Her Darkness, His Light 2

Author's Note: PG-15 for language, abuse and mildly mature scene.

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When Gwen woke up and saw the canopy of Rainier's four-poster bed, she knew where she was.

She slowly sat up, feeling thirsty.

What number was it that Sally said was hers? 15? 25?

She reached for the landline.

"What do you need?"

Her reaching hand fell back to the bed.

Rainier was working at his desk when she woke up. He was wearing glasses and had taken off his suit.

"I thought you're working," Gwen said, her voice dripping with judgment.

"I was. But someone decided to pass out."

She refused to address the statement. As if he cared.

"Can you get me a glass of water?"

He turned back, and got her a glass of water, having poured it from a jug on his desk. He gave it to her and sat by the bed as she drank.

Gwen gulped half of it in one go. Before she took a deep breath, then finished the glass.

Once she was done, she stared at the empty glass.

"Is it true? Is this really a parallel world with mine?"

"Yes. Did you realize it after reading the newspapers?"

"...maybe."

They sat silently for a while.

"I was kidnapped. Then I was forcefully put under house arrest. And now, should I also believe that I am in a parallel world?"

"The sooner you accept it, the better."

".....you do realize that you're robbing me of my basic human rights, don't you?"

"I do. But I need a queen. And I've found you."

"If this is a similar place to mine, there are billions of other women. Millions in this country, I'm sure. Let me go, find someone else who's willing to play along in this crazy game of yours."

"It has to be you."

"Why???"

"That's how I want it to be."

Gwen shook her head.

"I'm a human being. I have my own mind! You can't just force me into your life!"

"This is your destiny. Accept it."

"THIS IS NOT DESTINY! THIS IS YOU, BEING A COMPLETE MEGALOMANIAC, ROBBING ME OUT OF MY LIFE!!!"

"....a queen can do a lot more than a detective. Think about it. A queen can make a bigger impact on people's lives. Be it good or bad, you decide. Just get out of your resentment of your fate, first."

She ignored that.

"How's my father? Did you hurt him?"

"He should be fine. And I have no reason to hurt him. Yet."

"I want proof that he's alright."

"You'll have it tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Really."

She peered at him, trying to gauge the lies in his expression. And he looked at her, wondering whether those eyes would ever turn for him, from hatred to more pleasant feelings.

But it's not like he'd change his ways in her favor.

"Can you please get out of my face? I really can't stand you."

Rainier chuckled at her bluntness.

"You should be dead three times by now if you were other people, Gwen Hamilton."

"Well, if you want me dead, you know where to find me."

"I prefer you alive, thank you. I'll make myself sparse for the rest of the day, to make you happy."

"I am amazed by your benevolence" she answered, her sarcasm would have cut anyone's heart already.

Rainier left the room. Then two guards entered, carrying the documents he was reviewing to another room.

She took several deep breaths and got back to the sofa.

The newspapers were still there. Folded back neatly into the three boxes.

She sat down and began reading everything.

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Rainier was true to himself, not appearing in front of her again for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Gwen saw a horrible news in the paper.

On Galsbourg Media, filling half of the front page was the article as the following:

THE KING ANNOUNCED HIS QUEEN

Rejoice, Citizens. The nation now has a mother!

The King, His Royal Highness Rainier, announced that he married Her Royal Highness Gwen Hamilton, two days ago.

The Royal Public Affairs informed that she was previously a detective at Judson Police Station, Seyrside.

We offer The King and Queen our most sincere blessings!

Along with the article was a huge picture taken from their photoshoot at the throne room.

Her hand shook reading that.

"Where's The King? I need to talk to him right now!!!"

Sally automatically texted the King, but the doors were then unlocked, and Rainier himself appeared.

"What's the meaning of this insanity???" Gwen yelled, showing him the paper. "Cancel it!!!"

"Good morning to you as well," he greeted, before telling Sally to leave the room.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR QUEEN!!!"

He opted to sit on one of his antique chairs, calmly facing her.

"Don't fight something that has been decided, Gwen. I've announced it, the whole world has known."

"I don't care about the whole world! I don't want it! I'm a human being! I don't want to marry someone evil like you!!!"

"Who did you want to marry?"

"SOMEONE KIND! AND THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT YOU!!!"

"Was it that guy you called Kevin?"

