"You've been avoiding me." Aderas' voice called. Asteria glanced down from where she was perched high in the Library. Aderas stood in his stately robes of red velvet and black silk, and Asteria wanted to throw up. She turned back to the books, trying to gain courage from them.
"I did not mean to, your majesty," she said, cursing her bad luck. She'd rather hoped he'd be busy in meetings with the lovely Gwen at his side, frowning as she made her way down the ladder.
"Should you not be under guard?" Asteria asked.
"I have taken care of myself for years." He growled. "I do not need this Raven following me everywhere."
Asteria gave him a look as she went back to her table. "Kailani just wants to protect you. The rumors of Abbadon are not to be taken lightly." She pointed out.
"I do not care about a mythical beast," Aderas said. "Is that why you have been scarce? This raven?" he asked.
"You know how protective those ravens can get. I have some history with them because of my mother," she said quietly.
"Gwen has never been much of a fan of mine," she muttered, turning to look at Aderas and very much hoping he couldn't see how much she wanted to be in his arms and forget for a couple of hours the horrible things that Gwen had said.
The extremely true things.
"You don't have to worry. You are here as my guest." Aderas said. Asteria avoided looking at his eyes, turning away from the table to one of the shelves, her fingers tracing the curves of illuminated texts.
"What are you doing here Aderas?" she sighed.
"Where else would I be? This is my home." He said coming closer, looking down at her. "My Library."
"You were the one that assigned me to appoint your library, and then ignored my existence for weeks after," Asteria said, pulling one of the books off the shelf and flipping through it.
"You noticed," Aderas said.
Asteria looked up at him, giving him a look as he smirked down at her. "We had a single night. You are the King," she said.
"I am aware that I am the King. And as the King, I know you went somewhere, no one could find you for hours." Aderas said.
"Am I a prisoner here, then. Only the Library and under your eye am I allowed to be?" Asteria asked.
Aderas leaned forward touching her cheek gently with the back of his hand. "As far as prisons go, is this really so bad?" he asked quietly.
"You are not half as charming as you might think," Asteria said.
"Do you really want me to leave you alone," he said softly, his face moving closer to hers.
Asteria wanted to move closer. She wanted not just one more moment with the King she was slowly falling for but many moments. Instead, all she saw was Miyu's face wondering why she hadn't slipped a knife into the King's back. She saw Gwen accusing her of evil just because of where she had been born.
Her life had never truly been her own since she had left her family's estate so long ago.
"Yes. I want you to leave me alone." She said backing away. She glanced up at him seeing a flash of something in his eyes.
"I'll leave you to your books then." He said quietly. Asteria watched as he turned to leave when Dion and Gwen burst into the library, shutting the doors as they ran in.
"What is the meaning of this?" Aderas asked as Gwen put a spell of protection on it.
"We're under siege," Dion said.
"What by who?" Aderas asked with a frown.
"By the Kingdom of Shadows," Gwen said, flicking a look at Asteria.
"Who are they?" Aderas asked.
"An elite supremist group who believes that the royals did more harm than good in eradicating the Witch of Sobrix," Asteria said.
Aderas turned to look at her in shock. "Why would you know anything about this?"
"Because her mother was one of them," Gwen said darkly, glaring at Asteria. "I guess the Apple didn't fall far from the tree."
Asteria went over to Gwen. "Fine, I was a part of their unit once, but that was a long time ago. Before my father destroyed our good name and Zathrian was forced to find any means of work to survive. I was twelve Gwen. You don't know what it was like being with them, I was lucky to survive." Asteria said furiously.
"Well, you did survive."
"Miyu is smarter than this. She would never pull a siege. It's crazy. She works in the shadows for a reason. Something must've happened." Asteria said.
"Something did happen. The Lord Alkimos has announced that he plans to conquer the Six Kingdoms." Gwen said, turning to the King. "I just got word, I was coming to find you when the Castle started going under attack."
"Conquering the Six Kingdoms is impossible," Aderas said. "It's not just me they are attacking, it's all the Kings and Queens, the people won't stand for this."
"Won't they?" Dion mused. "There has been unrest in the capital for years. It isn't just this group. There have been rumors that when the witch fell so did her protections, what if by trying to save the world we also destroyed it?" Dion said looking at Aderas.
"We have to get out of here," Asteria said, walking through the shelves, "I found something the other day when I was preparing these shelves." She said going to a particular shelf in the back of the library and feeling against the edges of the groove she pressed a carving, of a forest, with a witch in the middle her hands up in the air, magic all around her.
They all watched as the bookshelf shuddered for a moment before it pushed itself open. Gwen waved her hand and the bookshelf moved to reveal a door to a passageway.
"After you, My King," Dion said.
Aderas and Gwen walked in, Asteria looked up at Dion who gave her a disapproving stare. "I guess my first impression was right." he said sullenly as he waved his hand for her to go forward. Asteria moved to pass him slipping a hand and lifting the dagger that he had on his waist, palming it in her hand.
She followed the King and the Raven into a forgotten series of passageways that led who knows where in the Castle of a long-forgotten royal.
Asteria just hoped they all got out of there alive, praying that Lord Alkinos was a foolish mage and not someone more devious in his claim for power.