ELORA
I tried hard not to squirm under the king’s gaze as his cold blue eyes bored as if he could see into the depths of my soul.
His gaze was unwavering from where he sat opposite me, fingers locked in front of him as he studied me. Even seated, he posed an imposing figure.
I shifted in my seat, wrapping my arms tighter around me as if that would protect me from his gaze.
I tried not to notice how his royal blue robe complimented his eyes or how the tight fit of his leather jacket on his arms accentuated his muscles. I tried to forget I had seen the treasure his leather jacket hid. I had had a taste of those wonders. My mind drifted to the previous night I had spent laying on his warm bed, my back against his torso. I hadn’t felt as safe as that in a while with his strong arms around me.
There was no way I was going to get hurt in his arms.
Deep down, I wished I could spend more nights in his arms. My face burned at the inappropriate thoughts. I shouldn’t be thinking about him that way even though I was to be his mistress. I was still a slave after all.
“It was there my siblings and I were about to be sold. It’s a terrible place,” I said, breaking the built-up tension. Every time spent with the king was tension-filled.
He cocked his head and the wrinkle on his forehead deepened, obviously trying to solve a puzzle.
“Did Kain Kurt intend to buy you?” He asked, out of the blue.
I looked down, staring at my olive-colored dress. Some part of me wanted to spill everything but Kain’s words killed the thought.
“Did Kain Kurt intend to buy you?” His tone was harsher. It jolted me.
“No….” I shook my head not daring to look at him. “I don’t know. I’m not certain since I was blindfolded.”
It was getting easier to keep up with the lie. As the wise men of Bale say, when a lie was told often enough to oneself, it became the truth.
He sighed. “Okay.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” I wondered why he came to my room to ask these questions. He could have summoned me easily.
“You will accompany me to the auction house in four days. Preparations start today and I want you to make every effort to not disappoint me. This won’t be a pleasurable trip.” He stood up abruptly and folded his arms behind him. “Preparation is key.”
The auction house?
Why me?
I shivered as it brought unpalatable memories.
“Did you get that, Elora?” He fired.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I answered, standing up.
My eyes caught the vial Noel had given me wondering if anyone would notice if I discarded it. I was asked to take it in three days and if my suspicion was right, it was a fertility drug. There was no other grounded reason as to why the king ordered to have me checked. Noel has also checked my pulse. I was relieved the king wasn’t going to have his way with me anytime soon. Unless he decided to do it on our mission to the auction house, which I highly doubted.
“Good.” He eyed me.
The rumors around the palace were that he had a problem down there which was why he had been unable to impregnate his former Queen which was the reason why she cheated on him. Another was that the king didn’t like females.
But I wondered who started those rumors because I recalled feeling the evidence of his lust a few days past.
Maybe he didn’t hate me so much that he couldn’t touch me.
I scolded myself for trying to avoid my responsibilities to the king. He was the only reason why my siblings and I hadn’t been sold like animals. I was close to my siblings because of him and I would forever be grateful to him for that.
I was still lost in my train of thought when he suddenly closed the gap between us, startling me even further when he cupped my jaw lifting my face to his.
His strong earthy scent filled me and I suddenly felt like I was running free in a wide field of freshly cut grass. He tightened his grip, forcing my lips open. I would have thought it seductive if I didn’t know he hated me.
“Elora.” He said lowering his head. His warm breath fanned my face sending butterflies flitting about in my stomach. “Don’t ever lie to me.”
My heart pounded, threatening to burst out of my chest at the turn of the conversation.
Did he somehow know I was lying about Kain?
He looked dead serious with his mouth in a hard line.
“Don’t you dare keep anything from me? As my mistress, I don’t expect you to lie to me. I should know everything that is happening. You hear me?” His tone was harsh and the slight growl behind his words shook me.
I managed a nod.
“You belong to me now. The thoughts running through your mind, every breath you take in, everything belongs to me. Nobody can hurt you except me. Nobody will dare touch you without going through me. Do you understand?”
I nodded again.
“Speak, Elora.”
“Y–yes, Your Majesty.”
“Good.”
As suddenly as he held my jaw, he let it go.
I was breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
He didn’t step back immediately giving me a direct view of his chest. I tried to steady my breathing thinking of the wonderful books I had read but it wasn’t working. His presence was meddling with my thought process; I couldn’t think straight or concentrate. My head spun and I was sure I was going to faint soon if my heart kept beating the way it did.
The king didn’t seem to notice or he did but enjoyed torturing me. My hands felt wetter.
I hated that I was wearing a dress with a low neckline but that was what all the dresses in the wardrobe assigned to me looked like. The olive dress was tight against my chest and flowed from the waist down. Its low neckline revealed too much of the tops of my breasts now obvious since I had long removed my scarf.
The king’s presence heightened my self-consciousness.
I wished terribly that I could hide under the bed.
To my utmost shock, he lifted a hand and picked at the flowers lining the neckline.
“Hm? You found this dress in your wardrobe?”
I nodded my answer wondering why the hell he was interested in my dress today.
His knuckles lightly brushed over my chest and I shivered at the contact, goosebumps appearing all along my arms. My face flushed as I felt my nipples turn into painfully hard nubs.
What was the king doing to me?
It felt like an eternity had passed before he returned his hands to his sides although he still stared at me, cocking his head like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve.
Unable to take it anymore, I took a step back, leaning against the bedpost. It was either that or I would fall.
He took a step back, expression schooled into a mask of indifference.
“Good day, Elora.”
He turned, walking out of my room as quickly as he’d come in, shutting the door softly behind him.
Immediately I heard the click of the door, I fell onto my bed, holding my chest.
My breathing returned to normal and my thoughts cleared but just to be sure I inhaled and exhaled a few times.
What did the king want from me?