Seducing my King Master

CHAPTER NINE

He was taking a wife?

Heavens, never before had she been so bothered by anything. She wasn’t just bothered though; she was scared. Her life as she knew it would change drastically, and she’d be able to do nothing about it.

She blinked and the tears she had been trying so hard to restrain went sliding down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them, she was alone after all, and her guards were a good distance away; there was no shame in crying now.

She sniffled quietly as more tears went streaking down her cheeks.

She was Princess of Althea but yet she knew nothing at all. The king was taking a wife, and she had found out from her peers. It wasn’t only hurtful but humiliating; she wanted to be mad at Alder, she wanted to hate him for causing her so much pain, yet she just couldn’t.

Her eyes glowed a dull silver as she raised her hands, willing the water to rise and tower over her; it did, and it once again cast its menacing shadow over the cliff, over her. She held it upright though it strained her energy, though it caused her body to tremble……

Or was it something else that caused her body to tremble? Was it the hurt? The fear of being displaced?

Her heart clenched all over again and more tears left her eyes. And the water began to swirl slowly, its pace quickened with every passing second till it begun to whirl quickly. Her eyes glowed even more, and she began to feel a sting from the scar on her wrist, a sting which gradually intensified till it started to sear.

And though she wanted to stop, she found she couldn’t. The wind began blowing harshly, it whipped against her hair and freed her dark locks from the constraints of her pins and clips, the full skirts of her dress fluttered and flared behind her as the wind continued to blow. She shut her eyes tightly; she was losing control.

“Princess…..”

She could hear her guards calling out to her, but it seemed she was being dragged far, far away because their voices sounded far and faint. She felt something trickle down her nose; a lone stream of blood……

And then it all went blank.

~~

A quiet groan involuntarily left Aria as her eyelids began fluttering open slowly. Her head had never ached so much, and her throat had never been so dry, plus it was noisy; like hundreds of people talking at the same time, their voices being so close to her ears. She groaned once more as she tried to bring herself to speak.

“Stop…..”. She croaked quietly.

Where was she, and why were there so many people around her?

“She’s awake! My lady”.

Her eyes sprang open on hearing Nerissa’s voice, and it was almost as though the voices had been on her head. She realized she was in her room with just Nerissa, Octavia and Lorelei. She blinked to clear her blurry vision as all three of them rushed to her side. Nerissa took her hand in hers delicately, almost as though she feared she would break.

“My lady, can you hear me?”. She asked her, her voice thick with emotion.

She was crying….

It took a moment for her thoughts to organize themselves, took a moment before she recalled that she had gone to the waterfall to practice. Had she fallen down the cliff again?

“Octavia, Lorelei, let His majesty and the physician know that the Princess is awake”. Nerissa said.

His majesty? Wasn’t he away? And did she really need a physician? How long had she been unconscious?

“What’s….happening?”. She croaked quietly.

“My lady, you’ve been unconscious for four days”. Nerissa replied. “You….you fainted on the cliff. You could have killed yourself”.

What? It was all too much for her to take in. Four days had passed since that happened? Or was this all a dream?

“Water”. She said quietly.

She was losing her mind then.

“Yes, immediately”. Nerissa said.

She let go of her hand and hurried away quickly, and all Aria could do was lie there and try to make sense of what she had just been told. It all seemed unreal, it seemed like a nightmare.

“We have all been so worried about you, My lady”. Nerissa said as she hurried back to her side. “His Majesty returned the moment he got word that you were unwell”.

Just thinking about him had her heart clenching all over again, had tears welling up in her eyes.

“His majesty is taking a wife…”. She said.

It didn’t matter if it had been four days or four months, her heart still ached as it did when she found out.

Nerissa’s temple creased in a slight frown.

“What?”. She asked her.

“They were talking about it in the drawing room”. She said quietly. She was crying again and she couldn’t help herself. “What will become of me, Nerissa?”.

Nerissa began shaking her head at once. She was about to say something when Octavia returned with the physician.

“The physician is here, Princess”. Octavia announced.

Nerissa cleared her throat quietly. She set the water aside before gently helping her up so her back leaned against the headboard. She picked up the cup of water once more and attempted to feed it to her, but she shook her head.

“I don’t want it anymore”. She said.

Her dry throat had suddenly become the least of her problems.

“But My lady….”. Nerissa began saying but stopped when she shook her head once more. She backed away from her as the physician came closer.

“Greetings, Princess”. The elderly physician with graying eyebrows said warmly, “How are you feeling?”.

“My head hurts”. Aria replied quietly.

She blinked and yet another stream of tears went sliding down her cheeks lazily.

“Why, don’t cry, dear, it’ll only make it worse”. He soothed.

If only it was just the pain in her head that plagued her.

The physician fussed over her for a while, and when he finally backed away from her, her teary gaze met a dark and all too familiar one. Alder, the cause of her pain and misery, stood by the door watching quietly. Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach and her eyes stung with more tears. She didn’t let her gaze linger; she lowered it at once.

“You’ll be alright as long as you don’t attempt to use any more of your energy anytime soon”. The physician was saying, “And do drink the potions I left with Nerissa”.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks with a trembling hand while trying her best to stop herself from crying.

“Do calm down, Princess, so much crying won’t help you”. The physician said to her.

He offered her a warm smile before he left her side.

“His majesty is here, my lady”. Nerissa said to her from where she stood.

She didn’t bother raising her head; she didn’t want to see him, it would only cause her more misery.

“My lady….”.

“That’s alright, Nerissa, please leave us”. Alder’s deep voice cut in smoothly.

“Yes, Your majesty”. She said quietly before walking out with Lorelei and Octavia following close behind.

Aria’s heart continued to pound heavily as she heard the sound of advancing footsteps, her fingers fiddled uneasily with the covers on their own. Her aching head suddenly felt faint, and her eyes felt heavy.

“Aria”.

Her gaze only flickered to his when he said her name. He was standing beside her bed now, just where the physician had been; and she found her breath faltering. The fact that she could never tell what he was thinking always bothered her deeply, the fact that his eyes gave nothing away.

She lowered her head in a bow.

“Master”. She greeted him quietly.