Chapter Four. Defy him

Maria sat down at the edge of the king size bed and stared at Darius. She just couldn't get her eyes off him. Was the man always that enraged? she hadn't seen or heard him speak with calm from way back when they were still in the carriage to just a few seconds ago when he bellowed at the maids. 'Poor souls' she could only relent in her mind. But also she had become just one of those 'poor souls' a few hours ago when she had been pronounced his wife. She knew better than to hope for any different treatment from a man of his description and his law had no exceptions after all, and only so could be his ways. There were many questions swirling in her mind as she stared at his back. He hadn't yet turned around to face her and his first were clenched tightly.

Maria wondered what could have made him so angry that he had to clench his fists at just the maids taking her away to have a shower and a change of clothes. She had been standing where he had left her trying to figure out what she should do next when the two maids had come and informed her they had to shower andchange her dress which was only to her relief since she was aware he had gone to do the same and she didn't want

to get trapped with him alone in the bathroom or even the changing room. So, she had allowed them to do just that but only she had told them to get her somewhere else for her to have her shower. The maids had looked at her with questions they dared not ask in their eyes but they had complied without farther explanations and taken her somewhere to have her shower. She didn't see anything too wrong with that that could have called for such rage as he had right now. What exactly was with this man?

Finally he turned around but instead of heading to the other side of the bed that was meant to be his,he headed in her direction with long strides that instantly caused adrenaline to run to her stomach as she dreaded what he would do her right now. But he stopped just a few inches away from her and then bent making Maria flinch and quickly pull her legs up the bed to hug them to herself as he looked down at her with a scowl.

"In this palace..." He growled " You only do what I want you to do and nothing else. You don't go where I don't tell you to and do not answer to anyone except me. And you should follow those rules" He finished his scowl not leaving his face for a moment and Maria flinched at his words and even slightly shivered.

What had she done wrong? Just as she expected that he would want to chain her body and soul,he had done just that with his words. And for the first time since she had heard him speak,he had spoken for long. But why? Why would she have to follow such rules just because she is married to him? She was a princess and she had to remind him that she had rights too but she couldn't find her voice as it had forsaken her long time since he gave her his command.

As if sensing that she was scared and flinching away from him, Darius straightened himself and left her without another word and he went to his side of the bed and lay down on his side facing the other side of the room without another glance at her. She could tell he was angry and she was scared. But there was no one to comfort and worse was that she didn't even know where Alexa was as she hadn't seen her since they had arrived. And now she was chained to her room. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere without his word or permission. What more would come her way as her fate was already crumbling down at her? She fought very hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.

Maria didn't know for how long she had stayed sitting there at her side of the bed hugging her knees but she knew it must have been a long while as she didn't even know when exactly she had fallen asleep. She woke up later the next day feeling comfortably wrapped up in a soft blanket and she was sleeping in a comfortable position on the bed. She was sure she didn't fall asleep this way though and she hadn't covered herself. Who could have covered her? She couldn't imagine the impossible man Darius arranging her into a comfortable position and even covering her so comfortably like that. But whom else?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a maid that came in to help her shower and also serve her breakfast.

"Good morning your highness" the maid greeted with a bow before she informed

"I am here to help you shower and change for breakfast" and Maria nodded at her before she got out of the bed. The maid then showed her the way to their Chambers bathroom before she led the way and the maid followed while Maria registered another maid entering to make the bed. She sat into the hot tub that been already prepared for her and forced her muscles to relax as the maid helped her take her bath.

Somewhere between her bath, Maria decided to ask about Alexa. Why hadn't she come to see her yet? Unable to find answers she asked the maid.

"Is Alexa there in the maids quarters?"she asked carefully. She didn't want word to come out to her husband that she was asking questions lest the man gives her another bunch of commands. The ones he had already given her last night were already at her neck almost strangling her. But the maid just stared at her with a confused expression.

Sensing that the girl might not have got her question right, Maria decided to explain. "Alexa. she is my fri...maid. I presume she came before or after me last night. Have you seen her?" She explained but the maid instantly shook her head.

"No your highness" she denied and Maria's heart sunk to her stomach. What could have happened to Alexa? Could it be... could she have done something wrong and the king imprisoned her right on the instant of her arrival? Maria's heartbeat skyrocketed and she could hear it beating in her ears. Why would anything like that have to happen? Hadn't she met enough for a sour fate already? She couldn't let the ruthless king chain Alexa in his dungeon or wherever he kept his prisoners, and Alexa was a good person and still a child at that so she couldn't come across any sensible reason for why anyone would want to imprison her. Standing up from the bath tub, she ordered the maid to dress her quickly. She had to look for Alexa. She couldn't let the ruthless king have his way with her. She would have to defy him if she had to and bear the consequences later than leave Alexa to rot in his dungeon.

Darius stood at the top most tower of the palace his gaze locked down at what lay beneath him. He had been here since his visit to his army of great soldiers in the morning to check on their sparring and all. He was a powerful king but one who didn't find delight in sitting back and waiting for good results. He always engaged into battle and training as well with his men and also sparred with the best of them. Much as he was known to be ruthless and merciless, his men were the people that understood him most, and a great number of them cared for him just as much as he did for all of them.

He had left his wife sound asleep in their Chamber very early in the morning when he had woken up. Just like all the other soldiers,he was an early riser. Yesterday it had taken him much longer to sleep than it usually did. His wife had been scared. He had scared her himself but it was inevitable. The palace wasn't a safe place for innocent people like her, and she would have to follow his rules much as she may not like it. But still,he hadn't meant to be that hard on her. She had stayed up for a long time without sleep as she continued to sit hugging her knees until she fell asleep in a very uncomfortable position later in the night. He had contemplated on whether or not to change into a a much more comfortable position until he decided to, and he then tucked her into the blankets making sure to handle her carefully not to wake her up. And after he had been done, he took a moment to just stay there and look at her wondering if he even had the right to admire her before he went back to his side of the bed to get some sleep himself.

He had been so enraged as he had thought something might have happened to her. And now he knew she already had been scared of him but that just made her cower farther away from him. He didn't know how to speak so politely to match what might make her more comfortable and he knew he had to force himself to learn how to do it, otherwise things were going to get much uglier for both her and himself. And he didn't want her to get much more scared of him than she already was.

As he stood there,he heard someone approach him with hurried steps and he turned around

"Your majesty, it's the princess. She is looking for you. she is..." It was the maid he had assigned to take care of her and he didn't even wait for her to complete whatever else she had to say as he quickly strode his way past her taking long strides to reach his destination on time