The Realms

9. Untamed Feeling

The Queen observed quietly as Iris walked in for breakfast. She looked disturbed and the look of disgust she gave to Kai and the Consort gave her the answer.

Iris knew telling anyone this would be useless. No one would believe her. She had to make Palin come out by herself.

She would go to the library after this, she decided.

Kai looked up when Iris sat down, she looked elegant in her royal robes, she unfortunately didn't even try to look at him. He felt a pang of guilt which was a shock to him. He wasn't supposed to feel guilty.

Kai wondered if Iris had a lover before getting married to him. That thought made him jealous and he wished that the answer was negative. He would ask her after breakfast.

Palin sat next to the Prince occasionally smiling up at him but she noticed a little change in Kai. He didn't smile back every time and he kept glancing at Iris as if willing her look at him.

Iris felt someone's eyes on her for the hundredth time and looked up. She met the eyes of the Prince and she felt the anger, her mouth formed a straight line and she furrowed her eyebrows before raising her left eyebrow in a questioning glare.

The prince looked away before asking for permission to leave.
Granted, he motioned for Iris follow him.
Palin's curious eyes followed them out and decided to follow them. But the queen was having none of it,

"Where to?"
"I'd like to talk to the Prince, your majesty."

"as you can see, he is busy, just wait until he is back, hmm?"

"Yes, your Majesty," Palin said as she slumped back to her seat. She did not trust them together.

****
Iris stood at the balcony facing her previous balcony, across. She longingly looked at her brother practicing, as if feeling a gaze on him, he turned. Seeing his sister, Athens waved. She smiled sadly and waved back. He made a motion asking if he should come but before he could finish he saw Kai emerge and stood besides Iris.

"if he wasn't a Prince I would have punched his guts out," Athens seethed before disappearing into the house.

Iris turned to Kai.
"Any problems, Prince?" Kai could feel the underlying sarcasm.

"Yes."
"Go ahead,."

"About yesterday night...."

"What happened? Was the Kingdom attacked? No! So if it has nothing to do with that, then it's not a problem."

Kai was taken aback by Iris' outburst. Didn't she care about anything else? She was his wife and she had to care. He wanted her to care. He didn't know why.

" I'm your husband. You should care about me too."

Iris nearly laughed at the audacity of the prince.

"Wow.... Thank you for reminding me. I wasn't aware." Iris answered sarcastically before turning around to walk away.

The prince got hold of her hand and pulled her back. It was an unexpected move and she was easily pulled slum on the prince's chest.

Her hands landed on his shoulder and his right hand went round her waist.... Iris gulped audibly. She looked up to find the Prince looking down at her. Amused.

She tried to pull herself from the grip but the prince didn't let go.

"Let go."
"Answer my question first."

Iris looked on....
" Did you have a lover?"

Iris' jaw nearly hit the floor. She was convinced the Prince was mentally ill. What did that have to do with him? Wait. Did the Prince think she would cheat on him? The thought made her smirk evilly.

" if you really want to know, yes."

The grip on her was gone, and the prince took a step back in anger. Iris wondered why he was angry, after all he didn't like her.

"Who is he?"
"That's non of your business, Prince. Now if you could excuse me and anyway your lover might be worried. You should check up on her."

Kai watched Iris disappear down the stairs and angrily punched the closest rail.

*****'

Kai didn't understand himself these days. He longed for her attention more than ever. He enjoyed watching her while she thought deeply about something, how she tilted her head, how she smiled while talking to the queen, her enthusiasm when practicing.... He watched her secretly. He wished she could look at him the way she looked at her brother.

Now she had a past lover. That was the ultimum. He wasn't allowing anyone near his wife and that was final. She was his, alone.

The Prince walked down the stairs only to meet Palin coming up.

"I met your wife going out the front door," she said emphasizing on the wife.

"She is my wife, and what brought you here?" Palin hid her shock quickly and faked her smile.

"I wanted to see you, and I hoped we could walk around and maybe go to the library. I heard it's the only one around."

Palin had become suspicious of the Prince. He was not acting as he used to around her. He was becoming distant after the wedding. She had heard that the sacred thread was very powerful. The bond would evolve to love.

That seemed so unbelievable until she started observing them more closely. Iris still showed signs of hatred but Kai... He had changed!

If it was true that the prince was losing interest in her, then her plan would fail. She had already lied to her mother and it was a matter of time before she found out that she had lied. The punishment would be unbearable. She had to hold on to him.

If she could bear his child, then maybe she would win him back and this time forever.

The Black Rose's child would always be born evil with greater power and that would be enough to get the prince to follow her back to the Dark realm. Using the power of compulsion.

*****
To make sure the prince would agree to the act, she had to get the spells ready.

Palin had tried to take things further on his wedding night but he had refused and she had to get herself off when he peacefully slept. She however  liked the look of Iris' face that morning.

******
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