Beloved

• Chp. 29 •

Lilith

He sighed and laid his head low while he was still on his knee in front of me. I felt horrible having him return to all this after his long journey. My hand hovered over his hair hesitating to touch him. But he looked up at me before I could reach him. His eyes looked deeply into mine and for some reason they appeared downcast. Perhaps he was tired.

"What did you think you could've possibly done? A woman surrounded by a group of foreign men...I don't expect you to handle these matters."

Why? It bothered me that as his wife there was nothing I could do for him. I wanted to at least have a purpose here.

"B-But..Khael."

"There is nothing else to be discussed here. You are not to be involved in this."

From his words, I was afraid of what he was intending on doing to these men.

"W-What will you do with them?"

"They've dared to challenge me and so they'll pay with their lives."

That furious look on his face started to appear again. No, I didn't want to see these sides of him.

"K-Khael..please. Why don't we l-listen to Ruel?"

His eyes darkened and I noticed the irritation in his voice.

"I will not allow anyone to look down on my people and make a laughing stock out of me. It was their intention to test me the moment they stepped foot on my territory. We are done discussing this, Lilith."

He turned away dismissing our conversation.

"Cover yourself. Your attire is much too revealing today."

Without a look at me back, he laid a shawl over my shoulders and walked out of our room.

I looked down at the attire he was referring to. I was wearing one of the dresses he prepared for me. It was what the women here wore often. The narrow sleeves revealed a large part of my shoulders and pinched at my waist. The skirt wasn't anything flowy or long to get in the way and it was quite easy for me to walk in. At first I was uncomfortable showing skin but I've gotten used to it.

But I was surprised that he would say such a thing especially because Khael was never bothered with these clothes. I walked over to the mirror to observe myself. Something didn't feel right.

Khael

I stood outside our room for a while before leaving. I couldn't think straight. My goal was to return back to her and now she was right in front of me as I wished. But I couldn't look into her eyes any longer without stopping myself from mentioning what happened at Roem.

Even in such circumstances my heart pounded in front of her. I noticed the mark of our tribe on her shoulder. She kept her hair loosely braided to one side, revealing the dark ink on her fair skin. Her attire and the mark on her shoulder only hindered me and that was not something I would allow. There was no way I could bring myself to casually embrace her as if nothing happened. The guilt would eat me away.

I walked away from our room pushing away the thought of giving her the necklace anytime soon. Instead, I headed towards the tents where the thieves were tied up. Lucan was already there with his arms crossed with the others and Ruel was also there beside him.

"Where'd you get all of this?"

Lucan continued to ask pointless questions. They were thieves that raided towns and raped the women upon their success. It was clear that their motive was the same here, especially because they knew I had gone to Roem. Even if half of our men remained in Draylum, it was a relief I made it here on time.