Nothing but a prey

"I do not like dealing with useless, senseless, pathetic beings," Cyrus sighed heavily and shook his head in disappointment. "Unfortunately, you have proved to be all three of those." He added with an angered snap.

In front of Cyrus, who was seated haughtily on his throne with his panthers at his right and left sides, the man in the hood was on his knees with his head down.

A deep voice arose from the hooded person. "My king, I..."

"Keep quiet!" Cyrus snarled angrily.

At that instant, Sage hurried into the throne room with the appearance of having seen a ghost.

Her widening eyes were fixed on the hooded individual, and Cyrus narrowed his eyes in her direction.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned her with full displeasure.

"Who is that?" Sage questioned right away.

Cyrus' eyebrows rose up in amusement. "You know him?" He asked.

Sage approached the hooded figure slowly and extended her hand to take the hood off.

"Do not." Cyrus sighed making her halt.

He was unable to unsee the dread and terror in her eyes. Why? Why was she concerned about the man, who was wearing a hood, when she couldn't see his face and didn't know him?

"You married a feisty one," The hooded man laughed as he spoke.

"I told you to keep quiet did I not?" Cyrus snapped at him with full hostility.

Upon hearing the person's voice, Sage became relieved. She felt so stupid because it wasn't who she thought it was.

She took a step back, grinned cunningly, and removed the wearer's hood before growling at Cyrus. "You do not rule over me!" She then ran out of the throne room, not bothering to look at the person's face.

Cyrus chewed his lower lip, staring in the direction Sage had vanished.

He realised she assumed he had found out who she "laid" with and invited him to the castle.

"I need a name." Cyrus muttered.

"King Cyrus, I.."

"Ashton! Do not provoke me!" Cyrus snapped at the unhooded man in front of him.

Ashton sighed, avoiding looking Cyrus in the eyes.

He was a gorgeous man with tanned leather skin, black hair, and piercing hazel eyes.

"You are a fucking demon! A dumb one!" Cyrus stood from his throne and roared at Ashton, who lowered his head to the ground and closed his eyes, not arguing that Cyrus was correct.

"I am sorry... I.. it will not happen again." Ashton whispered inhaling deeply.

"Go back, go back to Furibund!" Cyrus' eyes turned silver reptile like form. "Or Venus and Ares will take care of you." He added with a deadly hiss.

Furibund was the great nation of demons.

Ashton swallowed and mustered enough confidence to raise his head. Cyrus' eyes were filled with grief and rage.

"No. You might be powerful and all, have man eating guardians, but you are the last of your kind, you saved me and I will serve you till my last day.. even in hell." Ashton spoke with integrity.

Cyrus's gaze became softer. "If I were in my dark state, I would have not spared you." He grumbled.

Ashton smiled brightly. "Which is why I am telling you now!" He chuckled excitedly.

Cyrus' gaze became sharp again shutting Ashton up.

"Never ever defy me again or else I will send you back to hell myself." He threatened fiercely.

Ashton swallowed hard and almost choked on his own breath.

Meanwhile, Sage had not completely left the throne room and had eavesdropped on Cyrus and Ashton's conversation.

She wondered what Ashton had done to infuriate Cyrus so much.

Ashton was a demon? A demon heavily loyal to a dragon? Cyrus had saved his life?

Sage had a lot of questions in her head, so she forgot about Katherine and went back to her room to stop her mind from asking questions.

She approached the fireplace, which had low flames, and blasted a small flare of fire at it, which increased the flames.

"He reads huh?" She asked staring at the large book shelves. "Interesting." She added and walked towards shelves and picked out the first book she spotted.

Caressing her fingers on the hard cover, she whispered the title of the book, "Lonely Star." Her eyes widened in curiosity. "Fiction?" She asked and opened the book.

"Tiana and Andrew love story...!" She ended her words with a dramatic shriek. "He reads romantic novels?!"

She moved over to the bed, sat down, and began reading the book till the very last page, at which point she fell asleep.

...

Cyrus entered the chamber, which was filled with maids cleaning up. They all kept their gazes away from his and concentrated on cleaning the room.

As he looked around lazily, he felt someone hug him from behind.

"Why are you hurting me? I cannot erase that scene between you and the fire mage from my head." Isabella sobbed.

"I am hurting you because you are nothing to me and that fire mage..." He grabbed her interlocked hands on his stomach and made sure she felt the extreme coldness of his hands, causing her to gasp and release him before turning to face her. "That fire mage is my wife."

Tears filled Isabella's eyes. "I.. I am supposed to be your wife!" She screamed.

"I do not have time for this," Cyrus tsked and walked out of the room.

He merely went to the room to find her and discuss some serious matters with her. He expected her to act this way, but he didn't have time for questions or dramatic emotions.

He returned to his room to find Sage sleeping on his bed with a book on her chest.

"Lonely Star," The words escape his throat as a fading whisper.

He walked towards the bed and took the book then sat next to Sage.

"You sleep a lot parrot, nothing to do right?" He asked caressing his fingers on the hard cover of the book. "You are my wife but you are nothing less than a prey."