Barbaric

Chapter Thirty-One

(Jox's POV)

I was incredibly anxious. When Del had told me he wanted to talk to Delra alone...I wanted nothing more than to disregard his wishes and follow him just to make sure there were no other attempts on his life. Call me paranoid...but after the fiasco a couple days ago, I was hesitant to even let the poor man out of my sight. But could you blame me, though? I mean, the man I loved with all my heart was almost killed because I wasn't there to protect him.

Delkele kept trying to reassure me that it wasn't my fault, and that the fault fell onto the king that wanted him dead, but that darker part of me continuously told me that my absence was the reason he had gotten hurt in the first place. But I was assured, time and time again by both Emylle and Delkele, that I shouldn't listen to that darker part of myself, and that I couldn't have known what was going to happen.

So, despite me wanting to pull Delkele to me and never let him go, I decided to let him have his time with his sister. At least then, I knew someone would be there to protect him if something went wrong.

That didn't stop me from being anxious and worried, though. While he was gone, I nervously paced back and forth in Delkele's room, while telling myself not to run back to him and ruin his conversation with Delra. But I couldn't do that to him, not when he was finally fixing his relationship with the only family he had left.

After a while, I sat down on a plush, maroon chair that sat in front of an intricate fireplace, and dropped my head into my hands, telling myself to just calm down and that everything was going to be alright.

I just...I needed something to distract me. Or...perhaps, someone.

With that thought in mind, I stood up and grabbed my tablet before finding Asurah's contact information, hesitating only for a moment until I pressed the call button. The Glacic icon flashed a couple of times before Asurah's pale face flashed across the holographic screen.

"Oh, hey Jox!" He then frowned when he saw the look on my face. "Ok, spill the beans. What happened? Is Del being a jerk again? 'Cause if he is, I'll totally send Joseph over there to kick his butt."

"Hey, don't bring me into this." I heard the man in question whine, and it almost brought a smile to my face.

Instead, I let out a long sigh and slumped back down into the chair, gently nibbling at the inside of my cheek. "No, no. He's...He's been perfect to me. And things are going incredibly well between us. It's just, Del was attacked the other day by an assassin from Xecto, and now I don't ever want to let him out of my sight, even to use the bathroom. I guess I'm terrified about whether or not someone else is going to take their shot on him and actually succeed this time."

Asurah's eyes widened when I revealed what had transpired and shook his head slowly before he sighed. "I'm assuming he's alright, though, otherwise you would have said something as soon as I accepted the call. As much as it sucks to say, Delkele unfortunately has a lot of enemies, and a lot of it isn't even his fault, really. Most of his enemies were made from his predecessors. It's unfair that Delkele is the one being forced to pay the price." Asurah fell silent, pinching his brows together as he seemed to think about something. Finally, after a moment, he sighed and began to wring his hands together; a nervous tick Asurah seemed to have. "Look...if things get too bad for Delkele...let him know that Glacida has his back. I-I don't wish to go to war, especially so soon after the whole fiasco with Vextian...but Delkele doesn't deserve to pay for the sins of his patera. Not when it is undeserved."

I stared at Asurah with fondness, my heart warming at his generosity. It must have taken a lot for Asurah to offer his help, especially when he had been so distraught from losing so many not too long ago. The fact that he was willing to aid Delkele, even after all of that...it almost made me cry with relief. "That means a lot, Asurah. I do hope it doesn't come to that, though. But, maybe after Delkele marries Emylle, those that view him as an enemy will be hesitant to attack."

Asurah frowned. "He's still marrying her? Even with you being there with him?"

I nodded. "It's just to please Elphes, really. Del has no interest in Emylle besides that of a friend. In fact, Delra is the one whose extra cuddly with her."

Asurah's eyebrows raised his in surprise, the Glacic king leaning forward in his seat with a slight grin on his lips. "Wait, really?! I always thought Delra's heart was a block of coal, but holy tarts it seems like I was wrong. Good for them, though. It's good that Emylle is able to choose who she wants to be with. Though," he tapped his chin, "why not have Emylle marry Delra instead of Delkele? I mean, she's royalty too."

I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips. "Because Elphes apparently has an obsession with Making Delkele miserable. The freaking jerk. It's taking pretty much all my willpower to not hunt the bastard down and kick him where it hurts. I mean, threatening to wage war on Del if he doesn't agree to marry Emylle? The man's a demented psychopath."

Asurah nodded in agreement. "I've met with him a couple of times in the past for a collaboration, and yeah, the guy's a jerk and a creep. You know, he tried to feel me up one time and I ended up giving that bastard a broken nose."

"What?!" Joseph's voice sounded on the other end, making Asurah look to where he must have been.

"Don't worry, my sugary little breadstick, I punched him real good for it. Besides, this all happened long before you were even alive."

I heard Joseph grumbling under his breath and an amused smile formed on my face as I changed the topic, if only for the human's sanity. "How are the safety shelters coming along? Have you found the right locations for them all, yet?"

Asurah pursed his lips and scrunched his nose. "I do have places for the bunkers in Aeris and Lethidar, and even a possible location in Iysalis...but Kiron is looking to be rather difficult. The ice there is apparently much thicker than I anticipated, and its beginning to prove difficult to find a space large enough where the ice is thin enough to penetrate." He dragged a porcelain hand through his hair. "We might have to relocate our plans to a smaller town around Kiron. Which is fine, I guess, but people are going to have a harder time trying to get there from the city than I was wanting." He groaned. "It's a lot to plan out and redirect everything. I'm just glad Glacida has the funds to be able to afford it."

I went to answer, but heard the bedroom door opening, and when I turned to look, it was none other than Delkele, who merely raised a brow towards me as I turned back to the tablet. "Hey, I'll talk to you more about it later, Del's back. And don't stress too hard about those shelters; I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're smart like that."

Asurah's expression softened, and he nodded his head, causing those long, snowy locks to spill over his bare shoulders. "You're right. I need to just stop stressing and take a moment to breathe. Anyway, you get back to your giant teddy-bear." He then winked at me and ended the call, enticing me to get up from my seat to hug the "giant teddy-bear".

"How'd the talk go?" I asked him, feeling him practically melt against my body.

"It went incredibly well, actually," he replied as he pulled back a little, crimson gaze meeting mine. "She helped me realize that I'm not alone in all of this. We even talked about making this a co-ruling. We'll be running Naraka together instead of putting all of the work on just me." He sighed and laid his head on my shoulder, still maintaining eye contact with me. "You know what that means, right? I'll have more free time to spend with you."

I grinned and pulled him into a kiss, his lips so soft and warm against my own. And I absolutely loved that I could turn him to jelly with just one flick of my tongue, and I had to hold onto him just to ensure he didn't fall to the floor while we made out. After a few more passionate seconds, I pulled away from him, adoring the blush that darkened his tanned cheeks.

"I am so happy to hear that," I said, reverting back to the previous conversation, "now you don't have to overwork yourself, and maybe start getting more than four hours of sleep a night."

Delkele nodded and continued holding onto me-not that I minded, of course. I loved having Del in my arms. It felt as if he was made to be there, and Volcion would probably freeze over before I complained about holding him. Because he was my heart, and there was nothing in this vast universe that was going to change that.