LUNA: The Witching Hour

63: Sweet Life

Sinundan ko ng tingin si Ravi na umupo ito sa harapan ko. Ibinaling niya ang tingin sakanyang mga kamay na ngayon ay niluluwagan ang mga butones sa palapulsuhan nito. "Kailangan ko bang mag-alala para sayo?"

I let myself survey him from head to toe, my eyes lingering longer than they should have been. Just so I could free myself from the burden, I wanted to see right before my eyes that he was no longer any slave to anyone and was moving on his own free will.

The life of being a slave had made him look sharper and vicious rather than looking weak and frail. The longer I stare at him the clearer it was for me to perceive the dark threat in his eyes, a hollowness you knew for certain if you let yourself get lost into it, who knows what kind of monsters were lurking inside.

Umupo ako sa upuan niya at sinimulan tignan ang mga papeles sakanyang lamesa. "Ravi," Pagsisimula ko, "You will respect Midnight with the same amount of respect you have for me. The only reason why your head is still attached to your body is because you're my mate, and Midnight wouldn't touch you unless his patience wears off"

He halted for a second, and before he could even say anything, inunahan ko na siya.

"I am part of his pack. Kahit maging Emperess pa ako ng kaharian na ito, Midnight will still be my king and the blood oath will still require me to follow anything he says. Unless magiging asawa niya ako at makuha ang titolong bilang reyna ng mga demonyo, Midnight will never stop being my king and I will still be bond to him until death"

Ravi refused to meet my eyes as a muscle in his jaw jumped. He knew what he wanted to ask from me and he knew what kind of answer he'd get.

We were both victims of our own lives. We had fought our own battles separately. He knew there wasn't any reason for me to need him if I was capable enough to save myself. But I need him to understand that I do need him right now. Not for any romantic reasons but for the sake of the Kingdom of the Dragons.

I wouldn't be able to handle this alone. Alam ko naman na tutulungan 'rin ako ni Midnight pero masyado na siyang maraming inaasikaso. Ayoko ng dumagdag pa. I've caused this myself. I asked for this. I've fought for this. For the crown. For a throne I knew nothing about but had so many reasons to steal it from someone who had lost all the courage to protect its own people and land.

"For the Wrath to allow you to call him in his first name already says a lot about the relationship you have with him" Hesitation crossed his features before he finally decided to face me.

I didn't want to defend myself at all. Even I wasn't sure what Midnight and I were for each other.

Ravi opened his mouth to say something but he pulled his tongue back. The lump in his neck bobbed up and down, his jaw clenching hard.

I patiently waited for him to say it.

"Can we at least try?" He said to me, a sad yearning from the bottom of his heart. "You're my mate, Sahar. I don't want to give you up"

Any emotions visible on my expression right now vanished. I let my eyes roam at the report I just randomly picked when my heart felt as though it was floating away and out of my body. I needed the blade to calm me down, and so my other hand went to touch the hilt of my dagger on my thigh. A kind of comfort. "It's hard for me to try now. If I ever break my own heart again, I don't think even you can put the pieces back together"

When I made myself look him in the eye, there had been nothing in my heart but the pull to always tell him the truth of my feelings. There wasn't anything I could do to make this work between us, as his mate I would respectfully offer him nothing but the truth about me and my thoughts and my emotions and... nothing else but the validity of my own words. Even if that truth would break him apart.