8.
1222 Words
Dante tossed and turned in his bed. Ever since the events of that afternoon his mind had been fixed on Denyefa.
Was the king going to make her his mistress? But Denyefa is a fighter and the best spy in their gang. This promotion would only serve as a loss to them. He couldn't imagine the pain Denyefa would be going through. Any other girl might have welcomed the idea better but Denyefa was different. She would rather choose the hard life of a mercenary than warming the king's bed.
Most of all, Dante could not wrap his head around the king having affection for Denyefa. Did he even have genuine feelings for her, or did he just lust over the young girl? The king did not care much about women to fall in love. He was fond of Denyefa but their relationship was a far distance away from even the idea of love.
By now Denyefa should be with the king. The girl is so innocent of such a treatment. He remembers the questions she had thrown his way that afternoon and he felt sorry for her.
The king had sent him an invitation to the announcing ceremony. It was a little nasty event where the king's new mistress would be paraded among his top officials. He did not go due to the respect he had for denyefa. But on second thought his presence would have been some sort of comfort for Denyefa. And maybe he would've been able to save her from having to deal with the other officials at least. But how? Was he going to make out with her too? There was no way he would have helped her except stealing the show with her. And despite his attraction towards her, he couldn't just bring himself to do such a thing. For he knew that once he let go of his restraint he might not be able to hold himself from her anymore. He was already losing his grip for him to take such a risky leap. The guilt of not going to support Denyefa pricked his heart but there was nothing he could do about it except lie in the dark of his room in despair.
Talking about darkness, Denyefa was having a taste of it as she sat under the tree in the garden, wondering how she was going to save herself from her impending doom the next morning. The bullet wound was not healed yet and with such pain, she knew she couldn't manage the horrors of the punishment room. How was she going to reduce the punishment coming her way? What would calm the king's fiery anger?
Only one thing might serve to soothe him. It was a long jump from her comfort zone but right now it's what's necessary to save her head. She looked in the far distance at the mansion. There was a secret passage only the king was supposed to know about. This passage led to his inner bed chamber and was a very secret path for him alone. But one of the sure consequences of allowing a very skilled spy into your inner chamber was revealing everything about that chamber to her including the secret passageway leading away from it.
It was two in the morning and the guards had given up on searching for Denyefa. The news reached the king that she had escaped from the house but he did not want to hear of it.
"Nonsense!" He scolded his top officials. "I can't leave a nineteen-year-old with your lots and expect that you keep her in your grip," he raged. "I'm ashamed of everyone here!"
He turned and stormed off to his room where there were monitors from which he accessed the security cameras around the house. He caught glimpses of Denyefa while she escaped but soon lost her after she passed through the kitchen. Now he regretted not having cameras in the garden.
He turned to Cassidy who sat apprehensively on the bed. She had warned Denyefa earlier to not do anything stupid for fear of having to face the king's anger. Now look what had happened.
"Get me Dante" The king ordered and Cassidy left the room immediately.
When she left he went into his inner chamber and got the dagger Denyefa so much cherished. This was the last thing Denyefas mother had given to her as she breathed her last. Denyefa would never leave without it. There were inscriptions on the dagger and the sheath was made of leather with designs and a dark metallic green color. He unsheathed the dagger to read the inscription on it. He never got tired of tracing his hands on the Italian words of knowledge engraved on the blade.
Denyefa was still in the building hiding somewhere and Dante was just the person to find her.
Cassidy angrily walked over to Dante's room. The king needs to stop sending her on petty errands like this. She's his mistress and not one of his guards. Cassidy had grown to love the king and it pained her to the core that he did not reciprocate her feelings despite the number of times she slept with him. She spent her time learning better ways to please him but he still values Denyefa over her.
She stopped in front of Dante's door and knocked a couple of times. Dante quickly jumped out of bed thinking Denyefa was at the door. He rushed to the door and opened it immediately, disappointed to see Cassidy. He had never really liked her. Although the girl might have something interesting for him.
"Where's Denyefa?"
"I do not know. Is she missing?"
Cassidy studies him for some seconds. "The king wants to see you now."
The insolent girl! Was it too hard to answer his question? Cassidy's rotten behaviour was something that baffled the whole household. She did not have anything to brag about except being the king. Her position gave her some certain type of privilege which she flaunted at every opportunity given.
Dante quickly dressed up and went to see the king who was now in his room. He was holding Denyefa's dagger in his hand and pointing it to the floor as he sat on the bed. Dante met him.
"Where is denyefa?" The king asked.
"I know nothing of her whereabouts, sir."
The king looked up at him in doubt. Denyefa was a smart girl. Of course, she wouldn't want to implicate Dante by going to his room at such a time.
"Find her. If I don't see her by dawn you'll suffer her punishment."
"Then the other men in your common room? Are they only for the good times that you've decided to put only me on this task?"
"Do you question my judgement? You know very well why I've asked you to find her. You have until dawn. "
Dante walked away angrily. Either he suffers Denyefa's punishment or brings her to suffer herself. The other officials had left the common area and even in the hallways, the other guards seemed to be lax about looking for Denyefa.
Where was he even going to start from? The king did not permit Denyefa to have a phone else he would've called her. But did he want to bring her back to suffer?
- Writer
