Valencia

    Mary was the first to look away from the door. She slowly looked at Killian and then her hesitant nce fell on me.

    I could see the way Killian was standing, his shoulders strained and his fingers slowly curling into a fist.

    He was angry and hurt. But my mind was just focused on thest line Martin had said.

    What did he mean by ‘Did you tell her‘?

    I knew Killian had some secrets, but why did Martin call him evil, a greater evil at that?

    Mary coughed delicately and ced a hand on my hand to give it a gentle squeeze.

    “I will return with a light dinner for you in some time.”

    Saying so, she walked out of the room hurriedly. Killian was still standing with his back facing me and I couldn’t help but ask.

    “Are you going to pretend that your eldest brother said nothing?”

    Killian slowly turned to look at me, and I could see a distraught expression on his face.

    I couldn’t bear that look on his face, so I straightened up, for I had been slouching on the bed before asking.

    “What is wrong?”

    Killian took several breaths in and out and his shoulders finally rxed as he approached me.

    “How are you feeling now?” He asked, and I replied.

    “I am fine.”

    His hand rose up to gently caress my face, and he took in a shaky breath.

    “I was worried that something had happened to you. I looked for you everywhere when you didn’t show up at the training. I thought you were just pissed at me and didn’t want to train with me anymore. But when Mary mentioned you had not slept in your bedst night, I panicked.”

    I felt something warm blossom in my heart, thawing that icy effect of whatever liquid had been forced down my throat.

    “Tjust got caught up with temple work,” I said and immediately tried to get up.

    “Shit, I forgot about Sarah again”

    But Killian was quick to ce his hands on my shoulders.

    “Rx,” He said as he helped mey down on the bed again.

    “Sarah is doing fine. I ensured that she got the proper medical attention she needed.”

    I rxed for a second, but then I immediately asked.

    “How do you even know who am I talking about?”

    He smiled. “You kept mentioning that name, and Mary found out who it was, as she could enter the temple, but I could not.”

    10:57 Tue, 26 Aug

    I nodded in understanding.

    “Ahh, the temple allows entry only to females.”

    He nodded. “And I respect that. But it is not as if the iron doors could stop me froming to you if I wanted to.”

    Killian said with a bit of pride, and I tried not to smile.

    “Thank you. For looking after her”

    He picked a ss of water from the table and a pill for me.

    “Time for your medicines. It was good that we didn’t find you toote. But it did make me wonder what got you so exhausted.”

    He said it like a statement, but it was a question.

    “Nothing. Just some temple work that I kept dying, and Sarah was taking the brunt of it all, so I decided to help her out.”

    “I see that you made a friend in the temple of Elorin. That is good.”

    “Yes, and she has been showing me around, teaching me the ways, etc but that is not what I want to talk about.”

    Killian caught my drift and sighed.

    “Martin bbers a lot. You should ignore him.”

    I leaned forward.

    “But was there some truth to it? You looked like he pped you just with his words.”

    Killian got up from the bed and stood looking out the window. The cool breeze wafted in through and ruffled his hair.

    It was a sight that made my heart ache in a not so unpleasant way.

    “There was some truth to it” Killian said, and my heart began to beat wildly.

    “Which is?” I prompted him, hanging ionto /ievery word he would say. I didn’t want to miss out on anything and willed my body and brain to not shut down for a few minutes.

    I could get all the rest I neededter.

    A rueful smile appeared on his lips.

    “That I am selfish when ites to you. And I also admit that I don’t want people hurting you which is why I designed your day in such a way that you would be safe either while training with me or in the temple when I was not around to protect you from the others.”

    My heart was now skipping and jumping like a little butterfly.

    “However, by no means do I believe that I am the good one here. I am not under the impression that having you by my side will help me gain a favor within the court nor do I have any desire for that throne.”

    “Why not?” I croaked.

    Granted, he had a long list of siblings who were ahead of him in the line for the throne, did he not ever look at the throne and wonder if he would ever get a chance to sit on it? He lived in the castle and was used to avish life, did he never wonder what would happen ito /ihim once Martin took over?

    10:57 Tue, 26 Aug D

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    I doubted Martin would let any of his siblings stay in the kingdom after he took the throne for himself. Maybe he would let Fabian stay because Fabian feared him but I didn’t think he would let Killian stay here.

    “Having a crown on your head doesn’t only mean luxury and riches. Ites with a responsibility, and sometimes, the price you pay is just not worth it. Sometimes, it is better to be a nameless shadow that can be forgotten easily rather than be a name everybody knows and hates with all they got.”

    Killian spoke thatst line fiercely, almost gritting his teeth and that made me stare at him in shock.

    “But how would you know if you were never a king? You are still a prince here, right?” I asked and his gaze flicked to me.

    There was some unknown emotion in his eyes, a fire burning with rage, but he quickly blinked, and that fire was gone along with the rage.

    When he opened his eyes again, there was just sadness in them and sorrow intermixed with a bit of guilt.

    “Trust me, my queen. I know.”

    That was all he said about that topic before steering the conversation in another direction.

    “Though I believe we should figure out how to ensure you keep yourself upied for the next few days without exhausting yourself a lot. I have a few ideas in mind,” he said rather slowly, and his gaze dipped to my lips.

    “But I am not sure if you would love those.”

    And just like that, the butterflies erupted in my stomach once again.

    Goddess, this man knew just how to distract me with just one look and make me forget the entire world!

    I had to do something to stop getting mushy every time he smiled at me.

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