"Are you trying to seduce me, wife," Di drawled lazily, having spoken those words in his gravelly voice. He leaned towards me, and I could feel the hard look he was giving me from those deep brown eyes.
I gulped, trying to find the right words. Oh no! Adum did warn that he was quite a smart man, but I wasn't too obvious. How on earth has he seen through my facade?
"Of course not," my voice stuttered, failing me completely. But I must try to convince him otherwise. "I am but your wife; there will be no need to seduce you."
He leaned back, his gaze still fixed on me. For once, I wanted to see his face behind that mask, to know if he had a stoic expression or if he was grinning with the misery of trying to draw words out of my mouth.
"Hmm, you are my wife; there is no need to seduce me. You have..." he paused, shook his head, "Forget it. I was just quite surprised by how quickly you are all being generous when there had been looks of hatred, disgust, and fear upon our first meeting."
I coughed, my eyes growing wide. Why did he have to burst out those words like that? Except if it did not bother him that people hate him, or that I do, in fact.
"I do not hate you. I was just scared about the rumors," I sighed, resigning in my mission even before it began. My eyes skillfully searched Adum, but the older maiden had her head bowed.
"I see," he nodded, his gaze now returning to the food. "Eat more. I am afraid you are quite skinny."
My gaze traveled to myself. So all those times he was staring at me had been because he was quite irritated that I was skinny? Oh, this man. Did my charm of dressing up this morning not entice him a bit? I almost thought he must have been smitten with the way I looked. How wrong I must be.
It seems, despite all the work of Adum and the other maidens, I still did not succeed with seducing the king.
"Hmm, this is actually good," he moaned heartily.
My eyes traveled back to him, and I realized just now that he had sipped the soup from the spoon I had been still holding towards his mouth.
Oh! I had almost forgotten about my raised hand.
I quickly retracted the spoon after he had swallowed the hot soup. He did not even blow on it, or was that what I was supposed to do?
"It is quite hot," he complained but shook his head, picking up a fork and dragging the food I had put for him closer to himself. "But since it is the first sweetest thing you have done for me as a wife, I would give you credit for that."
Sweetest thing? I blinked at him. What does that mean? Was feeding him better than seducing him? How is that possible?
Every man loves to look at a woman, especially one who is dressed up beautifully. Was i not beautiful enough, or perhaps I lacked the skillfulness of being seductive like Verina? Maybe that was why he did not seem impressed at all.
My eyes were still resting on the king. He was eating now, totally fixed on the food. How was he comfortable wearing a mask? Was he not sweating, especially from the steam of the soup?
"Eat," he growled, not looking up from his food at all. "You need to add a little flesh so your people won't think I am mistreating you here."
My eyes quickly traveled to the food, and I placed cassava flakes into a bowl, along with hot soup filled with catfish and bush meat.
The food was so enticing to look at; even its scent was intoxicating enough. However, I had lost my appetite to eat. But to not anger the king, I managed to eat slowly, barely looking at him.
I had failed to seduce him, and he had seen through my facade. The king would forever remain a mystery to me, I fear.
Was this what my marriage is going to be? Not only will I not see his face, but I will also not get to know him? And just like Adum said, I will not even get to visit his chamber once.
"You are hardly eating," he raised his head towards me, watching me again.
I began taking big spoonfuls of food, completely ignoring him. I do not like that he was smart enough to know everything, to see through my facade. I was not his only trouble; he was also mine to grapple with. Now, I am struggling to get to know him when he had been the one who had married me.
He sighed, dropped the spoon on his almost finished plate, then held hold of the stone tablet again.
I wanted to ask him what it was but pressed my lips against it. The king would never tell me if he doesn't want to. I could almost hear the tone of his ever gravelly voice when he told me he would never take off his mask. But there was something I was meaning to ask, and I indeed asked before realizing, "What if someone tries to impersonate you, since no one has seen your face before?"
He laughs; it was the first time I heard him laugh, but it didn't last long. "A lot have tried before, but I must admit, though it turns out to be fun just to watch them trying to be me. But I must tell you, Dalia," his gaze shifted to me, locking eyes with mine, "No one can be someone else, no matter how hard they try. Sooner or later, someone might see through that facade."
I sulked in a long breath; at that moment, it almost felt like he was referring to me.
He stood up, taking the tablet. "I would be leaving for the court to discuss matters with the elders," he walked towards me, then bent till his mouth almost brushed my ear. I shivered at that little action of his. "Do not try to be something you are not, Dalia. Trust me, I could see through it."
I stiffened, unable to move an inch. Even after he had walked out of the room, I was still unable to move, not until Adum came up to me and squeezed my shoulder slightly.