The Sacred Seven

Chapter 8 - A newcomer

"Took you long enough."

A sudden feeling of déjá vu kicked in and Lillith shot upright, staring at the man in alert. He was sitting opposite herself in a cushioned chair, his leg on top of the other, twirling a blade between his slender fingers.

Her blade.

Lillith swiftly reached down for her belt, only to collide with the surface of her bare skin. The knife wasn't there for days, but the feeling of cold blade kept lingering.

Startled, she briefly glanced down at her attire and back at the wizard, her eyebrows pulled together in turmoil.

"How even dare you?" she hissed, speaking through gritted teeth. She was wearing nothing, but a thin shirt and her stunned face morphed into one of anger.

Tom watched the change of her emotions in amusement, curiously studying her morning appearance. He had to admit, she looked rather ravishing. In the end, she was a young woman, decent looking and half naked in tousled sheets, looking at him with a look of dismay and fury.

Not an unusual sight for the wizard.

Yet the fact it was the future Queen in his bed made it the more thrilling.

"Where am I?" Lillith snarled, glancing around the unfamiliar room. She was sitting in a large bed with velvet sheets, eyeing her surroundings.

"What?" the wizard asked, mocking hurt. "No thank you? You would have caught a cold if I left you down there."

The heiress scoffed; a mocking undertone sensible in her sharp exhale.

"So, you undressed me from the goodness of your heart, correct?"

He took all her dignity and crushed it in the palm of his hand like a charcoal, scattering the remains in the air.

"Correct indeed."

"You bloody bastard. Where-am-I?" she demanded, her jaw set in vexation.

"In my room."

"Why?"

"Where else should you be?"

"Anywhere but here!"

Tom flashed her an unimpressed look, his features blank as those of a Greek statue.

"Do not act daft Lillith. You know, you belong with me at all times."

"You can't seriously think that this marriage is ever going to happen," she spoke in utter disbelief, horrified at the thought. "I would never give my consent!"

And that was her final word.

Or at least she believed so.

"Is that so?" Tom asked, his voice as calm as sea waters before a storm. He was a cunning wizard and every word and step he ever made was scrutinizingly calculated.

Without exception.

"I would love to see them find out who you really are," he taunted, dragging his fingertip along the sharp edge of the silver blade. "How powerful you are," the word effortlessly rolled off his tongue, mockery thick and clear in the emphasis on it.

Although blackmail wasn't his plan in the first place, it was certainly the easiest one.

Tom could be very persuasive.

"You wouldn't," Lillith growled, fisting the sheets in her hands. Just the thought of her burning out in front of the royals made her blood ran cold.

They would have her slaughtered in a heartbeat.