Vicious | ongoing

chapter four

C H A P T E R
F O U R

I don't know how neither of us had noticed the King approach.

"Your Majesty," Cecilia curtseyed. Her hair fell over her shoulders, glossy and shining in the light.

"Demetrius, please," he said, hands behind his back, making his stance look even more domineering. He watched Cecilia for a moment, listening as she answered his polite questions.

He stood closest to me, and I couldn't help but feel the power rolling off him in waves, along with the distinct scent of pine.

My words felt clogged in my throat.

Definitely wasn't a dream.

"Isn't that right, Everly?" Cecilia said, eyes turning to me, bright and excitable.

"Hm?" I asked. "What did you say?"

"She was telling me about the gardens," he said. "Your pride and joy so she says."

I'd tended to the gardens for as long as I could remember, having tagged along as my grandmother did the same and learnt from her. Now, I couldn't imagine not going to them at least once a day, especially with little else to do in this place.

"Yes," I said. I could barely keep on my feet now that I realised just who he was, just how he'd behaved the previous night. "I have to go. Nice to meet you, Your Majesty." I made a halfhearted curtsy and rushed off, straight to the door and out into the hallway. My heart was beating so fast. I'd not been intending on telling Josiah about last night after all, not when I thought it was just a strange dream, and I certainly couldn't now when I knew who the mystery man was.

Not such a mystery anymore.

I pressed my back into the wall, breathing a ragged breath and desperately trying to collect myself. This can't be happening. It felt like a sick, twisted dream, like at any moment someone would snap their fingers and I'd wake up. I prayed that I would. That the King wasn't here yet, that I hadn't gone to the library at all, and that he wasn't so attractive. Because now that I had a face to put to the voice, I couldn't stop thinking of that night, on the verge of hoping it could happen again.

I shook my head. I could never go down that route. He was about to marry Cecilia.

I heard the door open and hurried off, down the hallways, being sure to weave quite a bit.

It seemed like every where I went, the palace was swarming with people. There was no place free from people, where I could just sit and try to regain my composure. I groaned when I saw yet another hallways with people milling about in it.

I went to the only place I knew for a fact would be empty.

Josiah's study was the only place the workers moving up and down seemed to stay away from. I waited for the moment no one was looking and slipped myself inside, closing the door silently after me. I stood in the middle of the room.

"Asteri me," he said as if I needed any more proof that it was him in the library the previous night. "Why are you running?"

"I'm not running," I told him, keeping my back to him. I heard the door close behind him, a definite click as it did, blocking out the hustle and bustle on the other side.

He stepped towards me. Images from last night flashed before my eyes, the feelings rearing their ugly head like I needed reminding. His breath on my neck was the last straw, and my grip on my own sanity loosened. I felt my eyes drift shut on their own accord.