The King's Obsession ✔️

ELEVEN

Word Count: 1618

~Akara

I stare out toward the forest, remembering moments where things were easier.

Zavian sits next to me, letting me be silent for some time. It's frustrating, having so many questions, their answers only capable of coming from one man, who could be anywhere right now. And I'm not sure I can face him, after what has been revealed to me.

"Remind me of why Marek is here again," Zavian asks after awhile.

He's been holding onto that question, I can tell.

"Believe it or not, he was working on our side the entire time," I explain, still hardly able to believe it myself. Marek sacrificed so much for me, and now I'm unsure if I'll ever be able to repay him. "Well, he was trying to protect me. He protected my family and everything, when I couldn't."

"I don't trust him. Whether he saved my life or not." Zavian's expression remains solemn, as he looks out into the forest. Zavian didn't know Marek like I did, so I can't blame him for having reservations.

I nod, wrapping my arms around myself. "I understand. I'm still trying to figure out whether I trust him either."

Sitting outside like this reminds me of all the times Marek and I would meet under the stars to talk privately. At that time, we were trying to survive, to escape what we had stumbled into. At those times, I was falling in love with him.

Now, those memories are blurry and far away.

"So I'm assuming everything with you and Tai will be over now that you've found his diary." Zavian sounds uneasy to bring it up, but it's clear he's curious.

"Once I talk to him, I'll decide." It's hard to even say it, after everything Tai and I have been through, but I can tell what I've been feeling it starting to fade away. "You're looking better."

He's almost completely changed since I last saw him. No more dark shadows under his eyes, his skin isn't sallow and there's a glitter to his eyes. Everything has been torn away from him, and yet he appears far healthier.

He smiles. "I've stopped drinking Tani blood."

"What? Since when?"

"Since Vaia nearly killed me," he explains, looking down at his hands. I remember coming into that room when I came back for Tai, to see Zavian chained and beaten. "Figured I don't actually don't want to die. And I don't want to risk anything any more."

Relief is crushing as I exhale slowly. "Good. I'm proud of you."

I'm grateful I never became addicted myself, and more grateful Zavian is hopefully done with that. I consider him one of my closest friends, and someone I can trust among people around me who I'm not questioning.

"How's your wound?" Tai asks, looking down at my stomach. My arms wrap around myself, the ghost feeling of that pain playing on my mind for a moment. I was close to not surviving that. Maybe a week or two longer and I would have died from it, regardless of drinking from the river or being killed by Vaia.

"Gone. I'm worried I'm turning into a Tani," I murmur, wishing I could just melt into the floor.

"The odds of you drinking from the river and surviving are so slim. Are you sure you even did?" Zavian asks, looking at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

I blink, memories flooding back to me. I remember being held under the surface, gasping for air while water was forced down my throat. Whether I invited it or not, I consumed the water from the river, the sweet taste still lingering on my tongue all these weeks later. And after I was discarded by Vaia, thought to be dead.