Lela hadn't been the same since Kimi confirmed that the second prince, the one who had killed the princess, who had sliced that guard's head, was the one the princess was betrothed to. Lela had never been so confused in her life. She had so many questions, and if anything, she was a hundred times more scared than she had been when she walked into that room yesterday.
"Of course," Teagan plastered a small smile on his face, locking away his true feelings. He directed his gaze back to the princess, she was still in his arms, just like he had imagined countless times, but it was time to let her go, not only by taking his hands off her but also by letting the feelings in his heart for her go. Teagan slowly released the princess from his grip and bowed to her.
"If you have a thing for falling, I suggest you be careful. I would not like my sister-in-law getting injured," Teagan joked. It may have been a bad joke since he was the only one that appeared amused. Fayan scoffed as he inched closer to his brother, then placed his hands on his shoulders and gave it a little squeeze, muttering something Lela didn't hear, but it mustn't have been something bad since Teagan's smile widened.
"You," Fayan looked at Lela from the corner of his eyes.
"Come with me!" It was a soft command, softer than Lela thought his deep, rough voice could muster. She nodded, dread filling her body with each step she took after him. Lela turned to look at Kimi as she walked, begging Kimi to follow her, but Kimi shook her head, telling her she couldn't bear standing close to that man, saying that she was just as terrified as she was of him. Lela pressed her lips together and nodded. It was a small exchange that happened so fast.
As they walked farther away from Prince Teagan and Kimi, Lela noticed that Prince Fayan had reduced his pace, falling right beside her. She gulped. Hard.
What did the prince want? Did he want to talk about the kiss they had shared? Worse, did he want to kill her because she kissed him? Lela shook her head. Surely if he wanted to kill her because of that, he would've killed her a long time ago, he wouldn't single her out like this to kill her somewhere no one would find her body. She shuddered at the thought.
If she failed to do what the princess failed to do and gave up, would Fate and Order bring her from the future life to correct this mistake again or would they render her helpless and just let her die for real? Lela thought, trying to clear out the thought of the prince killing her from her head.
"Can you at least stop pretending you're scared of me?" Fayan asked, annoyance laced in his every word. She took her thoughts back. This was the right place and time he could kill her.
"I apologize," Lela dipped her head in apology. She hadn't heard what he asked because she was genuinely scared, and she was trying so hard to hide how scared she was so he wouldn't grow more annoyed and decide to kill her, but from the way his voice sounded, she knew she had to apologize for whatever it is he was talking about.
Lela stopped walking when she noticed Fayan had stopped walking too, he was fully turned to her and his hooded eyes stared down at her as though he could see through her soul, through her deceit, like he could tell the princess died and she was from another dimension.
Lela studied the Prince. She noticed why she had thought the king looked familiar, it was because she had seen the prince first, and they had the same face. The prince was a copy and pasted version of the King. While the king had little wrinkles here and there because of the stress of having her husband-to-be as a son, the prince's face was flawless, with no sign of stress whatsoever. When the Princes' eyes weren't a glowing red, they were subtle red that appeared somewhat dark, or maybe that had everything to do with his aura and nothing to do with his eye color. Lela let her eyes travel down his body, and she gasped internally. This man was shameless, she thought as she stared at his blood-stained clothes. How had she not noticed the stains before?
The man had probably killed someone and had the guts to walk free because he knew that no one would question him. He was the second prince and he had authority here, which meant that he'd never be held accountable for the deaths he'd caused.
Lela sighed. She was scared beyond comprehension, but how she was able to stand still without shaking or talk without stuttering was beyond her.
"I wanted to let you know before the queen tells you," he started. He looked bored like there were a million other things he could be doing than talking to her. At least she was not the only one that didn't want to be there.
"Our wedding date is going to be set soon," Fayan dropped. He watched her face as he said it so he wouldn't miss any emotion that would pass by her face. He saw in real-time how her eyes widened in surprise, then her eyebrows furrowed and she couldn't look him in the eyes. She was scared. Since when was the mighty Princess Solela scared of him?
She had talked back to him at every chance she got and made him feel like he was no less than dirt. He had wanted to sew her lips many times to stop her from talking because nothing good ever came out of her mouth, but now she was scared. She was scared of him, too scared to talk back to him.
The princess had changed, he noticed. They were little changes, but they were enough for him to know something was up with her. The princess adored the queen, but he noticed how she didn't spare the queen a second glance yesterday after she bowed to her. The princess had even gone as far as looking at him as though he was a human being, not the scowl she'd usually have on her face whenever they were together. There were more, more changes that the princess had made to her personality that he noticed. It was these small changes that made him think that something must have happened to the princess either that night or when she woke up.
"I do not care much about the marriage, just like you said moons ago, so if the queen asks for a big union, tell her you would prefer a small one," It was a command, but the way he had said it, the way his voice deepened had Lela nodding before words could form.
Fayan narrowed his eyes at her, leaned in so they were the same height, then he smirked when she flinched. This wasn't the princess he knew, something was off with her, he could tell that much.
"You had a personality change?" Fayan whispered. He did it to mock her. Oblivious to his motive and adamant to prove that she was not different from the princess in any way, Lela shook her head, already annoyed that he would say something like that to her about the marriage.
Lela wanted to yell and tell him she didn't care about getting married to him too, that she could get by just fine without having to get married to him because she was going through so much more than he could ever imagine. Did he forget that he had tried to kill her, or rather, he had killed the one he was supposed to get married to, that he was talking about not caring about the marriage? What gave him the right to think that she wanted to get married to him either?
Lela had thought about getting married more times than she could remember, she had her perfect day all planned out, she had even imagined the type of man she wanted to get married to, a doctor, a pediatrician preferably, to take care of their children with her. This man was neither a man she had ever imagined getting married to, nor a doctor, and he was talking as though he was doing her a favor?
She didn't know if backing out of the wedding was an option, but if she couldn't get out of it, then she'd do the exact opposite of everything he said he wanted. Small union? He should brace himself for the biggest wedding of the century, even if it meant she'd crawl on her knees and beg the queen as though her life depended on it. Surely he could kill her again, but at least she'd die knowing she gave him the biggest middle finger that would have him thinking about it for centuries to come.