𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐘 💕
His scent enveloped me, leaving me having flashbacks of the feeling of his hands all over me. A shiver flew down my spine, leaving a blush to crawl across my cheeks, tainting my skin for all eyes to see. I had sent the maids away shortly after they finished helping me get dressed, the sheepish smiles on their faces floating over my head. I wanted some time alone in the room I spent the first night with Darius.
He was behaving weird earlier on but I didn't question it. He said he was fine. Walking around the room I let my hands graze over every surface and when I was certain the cherubims on the ceilings weren't watching I couldn't help but force his pillow against my nose, inhaling his scent deeply. I couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of my lips. Yep, I was whipped.
The nerve tickling butterflies set sail in my stomach, stiring me up. My eyes landed on the book he was writing in last night and I let my curiosity take over. Bending to pick the book it slipped out of my hands, a little unprepared for the weight. Reaching down for it I caught sight of something in the corner. Pulling it out it was two books stacked over each other. They had the same seal as the many other books I kept finding around the castle. A crease formed between my brows in confusion. Running my hands over the foreign material that hugged the book covers tightly I traced the indent on the book in fascination.
Why is this in Darius' chambers? I really wanted to investigate where these books kept coming from and how they were always my favorite genre; romance. But first I had to pay Orchid a visit in the pack hospital building and probably meet the rest of my ladies there as well.
Walking down the stone hallway I could hear audible snickering coming from the ladies and servants that were hurdled in the corners of the path. I didn't spare them anything more than a curious glance before I continued on my way. Beautiful evergreen grass and three leaf clovers that covered the lawn crunched under my feet as I walked over to the infirmary. I kept getting the odd feeling of someone's eyes on me, precisely a pair of hazel eyes. But when I heard footsteps I stopped, my heart beat had increased and I could feel the tension in me rising.
Slowly I turned around coming face to face with an unfamiliar guard. I was only able to tell he was a guard for what he wore but it was a lot darker than what the other guards were. I let my eyes register the deep black colour of his shortly cut curls that sat at his shoulders, he was postured with his chest out and his hands behind his back. Piercing blue eyes adorned his face, his thick brows and broad jawline only added to his intimidating aura. He looked like he had done his fair share of Knight training for a while but it couldn't compare to Darius' deliciously impressive build.
Wait, did I just compare a total stranger to- "Who are you?"
His eyes finally landed on me, his gaze sharpening with respect "My apologies your majesty" he took a slight bow, his posture and demeanor one of precision. "I am your new personal body guard, Maximus" he informed making my brows fly into my hairline in shock and disbelief.
"New personal bodyguard?" I repeated incredulously. "Who assigned you such a duty?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"His Royal Highness" he answered shortly, his eyes patient. He didn't speak a words as I nibbled on my pink plum lips, deep in thought. Darius assigned me a personal guard without telling me?
"You can go I think this was a mistake" I excused him, turning around to continue walking but he kept following till I reached the cobblestone path of the infirmary. I turned around, making him stop a few feet away from me. "Why are you still following me?"
"Because I can't leave your side your majesty, King's orders"
I silently grumbled, contemplating whether or not I wanted to go confront Darius now or visit Orchid with this guard hovering over me. I sighed, turning around to walk into the infirmary. I smiled and waved at the doctors and nurses that were littered around.
"Audrey" I heard my name from behind me, turning around I spotted Anaise and Greer running towards me. I opened my arms and they jumped in, squeezing my form affectionately.
"I've missed you two so much, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. How is she?" We pulled away, holding hands together. They both looked so sad and their eyes had lost that loving gleam they once held.
"Her condition hasn't improved, if her fever and skin color doesn't improve in the next two days then we'll know" Greer tried to give me a reassuring smile when she noticed my face drop. This just meant Orchid wasn't recovering, it was my fault. I shouldn't have ran away, I should have tried to help her get the dress off. "Hey" Anaise's hold on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts. "It's okay"
"It's not your fault Audrey" I tried to give Greer a weak smile but I just couldn't muster the courage. I looked around, only now noticing Astrid's reoccurring absence. "Where's Astrid? I don't think I've seen her since my accident"
"She went home to visit our aunt in a neighbouring village, she'll be back soon. I wrote to inform her about Orchid"
"We should be by her side and help any way we can" I nodded in agreement as we made our way to her hospital room. Walking in I felt all the dread wash over me like a tsunami when my gaze landed on her. Tears pricked my vision, my hand going to cover my lips and silence the whimper that had escaped. Her unconscious form was laid down on the bed, crimson blood dripping from her nostril and landing on her lip. Her pale vein dusted eyelids were shut, her lashes fluttering against her thin cheek bones, her sunken cheeks and chapped blue lips. I turned away from the scene, memories of that terrible encounter coming back
It should have been me. "I don't think her majesty should be here" Maximus finally spoke up, letting everyone know of his presence.
"No i-"
"His majesty ordered me to keep you away from this so please come with me" he urged me out. I turned to look at Anaise and Greer, silently asking them if it was alright.
"Go Audrey, you witnessed her poisoning. It won't be good for your mental health to be around her right now" Anaise smiles comfortingly.
"Yes Audrey,go" Greer stepped forward, playing a hand on my shoulder. They both nodded in unison. "We will stop by your chambers later"
Giving Orchid one last look I followed Maximus out of the room with tears still rolling down my cheeks. I needed to find a way to fix this and that was exactly what I was going to do
♡♡♡
The singing of the birds, the wind blowing gently into my hair, pushing it across my face as I watched the afternoon unravel in front of my eyes. I inhales a deep fresh breath, feeling the weight on my shoulders lighten a bit. I regarded the bees as they danced from one flower to the other, pollen grains sticking to their stingers. I appreciated the view and the amount of piece it brought me to be here, out in the open alone with myself.
