Centuries ago,
KAMAZ'S POV
I laid Zelda on my bed while Falkur went to get a towel and a bowl of water.
She was still sleeping. Her clothes were torn in different areas, and her face still reddened because of how much she must have cried.
There were cuts on her arms, feet, and the skin leading to her knees.
I had no words to form, and all I wanted to know was why she had gone after Falkur and I!
We were clearly on horses and last I checked, she had still not overcome her fears on riding.
Looking at her closely had my blood riled up again.
When Falkur had been on his way with her to the Palace, I had gone after those men, and their echoes of pleas were a distant memory in my head.
I could not have given them an easy death. It would be right to everything that screamed evil in the world.
I wanted to prolong their death. Enjoy it as much as it brought me pain - pain because after killing them, I could not wake them up again to have them killed. They deserve that!
They had nurtured thoughts on how to kill her. It wasn't something that just happened. They had premeditated steps on how to execute their little game and the thought alone was sickening.
They wanted her dead and while I had my hand on the head of one of them, I could see the last few minutes before I tore his head off.
He had pressed a knife to her neck, placed his unworthy fingers on her…
I never used to get invested and interested in Zoah Kingdom affairs except it's for a purpose that would bring me to light with the King but after seeing how close Zelda came to dying, my motives took a new turn.
If I had been a minute late, I would have lived the rest of my life as a passing shadow, and not even my mother's wish for me would have guaranteed me a headway or a safe space in my mind and this world.
I overheard the court ministers speak on the case of missing people in the neighbouring states I had thought it would be handled by them appropriately but once again… their inadequacy soared. If she had died, hell would have been an age haven to them because I would more than watch them burn…
Falkur returned with a bowl of water and a small towel as I requested. A maid could have been called for this simple task but I did not want to take the chance for the start of a rumour.
Zelda would still be very tired by the time she woke up. She will be bedridden for a few days, and this is the least I can do, especially when I am the reason she was in this situation.
I had promised her father that I would protect her but I was doing the complete opposite.
As he placed the bowl on a stool and brought it closer to the bed, I sat on the 'daybed' opposite.
But as he began to clean her face, I felt weird watching him do it.
I could predict his thoughts, and none was perverted in any way. He was concerned about her as he cautiously wiped the cuts but…
"You have had a long day. I'll take it from here" I said abruptly to him as I stretched my hand to collect the towel.
"It's alright Prince Kamaz. I'll finish this and rest for the night. I really feel bad that she is in this situation" Falkur said.
"No, that's enough…" I said, the tone of my voice a notch higher than the normal indifferent one it possesses when the towel moved to the cut at the corner of her lip.
Falkur must have been surprised because he jerked slightly at the sound and urgency of my voice.
Carefully, he placed the towel on my hand and gave me a courtesy bow before leaving.
I continued from where he had stopped and my fingers could not help but graze her lower lip.
When I realized what I did, I was surprised.
'What is going on with me? I shouldn't be having such thoughts.
Probably, it's because of how long I have turned away from the women who were daring enough to want me. I should have one of them soon!'
I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as I lifted her sleeves and cleaned her palms and arms before moving to her legs.
When I was done, I laid on the daybed even though a good portion of my legs shot out because it could not contain my height.
Resting on the daybed was something ordinary, but getting an actual sleep was almost impossible.
Sleep was never something that came to me willingly, but after taking my fill at the sight of Zelda and reminding myself that she was a little distance away from me and was safe, as I closed my eyes, I felt a lulling pull to a sound sleep.
******************
Next morning
I felt a slight ache on the side I was lying on and I wondered why. I could hear the heartbeat of someone else in the room, and my body stilled.
'Someone else is in my room!'
As I wanted to open my eyes in alarm, the events of yesterday hit me with its forceful memory.
That in itself was a surprise because usually, I'm still very alarmed and armed in mind while sleeping. It was a surprise waking up and I was trying to think of the current part of my life I was facing.
It was a sign I had slept soundly.
Gentle footsteps of a moving person came to my ears and my eyes fluttered open. The morning sun greeted my eyesight as it streaked through the curtains, and I was more shocked.
I never sleep until the sun is up.
I always feel too in danger to sleep this tranquil.
"Where are you going to?" I asked, my voice gruff with irk at seeing Zelda on her toes as she tried to escape my room to hers.
She almost fell before she steadied herself and stood on both feet.
A confused and apologetic look was on her face.
"I'm sorry Lord Kamaz. I have no idea how I came to sleep in your bed and it was never my intention to awaken you from your peaceful sleep. I just…"
"Get back on" I ordered, cutting her from her ramblings. She was still not strong enough to be standing and here she was trying to sneakily escape.