31 Negotiations

Daphne kept her eyes pressed closed, hearing a squelch as something was smushed against the floor.

The image of the centipede crawled into her mind, but she did her best to push it aside.

Light pats continued to fall on her back, their rhythmic soothing gestures taming her drumming heartbeat

He pressed another piece of candy into her mouth, and she felt the caramel seep into the crevices of her tongue, once again masking the foul taste that had begun to creep up again.

There was frantic scampering, and it took a long time before she heard the highly anticipated words.

"Open your eyes."

She did so, seeing how the cell had been thoroughly cleaned. No traces of the tar-like substance was left on the floor, and the carcasses of the trampled centipedes were cleanly swept away. Save for a small black spot on his chest, there were no traces of the poison.

He handed her a cup of water and an empty golden bowl, motioning for her to rinse her mouth.

Only after she was finished cleaned up did he speak again.

"Do you feel better now?"

Daphne was not used to the sudden kindness. The Northern King's face was still the same, but there must have been something subtly off about his visage. There was no way that the man in front of her had been the one who had done all those horrible things to her at first.

Not knowing what sudden urge had possessed her, Daphne reached for his face.

He trembled at her touch.

At first, it was gentle, but unable to feel the creases between the fake mask and his flesh, she began to feel him more aggressively. Pinching and squishing, she ultimately gave up in disappointment. If he was wearing a mask, it was of much too high quality for her to unveil his true form.

He didn't complain, instead watching with amusement as she molded his face into different odd shapes.

The guards huddling in the corner of the cell watched in amazement, not knowing that their ruler had such a side to him. They waited for the command for an execution, but it never came.

"Who are you?" Daphne croaked, her voice cracking from the acid that had welled up her throat.

He didn't reply at first. Only after a solid second of hesitation did he speak. "Your husband."

"Are you two done frolicking?" The assassin's sudden intrusion jolted Daphne back to reality. "The poison is not fully cured, and we are racing against the clock."

Although she was already aware of this fact, her heart still sank.

"The other half is hidden with my brother, and I cannot retrieve it unless I'm released."

"Are you negotiating with me?" The coldness returned to the Northern King's voice as he glared at the trembling man on the floor.

"I need the antidote as much as Your Highness does," he persisted. "Although this half of the position is enough to suppress the pain, to fully cure the poison, I need the other piece. Otherwise, if the insect eggs hatch before they can be killed, it spells the death of the Princess of Eversun. Plus, I'll have to return for Your Majesty's cure to the additional elements of the poison as well, so I'll be back in your clutches soon."

The assassin nearly spat out the words "additional elements."

Now that he wasn't rolling around the floor in pain, he had managed to recollect his thoughts a bit, trying to make sure that every line of his logic was flawless.

Daphne recoiled at the idea of larvae embedded into her flesh, and the Northern King picked up her glances of horror from his peripheral vision.

Despite the assassin's best attempts, there were countless holes in his reasoning.

The Northern King had tried so hard to capture him alive and ask for his master. Letting him go would make that entire effort utterly useless. In fact, he would end up in a full circle, having wasted all of his energy for nothing.

"I'll have to return for the other half of the antidote. Last time I checked, Your Majesty's poison practically guarantees that I could not die a swift death and will suffer instead for eternity."

With those words, Daphne came to a sudden realization. This assassin needed to get out of here to check what exactly the Northern King had fed him. If it truly sustained his life and prevented him from dying in the meantime, perhaps it would be one step closer to unlocking the Northern King's immortality.

"Your Highness, please let him go." She whimpered, putting on her widest puppy eyes. "I don't want to die yet."

The Northern King stared at her for a while, and she bit her lips, wondering just how much her life was worth to him.

But as she tugged at the corner of his shirt, he sighed, relenting.

"Lead him out."

With a groan of frustration, he waved his hands quickly in the air, summoning the anxiously awaiting guards.

"Wait! I want a quick word with him before he leaves!" She pouted, secretly disgusted by the act she was putting on.

Without waiting for his reply, she scampered to the side of the assassin.

At this point, the Northern King's eyes seemed like they could be shooting daggers.

"The moon." She reminded him in hushed tones, speaking quickly a dialect from the rural portions of the Kingdom of Eversun that the Northerners should not be able to understand. "Find out what he had fed you."

Then, louder, she proclaimed, "Honor your end of the deal, and bring back the antidote."

The look in his eyes made it clear that he had understood the meaning behind her words.

Just as the guards dragged him out by his arms, he looked the Northern King straight in the eye. "Your downfall will be at her hands, did you know that? She would become your biggest weakness."

Daphne immediately recognized this as a reminder. He was telling her to grow even closer with the Northern King and make him unable to live without her.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the Northern King was quicker.

"Then it'd be my pleasure." His voice didn't waver as he said those words.

As the assassin was led out, the Northern King turned to Daphne.

"I'd like to see you try, Your Highness."

Leaning closer so that his breath spilled onto her neck, he whispered. "When are you planning on starting?"

She smiled, wrapping her arm around his neck and pulling him forward with all the force she could muster.