Chapter 8
Her Mate
Ara closes her fist tightly; realisation comes into her mind. The man who's walking right now was the man I saw yesterday. And what is worse? She let the man go near to her. Damn, she cursed in her mind.
She took a deep breath and lowered her gaze. Be cool, Ara. Don't give them a reason to doubt you if they possibly stay unnoticed. She convinced herself.
"I didn't expect to see him today," she heard Maddie whisper.
"Me too, this is too sudden. He's always staying on the last floor." Cattie agreed. Ara remained silent. She saw him yesterday, but she didn't know that he was the king, so that explains the powerful aura surrounding him.
"Let's keep our mouths shut before he might hear us." Cattie nodded and lowered her gaze even more. They were avoiding being noticed; they valued their lives. They were afraid that the king might find them irritating and kill them.
Ara felt them coming near, and she couldn't deny the fact that she was getting anxious. It feels like someone is watching her, looking at every move she makes. She bit her inner lip to calm herself down; she shouldn't feel this way; who shouldn't get intimidated by him?
"Greetings, young highness." Ara heard them greet them when he was in front of them. Ara doesn't have the chance to do the same cause she's been drowned by her thoughts. Cattie raised her head slightly to look at her; she hoped that the king would spare her for not greeting him.
Maddie was worried, too. Ara was new here, and she thought Ara didn't know what the king looked like. Their fear and worry doubled when the king suddenly stopped; they felt like the world had stopped spinning.
'We are doomed.' Catalina and Madelyn's worriedly thought. Their palm is sweaty; this is the last thing they want to happen. Ara was completely aware of why they were afraid of him; he was a cruel, cold-blooded, and heartless man. Killing someone is just easy for him.
He stood there for how many seconds, staring at her; a grin formed on his lips when he saw she didn't even bother to correct her mistake. She has the guts to ignore and disrespect him. Oddly, her action supposedly angers him, but found her amusing instead.
This girl is somewhat particular and fascinating; it's making him want to know her. She's the girl he met yesterday, the girl he never expected to meet. His mate. He knew that she was not yet aware of that, but he also knew that she felt something.
The bonds were pulling them together; the scent was too much, and it was making them shift forcedly into their vampire form. He's been preventing himself. He doesn't want to take her as his; mate is just a weakness, and he shouldn't have a weakness.
Cattie sighed in relief when the king started to move without saying or doing anything. Ara raised her head slightly to watch him leave with his warriors. Does he remember her? Nor is he really the man yesterday.
The three of them stood straight when they were gone in their vision. Now, they can breathe freely. "That was so close," Maddie murmured, just enough for them to hear.
"Right," Cattie paused and looked at Ara, who was still looking where the king walked. "Ara, please be careful next time. If you see him, kneel immediately and greet him when he's near without making eye contact." She remained silent. She's still wondering what the heck just happened. Why did he stop and look at her?
"Ara?" Maddie asked her while waving her hand in front of her face. Ara blinked and shrugged. Get over with it, Ara, just be glad he let you pass for not greeting him. she said to herself before she smiled and looked at them.
"I got it; sorry for causing you trouble." Maddie nodded her head in understanding. "We understand you; you still don't know what the king looked like. But you feel a strong power surrounding him, right?" Yeah, she felt it, not just that, she wanted to claim him too… oh, wait? What?
Ara's eyes slightly widened upon the realisation. She bit her inner lips hard in the way that it almost bled. She couldn't believe it. Was the man she loathed actually her mate? Is really the destiny playing her? The pain she experienced was still not enough. Why did she need to be bound to someone she knew she would never love?
Even if she did, she also knows he would never love her too.
"Ara? You're spacing out again." She was being pulled into reality when she heard Cattie's worried voice. Ara took a deep breath and set aside all the questions in her mind. This is not the right time to think about this matter.
"I'm sorry, and yeah, I felt his power. My thoughts were drowning me, so I didn't have the chance to greet him." She replied honestly. Maddie and Cattie looked at her intently. She's telling the truth. But they were wondering what she was thinking at that time. And this time. She might look expressionless now, but they knew she was upset and bothered.
"Are you okay, Ara?" Cattie couldn't help but ask. Since yesterday's afternoon in the garden, she noticed that something happened there that made Ara act this way.
'Calm down, Ara. If you will remain upset, you can't hide your true power.' She convinced herself. She once again took a deep breath and sighed. She looked at them and nodded her head.
"Yeah, fine. I was a little shocked at what happened earlier. Let's get resume working?" Maddie and Cat looked into each other rather than at her; she wanted to change the topic now. They can't do anything about that, and besides, they really need to resume working before they will see any of the higher persons in position.
One more thing, they were wondering why the king came here to the west wing of the palace. Did he visit one of his concubines? Lady Alyssa, perhaps? But that's so unusual of him; he seldom comes here. They shrugged off that thought in their minds and started to work again.
"Anyway, Which place will we clean next?" Ara asked them when they were almost finished working. Maddie looked at her, "Let's move to the library, let's fix the books, and, of course, get rid of the dirt." Ara looked at her.
"On the first floor?" We will walk back to the first floor again. It's exhausting to walk than to clean, Ara complained in her mind. She glanced at the two when she saw them laugh hard.
"Silly you, of course not. There's a library everywhere here for Concubines; they were too lazy to go down to the first floor to get there. Anyway, for further information, there are about nine to ten libraries all over the palace." That's not new to Ara; in her old home, they had fifteen libraries. Weird, right? Well, her parents and relatives loved to read.
"Oh, I see. Your words almost gave me goosebumps. I thought we would go back on the ground floor again." Ara said honestly, which made them chuckle.
"Well, we can't blame you, though. Maddie's words aren't that clear."
"Right, next time, I'll be clearer. Let's get going?" Ara and Cattie nodded their heads.