/6/ The scar

Taffi barged into his chamber enraged, he couldn't decide whether or not to call off the meeting or trust that his mother would not embarrass him.

However, in his furious state,Taffi look in the direction of his wife who appeared to be asleep on the bed.

"That was a fast shower?" He thought, forgetting that he had been with his mother for half an hour.

The sight of her face eased up his fury. He smiled broadly and walked closer to the bed where he hovered his palm above her face to ensure that she was peacefully asleep, a childish act that he had waited that long to put to the test.

His eyes trailed down her lips, bare without any lipstick on, yet they attracted him like a magnet. She was his wife afterall, and had every right to know what they felt like if he wanted. But Taffi restrained himself and walked away from the bed.

He also needed to take a bath, to wash off the stress from the long journey they had. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Sania and took off his shirt.

Once he was done, he took off his shoes and pants and walked towards the mirror in his underwear where he examined his beard for reasons best known to him.

"He is so good-looking," Sania thought, as she stared at him with one eye open. She was alert and ready to shut them when he looked in her direction.

"But he is still a greedy, and ambitious ruler." She said this to remind herself not to fall under his charming spell, for all she knew, he was going to show his true self soon.

"You know that I can see you from the mirror right?" Taffi's voice startled her, and as soon as he turned around, Sania wished she could sink into the bed.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, and the naughty smirk on his face didn't help her feel any better. Sania covered her eyes with her palm to avoid looking at him.

"I thought you were asleep, did I wake you up?" Taffi inquired. He walked up to her and took Sania's hand away from her face so that she could see him.

And with a closer look at his body, Sania choked on her word. He was too perfect for a man. His skin tone was better compared to hers, and she couldn't look away.

Taffi noticed how awkwardly she stared at his body and asked,

"Is there something?"

His words snapped Sania back to reality, and she replied,

"No... Uhm, just wondering where you got that scar."

Sania couldn't tell him that she admired his body, so the scar on his shoulder was an excuse to save herself from the embarrassment.

"Oh, that little thing," Taffi mumbled and rubbed his finger on her scar.

"That was a year ago, I was attacked."

"Oh," exclaimed Sania, she instantly hated herself for bringing it up because it meant that she'd be trapped in a conversation with him, and forced to stare at his shirtless body.

"But it's nothing to worry about," Taffi added, he didn't want to miss the chance he had to talk with her, especially since he noticed that she avoided it all day.

"Do you want to know what attacked me?" He asked her and hoped she said yes just to keep the dialogue alive.

Deep down, Sania wanted to know, but at the same time, she wanted him to go away. But she nodded her head sheepishly, just to satisfy her curiosity.

"Okay," Taffi adjusted his sitting position, with one of his legs on the bed, and the other over the edge.

Sania felt uncomfortable because it looked as though he was hovering above her, so she tried to sit up, but Taffi restricted her.

"No, lie down," he instructed.

"Since I woke you up, I'm going to tell you this story to make you go back to sleep."

He ran his finger down her cheeks, and Sania sighed heavily,

"What have I done?" She asked herself.

"Would you believe if I told you, that I got this scar after I was attacked by a bee?" He started his tale and Sania rolled her eyes.

"Now he is just being stupid," she thought.

"I was in the hallway," he continued,

"And a bee came out of nowhere. I was alone, so I tried to stay still and hoped it would go away, but I did not."

"When it didn't, I took a sword from one of the Knight's amor in the hallway, and tried to slice it."

Sania raised a brow, it wasn't what she expected to hear, but since he intended to put her to bed, Sania had no choice but to endure long enough and pretend to fall asleep when the time was right.

"The bee was serious and so was I, chased it around the hallway, and in the process, I struck my sword on one of the knight's statues, and it started a chain reaction, one after another and one of them nearly fell on me."

"Oh," Sania's eyes widened in surprise, just the expression that Taffi wished for.

"And while I tried to stop it, something sharp from the metal used to make the statue pierced through my skin, and that's how this scar was born." He ended his narration, and Sania stared at him with an expression of shock.

"Do you want to know how I was rescued?" He was yet to complete his question when Sania gently closed her eyes.

"Hmm," he chuckled, because he knew her plan.

"You could have just said you didn't want to hear it. You know, I haven't heard you say anything aside from 'oh' and nodding your head."

"Hmm," he sighed when Sania refused to respond,

"Goodnight then, I'll go take a bath now."

Sania heaved a sigh of relief after he was gone, she peeked at him with one eye opened and mumbled,

"I won't survive this place."

Taffi was also relieved, he couldn't tell her the true tale behind the scar, else Sania might run away from the castle without a second thought.