King of the Darkest Stars (EXO Kai ff)

Chapter Twenty

We had meat for lunch and he still kept that stupid smile on his face. He looked a thousand times more foolish than he did in his tantrums. I wished I hated it more than I did. Every time I found myself slipping up and laughing with him, I wondered what I was doing and what my mother would think.

I shouldn't think of her.

She thought I would suffer here. She thought I was chained to someone terrible and cruel. Today I wasn't. Today he smiled. Tomorrow... who knew?

"What do you think?" He held up a little pendant with a sword on the end. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'd prefer a real sword. My sword." I folded my arms. "How about that, Mister Smiles?"

"Unlikely," he muttered with a small smile and looked down at the necklace, then put it back.

"I won't even touch it!" I complained. "Just leave it on the wall!"

"We're here to have fun," He caught my wrist mid complaint. "Let's have fun."

"You don't know how to have fun!" I countered.

"Really?" He laughed and grabbed my hand. He pulled me through the streets and left my voice behind. I was too shook as our fingers laced themselves together like a wound being sewn shut. I heard the sound of music getting louder and louder. Kai looked back at me with shining eyes and I couldn't help but laugh. He pulled me into the crowd of dancing people and pulled me towards him. His free hand found my waist and mine his shoulder.

This was nothing like the dancing at the wedding. This was high energy. Our feet pounded on the ground and our eyes met with a vitality that had been missing in every other moment we'd spent together. We ran into other couples frequently which just resulted in a spread of laughter like a ruined cloth seeping up more and more wine until it was unsalvageable.

Kai spun me around and I looked at the swirling colours and sounds around me. It was a strange sensation to be allowed to feel this way. I felt like I needed to duck and hide my face away from guards that would search for me and bring me back to my father for sneaking out of the palace. Kai had taken me out. He'd taken me to the capital to dance and to shop and to eat. He wanted to do all those secret victories with me.

What would he want tomorrow?

I memorised the joy in his face and saved it in my heart. I would paint it the moment my hands found their place on a brush. I'd never considered myself a painter. I was good at painting but I didn't necessarily enjoy it. I was forced to like it and learn it back in Lotus, but here... Maybe the Land of the Night Sky would help me to find the life art was supposed to give you.

I saw Kai wince as we landed on the ground and remembered his injuries. I pulled him out of the crowd, but kept my hand on his shoulder. I watched him as he gathered his breath and avoided my eyes.

"I'm hungry." I didn't ask if he was okay. He didn't want to be asked. "Let's get dinner."

"Fine." He answered with a bit more of his usual dark tone. I didn't know if I should be relieved or concerned. He didn't let me help him as we walked, so I kept a close distance between us to be ready should he collapse from absolute, headstrong stupidity. Though I was hardly one to talk.

After a moment he seemed to be walking straighter and his mood seemed to be lifting and he soaked up the atmosphere around him. This was his day to be free. He didn't want to waste it on the pain. I didn't want to waste it either. Tomorrow he would go back to hating me. At least today there could be a calm before the storm.

"What do you feel like?" He asked.

"Food." I smiled over at him and he narrowed his eyes, a grin cracking across his delicate face.