Villainous Fae

CHAPTER NINE

"Who do you think you're calling princess?" Raina asked, hands already on her hip as she stood before Arion. It was getting difficult not to drown in those deep sea blue eyes of his and don't even talk about his scent.

Arion's face was dead serious like he had no intention of giving an answer. His gaze swept from her to the guy behind her, Caspian. "Who's the guy?"

Raina kept her face stern. "I don't see how it has anything to do with you."

"As long as you're concern, it has everything to do with me," Arion kept still serious. "Don't let it get into your head, Raina. Everyone in this realm need you."

The words failed not to get into her head. She blinked and realised that she was starting to feel like a schoolgirl once again. But heck, he was arrogant.

Caspian cleared his throat loudly enough to piss Arion off. "Uhm, I'm sorry if I'm causing anything here. I'm just gonna get back to my shift, okay?"

Raina didn't say anything but Arion had something to say. "You should." Caspian simply returned to his shift while Arion's glare was still on him.

"What was that all about?" Raina felt compelled to ask.

"What was what?" Arion asked like he knew nothing of what just happened.

Raina sighed. "Nevermind. What was it that you wanted to see me about?"

"Follow me." Arion said.

"No." Raina said. "You're not going to pull me with you just like that. I came here with someone and I'm not leaving until I find her so you're gonna have to tell me what you have in mind right here."

"Okay, fine."

• • •

Raina managed to navigate him towards her table, while trying so hard not to look at his face. Arion seemed to always have a scowl decorating his all too perfect face.

She guided him towards her table which was surprisingly not occupied. She wondered whether things was different here. He took the seat opposite her, not even looking at her for a second. It seemed like her presence disgusted him, he may probably be forced to do this for all she knows.

She rubbed her palms on her jeans under the table when his gaze met hers. His frown deflected for a second but returned when he looked at the empty table.

"You're not gonna have anything?"

As if he cared, Raina thought. "I already had something. Oh wait, you didn't let me finish my latte."

"Well, I think you enjoyed the one you had considering you were with the guy," His facial expression remained the same.

"Don't see how any of this concerns you," she started but did not get to finish before he left the table to the counter. He returned seconds later with two lattes in both hands. He carefully put them on the table while he sat down and pushed one to her.

"There," he gestured for me to take the drink. "You drink and I talk."

It would not hurt to drink the latte. She grabbed it and took a sip. "You can start talking."

"Whatever I'm gonna say to you, don't let it get past us, okay?"

She nodded. "Fine."

His eyes shifted to her neck. "The necklace. How do you have it?"

She put the latte down before replying. "Since I knew myself. Lydia says it was found around my neck when she took me in."

"Lydia?"

"She adopted me."

He sighed like what he was about to say weighed heavily on him. "That necklace is not yours. It belongs to the Dark Lord so I'm presuming you may be his heir." He paused to read her expression. "I know, I sound crazy. You may not know me too well, but I'm not in the habit of making jokes."

She didn't say anything. Who was this guy to suddenly waltz in here to tell her that she was the daughter of the dark lord? The necklace was hers and hers alone. She was surprised at how she was believing him. "What makes you think so?"

"I'm a Sage. And I also have my sources." His gaze softened. "That is why we need you. You're the only one powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord. You may have inherited some gifts from him, I guess."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Powers?" He lied. He was really in the habit of making jokes. She would have laughed at the mere thought of it but she just kept quiet.

"Maybe. Look, this is an hypothesis and that's why I needed to see you first."

"Well, here I am."

"I know that." His expression hardened again. "I have my sources, even from the Dark Lord's palace. She says he lost the necklace a long time ago, before his heir was born. That necklace belongs to a Dark Lord and is passed down but Calypso's appears to have been missing."

"So how do you know I had it?"

"I have sources everywhere. Someone knew you from Fritz. I told her to watch signs of the necklace and she confirmed it ad I had to see for myself."

He had someone from Fritz spying on her? He was worse than he appeared to be.

"The thing is, we need you on our side. I'm not sure how long it takes before he finds you here but you really need to be on our side." He hesitated before continuing. "Faes are being slaughtered everyday because he needs to find you and if he does, I'm not you'll be on our side anymore."

"So, what do you guys need from me?"

"I'm not sure yet. But for now, we need you by us."

Despite the bizarre things she was hearing, she noticed his latte, untouched. "Aren't you drinking that?"

His eyes trailed on the cup and back to her. "I didn't come here to drink. You have to believe what I'm saying and at the same time, keep it to yourself, okay?"

"Why?"

"News can get into the wrong hands."

• • •

He could not contain it anymore. "Durin!"

A thin old man appeared. Durin was his person slave after he was the only one brave enough to tell him where Nissa had gone, twenty four years back.

"You called me, My Lord."

"Pack some things for me and arrange some escort. I'm going hunting."

He saw Durin's eyes lit up in horror.