Royalty

29| Coward

Chapter 29: Coward (Ella's POV)

"Ella, you have to eat something," he sighed, holding the plate while sitting in front of me. 

"I already told you, I'm not hungry," I clicked my tongue in frustration. 

"I don't care if you are not hungry," he said through gritted teeth. "You have to eat. You haven't eaten all day and it's nearly eleven, okay? The last time you ate was at breakfast this morning. Eat," he ordered. 

I folded my arms across my chest, grabbing the TV remote and turning it on, looking past him and at the screen. He snatched the remote out of my hand and turned it off. I leaned forward to grab it but winced at the sudden movement. 

He looked down at where the wound was before sighing in defeat, turning the TV back on, and handing me the remote. "Don't complain when you feel like you've starved. Because you have." He stood up, leaving the plate on my nightstand, and went and sat on his own side of the bed but instead of sitting normally, he sat with his back facing me, his legs off and feet on the floor. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his palm. 

I watched him for a minute. I knew for a fact he was sulking with his back to me. I shook my head, turning the TV off. "Hey," I said, hitting his back with a pillow. He didn't react though. "I turned it off, Nick," I said, doing it again. "Hey!" I hit him harder but he still didn't react. "Nick," I whined, leaning my head back against the headboard. "Okay, I will eat the food, please don't be mad," I frowned. "Nick!" I hit the pillow of his head. 

He grabbed it in anger and snatched it away, throwing it onto the floor. 

"Hey," I said softly, trying to inch closer to him and involuntarily letting out a groan in pain. The painkiller is definitely fading, I need to get another one. 

He turned around quickly, grabbing my arms and straightening me up. "Can you not sit still for one fucking moment, Ella?" he scolded, lifting my shirt and looking at the wound. 

Luckily, I didn't need proper stitches, the doctor gave me numerous butterfly stitches instead because while the cut was large, it wasn't too deep, in fact, it was a lot shallower than we thought. 

"It's not going to pop open because I move an inch," I said, lifting my eyes from the wound and looking up at him. When my eyes landed on his, I frowned. "Are you crying?" 

"What?" He shook his head, still assessing the wound. 

"Hey." I grabbed his chin but he pushed my hand down. "Nick." I tried again but still, he wasn't having it. "Nicholas." I grabbed his face, lifting his face so his eyes met mine. "You are," I whispered. "Why? Why are you crying? What happened?" I asked, brushing away the tear that slipped from his eyes. 

"Really?" he laughed dryly, glancing down at the wound, then back up at me. "And you are asking me what happened?" 

"I'm okay though." 

He looked away. 

"Nick," I sighed. 

"You know it's because of things like this. Incidents like this that make me think it would be better for you if we ended this marriage," he huffed in frustration. 

"But this is the first that has happened, Nicholas," I mumbled. "And it's not necessary that your father made this happen. What if it was just a citizen of Merralith who wasn't happy with this marriage and our kingdoms building an alliance?" 

"And what do you think are the odds of that being the case?" he questioned. 

I stayed silent, not answering because the odds were not in our favor.