Chapter 82 Eighty-Two.

Chapter 82 Eighty-Two.


OLIVIA’S POV.

I ate mushroom soup and brown rice for dinner today, even though I could barely stomach it. Not with the thought of Kyle being on the verge of death in Orion’s abode, and it scares me to know that madman could decide to kill him even before King Sven's men reach him.

Everything happening makes me want to cry, but I fight my tears back.

It’s dark outside, and as I walk back to my room, I hope to Elysia that neither Eliana nor Orion is lurking around to drag me into a corner for endless interrogations.

A sigh leaves my lips as I open the door to my room, and I freeze.

Standing by the window is King Sven. His imposing figure is turned toward me, and I can see his side profile.

“What are you doing here?” I ask before I can even stop myself.

He turns his head slowly, his dark green eyes locking onto mine. He looks calm tonight, almost at peace, which is a jarring contrast to the man who came to my room yesterday at midnight.

“I slept well,” He says, his voice is smooth. He takes a step away from the window, watching my reaction closely. “For the first time in years, Olivia. I slept all the way until daybreak. It is almost unbelievable.”

I shut the door behind me, leaning against it for support because my knees feel incredibly weak. “I’m glad my voice didn’t annoy you enough to throw me out the window.”

King Sven lets out a genuine, quiet breath that sounds like a laugh, but the slight amusement vanishes from his face as he steps closer to the foot of my bed. “Maggi spoke with me today.”

My breath hitches in my throat. I freeze, my fingers digging into the fabric of my dress. “Did she?”

“She did,” Sven answers, his voice dropping into a deeper, more serious register. “She told me everything. I know Orion has been in the palace for none business purposes. I know he has been meeting you to dig for information with regards to my true identity. He wants you to confirm that I am a Fae.”

A cold dread washes over me.

For some reason, I wait for the fury, wait for him to yell or demand to know why I was meeting up with his brother and not telling him a thing, but he just stands there, studying me.

“Maggi also told me that you turned him down,” he continues, his dark green eyes searching mine, burning with a strange, intense curiosity. “Said he offered you a deal to help your brother out of the kingdom. All you had to do was tell him what he wanted to hear. So tell me, Olivia... why did you refuse to sell me out?”

I look down at my boots, my heart beating violently against my ribs.

The question hangs heavily in the quiet space between us. I can still feel the phantom warmth of his hand brushing my waist on the sheets from the night before, of his lips against mine, and his head against my chest. I know the truth down to my bones. I know I love him, despite everything he has done and the pain he has caused me. But I can’t possibly say that to a King who views me as nothing but a slave.

“I don’t know,” I whisper, looking back up to meet his gaze. “I don’t know the answer to that.”

King Sven remains still. He just stares at me, his expression unreadable, though a muscle tics in his jaw.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore,” I say.

The tears I’ve been fighting all day finally pricks the corners of my eyes.

My voice cracks under the weight of my desperation. “Orion met with me again today. He offered another deal. Now, he is using my brother’s life as a wager. Kyle has been poisoned, Sven. The Shadow Moon Pack guards shot him with poison-coated arrows in the woods.”

“I saw the arrows your brother was shot with. Saw the green poison coated on the tips too,” He says, lowly.

“Because of those arrows he is laying half-dead in Orion’s abode. Orion won’t send a doctor to save him unless I give him what he wants. Which is to give him the truth about you.”

King Sven’s posture tightens slightly, but he remains completely silent, letting me speak.

“I know my brother committed a crime,” I push on, stepping closer to him, my hands trembling as I look up into his face. “I know he killed those ten guards and the beta’s son. But it had to be self-defense, Sven. I know Kyle better than anyone. He is mute, he is gentle, he wouldn’t just slaughter people for no reason. He was probably trying to protect himself or Katniss. He was trying to survive.”

“Katniss?”

“Not your fiancée. But an Omega in the Shadow Moon Pack,” I reply, voice trembling.

He nods. “And now what do you plan to do?”

At that question, tears finally spill over my lashes, hot and fast down my cheeks. I swallow the lump of pure agony in my throat as I sniff. “I can’t lose him, Sven. He is my twin. He is everything I have left from our home. I am telling you right now... I would die if Kyle dies. If that poison takes him or if Orion or your men kills him because I failed to rat you out, I won’t survive the arena anyway. I will let the Ripper Ghost kill me before I even put on a fight.”

King Sven says absolutely nothing to that.

He stands perfectly still, his tall frame towering mine. He just stares at me, his gaze dropping to the tears on my face, tracking them as they slide down my jaw. I probably have snot dripping down my nose too, but I do not care.

The silence in the room stretches for so long it becomes suffocating. I expect a lecture on the laws of Māui, or a reminder that a slave has no right to make threats about her own life, or a reminder that he is King and his people would always come first.

Instead, he takes a slow, deep breath and gestures toward the mattress.

“Lay down,” he says unexpectedly.

I blink through my tears, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift. “What?”

“Keep your head out of the gutters. I am not requesting sex.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about that,” I roll my eyes.

“Serenade me to sleep, Olivia,” he commands softly, his voice losing its sharp edge, replaced by that raw, heavy weariness I saw last night. “Sing for me again.”

I look at him, stunned, but the sincerity in his eyes makes it impossible to say no. I need the distraction just as much as he needs the rest. Without a word, I climb onto the bed, shifting over to give him room.

King Sven follows, his massive weight causing the mattress to dip again. He lays flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He doesn’t reach out to touch me, and I don’t dare move closer, but the tension between us is almost killing me.

I turn onto my side, watching the sharp profile of his jawline. I swallow the lingering tightness in my throat, clear my mind of Orion and the poison, and begin to hum.

Beside me, I watch as the heavy lines of his shoulders slowly relax. His breathing deepens, turning slow and even, perfectly matching the tempo of my Serenade. He closes his eyes, his long dark lashes resting against his cheekbones.

I keep singing for hours, my eyes locked onto his face, until the sheer exhaustion of my own long day catches up to me.

My eyelids grow heavy, my voice dropping to a faint whisper, before the dark finally pulls me under.

When I wake up the next morning, the bright sunlight is streaming through the window, almost blinding my eyes.

I blink, shifting on the mattress as I instinctively reach a hand out to the side.

The sheets are cold.

I sit up slowly, my heart sinking back into reality as I look at the bed, then around the room.

He… left.

Sven isn’t here anymore. He is completely gone, leaving nothing behind but the faint scent of sandalwood on the sheets.