Chapter twenty-nine
Aris approached me with eyes darker than night, his sword dripping with blood, which he sheathed at his hip.
His footsteps crunched on broken leaves underneath him, passing by the dead bodies as if he hadn’t just hunted and killed them.
Completely unfazed—unlike me.
My body shook and shook, and it wasn’t because of the chilly night.
I drew my naked legs closer to me as I attempted to rise from the cold ground using my good arm.
My other arm trembled but felt numb.
The searing pain came in waves.
Aris lent an arm for me to stabilize myself.
I looked up to find no life in Aris’ eyes.
The unearthly screeching wind in the woods had more life than he.
He was soulless.
A chill ran down my spine from his touch. There was no warmth in it, not like when we were playing in his bed.
Aris twisted towards the darkness, placed two fingers in his mouth, and whistled.
I looked at where he faced, wondering what was out there.
First, the sound of a beast echoed in the shadows, and then a large white horse emerged from the eerie woods, trotting past the dead warriors.
He placed his hands around the small of my waist and hoisted me up into the black leather saddle.
The leather was cool against my inner thighs.
All I could think about was how badly my left shoulder needed some cold air or a cold press—anything cold, and how relieving that would feel against this never-ending burning sensation the wound caused.
I was scared to know what they seared into my flesh. Branding me.
It burned and burned.
Aris held onto the horn of the saddle, placed his foot on the stirrup, and pulled himself up effortlessly, sitting behind me.
His hard body pressed firmly against me, shielding my barely-covered body from the air.
Grabbing both of the dark leather straps, he clicked his tongue once, and the white horse began its beastly movements through the darkness.
“How did you find me?”
I whispered.
Aris chuckled, but it didn’t sound pleasant, most likely in surprise that I even said anything.
I had been given another chance at this life of mine, and I refused to be its victim anymore.
I didn’t want to be afraid.
I didn’t want to constantly be wondering if I’d survive this or that. It was exhausting, perhaps more than simply living. Fearing was more energy than living itself, I realized.
Aris cleared his throat.
“I couldn’t sleep… The man I told you about kept appearing in my dreams, and so I found myself sitting on my windowsill… That’s when I saw the torches from afar, and I saw you under the light because no one here has your hair.”
He lowered his warm lips to my ear.
“You’re not easy to hide.
You practically glow in the dark.”
His breath trickled down my neck.
The burning feeling on my left shoulder was still yearning for cold, but I could barely concentrate with Aris so close to me.
My lips curved in amusement at his statement.
“You think that’s funny? Because I certainly don’t,”
Aris muttered as the horse trotted through the dark woods towards the opening of the hill.
“What am I supposed to do, rub dirt on my skin and shave my head?”
I dared to ask.
“At least that would be something, and perhaps I wouldn’t have to be searching for you in the middle of the night.”
“I didn’t ask for you to come find me,”
I murmured under my breath.
The horse came to a brutal halt.
Aris wrapped his right arm around my waist, pressing his body closer to mine.
His voice was rougher than usual.
“How would you have survived? Because I doubt they were going to let you walk after they were finished with you.
You should want to fight for your life.”
“I am fighting for my life!”
My voice wavered.
“Are you? I can’t tell!”
I winced.
The pain came back tenfold.
“Why are you so angry?”
Aris growled, tightened his grip around me, and clicked his tongue.
He kicked the horse into a swift gallop down the hill, past the palace gardens and the front steps to the palace.
It seemed so empty during the late night with no warriors, no footmen, no maids, no palace keeper to order the maids about.
We galloped into the closest stable to the far right of the palace, where the large trees almost hid the walls of the building.
Aris threw his leg over his horse and landed on the hay-filled ground.
His hand stayed on the horn of the saddle between my legs, grazing over my thigh, and he looked up.
For a moment, my full awareness turned to his hand near my thigh.
I should move my thigh.
I knew that, but it felt nice to have his warmth come back to me.
A part of me reveled in it. And since tonight showed me that I should live a little more, I didn’t remove myself from his foreign touch.
“I’m angry because I don’t want this for you—for anyone.”
He waved his other hand at my bare shoulder, legs, and ripped dress.
“It’s maddening, and I’m tired of it.”
I whispered through the darkness.
“Much worse happened to my sister and to my mother.”
I paused.
Aris kept my gaze as I opened a part of me to him.
“It’s hard in a world like this to be completely safe.”
“I thought it was going to be better bringing you here.”
“Better than where?”
“Than Stroka.”
I swallowed.
“I think it is.”
“It doesn’t seem like it is.”
His shoulder dropped slightly.
“I don’t know what to do with you.”
I flinched.
“You don’t have to do anything.”
I remembered his responsibility weighed heavily on him.
My arm throbbed, pulsating.
“What if I’m not there?”
“What do you mean?”
