Chapter Ten. am sorry

Darius stared at his frozen wife who had just emerged from the door leading outside the chamber. Was she trying to test his patience? He studied her frozen body for a few seconds before he slowly took measured steps towards her.

On reaching where she had her back pushed at the door as though she wanted to become flat and one with it, he put his strong muscular arms on her sides and her eyes widened as she stared at him without a word. He then slowly inched closer to her face before he saw her shut her eyes closed.

Maria closed her eyes in anticipation. Was he going to scold her? would he perhaps slap her? or would he grab her hand and drag her to God knows where? but whatever it was, she knew she had been wrong and he would be right to punish her.

She waited and waited for a long while but nothing came at her. What was he doing? could it be that he had left? she couldn't even trace his presence or hear anything because of her thunderous heartbeat that now sounded in her ears.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to see what he was doing. and the moment she did, she felt her breath hitch as she stared directly into his eyes and he was so close to her with almost no space between them. She parted her lips to speak but nothing came out. Oh God!

They both looked into each other's eyes with Darius wondering what she thought he was going to do to her this time while Maria wondered why he was taking long to do what he wanted with her. His eyes were green,a deep forest green while her's were ocean blue.

As her mind kept wondering, she saw him draw closer to her, leaving completely no space between them but his lips only brushed her cheek ever so slightly before she heard his soft growl.

"Do you want to go out?" he asked but Maria didn't know what to make of it. she continued to freeze in her spot while he didn't move anymore as his lips stayed just inches away from her ear before he moved his head to lower it into her neck.

And then he sighed,a long agonised sigh. Maria felt even more guilty at this point. She hadn't intended to break his rules when she went out. she had only intended to help the maid out of her predicament and now she had made her own situation worse.

"I..." she started softly. "I am sorry.." she whispered almost to herself feeling her heart getting heavy with guilt. She had sent her husband away from herself to God knows where and she didn't even know whether he had had a good sleep for the past few days. He appeared so exhausted and it was all because of her.

She stared at his back but he didn't move for some time. And she slowly brought her hand up to caress him but too quick,he stood straight before he put his hand into his hair as though he was in great predicament before he turned around and left. Maria reached out her hand to stop him but no words came out of her mouth, and with his back facing her he left the Chamber again.

When night time came, Maria waited for her husband to come back but he didn't. She waited for a long time until she was sure it was beyond midnight and he wouldn't come. Curling herself up to hug her knees, she fell asleep without covering herself once again despite feeling so cold.

Not so long after his wife had fallen asleep, Darius came to his Chambers and he stood by her side of the bed watching her hugging her knees and curling herself into a tight ball yet she didn't bother to cover herself under the blankets. His hand reached out to touch her face and tuck back a few strands of her hair that had fallen out but he halted when he was just an inch away and retrieved his hand.

He then gently lifted her before he cautiously covered her under the blankets. He was about to sigh and leave when he tried to retrieve his hand from under her head when he halted. His wife was now holding his hand captive before she pleadingly spoke in her sleep.

"Darius, please am sorry. Please don't leave me again. please,am sorry" her voice died down at the end and it was as though she was about to cry and he just sat there frozen at the spot. He then slowly tried to retract his hand but it was futile until he just sighed and lay next to her. He watched her face for a long time before he fell off to sleep. All the time there was an emotion clouding his eyes which was more than longing.

When Maria woke up the next morning, she was again tucked securely under the blankets and her heart clenched at the thought that Darius would come to make sure she slept well yet he didn't come to spend some time with her or even enough for her to apologise to him.

She then sat up on the bed not wanting to look at his side and feel that heavy pain in her heart that she used to feel every morning whenever he wasn't sleeping in his position. she was about to lean back on the head board and close her eyes when she felt something hard behind her back and she quickly looked there to see a hand. His hand! He had stayed!

