Witch

Ch. 3: Ambitious

“I do not understand what you are saying.” Irus said.

“Do not pretend to be naive when you are before me; for I have knowledge of your conspiracy with the king's advisor, who is also a member of the royal council.”

“I beg your pardon–”

“Oh, don't beg me!” Deleron snapped as she rolled her eyes and turned her back on Irus.

“I can not compete with you; for you are my sister. And besides, you were born to be of assistance to me.

Our parents and brothers has abandoned us and sold us to be candidates for marriage, and when one of us is chosen for the position of queen, the other will definitely be sold out again for another suitor; for we are nothing to them.

Legacy shall be given to only our brothers, and only they shall live our parents' legacy, leaving nothing for us!

And we will be here competing to be ‘a birth giver’ to the king of Tanghour.”

“Deleron, I still do not understand what you are implying.” Irus said, with confusion on her face.

Deleron turned her head to the left to look at her sister, who appeared to be confused, with askance in her face, before turning to her and breaking the distance between them to hold her sister's hands; looking at her with concern and assurance in her eyes.

“I am implying that we cannot compete for a man, neither can we share a man. However, you can help me, your older sister, be chosen for the position of queen and you shall be compensated.”

Even with compensation, where shall Irus be if Deleron becomes Queen of Tanghour? For I am certain that she will definitely be abandoned just as the whole royal family abandoned her with her older sister.

However, she appears to be aware of this; for it makes her heart to be filled with ambition like that of her sister, Deleron when she tried to manipulate her.

Irus desires more. That is a her dream – it is her dream to own half of the kingdom and enjoy kingship for the rest of her life. She is determined to bring it to reality, even if she fights her only sister for it.

•••

Irus strolled around the corridor at night, receiving the breeze as it comes. She is probably trying to clear her thoughts; for it appeared that she must have had trouble falling into a peaceful slumber.

She took some yarn of different colours, a needle and a piece of white clothing with her as she does embroidery while she strolled around the palace. She finally finds a bench with its back rest craved like that of tulip flowers on the way as she finally goes to sit and rest her legs, before continuing her embroidering. She suddenly stopped, being distracted by the bright full moon in the night sky as she looks up to it.

She must be wishing to be like the moon just as I do sometimes; for the moon does not need to worry and eventually be in distress about anything.

It even appears that the moon is not the only thing being watched, Irus is also being watched. She is being watched by Asthon as he hides behind the tall pillars.

I cannot tell if he wonders the reason she is out of her chamber at an ungodly hour, or he just admires her from a distance. He began staring at her lustfully with a smirk on his face, even when he got caught spying on her.

Asthon finally returned to reality as he shook his head and cleared his throat, before coming out of his hide out. He must be feeling embarrassed at the moment, especially when he under Irus' gaze.

“Milady–”

“You do not need to explain; for I know you must have been wondering the reason I am out of my chamber at an ungodly hour once again,” she interjected.

Asthon lets out a helpless sigh before proceeding to speak, “may I sit by your side?”

“Of course,” she accepted, shifting to the left side of the bench, so he could sit.

He sat a little too close to her as he then shifted away from her when he had realized how close he was by her side. It appears as if he is still embarrassed by the incident and is starting to get nervous being around her.

They sat in silence. Indeed, the silence was very loud; almost deafening. They could only hear little sounds coming from the embroidery that she was making. Asthon finally tried to summon little of courage to start a discussion; for he probably wanted to be a better companion than the bright moon in the night sky.

So, he takes in a deep breath and lets out another sigh, shrugging his shoulders before speaking as he ended up mumbling, “I see you have a talent in embroidery.”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked for a repetition.

“I see you have ‘a talent’... in embroidery,” he repeated, with a clearer voice.

“Oh! Forgive me for not listening at first,” she said.

“No, please, there is no need to–”

“I am making an embroidered butterfly, I am almost done with the second wing,” she interrupted.

“Yes, I can see that. It is very beautiful, I must say.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Since I was a little girl. It was mother who taught me how to make embroidered decorations. Actually, she basically forced me to do embroidery,” she chuckled as she spoke.

Her little curled up lips has caught the eyes of Asthon, which makes him to stare intensively at her lips as he eventually smiles as well; for it appears that her smile makes his heart to melt.

“For what reason, if I may ask,” he asked.

“Well, probably she thought I was not talented enough to impress a man,” she answered.

“But you have knowledge of how to play any kind of musical instruments.”

“That was probably never enough for her. However, perhaps she taught me all of this, so I shall not be unsatisfied and buried in ennui when... my future husband abandons me for all works of life.

Honestly...,” she hesitated.

“What is the matter?” He asked with concern in his eyes.

“Nevermind that. You would never understand; for you are... a man.”

“Well..., ” he hesitated to protest, “very well, then. We should begin retiring to our chambers, now; for it is very late.”

“You are right.”

He rises from the bench as he stretches out his right hand offering a hand of support for her to carefully rise and stand with him.

As they take their leave, they strolled passed their chambers, only to stroll around the palace's corridors twice as they eventually stand around and talk.

With such bond they build, will she ever admit that she has a liking for him as he does as well? For it appears that Irus has an ambition to settle for the king and not for his advisor, Asthon.

And Asthon should be aware of this. Instead, he puts his hope high. Perhaps he is actually aware of this; he still desire to strive hard; for he also has an ambition to have her. Besides, he is noble and wealthy enough to have her as his wife, even if it requires a royal blood to marry a princess.

•••