CHAPTER 441: ONE YEAR LATER (II)

music motivation for this Chapter; Let The World Burn by Chris Grey.

DAEMON

"Tell me again why we are hiding this from Fionna?" Caspian grunted as they put the finishing design touches to the courtyard where Daemon planned to propose to Zina again.

He should have known earlier that asking a bunch of men to help him with something as delicate as a matter of decoration was a fool’s sojourn. But there he was, with Yaren, Zelkov, Marcus, and Caspian, setting up flowers of all things.

"Because she is such a tattletale who is in fact very close with the Theta." Marcus almost snapped the answer while his garden shears made quick work of a particularly thick stalk of flower.

Caspian squinted at the thorny rose flower he was holding. "Fionna is not like that," he defended the manipulative woman innocently, "Surely, we can ask the maids to take care of this."

Daemon shot him a glare, barely burying a scuff at the high promise he handed to his Delta. Besides, he didn’t wait three hundred and sixty five days, eight hours and ten minutes counting for this day, just to have a clumsy maid spoil everything for him.

At the very least, he trusted his men. And under his supervision, they would get the job done whether they liked it or not.

He ignored the sight of Zelkov struggling with a flower pot while he walked towards Yaren. Out of all of them, his brother was the most serious and most determined in getting the job done. A fact that was easily shown by his intense scrutiny as he made sure the flower pots aligned. Wasn’t his delicate side quite the rare sight?

"How do you find the women I have found you?" He asked him without actually looking at him. Instead, he stared with a burgeoning sense of dread at the courtyard he planned to lure Zina to while he asked her what was now the most important question.

He already envisioned how he would grovel and kneel before her if it called for it. Because like it or not, Zina was marrying her.

"Stop it already. I told you I don’t want to marry." He grumbled, "you should be more worried about getting the Theta back. I heard the Eldermen of the Temple are planning on convincing her to become a high priestess."

Daemon’s expression instantly darkened. It was in fact that particular pesky rumour that had dragged him to the courtyard once it struck midnight. And the only reason why he had waited until midnight was out of respect to the last day of Zina’s mourning. And now that it was all over, even if he had to raze down the Temple and the so-called Eldermen just to get to her, then he would do just that.

"You have that expression that says you want to burn something." Yaren observed coolly.

He smiled slowly, exposing fangs. "Aren’t you so on point."

Yaren sighed. "I am sure she will come back to you, so why worry so much."

Something cold settled in him. He was worried because he was not sure that she would come back to him. The past one year had exposed him to a harsh reality—which was the fact that Zina could very well live without him.

Throughout her mourning, her resolve to remain in the confines of the Temple and never leave it was as scary as the fact that she never reached out for once.

Zina had proved that she could live without him in all the ways it actually mattered. And somehow that fact only widened the margin of how much he couldn’t live without her.

Yaren patted him on the back, a gesture that conveyed brotherly affection and something between consolation. "We are done. It is time to get her here, and as we discussed, I will go."

He smiled a shrewd smile. "And what excuse will you use to get her here?"

"Yuri." Yaren answered simply, "I will tell her Yuri is very sick and wants to see her. I’m sure she will come running as she can be considered Yuri’s mother."

That was a sound excuse. He had almost forgotten about that niece of his. The young girl had continuously received Zina’s affection in letters and gifts sent from the temple. And somewhere along the line, he found himself jealous of the poor orphan who turned out to be far luckier than he would ever be.

"Let’s do that then." He said while admiring the finished state of the courtyard.

The last word had barely left his lips when he heard commotion from the entrance of the courtyard.

In a flash, a blur of white hair and white dress came running for him. Followed closely behind that was Fionna in her glaring signature leather outfit, followed by a distantly familiar brown-haired who could only be Zina’s maidservant.

That was when he finally had renewed courage to face the woman who was running at the head. And to his utter astonishment, it was in fact Zina as he suspected.

The sight caused him to stagger backwards. In the weeks and months that he secretly stalked the temple, he had always seen her from afar whenever she was attending the talga meetings. But it was so different from seeing her like this... so up close in a way that was viscerally raw.

She stopped before him, panting hard like she had run a marathon to reach him. Why, though, was what he didn’t understand. Surely she was not here to end everything for good. Did she realize that taking the path of a high priestess was far more fulfilling than being the wife of a man, stuck in the swelling effects of the aftermaths of a war barely fought?

"Zina...." The protest bubbled up from his lips, but she shut it down instantly with words he never expected.

"Marry me!" She almost screamed. "I mean, will you marry me? No, you must marry me. Don’t... don’t tell me that you’re preparing this place for your next wife? Tell me, what Alpha has dared pressure you with their daughter. I shall have a word with them."

"Zina...."

"I know I am undeserving!" She cut him off yet again, "When I needed you the most when I was kidnapped, you were there for me. But when you needed me the most, I left you."

What nonsense was she saying?

"Zina...."

"But even though I am undeserving!" She screamed, her voice cracking, while their audience witnessed the spectacle while rooted in place, "I still choose to cling to you shamelessly. So do not think you can get rid of me so easily!"

He didn’t bother trying to call her name anymore. His arms wound around her waist in a flash, tugging her close to him. And before she could say anymore, he smashed his lips against hers.