Placingmy other hand gently on his chest now,Icontinued, “Ido hope you don’t thinkI’ma bother, butIwas rather hoping you couldsatisfymy curiosity on a few subjects.”
Plagisgrinned, “YourHighness, there is nothingIwould rather do tonight than indulge you.”Inoticed him moisten his lips, and he placed his other hand on top of mine, his knuckles ever so slightly grazing my breast as he did.Irepressed a gag.
Ibegan with simple inquiries about the histories of the kingdoms and recent minor uprisings, prompting him to provide more elaborate responses to each question.Imade sure that he always had a full glass of ambrosia in his hand and laughed at all the appropriate times.Heseemed more than willing to drone on and on about each subject, a man certainly very pleased by hearing himself speak.Isaid very little, and he didn’t seem to notice.
Iturned from him for a moment to grab another glass of ambrosia.AsIlooked for a servant,Ilocked eyes with the king.Hadhe been watching me?MakingsureIwas upholding my end of the bargain,Iwas sure.Butas he lifted his own glass of ambrosia to his lips,Icould feel dark menace rolling off him, as he kept his eyes locked with mine.Right,Ihad work to do.
Iturned back toPlagisas he rambled on about theGreatProphecyof theThirdAge.
"Ah, theGreatProphecy.Witnessingits fulfillment has been an immense blessing bestowed upon me.Rarelydoes one have the fortune to witness such transformative events that shape the course of history and emerge unscathed.TheDivineEmperorHadeonhas graced us with his rule, and to knowIhad a hand in that, well,Ican say that with no small amount of pride.Didyou know thatIwas present when he vanquished theWorldBreaker?Itwas an extraordinary display of power, unlike anything the world had ever seen—a defining moment for our great hero."Hepractically hummed with admiration while anger surged through me.
Maintaininga smile, though my teeth ground together,Igazed at him with soft eyes.
“But, my dear, surely you were aware of all this even in thePearlKingdom?Whatis it that you truly wished to inquire about?”Isensed my opportunity, butIcould practically feel the king’s glare searing into my back.GuidingPlagistowards the shadows at the side of the room,Ipositioned us in a secluded alcove, necessitating our bodies to draw closer together.
Idrew nearer to him, my voice a soft and vulnerable whisper, "Ifind myself wondering,LordPlagis, if you could offer me some insight into the mysteriousEternalKingdom."
Herecoiled.Fuck.
“YourHighness, such matters are not meant for polite conversation,” he replied, attempting to extract his arm from my grasp.Fuck!HowhadImisjudged this so terribly?Abraxas’ voice echoed in my mind, urging me to turn the situation to my advantage.Engagingin a struggle would only arouse suspicion, soIknewIdidn’t have many options left to me.
“Ibeg your pardon,MyLord,”Ilet a tremor enter my voice my eyes glistening with unshed tears.Hefroze, “Inever meant to offend.It'sjust that you possess a wealth of knowledge, andI'mfilled with aninsatiablecuriosity,”Ipractically pinned him to the wall with my body, making sure my breasts were heavily pressed against him.Hedidn’t seem to notice thatIwas preventing his retreat as his pupils flared again.
“Yousee,Iam a twin myself, andIyearn to uncover the secrets of our shared past.Thereis so much hidden, so muchIlong to understand.”Hehesitated, his curiosity outweighing his need for self-preservation.
Hesnaked a hand around my waist then, andImoved my lips even closer to his, “Whatis it that you seek,YourHighness?" he inquired, unable to resist the temptation.
Iskated my hands over his chest, butIhad already failed at this once.Ihad to give him something else, even if it wasn’t true.
"Youmay not believe me, butIcarry within me a secret.Asecret that has burdened me for far too long.Ihave always been drawn to theEternalKingdom, its legends and artifacts.Ihave dreamt all my life of ancient powers and forgotten treasures.Butit is more than a mere fascination.Itis a connection, a piece of myself waiting to be uncovered."Hisgaze sharpened, andIcould see his desire then, but it wasn’t for my flesh.Ihad him all the same.
