The Bastard Princess

41.

-HER-

I woke up in the morning due to commotion downstairs. He seemed to be moving things around and working. After stretching, I peeked through the gaps, downstairs. He had brought a lot of wood into the house. He was measuring the gaps and cutting the wood pieces accordingly before hammering them in place.

He was shirtless and his back was facing me. His trousers hung low on his hip bones, leaving the rest of his muscular body visible. I was lost staring at his muscles which flexed as he moved.

I was very soon reminded of Cheren even though he was very different from him, both physically and seemingly. His curly hair was plastered to the back of his neck with sweat as he cut and hammered the wood in the gaps.

I ate the leftover fruits as I watched him work. Every now and then a chill would run down my spine, reminding me of all the things he was capable of. I couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do to me.

So far, after bringing me here, he didn't say or do anything to me. He seemed to be busy working around the house, repairing it and putting it to pieces.

I wondered where was he all these months and what he had been doing. I also wanted to know how did he find me and most importantly, what was he going to do to me.

After I was done eating, I slowly and silently climbed down the ladder and walked out while he worked. He glanced at me once, scanning me from head to toe before he turned his attention towards the wood.

Meanwhile, I didn't dare look or breathe in his direction. I chose to act oblivious to his presence. I washed my face and drank some water from the lake before I set out towards civilization.

I had the same reaction from the priestesses. No one talked to me, they only whispered behind my back and continued to give me judgmental looks. Today there wasn't much to do at my temple. I finished early and set out to find Theto. I wanted to talk to her.

I found her in her temple, assisting the priestesses. She glanced at me once before looking away. I knew what that look meant. She was busy and wanted me to wait for her. I waited for her on the steps, watching the sun disappear behind the trees.

"Arsinoe," She came to be after work, "What are you doing here?" She inquired. She still seemed distant and indifferent to me. I hated seeing this side of her. I liked how she was before. I doubted if she would ever be the same with me again.

"I wanted to see you, Theto," I told her hesitantly.

"You've seen me, alright,"

"Theto, I apologize for everything that happened that night. I promised Edara that it wouldn't happen again," I informed her while she listened to me with a straight face. She wasn't pleased.

"Who was that man, Arsinoe and what is he?" Theto asked sharply instead. I shuffled on my feet hesitantly. I remembered telling her that he wasn't my husband that night but I told Edara the opposite the next morning.

I breathed deeply before I told her, "We live together," My eyes searched for any reaction on her face but she continued to keep her face void of any emotion.

"I know that you are keeping a lot of things from me. Whatever it is, no one other than you two should face the consequences," With that, she walked away. She was still disappointed with me. I was sure about that.

It was already very dark when I walked through the village and reached the edge of the woods. I knew I was late and to make it worse, he was already there... waiting for me.

His silver eyes intensified on me while his jaw clicked. I lowered my eyes and walked past him before walking towards the house.

"I told you to be back before dark," He gritted behind me all of a sudden, giving me a fright. The hair at the back of my neck stood up as his hot breath blew straight on me. A chill ran down my spine.

He was literally breathing down my neck as he followed me through the woods to the house.

"I had work," I tried to sound stern.

"I don't care," He gritted. I could hear him grinding his teeth in anger behind me. It made my stomach churn.

He was so different than Chefren. Chefren never showed his anger, he directly acted on it but it was different with Ares. His anger was so intense that it could alone destroy the whole forest.

Halfway home I had started to curse myself for being so late. I knew the consequences were waiting for me in the house.

"You shouldn't have come after me," I told him.

"So that you could run away? Do you think I am a fool?" He spat. I was grinding my teeth due to resentment and frustration too but I couldn't show it on the surface. I didn't have any audacity left to do that.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" I was now shaking, "You can go wherever you want and do whatever you want-"

"Do you think I am doing this by choice? Do you think I really want to be here with you?" He interrupted me.

Pure loathing was dripping off his voice but what surprised me what his words. They sounded similar, something Chefren would say to me had I landed him in some unwanted situation.

"Then leave! I didn't tell you to come looking for me!" At this point, I just spun on my heels and shouted at him. He almost ran into me considering he was just behind me.

His silver eyes were glowing in the dark, glaring down at me. I was instantly reminded of a pair of similar red eyes that had been keeping me awake at nights. Both of them belonged to him.

"You have no right to talk to me like that! We are here because of you!" His voice boomed off into the woods, making the trees shiver.

"I am giving you the chance to leave me. You don't have to see me again if you don't want t-"

"The only reason I am keeping up with your bullshit is because of this fvcking mate bond. I should have rejected you the moment I saw you. Fvck, I even went a step further to save your life but now when I think about it, I regret it because you weren't worth it! You are not worth anything!" He yelled at me.

A lump in my throat blocked the small sob that threatened to escape my lips. My vision grew blurry due to water in my eyes. As he glared at me, I glared back at him. I was mad at him because of how right he was.

"You don't have to remind me," I spat and spun on my heels before I almost ran to the house. I climbed the ladder to my safe space the first thing when I got in. He entered the house just after me before slamming the door shut.

I slumped into my makeshift bed and sniffed the tears back. I tried to hold them back but they torrented out of my eyes. Soon, I was sobbing. I covered my mouth to muffle the sound but I knew he could hear me.

"Just shut up!" He growled from downstairs and the whole house shivered. As I cried myself to sleep, the night wept along with me.

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