Chapter 173 The truth
Slowly he realised she was yet to notice his presence. Smirking to himself, he strolls in quietly, sneaking up behind her. He stands there, inches away from her, watching her struggle in front of him. He smiled down at her, knowing she had taken note of him the moment she stumbled back, her perky ass brushing up against him. His hands landed on her hips, steadying her. He peaks over at her, grinning wolfishly.
"What are you looking for little one?" He asks, tilting his head to the side and observing her, trying to study her reaction. She looked like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't.
"Um.." she gnawed at her bottom lip nervously.
Her brain was running a mile a minute, trying to formulate something to say, anything. Any lie to justify why she had been caught searching his study. She had to find that book that Alastair had taken from her and given to Darius, it was important for Nostradamus's studies. She swallows, thinking
What if I told him? Would he even believe me? There was no excuse that came to her mind so she decided, what better to tell than the truth? It was about time anyway. She couldn't imagine keeping this big thing away from him any longer. They would be wed soon, she couldn't keep it in.
She inhaled, walking out of his proximity "Okay" she let out a sigh, pacing around.
Darius frowned, noticing her uneasiness. Was she indeed hiding something from me? Did something happen to her?
"I have to tell you something really important. It's been going on for a while now and I don't know if you're going to believe me or not. This had been weighing heavy on me and I can't keep it from you any longer" she whirls around, just in time to watch Darius march up to her in hasty strides. He comes into her face, holding onto her, worry clear as day on his features.
Panicked, he asks "What happened love? Are you okay?" He begins to look over her, checking for signs of any injury but finds none. He stops, staring blankly at her "Are you pregnant!?" He almost yells, a smile breaking out on his lips.
Audrey's eyes widen and a blush coats her cheeks, "No, no, no" she shakes her head, palming his cheeks to bring him back from his excitement. "I am not with child, Darius"
He deflated, the frown on his face returns "So what is going on? Please tell me" he prods, noticing her reluctance to speak.
She huffs, taking hold of his hand and leading him to the heart shaped velvet seat. She nudges him to sit and he complies, watching on in confusion and concern. "Okay, so I was looking for that History book that Alistair had given to you for some reason"
He blinked, taken aback. He didn't know she had seen the exchange, hopefully she hadn't heard what had been said between them
"W-why do you need the book love?" He asks, trying to compose himself.
"I'm going to have to tell you something that you might not believe but I need you to"
Audrey narrates everything, from her dreams, to Nostradamus's prophecy and how the tapestry had depicted the same wolf as the one she had seen in her dreams.
Darius paled, listening on quietly. When Audrey finished and turned to gauge Darius's reaction, he just stared on, his eyes a lot darker than before. If not for his slightly moving chest he could have been mistaken for a statue.
"I really think there's danger coming to the kingdom and if Nostradamus can have the book, he can find out more and we can be prep-"
"No!" He cut her off, startling her badly.
Audrey frowned, watching his reaction in confusion. His jaw was tensed, his muscles stiff and his chest flaring. He looked angry and terrified all at once, which confused Audrey as she did not expect this reaction.
"What happened? You don't need to he worried, we'll figure this out together"
"You are forbidden from ever going to Nostradamus!" Darius declares, his eyes darkening by the second. He walked away, running his fingers through his hair agitated.
Audrey frowned, walking after him and rushing to his front to block his path, stopping him from walking out of the study, "What do you mean forbidden? Nostradamus can help, he can tell us more, he has already helped me so much to understand the dreams I have been having. I understand if you're scared" Audrey closed the space between them, palming his cheeks and connecting their foreheads in an attempt to calm him down. She could hear his laboured breathing and restless heart. "But you need not worry, for I will remain by your side with you forever. No threat will pull us apart"
If only Audrey could understand how much her words affected him. If only she could understand why it was that Darius was so terrified. How could he begin to explain it to her that the evil entity masked in the vessel of a wolf was him, his curse, his burden.
He was the evil that was coming to destroy the empire, he was the doom that approached and now Nostradamus was proving his worst nightmares were coming true. For Audrey was Blüdhaven's only salvation from his darkness and now she was learning the truth, the very truth that he had forbidden the elders from telling her. She was learning it by herself, even having dreams about it. It was all too much at once, suddenly the air felt hard to inhale and he could not breathe properly.
Audrey was so close to leaving him once she finds out. He was not ready to have her look at him with such hatred, such venom for being the monster he was forged to be. Created from chaos, from sin. Nostradamus was going to be the reason she would find out his truth before he had the chance to tell her, he could not let that happen, never. This is what's best for Audrey, staying far away from Nostradamus and he would ensure it happened no matter what. Neither of them knew what they were digging into. His past, his creation, his birth all of it was not something to be rediscovered.
"Nostradamus is filling your head with nonsense and lies. There is no threat coming to our empire, it is all lies Audrey"