A King's Seduction ✔️

SEVEN

Word Count: 2004

The sun warms my skin, glistening atop the waves nearby.

It's only been a week since Tai and I arrived, although it feels shorter. I'm yet to get used to the heat, although being in the sun has done so much to improve my mood already. I haven't worried as much about Marek as I usually do. Part of me feels as though we have left that problem behind, even though I know it's not true.

A hand brushes my arm, my mind to involved in my own thoughts to notice who I am passing by. I pause, looking over the young girl who has stopped me on my walk home from town, where I was looking for a job.

She holds a small red book, scuffed at the edges with gold writing stitched into the cover. Her soft features suggest she is a native to the Golden Province. Nervously, she regards me, trying to muster up some confidence. Something about this facade is eerily familiar...

"Excuse me ma'am," she says, flipping her book open to show me a picture of what looks to be some kind of water dwelling creature, although the picture is faded, suggesting this book was handed down to her. "Can I tell you about my Tani?"

I pause, unsure of what to say.

Had I not crossed paths with Marek through the Inn, had I not mentioned to him about my Tani in the bar, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have never have met him...

It's not often that I mourn the life I once could have had. Part of me is grateful to have been enlightened, for the Beast to be dead...But I could have done without the betrayal. Now, I'm looking into the eyes of what I could have been -

A devout Tani believer who didn't know any better. And preferred it that way.

"I'm sorry, I don't have much time," I say as I brush past her, no longer wanting to meet her gaze.

She doesn't protest as I walk down the boardwalk and toward the beach Tai and I now live on. Facing the emptiness that not having a Tani has given me isn't on the agenda for today...

Glancing back over my shoulder, I search for the girl in the crowd of people also heading this way, but I can't see her. I'm in a popular part of the village, and with the sun setting, people have flocked down to the beach to admire the calm waves and unique shades of coral and tangerine.

Yet my gaze falls upon something it didn't intend to.

A figure walks far back along the same golden wooden boards I am, shifting in and out of the crowd. Their head dips when they catch that I am looking back at them, a dark hood falling to conceal their eyes.

My heart immediately falls. I am being followed.

Quickening my step, I pass by those leisurely strolling past the beach, trying to put as much distance between me and the stranger following me. No one wears a hood in this weather, and although this could be innocent, I can't risk it.

People share glances between each other as I hurry past, cutting down into a beach access that conceals me for a moment within the dunes.

The sand burns my feet, although as I turn around, catching sight of the figure, now advancing on me quicker than before, I'm inclined to ignore the pain. This beach access leads down the dunes and onto a more private section of the beach where Tai and I's hut is tucked away.

I may be leading this person right to our home, but I don't know this village yet, and have no other way of protecting myself.

Wincing as I pick my way quickly down the dunes, not looking back at risk I will see that whoever that figure still following me. Once I reach the beach, I break into a sprint, not stopping until I can see the hut in the distance, tucked in close to a large, sprawling dune.