[ SHE'S MEANT TO KILL ME ]

Africh said his last statement as if he was worried for Lora and not Azura. His gaze was always soft when he spoke to Lora, even softer than how he looks at Azura. He stared at her fair body and he wondered why she was so attracted to him, and why he hasn't been able to forget her since he first met her.

"Let get to the palace first, you can come here later." Lora said with a pleading gaze and Africh nodded to agree. He helped her up the horses and sat behind her, then kick the horse lightly for it to start moving. Surprisingly, Lora kicked the horse harder and it begin to run faster, giving Africh a shock.

He had expected Lora to be scared of the horse riding, so he thought of going on a slow pace. But instead she took charge of the horse and Africh had to hold on to her waist to stay safe on the horse. He cursed himself inwardly as to why he didn't let her sit at the back, so she'll be the one holding on to him.

__________ At the palace.

"Did you know Azura was meeting someone out of the palace?" Pearler asked immediately the doors to Marcus's study closed behind her, not caring who was with the King at the moment. For a second she felt she had been disrespectful, but seeing the people in the study were all Marcus's men, made her mood brighten.

She was angry and scared of Azura that, she couldn't wait to tell Marcus where she was, forgetting to even use the right title for Azura. She held her dress and lowered her hight a bit to great the men in the study with Marcus, after which she made herself comfortable on a sofa next to the door.

Marcus excused his men and the elders to attend to Pearler, and they marched out without question, even his personal knight Lion, didn't stay behind. Marcus was so angry at the thought of Azura being out of the palace again without his notice, and that to with someone he didn't know anything about.

"Tell me where you saw her. Who is she with?" Marcus asked even before the door to his study room could close after his men left, and anger was what anyone could see on his face.

"At the Abess's inn, but I don't know who she's going to meet there." Pearler said simply, a smirk playing on her lips.

For some reason, Marcus could not accept Azura being out with another person, and he even concluded it was a man, but couldn't tell who it was. "Was she with any guards or maids?" He asked in anger, not believing what Pearler was saying.

"She was with Lora, her trusted Lady." Pearler took her time and narrate to Marcus what transpired between her and Azura, starting from when she saw them appear from the bushes till she left them behind. Even though Marcus was listening to her as she spoke, all his mind was on, was to go to Azura and bring her back to the palace.

" I think she suspect I want to do something against her." Pearler added, looking a bit serious.

" I hope you didn't do anything for her to suspect you?" Marcus was fuming with anger, not only with Pearler, but also about the fact that Azura left the palace without any guard but just her friend Lora, and that to dress like a commoner. He felt disrespected and wanted to do something about that.

"I'll go get her." Marcus said and made to leave, but Pearler was fast to stop him on time.

"I don't think that will be necessary, she might even get here before you get there." She didn't say that to stop Marcus, but also to give herself the joy of seeing Marcus suffer, knowing Azura was with someone.

Marcus agreed and stayed back, but he wished he didn't. It felt as if something that belongs to him was being taking away from him by someone. He kept pacing in his study with a hand on his waist and the other on his lips, thinking of what to do and how to know why Azura was out of the palace.

All this while, Pearler stayed by Marcus's side without saying a word, but just observing how Azura's outing had great effect on Marcus. Minutes turned to hours and Marcus had not heard anything from his men nor anyone, and the wait was killing him slowly. He stepped out of his study and rushed to his horse in a hurry to get to Azura's residence.

__________ Azura's residence

The earth beneath the palace shook for a few seconds, and everyone who felt it had no idea what might have caused it. As the earth was still shaking, an angry looking woman appeared in the queen's chamber and there was no doubt that it was the queen herself. She reached to the window and looked out in the sky as if to search for something or someone.

Just when she returned to her bed and decided to lay on it, her door opened with a bang and she got angry with the new comer, more than she was already. Turning to the man in royal outfits, she was fuming with so much anger to the extent that, her green eyes was beginning to turn yellow.

"What do you want, that you had to storm into my room like this?" Azura shouted angrily, staring at Marcus with dagger eyes.