I traced my finger across the binders of the book, my curiosity had left me restless once again and I couldn't help but have the book with me once again. I had seen so many of it around the castle and now finding a pile of them in Darius' room was the final straw. I wanted to know who was bringing them and where they came from. Anything to keep my mind off Orchid and the pit I felt growing in my chest. I hadn't spoken to Darius and I didn't know what he would do to Lord Odin, whatever it was he would get what he deserved and that was for sure. I heard quiet footsteps behind me, their faint sound like that of someone who was trying to be sneaky and avoind being noticed. I let a smile slip onto my lips knowing exactly who it was, the big Alpha king was trying to be sneaky.
I let a giggle spill out of my lips, "You can stop trying to be quiet your Highness, I know it's you.." I trailed off as I turned not expecting to see Lord Anthony behind me with a shy smile on his face.
A blush creeped onto my cheeks in utter embarrassment, oh goddess. I just thought Lord Anthony was Darius.
I stood abruptly, the book falling to the cobblestone ground. Whirling around the face him I noticed his eyes trail to the side of my neck where they immediately diverted but I was too startled to notice, "Lord Anthony, sorry I didn't know it was-"
"No, don't apologize my princess, it's my mistake." He waved me off, a shy grin on his lips. I watched his eyes flicker down to the book that lay on the ground. I followed his gaze and bent to pick it but he beat me to it, snatching the book and holding it firmly as he assessed it. "This is from the King's library" he blurted out as if speaking to himself as he continued looking over the book.
"Library?" I repeated bringing his attention back to me. "What library?"
"Oh, his highness has a library in his quarters. All the books have his Royal crest on them" he gestured to the intricate design that made the dark coated cover of the book look even more mysterious to my curious mind. There was a library in the castle? It had never occured to me that the books would be from the library and if it indeed did belong to Darius then that meant he was the one who kept leaving me those books to find.
I wanted to test out my theory, "Could you show me where it is please Lord Anthony?" I asked watching as his eyes shot up to meet mine, a certain glint igniting in the depths of those hazelnut eyes. "If you don't mind of course"
"Not at all my princess, follow me"
We walked into the castle and followed the back steps up to the West Wing. Walking down the hallways I sent smiles to every make and guard that stopped to bow and greet me, the looks they shot Lord Anthony however were filled with contempt and I couldn't understand why. I let it slide though, my eagerness and excitement had but up to a great deal as my hold on the book tightened. We went further down, to a place where the guards were not in sight anymore. A tall roof length mahogany door stood gratefully in front of us, golden handle coupled with vine designs lined the door frame, creating a mystical aura. Lord Anthony stepped forward, gripping onto the double door handles he pushed it open with great force. The doors opened, the smell of old books and cinnamon wanted up my nostrils and floated in the air.
I stepped in and it was like everything was happeno in slow motion. I walked further in, looking around in awe of how utterly magnificent the view was. It looked like something straight out of a fantasy: the roof length bookshelves filled to their capacity with million of books that liked the walls. The gold ladders with wheels, the heart shaped couched that were positioned dackbf each other. The fireplace, the cream carpet clad floors that gave off this cozy, homey feeling.
"This is beautiful" I stated breathily.
"Very beautiful" Lord Anthony agreed.
"I can't believe I didn't know this was here" I spoke in disbelief. Making my way to one of the shelves I pulled out a book that was within my reach and looked over it, comparing it to the one I had brought in and as expected they both had exactly the same crest. I heard the heavy doors shut behind me and I turned around, coming face to face with Lord Anthony. I watched him walk distractedly to the other direction as if something had caught his interest.
I followed behind him quietly and we stopped in front of a huge couch, a red carpet laid in front of it. Something about the little sitting area seemed amiss. For one there was a wide space above the chair that was covered in yellow parchment. It had these strange signs and symbols on it, like a tapestry but non I've ever seen before. It had dark colors splattered across it's canvas giving off the illusion of a tragic story. The way the colors blended sinisterly, the little shapes and patterns as if telling a tale. I followed the lines and what looked like little houses with my eyes, my fingers tracing the rough canvas. I walked along the wall to this dark and unsettling being that seemed to be portrayed with the shadows, it had familiar gold flaked eyes and it looked to be on this high mountain, watching the illustrated village.
I stared at this being for a while longer, something about the eyes seemed to be calling to me, drawing me closer. I let my gaze fall to the bold inscriptions that were written below all the scribbles. It was in a different tongue and I couldn't read it.
"Erit enim ex chao natus, a ruinis et cinis seculorum fabricatus.Hic erit electus, ille tenebras.lineis insculpta dearum tangent et illi fata flectent." Lord Anthony started reading out loud, the foreign language gliding off his tongue with ease. "It's Latin" he turned to me, his eyes singling me out as if he was trying to tell me something.
(𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 c𝘩a𝘰s, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘴' 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮)
"Latin? As in the ancient tongue of werewolves?" I asked, fully engrossed.
"Yes my princess but I cannot fully understand what it means. The writings are a bit old and blurred and I don't think there is anyone still living who can completely translate this. It looks so old"
"Then how and why is it here? How can it be here if it's so old?" I faced Lord Anthony, keeping my gaze on the dark being and it's gold eyes that seemed to be radiating, like it sensed my presence. There was still eery feeling that had consumed the whole library, the air had stilled and become dense and the tension had risen and suddenly it was as if the air was getting harder to inhale. It was terrifying.
Thanks for reading!