instead, just the touch of his fingers on my chin was enough to send goosebumps coating all over my skin. “Do you know how long I had to search for you. You left the Kingdom without telling me.” He said and that did it for me, I shoved him away from me. “I left the Kingdom without telling you. Have you lost your mind." I raised my voice at him. All these years I've been training, and a part of me knew that it was because of him. I
For a moment, being pressed like this against his back made me forget all my pains and worries. I had almost forgotten the comfort that came with being in the King's embrace. I closed my eyes tightly. It was going to take a lot of self-control to not just sink into his hands and let out all my anger, crying against his chest. I didn't want him to let go of me ever, but I knew that I was going to relapse if I let this happen. I gently took his hands off of me. "Don't ever touch me like that," I said firmly. "The woman that you used to know, she's gone for good. I’m Valeria, now... And as you can see, my mate is probably looking for me. We don't want him to find you here.” I tried to sound as threatening as I could. “That lanky man?” He mocked, “ I would take him down in seconds." "That's not the point," I reminded him. "Just please stay away from my life and away from me." I turned to leave once more, but he stopped me again. "I'm not going to leave until you tell me that you no lon
Clyde stepped forward, blocking the men from interacting with me. "What does that have to do with us? You are lucky that you are able to come into our territory and go back with your limbs. Please leave.""I'm afraid we can't do that unless she tells us that she'll be there. It’s basically his dying wish. He's dying, and the only thing that he's been requesting is your presence," the guards told me.“You’re not in the right state of mind, get out of here!” Clyde threatened.Clyde opened his mouth to say something in response, but I put one hand up to halt him, crossing my arms across my chest. "You can leave. I'll be in the palace soon."They stared between each other, still in doubt. But then when I glared at them, they bowed their heads in reverence and turned to leave."That was good, great way to send them off, nice ploy.”“It’s not a ploy,” I told Clyde. “I’m going there.”“What are you doing? You can't go back there. You're done being a servant.""I'm not going there because he'
I started my journey by midnight. The route back to the palace was not familiar, but I knew that I was going to get my way.I hadn't left my hometown since coming here, and so as I walked through this path, memories began to flood from that night when I was stoned and kicked out. And the king did nothing to interfere.I clutched onto my bag, frowning deeply. I had so many people I wanted to see and how they were doing right now. I continued my way through the woods, not afraid of any creature of the night. I was undefeated I bumped into a rogue or two, but they were easy for me to take down. I had learnt to explore my strength by now, I finally got to the borders of the palace and took off the green cloak that I was wearing.The guards were hesitant to let me in at first until they saw my face.“Wait, I think she's the one the king requested for.” One of the guards pointed out. Another one stared at me with furrowed eyebrows. And proceeded to nod."Yes, I think so. We were there at
I stared at his hand on my wrist and then tried to meet his gaze. He seemed like he was struggling to keep his eyes awake. Even with the way he simply touched me, his body was burning up intensely. I sat by the edge of the bed, taking my cloak off, and immediately the number of guards in the room reduced. All of them headed out to give us some privacy. I rolled my eyes at how dramatic they were. That had been something I had completely forgotten about. I pressed my hand against his forehead. "You're burning up," I frowned. I wanted to look at one of the guards for information, but they were nowhere to be found. "What's the nature of the sickness?" I asked the king. Instead of answering, he gripped my wrist even while I was in a seated position. "The royal physicians can't find anything wrong with me," he said weakly. "I've never fallen this sick before." I was really curious to know what had happened to Fred and Arthur, since they were both so interested in having the throne to th
The king sounded like he wasn't very sure of what was going on, and so he tried to sit up. "Don't bother sitting, just announce it," I folded my arms across my chest. I did not have time for his long talks right now. "What are you saying? I can't make you my servant.""That's the only way I can stay in this palace," I said. "If you want to make the announcement, do it now."I was so authoritative in my words, I didn't care if I was talking to the king that everyone trembled for. He pointed at one of the guards that had followed me in and waved his hand. The guard bowed his head and left the room. Immediately, the King turned to face me."Alright, the announcement has been made. Is there anything else you want us to do, Kira- Valeria?" he corrected."And make sure that everyone knows what is about to happen," I said."Yes, Valeria." The door opened, and both of us turned to face the door. “Your Majesty." Natalie rushed in with a wide smile on her face, holding her gown as she made he
I stared at them in shock, still unable to believe that my children were right here. "Clyde, what are you doing?" I turned to face him with a frown on my face. The children jumped out of his arms and ran to me. "Mommy," they wrapped their arms around me, and they closed their eyes and smiled. "Oh my goodness, so nice to see you. We missed you," Leo said, putting his arms around my neck. Leah, on the other hand, started to ramble about all the things that she wanted to show me. “ And then, uncle…” I decided to break them off. "You know what? You can tell me everything when we get inside, okay?" "Yes, mommy." I smiled at them, trying to put up the pretense while glaring at Clyde. I turned to face one of the guards that had now made way for them, since the King's orders. They were very respectful to me and seemed to do everything that I asked them to do. "Can you guys prepare a room for me to stay with my guests? They'll be staying with me for a while." I asked them, knowing tha