“Be at ease, Aniya. I understand how you feel but I didn't tell my brother anything. Why would I? I was trying to help you.”
It took a couple of exchanges of harsh words before Aniya finally gave up on fighting and started begging her to help her get to her son.
“He has taken my son away from me. Please help me get my son back.”
After all, she was the Princess, she should be able to command some power like Ikrus could, maybe if not totally at least to some extent. But the look in Oana's brown eyes held no promise.
Could she not do anything about it?
Instead of talking about how they could rescue her son from that evil monster she called a brother, Oana inquired about the condition of her legs while she laid down a sack of healing medicine and materials. She pushed her to her bed and started tending to her feet.
Aniya sprung up.
“Can you not hear me? My son is out there—”
“My brother will not hurt him. He is your mate, he is like a father to him.”
Father?
That was something Aniya hadn’t thought of before and that too for good reason.
It was stupid.
“I don't believe that.” When Oana reached for her legs once again, she yanked them away from her. “Let me bleed! I want my son.”
Oana sighed, frustrated.
“A dead mother will be no use to your son. If you die now, he will forget you. He is very young, his present memories will fade away and he will grow without knowing what you ever were.”
“Your words are very cruel.” Aniya's lower lip trembled with restrained tears and Oana shrugged.
Without another word, she took her place on the bed.
“Give me your feet.”
She obeyed.
___
___
After a while of treating her feet and binding them, the Princess left.
Aniya stayed by the window and watched for hours and hours until finally, about two hours past midnight, a carriage rolled in.
Aniya sprung up immediately.
It was the same carriage that had left earlier in the day with Arlo in it.
Was it?
It was too dark.
Aniya could barely see anything, but when Ikrus stepped out of the carriage, it confirmed all her doubts.
She rushed to the door, luckily for her, the Princess was returning into the room at that moment and the guards had pulled the door open.
Without looking back, she rushed out and with a speed that her injured legs shouldn't be able to conjure. The guards got to her before she could get to Ikrus but then he had seen her and told them to let her go. Without a word to her he headed up the stairs and she followed. The Princess was nowhere to be seen, maybe she just hadn't followed her while she ran away.
But that was no use to Aniya.
He had led her to his study. He stepped in, she followed, he locked the door.
Was this even a study? There were more weapons hung on the walls than the scrolls that were tied together on the table and in the singular gigantic shelf that existed on the far end of the study.
There weren't many things here but a table and three chairs around it.
“How is your leg?”
That question was really starting to annoy Aniya and when she wiped her hands over her face in frustration, she realized the lack of her veil.
It pleased her to know that she had disturbed them with her face just as they were driving her insane!
“I will live. I want my son. Where have you taken him? Why is he not with you? Where is he?”
It suddenly didn't matter to her that this man had turned into a beast two days ago with every intention to kill her— wait, did he eat her son?
“Did you eat my son?”
He frowned, horrified. “Absolutely not! He is in the Temple. He will be trained as one of them - one of us.”
She took a step forward, anger blinding away her fear. “My son does not need to be in the Temple when I still live enough to be his mother, bring him back to him.” She fisted the collar of his shirt but with this closeness came the realization of the strength he had. Physically, he hovered over her, huge and broad with his black eyes that bored down at her like she was something he had never seen before.
He seemed to have gone rigid beneath her touch and he looked like he wasn't breathing.
She pulled away immediately and fell to her knees.
“I will be obedient, I will stay and not run—”
He shook his head like he was shaking a thought out of it, dragged in a breath and took a determined step back.
“Make your wish, Aniya, and I will fulfill it for you. Whatever it is you want.”
That was supposed to make her happy, instead it only made her suspicious of his intentions.
So instead of asking for her son again, she asked, “Why?”
Those black eyes were on her again with his heavy gaze and blunt words. “I have to kill you.”
“Kill me? Is this because I tried to escape? I am sorry.” She cried.
Her eyes were now aching from how much tears she had shed.
“No.” He pulled her up to her feet and stepped away from her as quickly as possible then he told her about the North Border, how he would need to leave soon, as the moon was quickly drawing to an end and there was no hope left. He would be absent to protect her and she would be open to more gruesome danger.
He spoke as if death wasn't the most gruesome one, as if he was doing her a favour.
In that moment, she hated him.