Queensmen

Chapter 27

Oris shut her eyes tightly and hugged herself, drawing her thighs to her chest as she silenced the sob about to escape her lips.

Bren, why did you leave me? You promised never to leave my side. If you didn't leave, none of this would have happened!

She pressed her head to her knees, the emotions tumbling in her chest too heavy to suppress. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks as she remembered his fingers, how their touches had claimed her skin; his lips, how they had stolen her breath away countless times; his words, how they had made her give him her heart without a shred of hesitation and in the end shredded it to pieces when he gave her up for the sake of the kingdom.

She was his, she had always been. So why couldn't she marry him? Why couldn't she bear his children? Why did she now have to enter the harem of a man who wanted her dead?

She knew the answer to all these questions but she didn't want them. She wanted someone to hold her and tell that everything would be okay; she wanted to be able to cry freely without worry of being discovered. She wanted her heirs to live a life unlike her own. Even if they were condemned to a lifetime of poverty, she wanted none of her descendants to sit on a throne ever again.

But she—

"My Lady?" a voice called out quietly from the darkness, making Oris freeze and immediately wipe her tears away.

Despite not getting a reply, the voice continued, "Are you crying?"

Oris lifted her head and found a familiar silhouette standing at the foot of the bed she was lying on. "Mi-Mikeal?"

Her voice was hoarse and scratchy but he didn't wince. He walked towards her until was at a distance where if she chose, she could reach out and touch him. Finally, she could see his features. His tanned skin had nearly cloaked him in the darkness.

"Sister," he greeted playfully, and sat down on the bed, just an inch from her bare toes. "You have suffered so much, my heart goes out to you."

Oris blinked at him, willing his image to become clearer. "How. . .long have you been here?"

"I planned on staying the night," he said, sounding somewhat sheepish, "but I fell asleep while guarding you."

"Guarding me?" Oris echoed, then shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. The movement caused her to gasp in pain.

"Don't move too much." Mikeal warned, concern fluttering in his gaze like a one-winged butterfly.

Oris watched the strange emotion vanish and sighed. She was not in the mood to read into the behaviors of the men that now surrounded her. She was too tired to be observant. "Alright."

"I heard what happened and I wanted, needed, to see you. Hermes really was too cruel."

"Did anybody. . . see you?"

"No need to worry. I snuck in here."

"Where?" Oris said simply, her throat already too sore from speaking so much. She motioned to the space around her, hoping Mikeal would understand.

"This is a room in the harem," e said. "The one you would have been showed to, if not for the incident at the gates."

"Not the dungeon?"

Mikeal laughed and shook his head as though what she said had been funny. "No."

"Did you save me?" Oris asked quietly. If he did, that would place another target on her head. It was best if she was simply cast away and forgotten, having anyone help her would make things worse.