Empty Eyes: Book 1

Chapter 22

Tenten scrambled to ready a plate for the Uchiha royal who'd showed up without warning. The rest of us waited in silence for him to sit down and accept it from the frantic maid.

"I apologize, Sir! I wasn't aware you'd returned." This was Tenten's first time meeting Madara, since he'd already left the castle upon her hire, but I've tried to insinuate on many occasions that I didn't like him so hopefully she picked up on it and would be cautious.

His sudden appearance had my anxiety levels shooting through the roof, making my already dizzy brain even hazier. I'd been so worried about Gaara and Sasuke killing one another that I'd nearly forgotten about the predicament waiting for me here at the castle. Is Obito still chained up in the cellar or had he been let loose? Surely he's still down there or else he'd have tried to attack me again by now.

I felt a nudge against my shin under the table and looked up to see Ino giving me a stern look. I hadn't realized that I'd been lost in my thoughts with my eyes dazed over as I stared at the eggs on my plate.

Madara had already been seated and apparently tried to speak to me, but I hadn't noticed in my stupor. I looked over at him and sucked in my breath when his cocky gaze locked onto my own uncomfortable one, "I'm sorry, sir. What did you say?"

The older Uchiha man let out a hearty chuckle, "It seems you're still recovering. Lord Gaara himself told me how he'd nearly killed you. I was so worried, I simply had to return home to see for myself that you're alright."

I forced my gaze back down onto the table at the mention of the Sunagakure king. The memory of his brutality was still fresh in my mind, like it'd just happened yesterday. The topic made me uncomfortable, to say the least.

Madara let out a dramatic sigh and my fingers started to tremble at his words, "He extends his deepest apologies, of course. He claims he lost control of his actions and wasn't able to stop himself. I can understand how hard the temptation can be to resist-"

Sasuke spoke in a threatening manner and cut him off, "That's enough, Uncle." We all looked over at him in shock because it was rare for him to speak out against his elders. He was more of the storm off in silence type of guy.

Madara let out another chuckle, this one much more dry than the last. He obviously didn't like being told what to do by someone younger. "I suppose I've done enough chatting for us all. We can revisit the topic later on."

I felt his gaze on me, but kept my eyes lowered in fear. I can't warn Sasuke to not provoke his uncle like that because it could trigger his order to attack me. My eyes danced nervously over to the prince's face and a sense of urgency quickened my heart rate.

He has a right to know that his own family member has been manipulating him, Obito, Itachi, and possibly others. I just haven't been able to take our physical relationship to the next level yet, per Itachi's advice.

Would it really make such a difference?

We're a million times closer than we were just a month ago and we've even done a couple sexual things with one another. My face started to warm at the thought of what I'd done under the influence of the aphrodisiacs in Sunagakure and I had to quickly think about gross things like worms and spiderwebs so the vampires present wouldn't notice a difference in my scent.

After breakfast, Ino and I helped Tenten clear the table and wash the dishes in the kitchen. I toyed with the idea of telling both her and Ino about what Madara had done in the cellar, but decided against it. The older Uchiha man somehow finds out about everything that happens within the castle, so he'd undoubtedly either kill me or get close to it if I did.

Instead, I refrained from saying a lot on the topic of his return as the two gossiped about it in hushed tones as we dried the plates with fluffy black dish towels. It wasn't hard to do so, since I still felt weak and it took a lot of focus for me to simply offer some aid.