I could see most of her ribs. Her stomach was caved in and her hip bones were too prominent. Her arms had gotten way too thin which make her elbows pop out. Her legs were thinner than they had ever been. They could barely hold her up. I could even see each and every bone of her spinal cord. I mean I knew she had lost a lot of weight but I had no idea it was this bad.
Avalyn looked sick. Like she would die if she’s not fed right about now kind of sick.
“Mistress…” Tessa was about to cry.
“It’s fine.” Avalyn let out a breath. “At least I look better than I did when he had bought me. Can you help me shower, Tess?”
“Of course, Mistress.” Tessa fretted about the bathroom before she finally helped Avalyn undress and they both jumped in the shower.
I sat on the bench, keeping my ears open to make sure everything was okay. The last thing I wanted was for Avalyn to collapse.
I took out my phone and texted Dimitri. ‘She’s showering.’
He replied instantly. ‘Congratulations on getting her out of bed. He is in the court room. The court just started an hour ago and he has already punished two people. One of them got silver collared for two days for only shoplifting a fucking lipstick.’
This means the court will go on for another hour.
My eyes flickered up. Avalyn was sitting on a bench and Tessa was washing her hair.
I texted Dimitri. ‘It will take us forty five minutes at the least.’
‘Perfect. I don’t want him to see her in front of other people. I have no idea how he will react. At least she won’t be embarrassed in front of other people if it doesn’t go well.’
‘Fine. Text me five minutes before the court is about to end.”
He didn’t respond to that so I assumed he got my message and started playing a game on my phone.
Avalyn
Tessa helped me get dressed. I didn’t even have the energy to do it myself.
In the last two weeks, I didn’t have the energy to do anything at all. But now, I finally felt like I had the motivation to something. Anything.
The first place I went to was our bedroom. The door was locked so, hesitantly, I placed my hand on the red and gold circle, hoping that it will open.
Would the palace’s magic know that I’m not Nik’s mate anymore? Could Nik lock me out now? Would Nik lock me out?
Fortunately, the door unlocked and I pushed it open.
Tears blurred my eyes as I walked inside. The entire room was burnt to the ground. Every single thing was destroyed, leaving behind heaps of ashes.
The room smelled of ashes, despondence and Nik. I located a mattress where the bed used to be. But it was too dark here. The window was closed shut and so were the drapes. And the fire had caused the walls of the room to blacken too.
But the scent of Nik made me realise that he still stayed here. Or maybe just sleep here.
Did Nik do all of this?
The room that once held beautiful memories was gone, leaving behind only a mocking residue of nothingness and a gaping hole in my chest.
Did he hate me so much that he had to destroy everything in the room? I saw that the door of my closet wasn’t here anymore. I walked inside. He had burned all of my stuff too.
Or maybe it got burned along with the room?
I walked in his closet. All his clothes and belongings were here. I trailed my hands through his clothes that were hanging in their shelves. They were all old. So this place wasn’t burned.
He did in fact burn my belongings deliberately.
I chewed on my lip.
He wants nothing to do with me.
I can’t fault him for that. I was the first one to move out. Even though it was because it hurt me to be in a room where everything reminded me of him, I should have cherished those moments instead of trying to forget them. And I was the one who refused to come back to this room even when he returned.
Eli found me standing in the middle of the room, lost in my thoughts
“He’s in the court room.” He simply told me and then followed me as I headed there.
My heart was left cold as I exited the room.
Maybe, the name Ice Queen wasn’t so misplaced after all.
Who in their right minds kept their mate, the love of their life at arm’s length just to teach them a lesson?
I did it for more than a month.
And for weeks, Nik begged me for my love. How selfish had I grown?
All the while, I played with my faye mate too. Sure, I wasn’t mated to him, I didn’t feel for him as much as I did for Nik-I always knew that, but I cared for that man. Deeply.
But not nearly as much as I had cared for Nik. We shared so much history together and it all happened in such a short span of time, the feelings that I have for him, I can’t have for anybody. I won’t have for anybody.
The guards opened the door when I arrived.
I saw a couple of pack members exit. The bowed before they did so.
My heart stuttered when I saw Nik sitting on his throne, his back straight and his head held high with his mighty crown on top of it.
It appeared that our separation hadn’t affected him at all, if you ignore his beard and shoulder length hair. One could easily say that he was trying out a new style because he definitely still looked hot. He had also grown even more in these couple of weeks. He’s been working out a lot.
But I knew him.
I knew that the hair and the beard wasn’t style. The working out wasn’t just training. The bags under his eyes weren’t just from working late hours. I saw the way that the light had dimmed from his eyes, I saw the way his shoulders hunched just a little bit down, I saw the way his lips remained upside down, the usual playful haughty tilt not in its place.
It had taken a toll on him too.
But unlike me, Nikolai is strong.
He didn’t let anything deter him from doing what needed to be done.
He didn’t allow himself to be anything less than perfect. Not perfect to others, but to himself. He always strived to be perfect in his own eyes.
‘Rulers can’t afford to make mistakes. It affects the lives of many people whose lives depend on their single decision.’ He had once told me. Viktoria had told him that when he was young and it had stuck.
His eyes bored into mine as I walked inside. I could feel his eyes roam all over me but his expression remained unchanged.
He remained silent, waiting.
Everyone in the room remained silent, unsure about what to expect.
My throat closed and my tongue felt thick. I couldn’t speak. My lips wouldn’t move.
Tears gathered in my eyes again and my chin quivered.
Nik stood up from his throne. I noticed there was only one now. Mine was absent.
He took large steps with his long legs and stalked towards me.
My heart stopped. My breath hitched.