Gwen was shaken because he knew Kevin, her childhood friend and colleague at the Seyrside Police Station.

"Did you hurt him?"

"I haven't. But I can if I have enough reasons."

A chill ran down Gwen's back.

"You said you wanted to see your father," he exclaimed, putting an envelope on the coffee table next to him.

Gwen's eyes followed the envelope. Then she ran and grabbed it.

Inside, there were pictures of her father, shopping at the supermarket near their house with someone that looked exactly like her.

Her father looked as he always did. He looked happy.

"Who's this girl? She looks exactly like me! Did you give her plastic surgery?"

Rainier smiled.

"Your imagination is really extensive. No, I didn't give her plastic surgery. She has the same face as yours. She's from here. There are identical faces in different worlds."

Gwen sat down on the chair opposite him, her legs felt weak all of a sudden.

"Is she living my life? Being my father's daughter, doing my job?"

"Yes. No one has realized you're gone."

That made her want to weep. No one had realized she was here, suffering on her own.

She stared at her father's pictures, her tears falling. She stared at the girl's pictures.

She couldn't even see the difference. Maybe she had a dark aura, but that was all. No one would know.

Her tears didn't last long. Maybe it would fall more later when she's alone. But she had to sit in silence for a while.

"The library you visited yesterday, I want to go there."

Rainier turned to her in surprise.

"Why?"

"I need to learn about this place. You won't give me internet access. You should at least let me read something. You can't expect me to live in your bedroom for the rest of my life."

"That's a great idea, though. A great reason to come home to."

She glared at him so savagely he wanted to rip at her clothes right then and there.

Steady, he said to himself. Use your head that had a brain in it.

"You don't have to go that far. There's a royal library here."

"Really?" she got up then, "I'll go there with Sally."

"Don't. I'll walk you there."

"No, I'll go with her."

"I insist."

"Don't you have to do your job???"

"My job can wait."

With that, he opened the doors, and she walked behind him.

They walked through endless hallways, passing beautiful sitting rooms with paintings and what looked like historical objects.

She's a detective and she never knew much about arts, but everything looked splendid to her amateur eyes. Everything looked decidedly grand, and lots of the beautiful pieces must be heirlooms dated from at least a hundred years ago.

The place looked really similar to Cardell Castle in Seyrside, but each room looked lived in, as if Rainier's ancestors all lived and laughed all over the palace.

She had loved history ever since she was a child. The palace was history in itself, alive and breathing.

Rainier was silent because she was silent as well. He had to pause walking from time to time because she was too busy staring around. He knew it was a beautiful place, yet he had lived there since he was born. He's too used to everything to be awed anymore. It felt good to see the fascination in her eyes, though.

Maybe he should appreciate his palace more if she's that impressed.

Passing a beautiful pond, they arrived at a tower. Like the rest of the palace, it looked decidedly built in the Justiciar period, Gwen thought.

Maybe this world had a different name for that era, yet the architecture was strikingly familiar, with the colors blue and silver dominating the tower.

Inside, it was cool and slightly dim, with rows and rows of bookshelves on all ten floors of the tower.

"Do you like reading?"

Gwen blinked. She had successfully pretended she was alone in that magical place. She wasn't, of course. He's there, watching each change in her expression.

"I used to. I'm going to like it again."

She stopped there, with no wish to explain more about herself, despite his wish to know more.

"This library is amazing" she finally breathed out and began walking around the ground floor.

It was empty. No one else was there.

She saw the placard of the subject on one side of all the shelves. There had to be an army of librarians, right? The place was well-kept but was really silent until the air conditioner sounded quite loud amidst the thousands of books there.

"Why is it so empty, though? Can't people come here and read?"

"This is Saturday."

"Ah."

She felt like crying again, all of a sudden. Saturday was the time to eat spicy snacks and savory pancakes with her father. It's been a tradition ever since her mother was alive.

To avoid him seeing her breaking, she kept walking around, reading the placards of subjects on every shelf of books.

She finally saw the one she needed. An area of "Galsbourg History".

"Is this what you're looking for?"

"Yes. I want to find out whether what you're saying is true, that this is a parallel world. I need to know more about this place."

"Ah. It is good indeed, wanting to know where you'll spend the rest of your life."

Gwen chuckled dryly, "If I could, I'd run away as soon as I can."

"If I could, I'd rather have you not underestimate my ability to find you."

