A Long Night of Pain and Longing

Talia didn't want to delusion herself with the thought of having this man and being with him. Not after her rejection. And especially not when she finally got away from her father's grasps. She was already living a beautiful and peaceful life in the small town she was living in. Why was he here?

Did he come to take her back to her father? Just the thought of being forced to return to her father's side instilled a tremendous fear and rage inside of her.

With her hands free, she pushed the man away. However, compared to her humanly strength, against the godly strength of a Tarvan, her small fists and attempt to push him away was comparable to a child tussling about with a grown adult man. It was hopeless. And Talia already knew that.

Out of her hopelessness and anger, she screamed atop of her lungs, "Let go of me and get away from me!"

Perhaps, her words surprised the man as his red glowing eyes widened. However, he didn't budge as though he didn't hear her words.

"Get away from me before I scream bloody murder and have everyone rushing into this room!" Talia didn't want her tears to flow down her cheeks. But her eyes betrayed her by gathering even more tears as though it hadn't had enough of it crying during wee hours trying to coax her broken heart to sleep.

She hated herself for feeling this way towards an heartless and ruthless being like him. She didn't even know him that much and neither did he show any interest to know her. But it still broke her confidence to know that even a mark couldn't stop him from rejecting her twice.

It was painful for her the first time, almost killing her the second time. What about him? Did he feel the burn of their mark? Talia didn't want to find out the answer to that. She didn't want to know how he could shield the pain from their mark.

The shadows that restrained and pressed her against the wall slowly retreated, dissipating into nothingness. But the man still stood in front of her, towering her with his muscular and huge build.

Talia refused to look him in the eye and wiped away tear stains from her face.

"You should leave before I call everyone else in this room." Talia whispered into the darkness of the room, not even turning around to look at him. "It should be an easy task for you to disappear, isn't it?"

Her voice dripped with a sardonic tone that had the man frowning.

The man opened his lips, seemingly about to speak, but no sound came out of his mouth. He looked at the small and fragile back of his mate, and saw her shoulders trembling. He couldn't say the words that he wanted to say as he stepped back into the shadows and soundlessly disappeared along with it.

Talia waited until a minute of utter silence passed before she turned around. A little hopeful to see the man whose name she still hasn't learned to know standing there, waiting for her to turn around. But as she had already expected, the man was gone.

There wasn't even a trace of him left for her to remember his presence and tell herself she wasn't dreaming.

He really left.

All strength in her legs was lost as she slipped down on the ground with her hand against the wall to support herself. Talia shoved her face on her palms to muffle her sobs. It pained her so much that her heart that she had struggled so hard to mend was starting to crack once again.

It would be a lie for her to say that she hadn't loved that man. Even if she didn't see his face or know his name. Just the fact that she was destined to be with someone despite the loneliness and suffering she had dealt with in the castle was enough to comfort her.

She was so young that she had already dreamed of a beautiful and loving marriage with him even before she met him. Talia endlessly wished for her to come quickly to her side and take her away from that rotten castle and away from the people inside it. However, the first time they met at the garden, his words of rejection cut deeper than a sword can.

All her dreams of being with her destined mate shattered and tumbled down to the ground. Talia had no time to relieve her of the pain and fix her broken heart for the man as she had been under house arrest.

It all took a few words from him to ruin her.

And that was another reason why she wanted to escape. Because Talia thought that maybe, just maybe, if she were to run away and avoid meeting him, she would be free of all the pain she had to suffer from having her broken heart and bond.

And she was so close, oh, so close to forgetting him.

Yet, tonight, he appeared while yelling at her. He asked her who had hurt her. Why didn't he ask himself for the pain he had caused years ago?

Talia sobbed pitifully on the ground, pinning herself against the wall for any kind of support she could get from it. She was so raw and hurt tonight.

And again, it was one of those nights where no one was there to take away her pain.

…

"Talia!"

Indistinct noises were heard as people gathered into the room. Talia didn't even know how long she slept while sitting on the floor hadn't Peter shouted her name.

The lean boy's face was zoomed in her eyes as he leaned forward, frowning at her. "Talia, wake up!"

Talia felt like her head was splitting open from the headache she was suffering from. On top of her headache, her body was so stiff from the uncomfortable position she slept in before she passed out.

"Heavens, Peter. Stop shouting already." Mama pulled down the boy from Talia. "Your sister is already up and awake. Go to the kitchen and ask the cook to heat up your dear sister's porridge."

Mama waited for Peter to leave then she looked down at her adopted daughter's disheveled state with a frown. "As for you, you should perhaps take a seat while waiting for your food to come up."

Talia slowly nodded, but winced when her head continued to throb in pain. Noticing her discomfort, Mama helped her up and let her sit on the chair. "You look like you've been locked up in a tower for a hundred years. What happened?"

Talia smiled and didn't say a word. One more person knowing her power would put more people at risk. She didn't want to add the nicest lady whom she called 'Mama' now into that list.

Seeing her being silent about it and not saying a word, Krestel didn't question her further. Instead she said, "It's alright if you can't tell me anything. But I must still say my thanks for your help. You saved my husband."

Talia looked away only to see that her adopted father was sleeping peacefully in bed as if nothing occurred last night. A small smile appeared on her lips as she said, "I didn't do anything."

She hadn't lied. It was true that she hadn't done anything at all. It was the power that had taken the pain away from her adopted father.

Krestel didn't know why she was discrediting herself like this. She didn't know what had happened yesterday after she took Peter out of the manor to distract him and not disturb Talia, her eyes could still observe that her husband's condition was getting better.