Chapter 45 (Cora)

Helana was taken aback by my order. Her eyes widened as she seemed to comprehend what I had just asked her for. Tate was much the opposite, he seemed excited to be able to continue my lessons, but it was Lydy who surprised me with her response.

"Your Majesty, you don't have to do this. Swords are dangerous. Let your knights defend you. You are already so good at so many things." Her voice seemed to tremble at even mentioning the word swords.

"Lydy, this is my decision to make. I cannot protect my people if I cannot even protect myself." I turned around to face her.

"I agree with Lydy, Nerah. His Majesty will be furious if he finds out." Helana voiced her opinions on the matter.

Helana was right. This could be something that caused a rift between me and Ara, but it was something I was adamant about doing. We continued to go back and forth with each other until Helana and Lydy finally caved, as they saw I wasn't going to change my mind. Tate never voiced his own opinions the entire time, which was unlike him.

"Helana, Lydy, I am tired. I want to rest before dinner. I will have Tate take me back to my chambers. Why don't you two rest, and I will see you later?" I suggested wanting to have some privacy to talk to him.

With a quick bow and goodbye, both headed towards the servants' quarters to rest. Tate bounced from one foot to another, impatience getting the best of him. Whatever he had to tell me, I knew it would be bad news. He was only ever like this when he wanted to tell me something I wouldn't like. The minute we were out of earshot of everyone, Tate spun me around so I was facing him.

"Cora, are you ok?" he started while looking me up and down to ensure he couldn't see any bruises or cuts.

"Yes, Tate, I am. Everyone here is so kind, especially His Majesty." I tried to comfort his worries, but he just seemed to be confused by my statement.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Your husband had me interrogated the moment I got here. I'm sorry, Cora, but he knows."His eyes scanned my face for understanding. "Do you understand? He knows you're not Elanora. The peace treaty is broken. We may not be able to stay here." Tate tried to reason with me.

"Tate, I don't understand. How did he become suspicious? I tried so hard to act my part." My heart began to race as my fears started to well up again.

"I don't know, but I want us to have an escape plan in place just in case he sees no use for you anymore. If I have to, I will get us out of here and back to where your mother is." He hugged me, trying to calm my rising anxiety.

"No, Tate, I am not going to run. It doesn't make sense if he knew the moment we got here, then why would he encourage me to use him. He must still see some use in me." I didn't want to leave. I had finally come to terms with living for myself, even if that meant Ara would kill me for lying to him in the end.

"Cora! Listen to me; Tarak is the God of War, a killer of nobility. He will have no problem killing you if he deems you useless. Please, we can run from here and find your mother live somewhere else, maybe in the south of Driola. You don't need to live your life as a lie anymore!" He pressured me as he pushed me away enough so he could look me in the eye.

Ara gave me my new name after interrogating Tate, which meant Ara wanted me around. He wanted me to live as Nareh, not Elanora. I could still be helpful to him, and I would try my hardest so he never saw a reason to deem me useless.

"Tate, I am serious. This is the life I want to live. I am ok with it. If Ara uses me or not is my choice. Ara is not just those rumors. He is kind and compassionate as well. He cares for his people." I tried to defend my husband from those awful rumors.

"Cora, please, I just want to see you happy. I can't bear the thought of you living this lie anymore." he hugged me again. I wrapped my arms around his waist to console him again.

I heard a rough voice bellow out for Tate to release me, and the hands of another came around me before I could comprehend what was going on. The world was flipped on its axis as I was picked up like a bag of potatoes.

"How dare you touch my wife! I will deal with you later." Ara spat at Tate before spinning on his heels with me still over his shoulder. I could feel the tension and anger he held back by the veins popping out of his neck.

"Ara put me down!" I screeched. Trying to kick him.

He ignored me, just readjusting to me on his shoulder so I wouldn't fall as he made his way toward our bed chamber. As soon as he cleared the threshold into the lounge area, I steadied myself enough to get my mouth as close as possible to his side and bit down as hard as I could.

The shock of the pain made him drop me. With a heavy thud, I hit the floor. The familiar ache of my body connecting with the hard floors shot up my body. Ara immediately knelt beside me, making sure I hadn't hurt myself too badly.

"Did you just bite me!" he said incredulously, trying to hold the chuckle he held back.

"You wouldn't listen to me." I shrugged.

The laughter he was fighting to hold in bubbled up and escaped him. His laugh was infectious, and I couldn't help but laugh along with him. This situation we found ourselves in was ridiculous. As his laughter died down, his hand came up to my cheek, his thumb rubbing soothing circles helped the ache of falling fade away. If only we could stay like this forever.