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Chapter 8
Aria was more than frustrated, she feltangry. Never before had she been outwitted by a man in wit or seduction, and Travus had done it with such vigor that it completely disarmed her.
She couldn’t think when his hand was on her skin, and she couldn’t help surrendering to his touch. Knowing that he was aware of her strength, she felt embarrassed that she didn’t openly resist him, and she was sure that Travus knew she enjoyed his proximity. The mark on her neck was constant proof of it.
And worse, she yearned for him. But no matter, because the mark under her arm was burning, and she knew that he was yearning just as much, for her.
Aria walked around the snow-laden gardens within the open castle grounds, trying to spot any more murky windows to get cleaned. She’d been doing it since the previous day to keep her mind off His Majesty, King Travus. The storms had subsided since her arrival and the clouds were beginning to clear for the summer season. Though thesnow wouldn’t melt away entirely, it didn’t keep the flowers from bursting through. Vibrant roses of pink and red bloomed beautifully, and she found it strange that Travus would go through the lengths to maintain them. There was no one in the castle to enjoy them…
Unless he was the one fond of flowers.
She crossed her arms and lightly shook the thought out of her head. Accidentally softening the Elven king’s image in her head was a risk to be avoided in the grand scheme of her plans.
She was seriously considering the possibility of overthrowing Travus and putting Arthur in his place just so he could be with Princess Mierna. The knight sounded sincere in his adoration for her, and a simple and loyal Human ruler would certainly be far better for the realm than a boorish, greedy king.
When she made her way back inside the castle, she found something on the floor of the gallery. It was a sleek black ribbon, one that Travus used to tie back his long silver hair that morning. With majestic silver embroidery on the edges and down the middle, it looked rather valuable, so she decided to take it to him.
“Where is his majesty?” she asked the guard inside at the steps.
“He’s either in his study or his bed chambers,” he said. “Should I let him know you’re looking for him?”
“No need,” she said. “I’ll talk to him when it’s time for dinner.”
With that, she made her way up the steps, deciding to pass some time in the library. A short while later, the mark under her arm started to burn. She knew Travus was close by and thinking about her. With curiosity getting the best of her, she decided to investigate and made her way to his bed chambers.
She was surprised to hear him snoring, the sound was muffled by the heavy wooden door. Her mind went back to the time he slept, in the pool. She thought about how vulnerable he was. How she felt when she caressed his face, feeling the stubble around his soft supple lips. The thought sent the warmth of desire coursing through her body.
This isn’t the time to be distracted, she scolded herself internally.His nap is my chance to investigate further.
With a heavy and annoyed heart, she turned away from his room and back toward his office. She easily slipped past the guard with invisibility, though she worried about her perfume as he suddenly began to sniff the air as she passed him.
She remained invisible inside the office. While there was nothing new to see there, she grew curious about themovement in the window of the tower across from the one she was in. She realized that it was possibly the Council Hall.
That’s where she would get most of her answers.
Hurrying back out and into her room, she locked up and flew out of her window toward the tower, perching on the windowsill carefully as she pressed her ear to the glass.
“You must pray he breaks her down sooner than later,” said a particularly aged voice. “I’m starting to think he enjoys her presence.”
“Nonsense,” said another. “I saw his regular concubine go to him earlier today.”
“Either way, we must convince him to re-negotiate and marry Princess Mierna immediately. That way, we can better focus on ambushing the Dwarves for their metal just in time to have weapons for taking over the Giants of Tudor.”
“Are we at least blocking their access to the Silver-rock Reserves?”
“His majesty signed off on it. We’ll prepare the troops on the strategy within this week. Right now, we really must go and have lunch.”
“Do you think his majesty will introduce us to the Princess today?”
“Not with the state he’s in at the moment,” came a judgmental grunt. “He’s completely helpless against his desires. It’s the curse of being a man, so I can’t say I don’t understand.”
Aria rolled her eyes, but she immediately flew back to her room to send a signal for Arthur. All the details she’d gathered for him during her last investigation were now starting to make sense, and she needed him to ambush Travus’s army and set them back as much as possible.
***
The tavern wasn’t as crowded as it was the other times Arthur and Aria were there.
“We need a better way to communicate if you’ll have intel for me this often,” Arthur said quietly. “Should I try to remain in Eldoria for a few days or so?”
