To Bewitch a Devil

She was getting angry. If all this was a ploy to get her to spend more time with his not working.

“No, I did no such thing. Who called you?”

Okay, now she had had enough; “Alright, since you didn’t ask for me, I’ll be on my way;”

Neera tried to stand up but Axel stood up almost immediately to stop her from leaving and he mistakenly kicked the wine up in her hand and it splashed on her dress.

“Shit!”

Neera cursed as she stared at her white dress that was stained red with wine.

How would she return to the king’s chambers looking like this? If the king saw her, how would she explain herself?

Axel dropped his wine cup on the table and turned to her;

.....

“I’m so sorry. Let me help you clean it;” he said, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket, he tried to wipe the stain.

The wine had splashed on her bosoms and some on the flare of her dress. Axel put his hand on waists, to hold her still while his other hand dabbed the wine stain.

He had just patted her dress with the hankie when the door suddenly burst open and the two of them turned to it in utter shock.

There was a second of silence before someone stepped in. All color drained from Neera’s face when she saw Zavian and she stepped away from Axel in a flash. Fear engulfed her as her heart banged against her chest, so loud that she thought she would faint.

How did he know she was here? Heavens, she was finished!

Neera opened her lips to explain, but no words could come out. She had not seen him that mad before. His eyes stared at her deathly before he turned slowly to Axel;

Axel walked in front of Neera and held her hand; “She had done nothing. She just came to see me.” He explained and Neera turned to him in shock.

Did he think that saying that would make Zavian less angry? Did he not realize that he was just making matters worse?

Zavian’s eyes fell to the Neera’s hand which Axel was holding, and his gaze stayed on it. Neera tried to pull her hand from Axel, but he held her tighter, so she could not move.

Zavian’s eyes stayed on her hand for a moment and then he blinked. As though nothing had happened, he turned around and walked away, closing the door behind him.

Neera panted as goosebumps washed her skin. Her eyes blurred and in a second, tears poured from them;

“Oh God, I’m done for!” She fell to her knees as she cried profusely. Axel bent down to console her;

“It is going to be fine. I’ll talk to him. He won’t touch you.” Neera’s eyes looked up at Axel and she shook her head;

“Do you know what you have done? How do you think you can protect me from the King? I should have never met you! I should never have come here!”

She cried as she turned to the doors and ran away, leaving Axel distraught on the ground.

...

Neera ran towards the king’s chambers and she slowed down when she approached the vast floor-to-ceiling doors that guarded his chambers.

Her heart was beating loudly against her chest and she thought she was going to pass out. Her hands trembled as she walked past the guards and approached his room.

As she moved closer, the air grew tense and she could barely breathe. Should she go to him and apologize? But what did she do wrong?

He never told her not to see anyone, did he?

Although she has said that, why did she feel so guilty? Was it the look in his eyes? His eyes carried betrayal when he stared at her, and her heart squeezed tightly. It seemed hearing repeatedly that she looked like his dead queen had made her think she owed him. Like, she should not be with someone else simply because she looked like his wife.

But it was not so. She was not her. She couldn’t be her... and she did not owe him.

At that thought, a burst of courage ran up her lungs and she turned to his doors and knocked.

There was silence as no one replied. Neera knocked again, and the door pushed open on its own accord, showing that it was not locked. Neera stared at it for a second, then she pushed it wider quietly and walked in.

Neera frowned when she saw they Zavian was not in the room. She walked to the balcony and then the library, but he was nowhere in sight. Thinking for a second, she turned to leave, but she had not taken up to three steps when the doors were pushed open and he walked in.

His expression was still dark and when he saw her, they grew darker.

Neera, who had thought she was strong enough to face him, melted like a lost puppy when her eyes beheld his gaze.

She had not seen him that scary before, except in the forest when he protected her from the soul eater. But this was a different kind of scary. He didn’t look like he wanted to hurt her, but at the same time, he did not look friendly at all.

“Your Majesty...” she called. Her throat was parched, and she gulped painfully;

Zavian was staring at the woman in front of him. His head blank.

He had told himself that he did not care. That he did not care about this woman, that she meant nothing because she was not Lilah, but when he had seen her with another man, he wanted to rip the man’s hand from his arm, and pull her to his side.

He had amassed great control to not do that at that moment. He’d been trying not to care too much, not to want her too much, not to see her too much, and he had been successful in hiding what he was feeling. He couldn’t bring himself to accept that he felt something for her as he did for Lilah.