"Tellme,YourHighness, what is this secret you bear?"
Iglanced around, ensuring we were concealed from prying eyes, before leaning in closer, my lips tracing the shell of his ear, andIfelt him shudder, “Iam not who they thinkIam,"Iconfessed, my voice barely a whisper. "Iam not just a princess from a distant land.Thereis something within me, dormant but yearning to be awakened.Ibelieve theEternalKingdomholds the key, the answers to the mysteries that have haunted me since birth."Ipractically saw his defenses crumble under the weight of my revelation, my lies.
“Well, much of what theKingandQueenhad was destroyed, and anything that remains…”Ileaned in closer, letting my lips just barely graze the skin under his ear, “Well, there isn’t much more known, because it was all buried in the castle with them.Theruins still lie at the heart ofTenebraeForest.”Hiseyes grew hungry again. “Whatdraws you to them?”Iwas about to make up another elaborate lie when he very hastily shoved me off of him.
“You-rMaj-esty.”Plagisstammered the words, sweat beading on his brow.Abraxasloomed over us, nothing but pure menace.Itreminded me so much of whenIhad first seen him,Ialmost thought he might reach out and removePlagis’ heart, or maybe mine.Butinstead, he reached for my arm and painfully pulled me to him.
“Ah, there you are,Princess.LordPlagis,I’mafraidI’mgoing to have to reclaim her from you.”Ifelt his eyes fall to my neck and a fraction of that menace receded.Buthe turned back toPlagis, who withered under the stare.
“Ofcourse,YourMajesty.PrincessTori,Ido hope we can continue this conversation soon.”Andhe strode off.NowAbraxasreturned his gaze to me.Igave him a small nod, which he didn’t react to, just held my stare.Itsuddenly became very difficult to push away the memories of his body pressed against mine, and his hand around my throat, that look he had given me whenIstepped out of the bathtub.Fora few more moments we stood there, my heart beating in my ears.Butthen he pulled me out of the alcove, and we returned to the party.
Afteranother hour or so of socializing with various lords and ladies,Ifound an arm laced through mine again.Iturned to findAvlyn, not in their armor for once.Theywore a lavishly decorated vest, thatIrealized was actually boned and cinched like a corset, and tight-fitting pants.Ishowed off the narrowness of their waist and the curve of their backside.
“Noneed to stare,Princess,IknowIlook good.”
“Youdo.”Ididn’t say it in flirtation, just as fact.Itwas funny how seeing someone out of their element could really change your impression of them.Infact,Isaw some color rise toAvlyn’scheeks, and it was very endearing.
“Well, it’s past your bedtime.MayIescort you back to your room?”Myfeet and soul ached from so much socializing, soIwas more than happy to go with them.Iturned for one last look at the hall and felt the king’s eyes fall to me again.Hewas across the room, but our eyes locked.Hegave me the smallest nod, andAvlynled me off.
Butas we made our way down the hall, we passed the doorIknew was mine.Afew doors down,Avlynunlocked another and led me in.Theroom was very similar to mine.Infact, the bed and sheets were the same, andIsaw all the booksAvlynhad brought me had been placed on a small bookshelf.
IgaveAvlyna pointed stare and they shrugged, “Thisroom was better.”Iwas about to ask more when they cut me off, “Didyou learn anything fromPlagis?”
Irecounted what he had told me.Avlynswept their hand over their face and braided hair, “Fuck,Tenebrae— theForestofDarkness, huh?Itcan never just be easy, can it?”Ionce again wondered why the king wanted this diadem so badly.Seemedquite troublesome for just another treasure.
“Howdid you get the information out ofPlagis?”Iexplained my lie, about a secret power waiting to be awakened.Avlynlet out a hearty laugh andIgrinned as well.