"Sorry, I thought you were not here. Where did you go? I learnt you were out of the palace." Marcus asked calmly, looking at Azura's raging eyes.

"I know you are aware of everything, including how and where I went. So don't ask, just leave I want to rest." Even though Azura was speaking calmly, anger could still be heard in her voice.

"Rest? It still morning and not afternoon yet, and I want to talk to you about the princess." Marcus said, trying his best not to upset Azura even more. He was beginning to fear her as the days go by.

"What about her?" She asked as she sat on her bed facing Marcus with all her attention given to him.

"Her tenth birthday is coming up, and I want to know how you want to celebrate it." Marcus was caging his anger, knowing he do not stand a chance when it comes to power, so he changed the topic not to get on Azura's bad side.

" I'll leave it to you and her grandma Halia to plan everything, I'll add up if I have any plans. Can you please leave now?" Azura said and lay on her bed as she pulled the quilt over her body.

Even though Marcus was angry about not being able to get answers to the many questions he came to asked, he had no option than to leave the room as Azura wanted to rest. He turned and left the room without closing the door, and with a flip of her hand, Azura made the door close on it own.

She drifted off to sleep after a while of angry thought, hoping to get up soon, at least before dinner, but nothing about the way she was sleeping soundly showed she was going to wake up anytime soon.

__________ Abess's mansion.

Gideon, Abesselom's pet, was on his stand, trying to get some sleep. He had been waiting for his master for a while and since he was still not back, he thought of resting small.

Just when his sleep was getting deeper and interesting, a gust of wind blew him off the stand, making him fall to the bed which belongs to his master. He lifted his head after he got back on his feet and stared at his master, who looked angry as always, but noticed something else.

"You look angry, but I feel worry in you. Did something bad happened to the queen?" Gideon asked telepathically.

"What can happen to her when am with her?" Abesselom asked as he turned away from the mirror he had appeared in front earlier.

"Don't you mean to ask what happened to me?" He asked as he was walking towards his bathroom and his pet followed him.

"Are you going to tell me or I need to ask her?" Gideon asked, trying to be strict, but Abesselom didn't mind his pet's nagging and just begin to undress himself.

This caused Gideon to see the wound on his left chest, which was still covered with Azura's clothes. Abesselom begin to slowly remove the clothes from the wound, reviling the small part of the wound which was left for it to heal completely. He passed his hand on the wound as memories of how he get it flashed in his head, and a smirk made it way to his thin lips.

"You have a...." Gideon couldn't complete his statement. He couldn't even believe what he was seeing.

"A wound on your body? How?" He continue when his master didn't answer.

He had never seen a wound on his master's body, which lasted for more than five minute. Not even the deepest and largest of wound, to think of this small one. He couldn't believe how such a small wound was still on his master's body, but if he's right, then his master found what he's been looking for.

"Don't tell me it was the queen who hurt you? Is she your....." Gideon had lots of questions, but his master stopped him before he could asked them.

"No need to tell me, I also thought of it and I think she's the one." Abesselom said calmly. Even though he looked angry, sadness could be felt from his words.

"Then I think you have to stop seeing her, you two can't be together." Gideon said with a warning tone, but Abesselom wouldn't listen.

"She's the one my heart has chosen, so even if she's meant to kill me, I'll be with her and her only." Abesselom's voice was farm as he spoke.

He had no idea why things turned out to be like that. The woman he loves was also what was meant to kill him, and if ever he gets killed by her, he won't ever reincarnate again. He fared he might upset Azura one day and she will end up hurting him unknowingly, but he had no plans on letting her go.

He had reincarnated for the third time, and in all the three life's he lived, he went on a special journey to search for what could kill him. In his current life, his main mission was to make Azura his, and then find what could kill him, but never did he thought Azura would be what could kill him.

Undressing himself completely, he walked to his pool-like bathtub, and without a second thought, stepped in and immerse himself in the cold water completely. The moment he laid in the water, it became hot and kept on getting hotter as he stayed in it.

His mind became a field of chaos thought, but none of them could give him a solution to his problems. He wished he had never gotten to know that Azura, was the only one who could hurt him in the entire world.