Barbaric

Chapter Twelve

I was tall, yes. But Delkele was taller, and therefore, had longer legs than me, which in turn, allowed him to catch up with me rather easily, the man grabbing my arm and forcing me to stop. I turned, fist raised in the air, ready to force him to let me go...however, I saw the desperate look in his eyes, and I lowered my arm, still feeling utterly betrayed.

"Why?" Was all I can utter, my gaze searching his for an answer.

Delkele averted his gaze, his hand still curled around my bicep as he inhaled shakily. "I-I was about to warn you about this, Jox...but the gods seem to hate me as of late." He peered back at me. "But I assure you, Jox, this isn't what it looks like. I..." He stopped talking and peered behind him, seemingly searching for something, or someone, before he looked back towards me. "Elphes paid me a visit a couple of days ago, regarding Emylle's engagement to me. He wanted us to complete the marriage right away, yet when I told him I didn't want to marry her..." He took a deep breath and quickly looked behind him once more, before turning that gaze back towards me. "He wasn't happy, Jox. H-He threatened me. Threatened my people if I didn't go through with the marriage. And Jox? He has enough firepower to completely wipe us out, and dammit...I-I agreed, if only to keep my people safe."

My gaze searched his for any kind of lie, yet all I saw was nothing but the truth, causing my breath to catch in my throat at the severity of the situation. "Elphes threatened you?" I asked in a hushed, angry whisper, panic settling in my mind with what this meant. "W-We have to tell Asurah, Delkele. You know damn well he won't stand for this."

I frowned when Delkele adamantly shook his head, crimson gaze pleading as his hand slid from my bicep to my wrist, his fingers calloused and warm against my cool skin. "Don't mention this to him, please, Jox. Asurah has already been through too much in so little time. This is my problem to deal with, not his."

I shook my head and pulled my arm from him, not believing that he would try to figure such an enormity out on his own. "Del, we have to tell someone. It's not fair to you or your people. Elphes has no right to force you, a king, to do whatever he wants. He's a damn bastard for threatening you as he has."

Delkele lowered his gaze. "I-I know, Jox. Truly, I do. But it's my people I need to protect, which makes it my problem. No one else should get involved for my stupid decisions."

I stared at him, wanting to try to convince him to let Glacida help him. But unfortunately, he was right. Glacida was still dealing with the death of those caught in Vextian's crossfire, and I doubt Asurah could handle the risk of losing anymore, even if it were to help out a friend. But dammit, I wanted to help him. He didn't deserve to be threatened into a relationship, and I'll be damned if I had to share him with...well, anyone.

"Fine," I muttered after a moment, making sure to catch his gaze, "but I'm going to help you in any way I can. You don't deserve the crap Elphes is forcing on you. I don't know how I can help...but I can try. Because I-I do care about you, Del, whether you see it or not."

Delkele stared at me, his cheeks much darker than normal, and I couldn't help the satisfaction well within me at making him blush. He then cleared his throat and averted his gaze, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck before the both of us caught sight of Emylle, who was cautiously approaching us.

"I-Is everything alright?" She wondered quietly, light gaze darting between Delkele and I. "I-I'm sorry if I caused a problem between the two of you. It wasn't my intention." She then nibbled at her bottom lip, the poor woman rubbing at her arms as her gaze finally focused on Delkele. "O-Oh. I think I may know what's going on here." She lowered her gaze, pursing her lips, and I gotta admit, I felt bad for her.