Married to the helio (4)

Felix rushed into the gallery hurriedly and stopped in relief when he saw Darius by the window.

"I saw her highness breeze out of here and thought she had snuck in without permission."

"Apparently not." Darius was gripping his tea cup although it had long been emptied.

Felix walked to him in distress. "It's that expression. Don't tell me you are starting to grow fond of her."

"Grow fond of a descendant of a demon? Are you out of your mind?" Darius scoffed at the accusation and left Felix standing by the window on his own.

The latter didn't look convinced. "Since you say so, I'll assume your mood has nothing to do with her. Now that we are on the topic, when do you plan to make a move on Ivrasea?"

Darius studied the maps on the wall absently. "In seven days."

His eyes darkened. In seven days, the kingdom that should never have existed will finally cease to exist.

_____

Ylvia had always said that Delaney's intuition was terrifyingly accurate and she was right.

On her way out of the gallery, Delaney had nearly bumped into Felix. The king's advisor ignored her but she slowed down. She didn't think it would make sense for her to eavesdrop on every conversation the king made, but maybe listening in on a few would let her know what to expect.

The heavy door shut as soon as Felix was in but thanks to her impeccable hearing which she must have inherited form her demon ancestors, she could hear them when she tried to listen.

"Seven days." She mumbled in response to Darius's words. Why was he doing it so soon?

Was it too late to persuade him? When she thought back to the only thing she would have to do to convince him, a shiver ran down her spine.

He was probably only going to use her and lie to her. She was not a fool to believe that a king could change his mind about a war just because his wife warmed his bed.

Her tour of the castle lead her to a frozen lake. She wouldn't have known it existed if she didn't see the map in the gallery earlier but she was glad that it did. Part of her reason for walking to this side of the castle was to find out whether that was an actual map or a painting out of the artist's imagination.

"It's even more beautiful than in the painting." She took a deep, appreciative breath and undid her braid to let the calming breeze flutter her hair.

"My Lady!" Jessica was shocked by her action and even more flabbergasted when Delaney bent down to take off her shoes and let her feet touch the grass.

"My Lady, you could get injured. Please put your shoes back on."

"I'll be careful." She promised and found a large rock to sit on by the lake. She dipped a toe onto the stretch of glacier and retracted it with a laugh. That was way cooler than she wanted. However, she had never felt this carefree in her life.

"Jessica, you can go back to the castle. I want to be alone."

Jessica was unwilling but she could only do as she was told.

On the other hand, Delaney was not in the slightest bit worried of anything. She knew that the castle and the parts around it were heavily guarded, and that included this frozen lake.

"Why is it frozen, though? The weather isn't that cold." She wondered aloud.

"Because the goddess keeps it that way."

She jumped and almost fell into the lake, turning around to face the woman who had spoken out of the blue. She was sitting beside her on the rock as though they knew each other.

"You scared me! Who are you?"

She felt for her sword but it was unnecessary.

"I'm sorry I frightened you. I'm Kyrah." The woman introduced herself.

"Well, Kyrah, I do not wish to get to know you." She dismissed the woman immediately. Itrusians openly hated her and she was not going to pretend to love them either.

"That's a shame. Seeing that you are sitting in my spot, I thought we could be friends at least." Kyrah shrugged with a smile.

"Your spot? My apologies. I didn't know this rock was taken." She made to leave, only for Kyrah to stop her.

"You can stay. I don't mind."

So she did. It was probably the most comfortable since it was the flattest around, and Kyrah didn't strike her as a spy or a bad person. Besides, she was wearing very thin clothes that couldn't possibly hide a weapon.

Delaney couldn't stop herself from studying her different clothing style. "Are you Itrusian?"

"Not anymore." She sighed. "My husband was. He died."

"Oh, I'm…"

"No." Kyrah stopped her. "I got married to him even while knowing that he would eventually die. I don't regret a thing. Those years I got to spend with him were the most beautiful years of my life."

So there were actually women who married men they were in love with. She looked happy, so Delaney offered her a kind smile.

"What about you?" Asked Kyrah.

"Mine is great." She laughed awkwardly, unwilling to divulge so much detail to a stranger.

"The king doesn't treat you well, does he?" Kyrah guessed.

"How did you…"

"Your scarf." Kyrah pointed at the purple silk scarf around her neck. "It has the Ivrasean emblem on it. Everyone knows that the only Ivrasean to ever set foot in this kingdom is the princess who our king married."

"Oh." She didn't try to hide the scarf. While it gave away her identity too fast, Ylvia made it for her when she was a little girl and it had become the most important clothing item to her over the years.

She slid off the rock and found her shoes.

"Are you leaving? The sun is just starting to set. It looks so beautiful reflected in the lake." Kyrah tried to persuade her to stay longer.

"Yeah, I'm sure it looks amazing. I have to go back before my husband notices I'm missing." She forced a smile.

Kyrah thought for a while and winked. "I know a way to make him crazy about you. If you order him to give you the whole kingdom, he will do exactly that and conquer the neighboring kingdoms for you as well."

Delaney laughed. "You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

"You can try. What will you lose if it doesn't work?"

She would lose nothing, so she inched closer to listen to Kyrah's idea. Her face reddened when she heard it.

"Thank you, but I'm definitely not doing that." Embarrassment washed over her when she thought about it. The only reason she would ever consider trying to please Darius was not even to gain his favor. All she wanted was to save her kingdom. But was it worth it going to such an extent?

That evening, Darius didn't have dinner at the dining table so she ate on her own in her room. Luckily, there was no rule restricting that. She tried to find him later in vain, and he didn't even seem to spend the night in his chamber. At least she didn't hear any voices by the time she got ready for bed.

She wanted to offer him a deal and it couldn't wait for too long as the war was going to start soon and she needed a second plan in case he rejected her. However, that could wait until morning. As long as she didn't hear the squeaks of his mistresses coming from his room in the dead of the night.

That was far from what she heard. The door creaked. Her eyes flew open but she didn't move, wanting to find out who was coming into her room so late at night. She planned out her next move in her head and was yet to execute it when the incomer spoke.

"Are you asleep?"

It was Darius. Oh no… was he here because his concubines rejected him?

She shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep, letting out slow, shallow breaths.

The man climbed onto her bed behind her and wrapped an arm around her. Her body froze.

"Your Majesty, this is not Bernadette's bed." She protested against his touch.

"I know." He bit her ear gently. "I don't want to be in Bernadette's bed. I want to be in yours."