Chapter 18 – blooming
” Wait you?”
Recognition flashed across his face as he gazed at the woman from the shabby inn now standing before him. She had transformed since the night he first laid eyes on her. The fatigue that had marked her face was gone, replaced by an ethereal radiance that left him spellbound. The scars that had marred her neck and body were no more, the first things he had noticed about her back at the inn.
He struggled to keep his composure as she moved closer, stealing his breath just as she had on that fateful night. He should have been angry, should have sought retribution for her boldness at the inn, but instead, he found himself inexplicably drawn to her presence.
“What is this feeling?” he wondered silently, bewildered by the sudden urge to hold her close and never let go. He took a deep breath and muttered to himself, “I am the King of Nayak, immune to the charms of any woman.”
Annalise sensed the tension thickening in the king’s chamber and couldn’t help but wonder if these two had crossed paths before. Marilyn remained silent, her hazel eyes a tumultuous sea of emotions. The king sighed repeatedly, and nothing seemed ordinary about his behavior.
“Your majesty, have you met her before?” Annalise finally asked, prompting the king to regain his senses. He resumed his usual cold and indifferent demeanor, attempting to regain control over the racing beats of his heart, which had unexpectedly quickened upon seeing the first woman to challenge him so boldly.
“No, she just reminds me of someone,” he replied, though his words held a hint of deception. He settled into a cushioned seat in his chamber, and Marilyn breathed a sigh of relief she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her hand rested on her chest, grateful that the king didn’t seem to remember her.
“Why do you think this ugly woman is my queen, Annalise?” he blurted out, his tone indifferent. Instantly, a pang of regret coursed through him, but he refused to retract his words. His petty side took over, and he couldn’t bring himself to admit how her beauty enchanted him. Marilyn remained silent, her hazel eyes revealing the hurt he had inflicted.
“I… your majesty!” Annalise exclaimed, surprised by his sudden change in behavior. She had thought he would be delighted to meet his queen. She cast a disapproving glare at him as he casually selected an apple from his fruit bowl. She planned to give him an earful when Marilyn was no longer present. She felt deep sympathy for the poor lady, who had left her husband’s house, only to be called ugly by the man who was supposed to be her soulmate.
“The tears of Natalí respond to her touch, your majesty,” Annalise said through gritted teeth, trying to mask her anger. She hadn’t raised him to treat women this way. Well, she allowed him to treat Meisi as he pleased because Meisi was annoying and delusional, but treating his true Queen this way was unacceptable.
“No! Natalí would never choose such an unworthy queen for me. She looks so old,” he scoffed, casting Marilyn another disgusted look.
“You do realize I’m right here, right?” Marilyn muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes discreetly. She was only officially meeting him for the first time, and yet he had already managed to trigger every one of her nerves. She loathed the fact that he could get under her skin like this, bringing out the very worst in her. She hated him for having such control over her.
“How old are you, Miss Marilyn?” he inquired as he moved closer to her. His heavy robes stirred a gust of wind in his wake. She rolled her eyes again, muttering that she was not a Miss but a lady of a great house in Ruqgu.
“I’m twenty-six, your majesty,” she replied, gritting her teeth to control the urge to throw his words back at him. She wanted to tell him that she found him ugly, despite his annoyingly long lashes and lips that seemed to invite hers, his bulging muscles that threatened to tear through those black robes, and his irritatingly tall stature. He was as ugly as his foul character. How dare he call her ugly and old?
“Twenty-six? By the goddess, she’s old enough to be someone’s wife,” he exclaimed in mock shock, pretending not to know that Marilyn was already married. He wanted to get even with her for that night.
“Tell me, Lady Marilyn, how many children do you have? I need to know if I’ll be raising stepchildren in my palace,” he asked, arching a brow. That statement shattered every ounce of Marilyn’s resolve. It broke her heart and painfully reminded her of her own barrenness. She exhaled slowly, trying to hold back tears. She had made a mistake by coming to Nayak. She felt ashamed for allowing herself to be swayed by Annalise’s words. She could have stayed with Patrick; at least she was accustomed to his abuse and crude words. But hearing them from this stranger shattered something inside her.
“That’s enough, your majesty! I didn’t bring her here to be insulted like this. May Goddess Natalí have mercy on you. Your ancestors would turn in their graves if they heard you speak like this,” Annalise couldn’t hold back her thoughts any longer. Normally, she would correct or scold him privately, but this behavior wouldn’t help him secure a queen, even if Natalí herself were to send another one.
His chest tightened even further at the sight. He had tried to hurt her, to fuel his petty whims, but now he was the one in pain. He had a powerful urge to wipe away her tears, to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead, and to apologize profusely. Yet, his kingly ego wouldn’t allow it, and so he suffered in silence.
“I will kill the man who dares to lay a hand on you again,” his own words echoed in his mind, and he shuddered at the memory of her tucking him into bed. Could she be the one who saved him from Belladonna? It couldn’t be possible.
“I’m sorry, your majesty, that I didn’t meet the requirements of the queen you had in mind. Perhaps the goddess made a mistake. I shall take my leave now,” Marilyn said with a cold tone that pierced his already aching heart. He couldn’t bear to let her go. He would be Damned if he lets her slip away from him. He needed answers, and only the woman before him held the key to those answers.
“But what choice do I have? If Natalí says she is my queen, then she is my queen. Prepare for the marriage rites, then.”
As Marilyn turned to leave, her voice quivered with a mixture of anger, disappointment, and a hidden vulnerability.
“I’m not here to meet anyone’s expectations, your majesty, and I certainly didn’t ask for this position. If you wish to marry me, do it for the sake of your kingdom, not because you feel obliged.”With those words, she walked towards the door, her steps echoing in the tense silence of the chamber.
Annalise couldn’t help but send a disapproving glare at the king, her voice tinged with disappointment. “Your majesty, it’s not too late to change your approach. This is your true queen we’re talking about. Your soul mate, the one person Nati and Natalí deem fit enough to be your other half”
The king’s expression wavered as he watched Marilyn’s retreating figure, torn between his petty pride and a strange yearning he couldn’t quite comprehend. Her words had struck a chord within him, and he found himself questioning his own motives. But his kingly ego, still wounded, held him back from pursuing her.
Marilyn reached for the chamber’s heavy door, her hand trembling slightly, before she turned back to face him.
” perhaps I should go back to my husband’s house”