Chapter 13

13

EIRA

N ot going to lie… I hate walking the hallways of the castle by myself. Well , not every hallway. Mainly the ones with the covered mirrors. I could swear I heard whispers coming from them, which was even creepier because no one else seemed to notice them.

Why am I wandering the halls unguarded, you may ask? Kas . Kas is the reason. He has been acting weird ever since Dax’s announcement claiming that I was theirs. It’s his day to guard me, and I can’t find him anywhere. Again . The last time I saw him was when we were all called to a meeting with Dax to discuss battle strategy. Which just so happened to be a few hours after his announcement.

F eeling eyes on me, I look around the room and find Kasim glaring. He honestly seems to be focusing all his energy on making sure I don’t leave his sight. Huffing out a sigh, I ask, “ What could I possibly have done now to earn your hostility?”

He shrugs, continuing to glare at me. “ Nothing and everything.”

I narrow my eyes. “ Why are you glaring at me?”

“ Is it rude to say I’m hoping you’ll spontaneously combust?”

My eyes widen and I shriek, “ Yes ! Yes , it's very rude, Kasim .”

He grins. “ Then I'm hoping you’ll spontaneously combust, Princess .”

My gaze turns to Dax as I point at Kas . “ Do something!”

Dax pinches the bridge of his nose as if he’s frustrated with us both. “ Kas , stop glaring at her! We all know you would rather be fucking her, so put up or shut up!” Dax takes a deep breath before continuing. “ Now , can we get back to the reason I called this meeting, or should we all fuck Eira to get it out of our system so we can focus?”

T hey had not taken Dax up on his offer to fuck me, but I could tell there was heavy consideration for it. After hours of searching the castle, I finally found him in the combat zone. It’s where all the recruits, and even soldiers, use to blow off steam by sparring. I march my way down the hill and yell once I’m closer to the circle of recruits he’s buried in.

“ Kasim !”

He turns to look at me, his eyes solid black. I’ve gotten used to their eyes changing; it doesn’t make it any less off-putting, though. “ What ?” he grits out as rivulets of blood streak down his face.

It takes me a moment to reply because he doesn’t have a shirt on, so I’m finally able to admire the skin he’s kept hidden. His whole body is covered in ink. Swirls and images play across his chest and abdomen, and he has a handprint that matches the prince’s. Intricate designs that I wish I had time to admire cover his arms. Shaking myself from the distraction, I put my hands on my hips and huff out, “ You’re supposed to be guarding me.”

“ Have one of the others do it. I’m busy,” he sneers.

Rolling my eyes, I walk through the soldiers. They part easily, not wanting to be seen touching me, even by accident. When I’m right in front of him, I narrow my eyes. “ Get your ass back to the castle now,” I demand.

“ Or what, Princess ?”

Well shit… I didn’t think that far ahead. “ Or … I’ll … step in front of every punch you’re about to deliver to these men.”

He arches a brow as if he doesn’t believe me. I have no idea why I’m doing this. Why it’s so important that I spend time with him. In all honesty, I miss our heated banter. I just want everything to go back to the way it was. He steps closer, eyes narrowed on me as he grunts. “ Why would you do that? Why are you doing this?”

“ Doing what?”

His eyes briefly flicker back to their normal hazel before shifting back to black again. “ Treating me like someone you want to spend time with instead of the villain that I am.”

“ I - I don’t understand. I don’t treat you any differently.”

“ When we first met, you would have left me here to fight, not caring if I were guarding you or not.”

My anger grows, and I can’t stop myself from screaming, “ I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!”

“ And I’m trying to subtly avoid it.”

My fingers curl into fists as I huff out, “ You are not being subtle at all.”

He shrugs. “ Don’t care. Move .”

Stomping my feet, I cross my arms across my chest. “ No ! I’m not leaving you here to fight. I’m having this conversation with you whether you like it or not. You’re acting different too! Ever since Dax announced I was all of yours, you have been acting differently. You’re constantly avoiding me!”

“ That’s not?—”

I interrupt the lie he is trying to sell. “ It is! You can’t even look at me when we pass each other in the hall. You have refused to guard me completely!” I duck my head when the burn in my chest becomes too much. I’m not sure if it’s anger from him avoiding me, or if I’m hurt because it feels like he resents me.

“ Princess ?”

I shake my head, and my vision blurs. My chest aches even more when I realize I’m hurt… it feels like he’s rejecting me. At least when he used to spit his anger at me, I felt like I was seen, but now, I’m invisible. Not worth his time. “ As much as I hate you, I miss you too. So can we please go back to the way things were? I don’t care if you hate me, but please don’t ignore me. Don’t act as if I’m invisible.” I take a shuddering breath before I whisper, “ As if I’m nothing.”

His finger tucks under my chin, and he lifts my face to meet his. A few stray tears manage to break through as I stare into his dark orbs. I watch his eyes shift, unsure where he's looking before they change into their natural dark hazel.

His eyes track the trail of my tears before meeting my gaze.

Eventually , he huffs out a sigh of defeat and nods. “ Okay , princess.”

“ Really ?” I ask with a hiccup.

His eyes flick away as he nods. With his jaw tight, he says, “ Yeah . I’ll pander to the spoiled princess.”

Smiling , I wipe my face, wishing I could wipe away my moment of weakness. He looks back to me as he lets out a sigh and points toward the castle. “ You shouldn’t be out here. We could be attacked at any time, and you have absolutely no training.”

Clasping my hands behind me, I ask, “ Would you train me?”

“ No ,” he replies without hesitation.

I look over my shoulder to find him looking at the ground. “ Why not? If you trained me, I would be able to protect myself.”

His eyes bounce up to me, shooting me a glare. “ Because I have better things to do than train a spoiled princess.” Biting my lip, I debate if I should really do what I’m about to do. Hum . He sees me smiling and asks, “ What do you have planned, Princess ?”

Unclasping my hands, I get ready to run. “ Nothing !”

The moment I take off racing toward the house, I peek over my shoulder to see his eyes go wide.

“ Princess !” he yells.

I laugh as I streak toward the castle, bumping into a few soldiers, and yell, “ I’m sorry!” As I run, I can feel Kas’s dark presence gaining on me.

When I feel his fingers graze my back, I squeal, but my legs keep moving as he slams into a wall. Ash sees me sprinting down the hallway, and his eyes go wide with alarm. “ What’s wrong?”

I laugh as I scamper past. “ I’m running from a grumpy man!”

Ash turns to see who is chasing me and barks out a laugh. “ I told you not to run!”

“ Where’s Dax ?” I yell.

“ In the great hall.”

I manage to get all the way to the doors of the hall when I feel fingers graze my back again. With a screech, I push open the doors and then tumble inside as Kas grabs me. We roll across the floor before stopping at Dax’s feet. Well , that’s convenient.

I can’t stop laughing as Kas stares down at me. “ Caught you, Princess .”

I look up to find Dax smiling at us. He chuckles and says, “ You appear to have been caught, Little Raven .”

I nod from my position on the floor. “ I wanted to ask you a question.”

“ What question is that?”

“ I was wondering if Kas could—” The rest of my words are mumbled when Kas covers my mouth with his hand.

“ I told you no.”

I smile sweetly under his hand, then bite one of the fingers covering my mouth. He hisses as he jerks his hand away, and I quickly finish speaking. “—train me how to fight!”

Kas glares down at me. “ You are such a bad princess.”

I grin widely as I look at him, then back to Dax . “ So can he?”

He ponders the question for a moment before shrugging. “ I don’t see why not.”