Chapter 115 Possibly
"Okay so I need your advice" her voice came, dragging him out of his thoughts as he snatches his gaze towards her. "You can't ask what it's about, you just have to give me your honest opinion"
She looked at him, and for the first time he let his emotions breathe through his eyes and she caught the slightest glimpse of desire and warmth in his violet orbs.
"Okay.." He nodded, encouraging her to go on.
"If you were given a choice, to either betray someone close to you to support someone even dearest to your heart what would you do? Knowing that if you betray the one close to you it would really hurt them and possibly destroy their lives" she stops, noticing the genuinely shocked and taken aback expression on Ryker's face. "Possibly" she adds, hoping to soothe his expression.
"Well if it could 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙮 hurt the one closest to you then don't do it. I believe you know what you have to do and it will have consequences, every decision does and will" he glances in her direction, his gaze drinking her in as his next words hit more to him than her. "You just have to make the ones whose consequences are a lot easier to bear. At the end of the day, it'll all the worth it"
If only she knew how much those words sunk deep into him, making him look at her, actually let himself get lost into her eyes without any attempt to pull away. Suddenly they were getting closer, too close. Her eyes began to flicker to his lips and his mimicked the same action as well.
Their faces had become just inches apart, their warm breaths mixing together, hearts thumping wildly. And in the moment, if any of them were to make another move forward, even the slightest of adjustments then their lips would be touching. So close. Anaise's eyes flutter closed, her lashes fanning against her cheeks as she moves closer and just when their lips are about touching Ryker pulls away, clearing his throat and breaking the moment.
He could feel the tension in the air. It was so intense it could probably be cut through with a knife. Probably.
He glanced back at Anaise to see her embarrassment clear as day on her features and immediately dread and regret filllled his bones, tainting his emotions and heart. He turned away, facing the terrace door.
"I hope I was able to help" he says in a distant, closed off tone.
"Yes, you were. Thank you" Anaise replies, her tone solemn.
He releases a sigh, making his way out of the terrace and leaving Anaise behind to ponder on what almost happened and why time and time again he pulls away. Maybe I'm being to forward, she thought, sighing heavily.She could have sworn she sensed it, the littlest bit of want and desire in him, desire for her. He wanted her as well, or maybe it was all in her head and she was pushing herself on him.
Wrapping her arms around herself she ran a hand through her hair, parting her curls to the side.
"Hm, what a show" a familiar voicesiles through the silence, startling Anaise to the point where she jerks, turning around to face Astrid.
"You scared me" Anaise sighs in relief, placing a hand over her jolted heart.
"I didn't realise you had started acting so shamelessly out in the open like that" she lashes, shaking her head in dissaproval making Anaise's eyes widen in shock.
"No, we weren't doing anything like that" she defends, turning back to look into the distance. "We were just talking"
"You lust over him and he isn't your mate, but you want him. It is as clear as day Anaise, don't deny it" Astrid walks up to Anaise, leaning over the stone railings to look at her sister.
"It's not the same thing" Anaise bites back.
"What's different about it- nothing. Like you said I'm lusting over The king and you lust over Ryker, neither of which are our mates" she reasons, smiling cunningly.
"The king has already found his mate, Lord Ryker hasn't" Anaise states, gazing away to try hide the uncertainty in her tone. "He may be my mate, I'm not sure. But I know there's an attraction there Astrid"
Astrid grabs onto Anaise's shoulders, tugging her sister to face her while she spoke, laying emphasis on every word, "You want him, it's crystal clear but I can say for a fact that I want the king more than you want Ryker. It's just a matter of the question- what would you do to have him?"
"I am willing to challenge the like of succession and go against the mate of our Emperor, that is how much I want him. How much are you willing to do for Ryker?"
"Will you let those gloved hands of his stop you from finding out what you need to know?"
Astrid knew very well her words were penetrating right through Anaise, making her gaze away, the gears in her mind turning all at once. And then the next question Astrid asked was the one that sealed her sister's face.
The question that would pull Anaise down the same path as her dear other half, "Now you have a choice beloved sister. You're either with me and against Audrey, or you're with Audrey and against me. You can't play both sides, not anymore"
At that moment as Anaise gazed at her sister, she could tell that this would be the time, the time she would seal her fate. Something somewhere, maybe a higher power made her take in everything at once, like something she would reminisce on later and either shake her head in pitiful disappointment or shake her head in approval of her sister.
Either way Anaise already knew the answer to the question, she couldn't go against family. For what was she without her sister? Without her family?
She would stand by her sister, she just wished it
wasn't tested in such a situation. Regardless, she had made a decision.
"I'm with you"