Time and Destiny

Chapter-16

Tears welled up in my eyes and I failed to understand why the heck was I reacting this way.
"Wait" I heard his deep voice echoing in the corridor.

I stopped in my tracks as I heard his footsteps approach me. I blinked my eyes rapidly to push back the tears, but it was pointless. I felt his hand on my shoulder and he turned me around, so now I was facing him. He cupped my face with both of his hands and looked in my eyes.

"You're upset. Is it because of Cassandra?" he questioned seeing the tears in my eyes.
"You refer to her on first name basis, that's nice. Why don't you go and propose her to be your Queen? I bet she would dance on her toes and readily accept" I scoffed angrily,
"Are you jealous, love?" he smirked at me.

Me? Jealous?
Hell no! I am pissed, angry and I wanna break her perfect nose.

"I'm not jealous of some porcelain doll" I shouted in rage,
"Seems like you are" he chuckled caressing my cheek with thumb. I glared at him.

I hated him but at the same time I craved him. Seeing him with other women made me mad.
"Do you fancy me, love?" he whispered deeply in my ear, which caused butterflies in my tummy. My face turned beet red.
"I do not fancy you, I hate you. You can sleep around with thousands of women for all I care" I lied. The thought of him sleeping with other women made my blood boil.

"I take women to my bed, but I don't sleep with them" he said deeply looking at me with a dark predatory glint in his eyes and continued "I fuck them and they love it"
Oh gosh! I felt blood rush to my cheeks and a shiver of excitement across my spine. He smirked seeing my reaction.
"And I don't intend to stop, unless you say that you want me all for yourself" he said deeply with a devilish grin on his lips,
"I will never want you" I stated, lying again.
I wanted him, I needed him and I knew I would give in to him, someday. I pushed his hand off my face and walked away from him, more like ran away. I didn't stop until I reached my chambers.

I was enraged and I wanted to cry.
No! I am not letting this affect me, I just cannot. I have to be strong, that's what my parents wanted me to be, so don't you dare cry Nova, I said to myself. All these years I've taken care of myself and fought all the hardships in my life, I cannot afford to be weak. I took a deep breath in and calmed myself down. I need to focus on working on the machine. The sooner, the better now. I cannot have feelings towards a monster, I just cannot.

There was a knock on the door. I opened it and I saw Ada and Carter standing there with concern on their faces. My sour mood instantly changed after seeing them and I gladly let them inside.
"Bella, there's something we need to tell you" Carter said with a frown on his face.
"Yes Carter, go on" I said,
"That vile woman has come back to ruin things again. Our fates are damned" Ada said bitterly,
"Ma please, don't scare her. Let me tell her" he said and turned towards me.
"Bella, you must know about Cassandra, she-" I cut him off and said "Unfortunately, I already had the chance to encounter her" I said and continued,
"I know she is one of his many lovers" I said with gritted teeth.

"She's not his lover. Nicholas doesn't do romance" Carter replied,
"Then what? His mistress?" I questioned angrily,
"Not exactly, but you can say that. They did sleep around a couple of times" he said.
I wanted to barf!
"But isn't she a Queen? Also I thought there were no more rulers left as Nicholas has conquered every land in the kingdom" I said,
"Yes, he has conquered every Kingdom. Three years ago he had his eyes set on Valevia. It was a mighty Kingdom, with strong military power and highly skilled warriors. It was impossible to intrude in their Kingdom, so Nicholas needed someone on the inside. That's where Cassandra came in. She was the King's stepsister and wanted nothing more than to be in power. Nicholas met her at the ball and he knew she would be useful to him. She readily agreed to become an ally of Nicholas. She got us valuable information and helped us get inside Valevia" he said and continued,
"Valevia lost the war because we had the upper hand. She requested Nicholas to let her have the title of Queen. He agreed because he owed her. So, she is a Queen who lives lavishly in her palace but has no power of administration"
"Why is she here then?" I questioned.