Chapter 9 The 50/50 deal

Damon’s POV

I had been cursed with the ailment of longing.

Thousands of years accompanied by loneliness had truly driven me mad, yet I couldn’t stop. For the first time in a long time, I dreamt and yearned for someone to be by my side.

Was this maddening yearning the punishment I had received from the moon goddess?

Even while I departed from Ariana she still overtook my senses and I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Then there was the pulverizing anger that came over me anytime I remembered that ugly beta that had sent her into ruins with his actions. The beta she still had affection for.

All throughout yesterday she couldn’t leave my mind even while I worked.

I remembered not even paying attention to the black shadow when he called to inform of a job well done. All I wanted was to be close to her again and for her to smile at me once more.

I couldn’t stop thinking about our day tomorrow and the endless possibilities that came with it. Would she finally notice she was destined to me as I belonged solely to her? I shook my head, I was truly going insane.

Worst of all, here I was in her bedroom watching her sleep peacefully.

I leaned on the wall, watching as her chest rose up and down softly and the presence of worry on her tired face. I knew the cause of her worries and I was annoyed again. That greedy beta.

The lies he kept feeding to her, the manipulation and of course it worked. She was smart as she was naïve gravely so but it was understandable.

She was honest and straightforward and had no clue about the evil that existed in this world, I didn’t want her to know about it though yet here I was, trying to make her mine.

Which was why she saw no harm in breaking her bones, living with snide remarks from her peers and those above or below her, just so she could prove she was worthy enough to marry that fool. Yet even after he betrayed her senselessly, she was helping him and thought of his well-being.

I walked closer towards her, keeping my presence hidden and avoiding contact so as to not scare her.

“I am destined to you as you are to me.” The statement travelled silently with the night.

She didn’t hear me and didn’t move an inch. I smiled, knowing I could watch her like this for tonight, and hoped that a night would come when I would stare at her with no fear.

Soon…just soon, that day would come. This was the only thought ringing in my head as I disappeared from her bedroom.

****

Standing in the palace, I was slightly taken aback at how extravagant and full of light the whole place was which was a severe contrast to mine.

Well it was to be expected, as people of the Warwick Kingdom were known to have pride the size of a pregnant cow and were also known for being immensely boastful.

All prosperous kingdoms were like that but theirs was another thing entirely. It matched the personality of the king and his appearance.

If I were a lowly king from another kingdom and we met I’d be intimidated by him but I’d seen hundreds of empires like these. They always fell and were forgotten.

From a distance I could already smell her and suddenly it wasn’t so bad in here.

She walked towards me a nervous smile on her face and a slight limp on her left foot she was trying hard to ignore. I waited patiently till she stood in front of me.

“Hope I didn’t make you wait long?”

“Not at all.” I responded. She smelled fantastic.

“Did you rest well?” I asked. We had began leaving the palace premises.

“I did. Did you?”

“Yes.” I responded. “How was training today?”

She looked at me stunned, “No one’s ever asked me that. How did you even know?”

“All that strength wasn’t just going to build itself was it? Plus your biceps have a good definition.”

She smiled, warmth filling her cheeks. Swiftly she turned away not letting me see the redness in her cheeks.

“Thank you. It made me… happy.” She said, almost whispering. My dull heart was pumping wildly. “Did you have breakfast?”

“Yes, the bread here is really nice, especially the one at the palace.”

“I know, right?” She turned, her eyes brightening up.

I smiled instinctively. “I love the bread so much.”

I had reduced my pace to keep up with her, and for her to not realize I knew she had sprained her ankle. She probably didn’t want to let me know but it was getting more evident by the second and the pain she fought hard to conceal was slipping.

There was no way a princess should walk around her kingdom like that.

“Are you alright? You look tired.” I lied, wanting her to be comfortable enough to tell me she was hurt.

She gave a wry smile. “I’m perfectly fine.”

I stopped, turning towards her. “Forgive me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

Without warning, I hugged her, lifting her up from the ground, using the time to inspect her left foot. As expected, it was sprained and badly too, she shouldn’t even be walking.

Predictably, she panicked. “What are you doing? Put me down, right this instant!”

I didn’t listen. Instead I held her in my arms, my hands under her back and knee.

She tried pushing me and on discovering a fraction of my strength gave up, sighing. When I was convinced she was done struggling, I began walking.

“How did you even figure it out?” I didn’t respond, “Look, I didn’t want you to think I wouldn’t keep my end of the bargain. A respectable individual wouldn’t do that.”

“I would’ve stayed with you in the palace. I just wanted to talk to you.”

She tried hiding her face from me and I realized she did that when she was embarrassed.

“I don’t have anything to talk about. I’m not an interesting person even though I am a princess and princesses are supposed to be very exciting. All I do is train.”

“Then we would’ve said nothing, doesn’t matter.”

“We’re going to get a lot of attention.”

“I don’t care for attention.”

She stared at me for a long time while we walked.

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“Yes, we’re headed to the lake after the market square.”

“How? You’re not even familiar with the kingdom?”

I didn’t respond. She sighed, relaxing. As we walked by the market square, hundreds of eyes followed us and her face had reddened immensely. She buried her face in my shirt to hide and I had to refrain myself from doing a lot of things. She was just too cute.

After a while when the population reduced she stopped hiding looking around. “Wow, you really do know where you’re going.”

We had arrived at the lake. I carefully set her down on one of the benches, then sat next to her. Paddling away were a duck and her six children sailing behind her.

“What is it?” I asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re worried about something. You’ve had that expression since the beginning of this journey. What is the problem?”

She really was an open book. She was hesitant but contemplating.

“The tournament is in two days and I’m so worried I won’t be prepared in time for it.”

“You will.”

She raised her eyebrow, “How?”

“I’ll help you.”

She didn’t look convinced. “How?”

“You just need to trust me. I give you my word.”

Surprisingly, she agreed without a moment’s pause. “Okay.”

“I have a condition.”

“You’re quite cunning.” She stared at me, a smile dancing on her lips.

“I am much worse than that, princess.”

She watched me for a while before speaking, “What do I have to do?”

Reaching into my coat, I took out a box, revealing a golden necklace with the initial ‘D’.

“Would you do me the honor of letting me wear this on you, with the promise of you not taking it off?”

She stared at the glistening jewel, completely taken aback.

“Do I have a choice in this?”

“That is for you to decide, princess. You wear it and I help you. 50-50 deal.”

She sighed. “You’re a very strange individual, merchant.” There was no sign of resentment in her voice this time when she spoke, and my chest soared.

“I can’t refute that, my princess. I can’t.”