I would rather spend one lifetime with you,
Than face all the ages of this world alone.
—J.R.R. Tolkien
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"You want me to keep him alive after all he did to you?" he asked, their breaths mingling and Eva fought the irresistible urge to yield before him.
"What did he do to me? He did nothing! He did not even touch me-"
"I saw you at the ball. You were feeling uncomfortable-"
"Maybe I'm feeling uncomfortable right now too!" spoke Eva pushing him back with her hands on his chest. He thought he knew her? What did he know? He knew nothing about how she felt!
And why was his chest so hard and muscular?
No matter how amused Theo was by her rage, it didn't simmer down the anger when he saw her try to save the Lord a few minutes ago.
"If he made me uncomfortable that you are not so far away from him either!" she shouted and Theo raised his head to look at the fire in her eyes. It made something in his body twitch and he groaned softly.
"You wanted to stay here, you said it just now-"
"Because I didn't want to go with him!" Eva answered back.
"You think I would've sent you?" he asked, closing the distance between them and grabbing her chin with his fingers. Eva saw his gaze shift from her eyes to her lips. Why did it feel like he was seducing her out of the conversation?
Eva faltered down first. She was tired of arguing with him. Dropping her shoulders in surrender, she backed away and spoke, "I will be going to the room." and with that, she went away leaving him alone to figure out what just happened.
He didn't know what to say to her if he made her stop. He wasn't aware that it would be so hard to make her agree. He couldn't kill that man now, not when Birdie was upset and in their room, angry with him. He needed to make her understand and he wanted to understand her. He wanted to know more about her, her past, and what she felt for him because he knew there was something.
He felt it too. Even when they were arguing, he could feel the spark in the air between them. How her face flushed with uncontrollable anger. Theo realized that his favorite thing would be to rile Birdie up.
But for now, he needed to comfort her and perhaps apologize for thinking that he knew her feelings.
Theo sighed. This was so hard...
He was hard...
——
Meanwhile, Eva walked back to their shared bedroom in hurried steps. Her anger had subsided only to be replaced with shock. She never knew that she could get this angry over something so little. Something that could easily be talked out with a little patience.
She had shouted at him... at the King... and she still couldn't believe it. Where had the sudden courage arrived from? The sky?
No, it was the freedom he gave her. She could say anything to him without worrying knowing that he wouldn't hurt her. He hadn't harmed her so far and it was true, he never made her uncomfortable. Maybe because he didn't have any bad intentions like Lord Ken or he was hiding them by gaining her trust first.
Breathing out, she stopped outside her room — no, it was their room now she thought with a scoff.
His face materialized in front of her and she couldn't feel any anger towards him anymore. It only took Eva a few days to memorize some of his daily habits.
The quirk of his eyebrow, just before he delivered a fatal, witty blow was written across her veins. The slant of his lips before he smirked haunted a dark corner of her mind. The lifeless quality in his eyes, only recently developed, was sketched into her subconscious. Like he didn't have a soul. At least not one she was allowed to see.
He was hard to see through.
He wasn't transparent, he was opaque. She had concluded herself to be a great observer of men and women, but he was harder to read than anybody she had met before.
The first competition she had to face in her life and the hardest one. She pouted, feeling frustrated with his actions and hers.
There was no annoyance left. Nothing but hurt in her heart because she wondered if she had misjudged him. Maybe he didn't have any plans to kill the Lord. She had pained him when she didn't mean to and Eva crumbled to the ground just in front of the door.
Leaning her forehead against the hard wooden door, she closed her eyes, trying to gather her scattered thoughts and think of a logical solution to correct her mistake if she had made one.
——
"Your Majesty, you called?" asked Leon, entering the King's study to see Theo leaning against a wall next to the window.
"That man?" he inquired without removing his eyes from the floor.
"I saw him off on his horse just like you commanded."
"Good." sighed Theo and tapped his shoes on the ground with a hint of impatience and frustration.
Leon stood there feeling awkward as hell at the silence. Why was the King not ordering him out? Was he so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice a grown man standing in the same room as him?
What spell had the lady enchanted him with? Lust serum?
"She isn't talking to me."
Leon looked up abruptly his head tilting in shock and confusion. "I beg your pardon, My King?"
"Eva. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. She's angry with me." explained the King and ran a hand through his inky hair, letting a few strands fall on his forehead. Desperation was visible through his actions; how he continuously bit his lip and messed his hair up with a tinge of bitterness.
Leon's mind stopped working when he saw the King asking him out of all people for advice. It showed how desperate he was to talk to the lady again. Somewhere in a corner of his mind, he wondered if Theo would beg for his forgiveness if the opportunity came.
A scene worth watching...
"Your Majesty, I believe you should just apologize and talk to her. Explain things from your point of view." it was not his advice but judging from the books he had read, Leon was certain that it sounded logical.
"It's that easy?' asked Theo turning to look at his trusted Advisor in amazement.
"But again that depends on if she's ready to talk to you or not. It takes a little time for anger to cool down." Leon voiced his opinions out loud and tried to hide his grin when he saw the King in deep contemplation.
"I see. I should try that but if it doesn't work, you will be considered responsible." spoke the King and walked past him with a pat on his shoulder.
Leon remained frozen in his place and tried not to scoff. Why the hell would he be blamed? It was the King's fault if he didn't know how to court a lady properly!