Kael watched as she narrowed her eyes and he fought the urge to smile. She looked pretty this morning, brown long hair framed her round face while long dark eyelashes pulled attention to her eyes.
His wolf was at it again now that she was in his presence. She was not his mate but there was definitely something about her that appealed to him. He wondered what it was about her.
"Good morning princess." He said brightly and she gritted her teeth but curtsied low nonetheless.
"Good morning your majesty."
When she rose back to her feet Kael could see the war in her eyes. She did not want to be here with him and she was considering leaving him alone.
"It appears that I have intruded on your majesty's time and for that I must apologize. I will leave immediately." She said with another curtsy.
"Actually…" Kael said, stopping her from turning around and she looked up at him.
"I have come to speak to you." He said, noting the fact that between her eyebrows twitched before she smoothened her brow to remain expressionless.
She waited with bated breath, hoping that he was about to tell her that the wedding would be called off. Council or no council, Naiari was sure that no one could force this Lycan to do their bidding. At last! She would no longer have to think of a way to escape.
"Since our marriage has unfortunately not be held, I think that we should get to know each other better so I have ordered your things moved to my room."
Naiari looked up at him sharply, her eyes widening in disbelief and anger while he looked on smugly.
"Yo.. your majesty." She stammered and Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Do you object?" He asked quietly.
"We are not married and i don't think that it is appropriate for us to be together in the same room."
"But you are to be my wife soon enough, we are doing nothing wrong." He answered simply and Naiari stared at him with her mouth opened.
'The man has completely turned the tables on me, just when I thought that he was going to set me free.'
"Or is there something else?" He tilted his head to the side and stared at her grimly.
'Yes, there is a lot! You will find out what has happening to me and burn me at the stake.' She thought frantically.
Kael on the other side interpreted her silence as her being sad because he was forcing her to move into his room when she would rather be with his cousin. The thought made his face harden like stone and he spoke chillingly.
"Or is there someone else?" He demanded.
Naiari looked at him blankly for a minute then she frowned at a memory.
"I should be the one asking you that your majesty." Naiari asked respectfully even though the glint in her eyes was nothing but.
Kael frowned in confusion.
"Your mistress my lord, she has made my position quite clear and I wonder why you will make this decision when you can have a better queen in her." She said as she stared at him then she lowered her head.
"I understand that as a human I do not have much to offer you in terms of strength and that is probably why you have hidden me away, don't you think it would be better for you to send me away." She added softly.
Being that she had spent all of her life relegated to the shadows for being less than perfect. A bastard and a daughter at that, Naiari knew what it meant to not be good enough so she was not surprised by the fact that here in this foreign kingdom she was treated the same way.
Kael frowned as he heard her explanation, surprised at the depth of hurt he could hear in the princess's voice. She sounded like she had experienced being shunned but that sounded so unbelievable, who would shun the beautiful daughter of a king?
For a moment he wondered if it was all just a ploy to make him send her away.
"What mistress?" He asked after a long second.
She looked up at him, her eyes got at the humiliation of being asked that question and she took a deep breath before saying, "The vampire princess my lord."
"Althea?" Kael asked with a shocked laugh.
So Althea had already met up with Yvette, why should he be shocked? He was yet to see her but when he heard that she had come he knew it would be only a matter of time before she sought him.
He had been happy that she had come because she would see his bride and know that she had no chance with him. He had hoped that would stop her but apparently nothing could.
"Althea is nothing to me." He said firmly then added, "I have no need for a fighter as my queen, I already have warriors for that."
Naiari looked up at him hesitantly, still unsure about his intentions.
He spoke, his voice a deep rumble that resonated in her bones. "As much as I have been reluctant to take a bride I will do it for the sake of my kingdom and I promise to treat you fairly and never harm you."
The words were simple, yet the way he pronounced them, the subtle rasp of bitterness beneath the silken courtesy, sent a shiver down her spine.
Whatever her father had hoped to gain that thanks to the marriage, this man was a predator, wounded but dangerous, watching her as carefully as she watched him she could tell that he was not one who easily bent.
"I know that you have not really had any choice in the matter but I propose that we become partners and after a year you might go on your way free to do your will."
In a year she would be able to navigate living here amongst the snakes, she had spent eighteen years being constantly tormented, what was just one year?
'A year? Then I will be free? Surely that would be better than trying to run away and constantly getting caught, this is the answer to my problems.'
Slowly, deliberately, she met his gaze. "If you give me your word, Your Majesty," she replied, her voice steady despite the churning in her stomach. "And I insist that we wait till our wedding to share a room."
She had made her decision, she would not play the pathetic princess, not the terrified bride. She would see him, truly see him, beyond the deformity, beyond the expectations and hopefully find a way to starve off the axe to her neck for at least a year.
"Very well then." Kael agreed reluctantly.
He had put the guards to follow her but he wanted her in his room so that Ara would not have any access to her but he would have to play by her rules for now.
She knelt, not in subservience, but in respect. "Your strength inspires me, Your Majesty," she said, her voice low and sincere.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, quickly masked by a sardonic smile. "Strength is a curious word to use for a man who cannot walk," he said, his tone light, but the accusation sharp.
She met his gaze, unflinching. "Strength comes in many forms, Your Majesty," she countered, "as does beauty."
The smile vanished. His eyes narrowed, searching hers. Was it challenge he saw, or something else? A spark of curiosity about the woman who had accepted to be his wife.
Silence stretched between them, heavy and charged. Then, a slow chuckle escaped his lips. "You are bold, Princess Yvette," he said, the amusement back in his voice, but something still a hint of suspicion lay beneath it. "Perhaps bolder than you realize."
He extended a hand, long and pale, the fingers tipped with sharpened, black nails. Hesitantly, she raised her own, and he clasped it gently. His touch was surprisingly warm, sending a surge of unexpected familiarity through her.
"I give you my word," he said, his voice a low murmur. "Let us see what games fate has in store for us."