Maria looked at her husband's side of the bed and sure enough,he was there looking so peaceful as he slept and she wondered what could have gone wrong for such a peaceful person to end up the way he was. She studied his face and realized that if not for the three huge scars on his face,he would have been a handsome man. But comparing the scars and his ever stoic expression was what made him what he was in the eyes of others.

She felt her heart warming at the thought that he had finally stayed beside her again and she would apologise to him later and everything would be fine between them again, finally. She decided not to disturb him and let him sleep remembering how he had seemed exhausted yesterday when he had come to the chamber in the evening.

When his eyes finally opened, Darius found his wife staring at him. But there was no irritation or anything like it in her eyes. He stared back at her and their eyes held for a moment before she spoke

"Good morning" she said in a very pleasant voice.

"Good morning" he answered and she continued to stare at him. "Did you have a good sleep?" he asked and she nodded.

"And you....did you sleep well?" she asked him. He couldn't remember ever sleeping for such a long time that he even had to wake up after sunrise. So, that could only mean one thing. He had slept so peacefully and he nodded at her.

"Do you have work to do today?" she asked and he wondered what she meant by that. "I was wondering if you could show me around?" she asked hesitantly and he continued to stare at her. Did that mean she was nolonger scared of him? He couldn't fathom it.

"Are you ...?" he started but she didn't let him finish his sentence as she called his name.

"Darius..." she called and he posed in what he was saying to look at her.

"Hmm" he answered

"I...I am so sorry. I... didn't mean to send you away from me and I...I thought you had... you had taken Alexa away from me. Am sorry I have been so rude towards you"she apologized without meeting his gaze and for a moment, silence filled the chamber before she looked at him and said

"Please don't leave me alone again. I am aware I might have to be punished for my behavior towards you. But I will take the punishment, just don't avoid me anymore" there was the slightest of pleading at the end of her voice and he wondered whom could have told her that she was to be punished just because she offended him. Whoever it was, could only deserve to be dragged to the dungeon to reflect on himself for scaring his wife. If only he knew him!

"No one is going to punish you" he told her before he got off the bed to go put on his clothes and leave for the day. But the moment he was out of the dressing room, his wife was right there waiting for him.

"Does that mean you have forgiven me?" she asked cautiously and he silently looked at her before he nodded. He saw her fingers fiddling with each other and wondered what else could be on her mind but he didn't ask and patiently waited for her to say it.

"Can you have breakfast with me,then?" she asked in almost a whisper as though she was talking to herself and a certain realization hit him. He had never sat down to have a meal with his wife ever since he married and brought her to his kingdom. He again silently nodded feeling a bit guilty for his great show of poor manners to the poor woman.

"Where would you love to have breakfast?" he asked but it took her a long time to register and process what he had said. He couldn't blame her,he had restricted her from leaving the Chambers himself. She then looked him in the eyes before she whispered..

"Any place is okay"she said but Darius felt there was an underlying meaning to her words but he didn't dig farther. He sat down and waited with her which wasn't a long time at all before two maids with one he recognized as her personal maid came in with her breakfast and served it before they bowed and left.

He then sat down next to her and they started to have their breakfast in silence with only the sound coming from the connection of the cutlery to the plate. He watched her eat slowly with an elegance to every single bite she took and chewed unaware that she was doing the same. And soon enough,their eyes met and held but she looked away from him first and they both continued to eat.

Soon, Maria reached out for a glass of water while Darius did the same and they stared at each other before they both let go of it at the same time. Maria wiped her mouth with a napkin while Darius reached out for the glass and poured some water into it before he put it in front of her and she thanked him without meeting his gaze.

They continued to eat in silence until they were done and it was time for him to leave. He got up from where he was sitting and looked at her before he said

"Am going to handle a few matters. I will be back by the evening to show you around"he told her and she nodded. But there was the slightest glint of excitement in her eyes that couldn't go unnoticed by him and he left promising himself to come back in time and take her out.