He was making me stay here without my consent! Only if I had known this place to be the much fishy, I wouldn't have done all of it.
He cannot impose on me. No one could. I was the princes, to be queen after all. And that wasn't even the reason, every person - every individual should have this freedom to choose for themselves.
His stare was eating me now. I had to decide quickly how to get out of this situation.
"Planning to run away?" his eyes softened with a mischief. The hazel eyes glimmered and I hated it so much.
There was no hiding from this man, no winning. He was teasing me on purpose. Like a predator which plays with his prey before devouring it.
But once I'll be done with my wishes, I would make him regret his existence.
"Why would I? " I replied him without any hesitation.
" because you are hiding something?" he was an asshole but it felt he could see right through me. My heart was beating in my throat with fear, what if he knew?
His words ignited a fire inside me, and my blood began to boil. My stomach cramped with anger, and a strong desire to slap this man surged through my body. But that was not what grateful ladies did.
I turned back to him, eyes glaring. "I didn't come all the way here for this insult, sire!"
"So what did you come here for?" his honey glazed words came with his dagger brushing my chin. His eyes fixated only at mine, the tension was loud between us.
Either he was flirting with me or planning to slice my throat at any moment now.
His words echoed in my mind, what did I come here for? To kill someone whom you are protecting.
"To protect you and your people" that was the only truth I could muster up to tell him.
"Okay then, let me see the sign of the Frites. If you are innocent you have no reason to worry, After that, do whatever you want—you can leave or come with us to the palace." that was a genuine promise
"Palace?"
"We are the king's personal army. Where would you expect us to be?"
Of course. How did I miss all of that? A huge troop of arrogant broad soldiers, led by a lunatic commander, and the central city was close by. This was my ticket through the gates of palace.
It looked like I really had no choice now, either I could run away and risk them killing me or I could show myself and risk getting caught and then killed.
"Fine, but I have a condition. No one else can be here."
"Aren't you a shy boy?" he smiled
But my expression was same and he caught that.
He glared at his men, and one by one, they all left. Now it was just the two of us in the dim, mystic dark room, his eyes were on me the whole time. I unbuckled my belt and began to remove my metallic armor.
My chest was tightly wrapped in a bandage Maansa had applied, ensuring my identity remained concealed. My breastplate and pauldron stayed in place, securely covering my chest and sternum. I only needed to lift one side of my shirt.
His hazel eyes followed my hands as I lifted the right side of my fabric. I closed my eyes and pointed to the spot, signaling him to look. He stepped closer, and my heart pounded. I was afraid of him. Not because I could get caught but because he was so pretty. He was doing weird flutters to my heart.
I hated how my body was acting in his presence, as if he was controlling it and I didn't like that.
He kneeled down in front of me and his thick black hair just came up to my chest, the urge to run my fingers through them peaked. I wanted his hands to travel on my skin as his gaze was.
Gently he brushed his fingers on my shirt, he was so gentle. Not anything like he was moment's ago. I needed to stop thirsting for this man and focus, I was risking everything and thinking of this man in wrong ways.
The friend of the enemy is enemy. I needed to focus on hating him.
I had my shirt lifted on other side and he was on left side of me. His hands traced the left side and lifted the undershirt.
"But that's the wro... sid..." His death glare silenced me.
Looking up at me, his gaze was so fiercely soft.
"What's this?" he traced his fingers on the scar I had from long ago.
The scar was everything to me. It symbolized Leo's presence in my life, the most sacred piece of love I carried within me. The memory of that day flashed before my eyes—the day rebels attacked the palace. Leo had been there, protecting me. When one of them struck me, the wound left this scar, but it reminded me of how Leo had saved me, earning a scar at the back of his neck. He had burned their heads off and later taught me archery, training me to be a warrior.
"Just an old scar," I replied, my voice steady.
He released a sigh.
"Okay."
He stood and left the tent without checking for the sign of the Frites. He didn't look back or say anything to me. Maybe he was disappointed that I wasn't a Frite as he was expecting me to be. Maybe he was pissed that he had to spare me today.
But whatever it was, I felt happy. I was getting closer to my goal. My plan was progressing.
Something was so wrong. As if he was hiding something like I was, but I had to be focused. He was my biggest distraction and I had to stay away from him as much as I could.