"I don't want you coming back here, Azul." Altan spoke as we skirted through the hallway, and I wondered if he was warning me to not attempt an escape.
"I was just looking around." I said quietly. He walked a couple of paces ahead of me and I looked at my feet as I followed him.
"Do you know what part of the Palace this is?" he didn't turn to me as he spoke and it felt a bit like I was a child following behind their angry parent.
"I-"
"This is the quarter for the concubines." he answered his own question and my head shot up.
~I thought it was just guest rooms~
"As my first wife," he went on, "You don't need to come here."
"Okay." I said. Although, I wasn't sure how else I was supposed to answer. Not to mention, if I agreed to his request quickly, he likely wouldn't expect me to come back.
I followed Altan silently through the Palace halls. Our footsteps echoed in rhythm, and possibly for one of the first times since I met Altan, I felt extremely awkward in his presence.
"Where are we going?" I broke the silence as we rounded the top of the staircase that led to my bedchambers.
"This way," Altan answered, taking a right, and turning in the direction opposite my chambers.
I had never gone that direction before and as far as I could remember the only thing that was in this direction was... Altan's chambers.
~Wait a second~
I felt the sudden urge to dig my heels into the ground and come to a stop. Why were we going to his chambers? Does this have something to do with me being afraid of his touch?
My heart started to beat faster and my head started to rush, as we approached an enormous pair of double doors with two guards standing at attendance on either side.
It was Altan's bedchambers.
"Stop thinking what you are thinking." Altan spoke and my nervous eyes darted to him.
"What?"
He halted in front of the door and looked at me over his shoulder. "I know what you're thinking." he said again, "And that's not why we're here."
If possible, my heart beat faster at this.
~How could he possibly have known what I was thinking?~
"Like I said," he turned back to the doors, and the guards opened them wide. "We are here to play a game."
~No offence, Mr. Duke, sir... But 'playing a game' in your bed chambers sounds EXACTLY like what I am nervous about right now.~
But even with these thoughts, I followed him. To be honest, I wasn't sure what else I could do. If I said I didn't want to go in, would he allow that?
His bed chambers were, well.... I couldn't find words. I had been in nearly every room in this Palace, and his room was probably only second to the grand ballroom in luxuriousness. My jaw unhinged as I took in the space. Clean white marble floors, a bed large and white like the rest of the room, and huge windows that covered nearly an entire wall and gave entrance to a huge balcony that overlooked the desert. To my surprise, there was no stained glass in the room. It was a room that was mostly built from shades of white and black. The only color coming from the books on the bookshelves and the colorful chandelier that hung in the middle of the room.
"Over here," Altan called for my attention and I looked to find that he was in a room that was built off of the main chambers. It was slightly smaller and filled entirely with bookshelves crammed with books. Altan stood in the middle of the room next to what looked like a chess table.
~Are we playing checkers?~
"Have you played before?" Altan asked as I approached him and the game table. What I thought was a chess board turned out to be something else. The table was decorated at the top with a map of what I now knew was this world. And sitting atop that, were four different sets of game pieces. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the game pieces represented. The blue ones were decorated like waves and flowing water and were positioned over the area that Pani Rasta owned. The red ones looked like fire, and were positioned over the land of Ot Ulut, The purple ones were nearly transparent and were positioned in the northern mountains, likely representing the Kingdom of the Air Mages, and the green ones, representing the Land nomads, were scattered about the board.
I stared at the board and shook my head at Altan's question. "Is this how you prepare war strategies?" the board seemed less like a game and more like the kind people used in old war movies to talk about where they were placing their troops.
Altan chuckled, "It's not." he shook his head, "It's a game, just like I said." he gestured to a chair opposite the game board from him, "Sit, I'll teach you to play."
I followed his instructions and sat down. "Why do you want to play this game all of a sudden?"
Altan pushed a few of the game pieces around on the board, then looked back up at me. "It's a game of strategy." he answered, "You can learn a lot about a person when you learn how their mind works."
I pulled my chair closer to the board, "So, you're doing this to learn how my mind works?"
"Didn't you say we were supposed to learn more about each other through going on dates?" he raised an eyebrow at me and I could tell he was trying to be the same playful Altan that he usually was on our dates.
I sighed, "How do we play then?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I win."
"What?" I looked up at Altan who was grinning. "How?"
"Because I moved this piece here."
"Wait, I didn't know you could do that." I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. "That's not fair." It had taken probably a lot longer than it should have for Altan to teach me the rules for the game, and after I finally learned, I was actually enjoying it.
"I told you earlier that I could make that move." Altan seemed to be enjoying the game too. And even though the memories of my dreams and the threats from that Water Mage prince still stirred in my mind, I was beginning to calm down a bit.
"I want a rematch."
"Alright."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, wait, give me a second." I stood from the chair.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to clear my mind." I said as I stepped away from the game table.
"Clear your mind?"
"Yes." I turned to him briefly, "I'm going to get some fresh air, and then I'm going to come back and win the next game!"
Altan laughed, "I'm not sure if fresh air will help much in your case."
I ignored him and continued toward the balcony. We had played a total of four games now, and I had lost a total of four. But in my defense, Altan had been playing this game for a lot longer than I had. I was still getting the hang of it.
~But I'm pretty sure that I can beat him next round.~
I stepped out onto the balcony, and a cool breeze brushed my hair from my face. I made my way to the railing and looked out over the rolling sand dunes. It was only then that I noticed that Altan had followed me.
"What season is it?" I asked, wondering if I should prepare for hotter or colder weather in the future.
"The cold season is approaching slowly." Altan answered me and perched his elbows on the railing.
