Stay By My Side

"I'm really such a fool…" Xenia weakly uttered to herself, her gaze lifted to the door where the king just left. She bit her lower lip as she sighed deeply and whispered, "I am sorry."

She was sorry to her family and to herself because she failed. Not to mention the punishment the king would give her soon. She defied the ruthless king and it was inevitable that she would face the consequences for it.

She looked around the chamber and sighed. Something seemed not right though. How come she was back inside this chamber? Instead of being thrown into the dungeon or prison?

The door swung open and she barely caught her breath thinking it was her doom that had come to get her now.

But her brows furrowed seeing it was Tarah walking towards her.

"What have you done? I told you to rest. The king called me to attend to your wounds," Tarah informed.

"He did?" Xenia asked in disbelief.

Was she spared? Or probably the king simply wanted her to recover before he would throw her into his pit to fight? Ah, it could be the pit then since it was the only rational explanation for the king to let a healer check her wounds.

Xenia heard Tarah's chuckle so she stared at her with knitted brows.

"Stop worrying. You'll be in safe hands with The King, Xen. Now, I will apply ointments on you now so you better clear your head and just simply rest. Tomorrow you'll be as good as new."

"Rest… How could I," Xenia murmured with a shrug.

"Drink this. It will help. Like I said, your sister will be fine," Tarah reiterated as she handed her a bottle. Then Tarah started replacing her bandages after applying some ointments to her wounds.

Xenia could only sigh as she simply drank the medicine from the bottle in one gulp.

She opened her mouth to say something but the door swung open the second time. This time Xenia's face paled as she eyed the king who stomped in her direction with his piercing gaze directed at hers.

She could hear the loud thumping of her heart through her chest. She slowly bowed her head, unable to meet his scrutinizing gaze.

"How is he?" The King's authoritative voice roared inside the chamber.

"He will be fine, Your Majesty. He has already drank the potion I made to heal the remaining wounds left overnight. All he needs now is a good night's rest." Tarah answered.

"Is he fit to travel tomorrow?" The King inquired, with his eyes still boring holes at her, she felt herself shrink back. Xenia could not explain the weird feeling.

'How come he looks calm? Is he not mad that I tried to escape?' she pondered while bitting her inner cheek. She even saw concern in his eyes while checking in on her condition from Tarah. Was she simply hallucinating?

"He'll be fit to travel tomorrow morning, Your Majesty," Tarah answered with a reassuring smile.

Xenia's eyes widened, realizing that the conversation going on between Tarah and the king about the traveling was something she didn't know, so she subconsciously murmured, "Travel?"

Looking at her, the king plainly answered, "I will bring you with me."

"Huh? Where?" Xenia asked, finally looking up to meet his gaze.

"To the Kingdom of Ebodia," King Darius answered dismissively.

"Ebodia?!" Xenia gasped and then her eyes darted to Tarah who only gave her a slight reassuring nod. She wondered if the woman had another vision about this situation.

Xenia dragged her questioning eyes back to the king.

"I don't go to gatherings such as that, but the King of Ebodia specifically asked for my presence, mentioning that he had something important to discuss with me," The King nonchalantly commented.

She almost forgot that all the rulers from all over the various lands would most likely attend the wedding. And, of course, Darius, as King of Cordon, wouldn't miss such a great opportunity to talk about possible alliances with other kingdoms having the same advocacies and goals, either for peace, unity, or war.

Xenia subconsciously stared at Darius with parted lips. The Vampire King had asked for one of her father's daughters to solidify a coalition by the hand of marriage. If her father asked for Darius, then it was possible that he would ask for another alliance.

It was only logical. Her father feared the Kingdom of Helion, which did nothing but wage war against other kingdoms and annex their territories after the fact. They were expanding, and Ebodia would be a potential target the moment they ran out of weaker kingdoms to target. And their definition of weak apparently meant being ruled chiefly by humans, the weakest entity in their eyes.

'It can't be!' She quietly yelped inwardly at the realization.

Xenia looked at King Darius suspiciously, wondering if the king before her would do the same as how the Vampire King had asked for a marriage of alliance with one of her father's daughters.

Among all rulers, her brother Ezekiel once said that Darius, a werewolf king of the Kingdom of Cordon, and Nikolai, a vampire king of the Kingdom of Valcrez, were the best choices for an alliance because, unlike other rulers, they were known to have great respect for humans.

Could she be right? Would Darius ask for a princess to secure an alliance? Still, she learned early on that werewolves had their destined mates. Darius was an Alpha, so there should be a destined Luna for him.

"We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so it'll be best that you recuperate from your injuries," King Darius said. He then looked at Tarah and signaled for the Healer to leave.

Xenia gulped as the king's eyes squinted at her. "I will have your room guarded for the night Xen. And I do hope that you won't repeat the same mistake again. Don't be stubborn and please don't test my patience because I have none."

"Now rest and tomorrow, you will start your duties as my warrior-servant. Someone who will personally attend to my needs. Someone who will follow me wherever I go. Someone who will stay by my side at all times."

The king just left after delivering those words. Xenia was dumbfounded that all she could do was blink in disbelief at what she just heard.

'Is he even for real?' Xenia mused with a twitched mouth, wondering if being thrown into the pit would be way better.

She heaved a long deep sigh and murmured, "At least I'm still breathing and I should be more grateful for that, right?"

It wouldn't be bad to travel with the king tomorrow and maybe it would benefit her more somehow. Yet, she could not help but feel suspicious with how the king was treating her well so far.

'Alright, let's do as he wishes for now Xenia, and act as his warrior-servant. Let's just think of a plan of escape once we reach Ebodia,' Xenia thought with a sigh before dozing off to sleep.