I asked as he stepped even closer to where my leg hung from the straddle.
His warmth permeated into my skin, causing a chill to skitter down my leg.
A distraction that I needed from my shoulder.
“What if I’m not there the next time a Strokan gets to you, Solei?”
My heart skipped at the sound of my name on his lips.
What is wrong with me? Focus on the damn conversation, Solei.
“Are you really trying to save every one of us out there?”
I whispered.
His eyes flickered under the barely lit stables.
I pressed.
“Is this because of the man who taught you how to fight?”
Aris was quiet, and then.
“I’m trying to right the wrongs…”
“Of your father?”
He didn’t answer.
That man must have meant a lot to Aris to change his perspective from his father’s brutality.
I had a feeling he wasn’t going to speak about it anymore.
“For what it’s worth…I did try—to fight, I mean.
A part of me found the courage to fight for my life.
If you hadn’t been there, I’m not sure...”
I shook my head slightly.
“I won’t accept it.”
His voice dropped an octave, like he could feel my heart sputtering from his nearness.
Words came out freely before I could stop them.
“Are you going to help me down, Aris, or are you going to keep talking all night about how frustrated you are with me?”
Aris chuckled, and I could have sworn the spark in his dark eyes returned, like stars in the night sky.
He took a step closer, his chest grazing my naked leg as he placed both of his large hands around my waist.
Suddenly, the pain in my shoulder disappeared, and all I could think about was how nice it felt to be touched by him.
“Good thing I can do both if I want to.”
“I suppose you could.
You are the emperor.”
Aris pulled me off the saddle and towards him, my night dress lifting slightly from the movement.
He placed me gently on the floor, the distance between his body and mine nonexistent.
I should take a step back.
“Would you want to stay up with me all night listening to me talk about how frustrated I am with you?”
His hands remained on my waist, and I looked up to see his face close to mine.
My pulse fluttered.
“I would,”
I whispered.
I’m a fool.
“Because I can talk at length about exactly how frustrated I am with you.”
For some reason, I knew Aris meant something entirely different than how careless I was.
I parted my lips and breathed unsteadily.
I raised my eyes higher to his, which had now turned darker than night.
Obsidian eyes.
His fingers brushed softly up and down my waist, gently lifting my linen dress.
His thumbs grazed just below my breasts, causing them to harden.
It was as if he sensed it, because his chest heaved alongside mine.
Little by little, with each careful stroke, I felt a sensation between my legs I had never experienced before, and I didn’t want him to stop touching me.
His face lowered closer to mine.
His eyes dipped to my mouth.
We shared the same air.
Somewhere in my mind, a small voice hissed and thrashed at me to push him off me.
To run. To hide.
His fingers crept closer and closer, higher and higher.
My breasts turned harder.
It felt…wonderful and nothing like I’d experienced before.
My breath deepened.
But what I wanted didn’t matter.
This was wrong.
“You’re so sure I wouldn’t fall asleep to you complaining about your responsibilities?”
I voiced the words he spoke the day he asked me to be his chambermaid, hoping to distract whatever this could have been.
He stopped the brushing of his fingers and thought for a moment.
“Responsibilities.”
A flash went through his eyes.
A conversation that I couldn’t hear.
“We need to dress the wound.”
He dropped his hold on my waist and took a step towards the leather straps.
The instant cold from his absence snapped the pain of my shoulder back to reality.
Aris seemed to have the same thought as he wrapped the straps around the interior wooden fence, grabbed my hand in his, and led me out of the stables.
His pace was longer and quicker than mine as he pulled me towards the palace steps.
We rushed up and up the stairs, into the palace to be met by one of his servants, who he ordered to bring a few things to his room.
I wasn’t paying any attention to the orders he barked when I realized how I looked, my face flushed red.
The man gave me, my open shoulder, and short night dress a quick glance with a flash of judgement. With swift obedience, the servant bowed and went on his way, giving me a look like he had heard the rumors before, and I just confirmed it.
As if the rumors couldn’t get any worse from here.
Aris’ hand felt warm and rough as it engulfed my small, pale hand.
He pulled my good arm towards him and his large steps.
We strode past the interior gardens and pillars, silently past the halls towards his doors.
Quietly, he opened the double doors, tugging me into his chambers, and bolting the doors shut behind me.
I’d been here more times than I could count, but it felt different being here during the night, just him and me.
Alone, again.
His room was well lit with the fire glowing strong in the fireplace.
“Here, change into this.”
Aris handed me a black tunic and pointed at the room divider towards the corner of his chambers.
“Will you need help?”
My heart thudded. “N-no.”
My face burned fiercer than the brand on my arm, imagining him taking off my dress.
Control yourself, Solei.
Tonight was already too much for my mind to handle.
I couldn’t linger around Aris too long as my body created sensations that were unfamiliar and could potentially be dangerous.