How to Make a Sinner Sleep

85 | security; stranger in lover

 Niklas sunk back into the seat with his full weight, cerulean gaze watching the stage closely. The audience remained silent; not even a mere breath heard.

The Crown Prince had taken to the stage as the male lead of the story—an ambitious young man who was determined to sacrifice everything for his goals. There were some thrilled to witness their charming and kind prince act in a more humane and emotional way, rather than the golden child of the kingdom.

Reed Chauvet, a man who one could only wish to be.

Opposingly, Niklas watched the wariness clouding Nicola's soft eyes; a caution that gradually faded as she immersed herself in the act, playing the lover as if she'd been one before.

The spotlight shone onto the centre of the stage where only they remained.

Reed leaned against a tree built of wood and paint, and Nicola's head rested on his lap. His fingers ran across the silky strands, mindlessly weaving a small braid with the utmost care. The man touched her carefully, as if frightened to hold her closer.

The scene depicted a beautiful couple in the peak of their romance. Nobody could look away from them; at the woman's gentle smile trapped in a tender conversation; at the man's softened gaze that fixated on his beloved in his arms.

The narrator spoke in a booming voice.

"Two souls, both similar and dissimilar, found a comfort in the familiarity of each other's presence. These lovers, written in the stars as a destined pair—because if not fated, fate would not exist."

Then, the scene spiralled into chaos.

Into a madness of blood, and violence beyond means. Crimson painted the stage, running in little streams of murky red. The lights flashed to highlight the chaos that took it's place on the stage.

Everything fell into darkness, and a spotlight shone in the centre. Reed stood, his limp arm held tightly around the carved handle of his sword, motionless. Numbly, he stared at the ground. Upon the clatter of a familiar set of steps, he lifted his gaze.

Nicola stumbled towards him, stricken. "...this is your determination? Is your ambition really worth betraying your life's faith? In disregarding everything that you are and could have been?"

"This ambition is my life. What I become is what I'm meant to become." stated the man coldly although his voice broke through the choke of words that couldn't be said. "Everything I've done is necessary to achieve my desires."

"This? This madness?"

"Yes."

Her face fell and her eyelashes fluttered closed, brushing against the sharp lines of her cheekbones. When she opened them, the emotion had escaped into the frames of her gaze. Her eyes spoke of a million thoughts, but her expression remained still.

"Then, darling," she smiled painfully. "Have you lied to be all this time?"

Reed's eyes widened, his expression almost collapsing as hesitation flickered wildly over his face for the briefest of moments. But he was a man with ambition, and it was an ambition that silenced all hesitation.

His voice dropped into a hoarse whisper and he turned his head away. "To you, love, I've never lied once."

"You haven't lied?" The air in the theatre chilled, a frost creeping over her thin words. "You've never lied?"

Her shoes stormed against the stage as her arm snapped out, drabbing the man by his collar. Fury burned in her glaring cherry eyes, like flowers set ablaze. Anger pulsed at his curled fingers.