I didn’t sleep with Ellia tonight. I don’t understandwhyI didn’t sleep with Ellia tonight, but I didn’t. It had been my intention to. To chase a kind of lust that isn’t directed at a certain dark-haired assassin.
That fucking huntress. What am I going to do about her? I'm distracted, even now with a beautiful woman beside me and far greater issues to worry about. What the fuck was she doing hanging from my ceiling? How dare she betray my orders? And how did she get past the guards outside her room? She wants to push my buttons, then I'll push hers twice as hard. I'll make her brother’s life a living hell if it will get her in line.
But most concerningly of all—is the arrival of the Shadow Commander and the attempted Vault break-in purely coincidence? She’s mischievous, yes, but is she downrightevil? The thought eats away at me all evening.
I have bigger fish to fry now. The world order has been threatened, and unless she is the one responsible, I need her out of my hair.
"You're so distracted today," murmurs Ellia, pulling my hair out of the small bun it was in. I don’t even know why she’s still here. I’ve just sat and done paperwork all evening. I swat her hand away. Was she always this frustrating? She’s outdoing herself today. She begins tracing a manicured finger down the scars that trickle down my forehead, over my right eye, all the way over my jaw. "Does it hurt?"
"No," I snatch her hand away, gripping it in mine, which I am sure she mistakes for affection. "Don't fucking touch it."
I stand up, grimacing. My arms and chest are on fire after six hours of training. I'm not seeing her again. They always get the wrong idea. Only Lynna understands; probably because her hand in marriage is just as widely desired as my own. I've been seeing Lynna both in private and in public for long enough now that my people have finally realised that I have no intention of making her my wife.
A knock disturbs us. The curse of being king; I can never have an hour off, although I am grateful to escape Ellia, for some reason. I usually don’t mind her. "Yes?"
"It's Cetresar."
"Is it urgent?"
"It's about the Commander."
"She escaped her room, I know. I'll deal with her tomorrow."
"She shot a sedative dart into two of the guards, my lord."
I swear to the gods, I’m going to kill her.
"Who is this about?" Asks Ellia, her face pale. I ignore her, already standing up and pulling on some dark brown trousers. I yank open the door, shirtless and enraged.
"She shot my guards with darts?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Find her and her brother. Arrest them both and take them to the prisons, I'll deal with them."
"Her brother is very apologetic. He hasn’t left his room."
"I don't care."
"Yes, lord. I'll have them arrested now."
"Come back. Deal with it later," begs Ellia, softly.
"I'll get a guard to walk you home," I snap, fastening gold cufflinks on my shirt sleeves, walking out before she can reply. At first Renna’s bad behaviour was almost endearing. After five minutes it became annoying, and now it’s crossed the line into infuriating. I am stretched thin enough already, and I have half a mind to leave her in prison for years, to see the mahogany strands of her hair fade to silver in a way that mine never will. It’d keep her out of trouble, at least.
The guards at the prison gates open their mouths to greet me, but they must catch sight of my thunderous mood, because not a single one of them speaks.
"You'll rot in my dungeon, Renna," I hiss, storming into the cell where she sits beside her brother.
“Oh, but I’d escape. And then you’d have to chase me again, and we’d be tired of it all by then,” she says, with easy confidence. She looks amused, but her brother looks like he’s about ready to kill her. He is dressed casually for the first time, in a rust-coloured linen shirt and brown riding trousers. His unruly light brown curls are messy, and I can tell he’s been dragged out of bed to be here.You and me both, Onyx. His head is in his hands.
“Commander, if you wanted to watch me fuck someone, you could’ve at least asked me nicely.”
“Can I watch you fuck someone?” She asks with a sweet smile, but the lust in her eyes tells me she’s half-serious. Fucking hell, she’s going to be the death of me. She is it; the ultimate test of my willpower. Onyx’s fingers tense up around his head like he wants to just disappear. She claims to love him, but she makes his life a living hell in my opinion.
"What do I have to do, Renna? Torture you? Is that what it’ll take to make you behave like a normal human being?" I ask, tired of it all.
Onyx's eyes snap up to meet mine, blazing with rage. "You will do no such thing to her."