"Does it get very cold?"
"Do you remember the night I found you in the desert?"
I nodded remembering frozen fingers and cold chills.
"The days will be like that, and the nights will be much worse."
I followed his gaze out over the sand dunes and wondered how long it would take me to get out of the desert after I escaped.
~Hopefully I can get out before it gets too cold.~
"Did you enjoy the game?" Altan asked and changed the subject.
"I did," I answered, "But I'd enjoy it more if I could win." a rueful smile played on my lips.
Altan chuckled again, and I realized somewhere in our playing the game, arguing about moves, and laughing about winning and losing, I had grown entirely comfortable with him again. I looked at him and found that he was not the man in my dreams who held a sword to my throat, nor was he the man in the ally who could harm me with one touch. In this moment, and every moment we had spent together, he was the man that found me in the desert and the man that kissed me on the roof. He was the furthest thing from scary.
He was.... safe.
"It will probably take many years of practice if you wish to beat me." he said, and at first I thought he was joking, but then I realized his tone was serious.
"Am I really that bad?" I laughed.
"Well, you're not very good, that's for sure."
I turned toward him and crossed my arms, "It's only because you've played longer than me."
"That may be a part of it." Altan nodded, "And if you'd like," he turned toward me as well and I took a step back so there was more distance between us. "We can play more often in the future, I can teach you about the best strategies."
I nodded my head and let my eyes drift back out to the desert. I wasn't going to agree to that, mostly because I knew I would not be here to play more games with him if I were to escape. And somehow, agreeing to a promise I knew I would break didn't seem right, especially when he was being so kind to me. "So," I attempted to change the subject, "What did you learn about me?"
Altan's eyebrows raised.
"You said you could learn a lot about a person from playing the game." I elaborated.
Altan smiled, "I learned...." then he paused as if considering what to say. "You aren't very aware of other people." He finally answered.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you only think about your moves, and your future moves," he answered, "but you don't think about the moves that other people could make, or what knowledge others may have about your strategies."
I blinked, "Oh..."
~Now that I think about it, I was never good at strategy games back on earth either.~
"And on top of that," Altan went on, "You seem to have a false sense of confidence in your abilities."
"Hey," I gave him a stink eye, "That last part was a little mean."
"I'm just being honest," he laughed. "And what's more, it is exactly what I expected from you."
"What does that mean?"
Altan grew quiet after I asked this question, and his smile slowly dropped. I nearly asked him what he was thinking about, but then he spoke before I could. "Professor Ruslan told me that you are very interested in maps and trade routes."
"What?" The sudden change of topic caught me off guard.
"He says you wanted him to teach you all about the caravans that travel between cities and how to travel across borders." Altan didn't look at me, but I felt an accusatory gaze coming from him all the same.
~Shit~
"erm, I was just curious about-"
Altan continued despite my attempt at explanation, "And yesterday you walked around the palace walls for hours."
"I was just-"
"Until I pointed out that balcony." he looked at me and my eyes flew to my feet, " the same balcony on which I found you today."
I felt a nervous lump grow in my throat at Altan's words.
~Dear God, he knows...~
Altan ran his fingers through his hair, "Just like how you played the game, you focus too much on your own moves and not enough on the moves others might make."
"I have no Idea what you are talking about, your Grace." I attempted to feign ignorance, but knew it was probably too late.
Altan sighed, "I know everything that happens behind the walls of this Palace, Azul."
I swallowed, but the lump in my throat only grew larger.
"And I know that you are planning an escape before the wedding."
I shook my head, "I- I'm not."
"Why? Is marrying me that terrible?" Altan asked, and I felt my heart drop to the floor. Why did he sound so sad when he asked that question? How was I even supposed to answer that?
"I- I-" there were so many reasons, but I felt like none of them would seem valid in his eyes. And none of them would seem a proper answer to such a question.
Altan released another sigh when I didn't answer and stepped away from the railing. "It's not because of the dreams is it?"
I shook my head, but I wasn't sure why. The dreams did play a part in my urgent desire to leave. But how could I tell him I didn't want sister-wives? or that I wanted to live my own life without a forced marriage? And I couldn't tell him about the threat from the Water Mage, then he would think that I wanted to leave because of the threat, not because it was my own decision.
"I don't want you to fear me, Azul." Altan sounded defeated, "But I want you to know that you will not escape me."
I felt my stomach drop to my toes, and I looked back up at him, "What?"
"Even if you somehow escaped the Palace," he went on, "there is nowhere in this world that I could not find you." he spoke low.
~What kind of threat is this? Didn't you just say you don't want me to fear you?~
"Why can't you just find a different Water Mage?" I spoke and knew that in that sentence I had acknowledged all of his words.
Altan met my eyes and took a step closer, "You're the only Water Mage I want."
"Stop." I wasn't going to let him talk sweetly like that. I knew this marriage was simply political, I would not be moved by his words. "I think it's time for me to leave." I mustered and turned to exit the balcony.
Altan caught at my wrist and halted my exit, "I don't wish to cause you unhappiness." he sounded pained and my stupid empathetic heart wanted to listen to him, "The only thing I want from you, Azul, is.... your affection."
"My affection?" I ripped my wrist from his grasp, "Then why don't you try not locking me up?" I scoffed and turned away from him when I felt tears about to fall from my eyes.
~Why am I crying? Why am I being so stupid about this?~
I stormed from his room and only paused when I heard him speaking to the guard posted by his doors. "Assign one of your best men," he said loud enough for me to hear, "To guard her rooms at all times. She is to go nowhere alone."