Gwen just saw a book titled "The Kingdom of Galsbourg, a Complete History," and pulled it out.

"I will find a way."

She had said it with such random, relaxed conviction, that it made him mad.

One second she was opening the book, her back on him, the next second, her wrist was pulled. Rainier turned her around, then pushed her to the shelf.

"My guards are world-class, they'll find you. And I didn't lie, Gwen, if you dare disappear, I'll murder people until you reappear."

He had that look again, and she knew where this was going to lead. She pushed at his chest, but he wouldn't budge.

"What do you expect of me??? That I'd just meekly accept this and be your whore???"

"I call you my queen, not my whore!"

"You treat me as one!!!" she screamed.

"Wives should listen to their husbands!!!"

Gwen laughed at that.

"Wives are women who marry their husbands out of love and mutual understanding!!! I HAVE NOTHING FOR YOU BUT HATRED!!!"

As she predicted, she knew what would happen next. Her anger seemed to always rub him the wrong way, as he reached for her chin and crashed his lips on hers.

It's not like she didn't try to break free, but it's useless.

The sense of unreality hit her so much, she had to swallow the wish to laugh out loud hysterically.

She's pinned on a library shelf, with a tall, evil King forcing his way down her throat.

How could this be a reality???

And Rainier saw that she wasn't there. He's kissing her, standing pressed on her body, but her mind went elsewhere.

He nibbled down the smooth skin of her neck, as Gwen lifted her face, and he saw himself in her eyes.

"Tell me this is just a nightmare," she asked.

"Take off your dress, I want to see you."

She wouldn't listen, so he put his hand on her neck.

"Take it off."

She looked away. She dared to look away, so he pressed at her neck, cutting her breathing access.

Gwen couldn't believe it, her hands immediately flew to his, trying to push them away, her face was getting red.

It soon became painful, so she did the only thing that made sense.

"Kill me," she whispered.

Rainier immediately let go of her neck and she gasped for air, then coughed.

"You bastard!" she cursed, despite her voice being only loud enough as a whisper.

He responded by holding her hip, and pushed her to the floor, resuming to kiss her hard.

She whimpered at that, her body sliding up against the shelf and books.

"You really must learn to enjoy this."

"Never!" she vowed, earning another bite on the neck from him, making her eyes shut and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

"I'll do a lot more until you can't deny you like this anymore."

She'd love to argue that, but he then kissed her so deeply with his tongue inside that she couldn't speak anymore.

He crushed her with his weight, loving how her body became entirely covered with his.

They'd done this only for the third time, but he knew her hands would never touch his body.

With how rough he was kissing her, it's understandable that she's holding on to the shelves, her nails were white as she held on so strongly.

He liked how she suppressed her moans by biting her lips, even when she shuddered, as his tongue glided down her throat.

It's the eye contact that was the hardest to bear, she thought. She hated seeing the lust and hunger in his eyes.

She hated how when he licked her throat on certain spots, she couldn't keep her eyes open. They always fluttered close.

She hated how he barely ever shut his eyes and was always watching her like a predator.

But above all, she hated how she knew he enjoyed kissing her so much.

She hated how she began to see it in his eyes when he was very, very aroused.

He would then finally close his eyes, burying himself on her neck.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw her, looking at the side, staring at the muted bookshelves across their row.

It hurt, somehow.

So he reached her chin.

That made her look at him again.

He kissed her again then, his tongue laving hotly in her crevices.

And she hadn't responded at all.

Her eyes wandered in another direction, and she froze.

"There's CCTV!!! Your guards--"

"Know when to switch it off. They didn't see us."

"But they know what we did!!!"

"So?"

She's mad again, and he cursed.

"Stop looking like that, or I'll fuck you without waiting anymore."

"WHAT DID I DO???"

He ate her lips again at that.

When he's through kissing her, he finally pulled back and let her go.

They then had their backs to each other, tidying their appearances.

"Do you still want to read here?"

"Yes," she replied.

"I'll ask Sally to accompany you," he said, before walking to the end of the shelf.

"Thanks for the lunch. It was wholesome."

She glared at him, but he smiled in response, before walking away.

Sally found her sitting behind a desk five minutes later, opening the History of Galsbourg.

After the draining "incident," Gwen spent the rest of the day peacefully at the Royal Library.

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