-HER-
The night was, in fact, interesting. It was a completely different atmosphere there. There might have been celebrations for the mid-winter festival in his kingdom this morning but they were nothing compared to everything that happened in the court. There were lots of food, drinks, dance, games and other sorts of performances in the court, only for the people of the court.
It was a whole different world there and for a moment, I did forget about Zaeris and the people finding me there. There was no trace of worries in me. I was completely consumed by everything that night. To say that I didn't enjoy myself there would have been the biggest lie.
I enjoyed it a lot!
Whatever those women were, they knew what they were doing. They knew how to actually make people have a good time without involving anything sexual. Each of them was very skillful for sure. They were magical.
At first, the night started with some music and dance. Then the drinking games began. Lyra was an exceptionally good host and I couldn't ignore the fact that unknowingly, she had a strange control over the room- even on Ezekiel and his top lycans. Just her presence was enough to have anyone pay her attention and listen to what she was saying.
Her charm and humor only added to it. She even got away by throwing some insulting adjectives at Ezekiel during the drinking games. I was holding my breath all the time but others were laughing and enjoying as if there was no tomorrow. Even Ezekiel laughed at it and brushed it off as if it was nothing!
The night air was filled with music and laugher. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Ezekiel won most of the drinking games. I was already very much drunk after only two games. I thought I saw Noora with Ezekiel's third in command but I was just too drunk at that point to pay attention to anything else. It was a grand night.
~
"So do I get to go back now?" I asked Ezekiel after dinner. We were in a very empty part of the castle now. I didn't know what that place was but it was very strangely silent and still - like death. Just being there sent a shiver down my spine.
We were completely sober now. I still had some effect of the alcohol left but I was sure it would go away soon. Now that those women were gone, the night fell completely silent and still. My worries and anxiousness were back. All the traces of laughs, fun, and drinks were gone from Ezekiel's face.
It was now completely devoid of emotions, surprising me how he could be could change so quickly. Looking at his grim face now, I was finding it hard to believe that he was the same Ezekiel who let a woman insult him just earlier that night.
He was very strange for sure.
I gulped when he didn't answer me. Instead, the grim look persisted to remain on his face as he looked down at me. His face was hard to read. He cocked an eyebrow at me and finally spoke.
"You still want to go back?" He asked me grimly.
"Yes, of course,"
"Why's that? I thought you liked this place?" He asked me, taking a step back. There was this strange emotion simmering in his eyes. I hadn't lived long enough to know what that emotion was. Nonetheless, it disappeared soon.
"I do but I need to go back. This isn't my home," I told him grimly. For some reason, I was feeling this dread and fear from inside but I ignored it and tried to stay calm on the outside. Maybe, it was the fact that I was again alone with Ezekiel and he was not laughing or drunk now.
He was himself again- cold and ruthless.
"Your home?" He echoed. I didn't miss the edge and coldness in his voice. His face was as blank as a stone but there was this muscle in his jaw that was ticking away while he looked down at me with his dark eyes.
"Yes, Zaeris is my home," I told him, tipping my chin up. He again cocked an eyebrow at me as if I had challenged him. In a way, it was a challenge.
"What about this place?" He enquired.
I took a deep breath before I told him, "It's your home. I have nothing to do here,"
He narrowed his eyes and echoed my words, "Nothing to do here?" With that, he took another step closer to me until our lips were just inches apart. I wanted to take a step back but I couldn't. That mating pull was so strong at that moment. The only option that it gave to me at that moment was to either step towards him or simply stand there and let him do whatever he wanted to do to me.
"Yes, you said you didn't want me, that there's no place for a queen at your court," I quoted him. I tried to keep my voice strong but it wavered slightly. I couldn't help myself. The tension in the air around was just too strong. My heart was racing and the butterflies in my stomach were aggressively flipping their wings. My emotions were clearly audible in my voice.
"You're right," He told me, eating some more distance between us until the tips of our nose was slightly brushing, giving me small but intense sparks. I gulped hard and reminded myself to don't do anything stupid like kissing him just because his lips were so close to mine. I was very much tempted to kiss him but I wasn't going to do it.
"That means you're rejecting me, right?" My mouth spoke on its own. I wanted to facepalm at that moment but instead, I bit my tongue hard and instantly tasted blood. The depth in his eyes grew at my question. I shook my head slightly and asked him instead, "I meant that since you didn't want me, I am free to go, right?"
He didn't respond to my question for a moment but kept looking at me with that same strange emotion from before.
"Why did you think that?" He asked me. My heart almost stopped beating because of the edge in his voice. I didn't know where this was going. I was growing more and more anxious with each moment and his words weren't helping me either.
I swallowed hard and demanded, "Then what do you want me to think, Ezekiel? Tell me, I am tired of this. Please, end this!"
"It was you who decided to come here disguised as a man, Celeste. You got yourself in trouble,"
"I'm not talking about that Ezekiel," I told him. I was impatient all of a sudden. I was tired of him playing this game with me. I really wanted to know what he was planning to do. What was the future like? Were we going to be in it together or was he going to reject me?
Whatever it was, I wanted to be through it already.
"Then what are you talking about?" He asked me with the same edge and darkness to his voice that always sent a shiver down my spine. It always reminded me of his nature- what he truly was and all the dark things he was capable of doing to me.
I was completely at his mercy.
"Ezekiel... do you reject me?" I asked him grimly, looking into his bottomless eyes. I was holding my breath for his answer.
"Yes,"
His answer pierced my heart. I took a deep breath and blinked back the tears that were threatening to escape my eyes. This was the reality and I needed to accept it and move on. I could always find another mate, right?
Right?
"Then why don't you say it? Reject me, Ezekiel. Say those words," I told him. I wanted to hear the words roll out of his lips because I didn't trust him enough. If anything I had learned about him till now, it was not to trust him easily.
"I will not do that," He told me, piercing my heart even more.
"You're leaving me hanging!"
"So what?" At this point, I wanted to clutch his cloak and scream in his face to reject me, to free me from this but the cocky look on his face told me that he wouldn't do it even if I begged him or traded my soul for it.
"So what? You're ruining me like this, Ezekiel!" I barked at him. The tears were now making my vision blurry. I was rapidly blinking, trying to keep the tears back.
"I haven't even started ruining you, Celeste," He told me darkly as his long fingers wrapped around my neck tensely, making the veins at the back of his hand stand out even more.
"If you don't want me then why aren't you rejecting me?" I asked him.
"Because I want you to suffer with me... to be miserable like me... to descent into your darkest pit and never be able to rise from there. Why should I be alone in this?" His words even made my bones shiver. Tears streamed down my face as I looked him in his merciless eyes.
He was a monster.
"Then accept me," I told him.
"Oh no... never. I'd never do that. I might have if it was someone else instead of you... but not you!" He spoke with so much disgust, I felt my skin crawl. I had never known what true hatred was until I looked into his eyes. Meanwhile, his fingers dug into my throat almost painfully.
"You hate me," I whimpered.
"Of course,"
"Why?" I asked him. My voice broke and with that, I saw the mask from his face fall off. His eyes widened all of a sudden and something snapped inside of him. All of a sudden, he looked so vulnerable... completely unguarded. He parted his lips to speak but nothing came out of his lips. He straightened up and his fingers squeezed around my throat, even more, making me choke.
"B-because you're ugly!" He told me out of nowhere before I heard a crackling sound behind me. I was taken aback by his answer. It completely shattered my heart but before I could say something, he pushed me into the portal.
_
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