Heart of Thieves (Fallen Empires #1)

Chapter 7.2

7.2
━━━━━▲━━━━━

Yazia exhaled and advanced back to the palace, wandering her way down the same stainless floors she had run down just minutes ago. But this time, she kept her head held high.

No more running, Yazia. You've got this. A queen does not escape from her enemies, she deceives them.

When she reached the room, Yazia stopped and for a few moments, hesitation struck her. The door was left ajar just as she'd left it. She didn't knock, instead she walked right inside and closed the door tight.

She glanced across the chamber in sight of the King, only to find him standing under the arched balcony. Yazia wondered why he hadn't chased after her, or maybe rushed to get  his royal guardsmen to seize her after what she had done to him.

"Apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to intrude. I just...I want to know what happened," she said, her voice wavered at the end, becoming barely a whisper.

Yazia didn't know what she had been expecting; for him to grovel at her feet and beg for her to stay and not leave the way she had tried to again. But he didn't move. Only the wailing of the soft breeze tangling with the silken curtains could be sound.

Yazia glimpsed back towards the closed door for just a moment before deciding to step forward and meet the King's side at the balcony. She followed his gaze, out towards the expanse of trees ahead of them that seemed to be never ending. Large veins of the roots at the trees closest to them spread across the grassy floor. She remembered what it felt like to be outside again, barefoot, the wetness of the dirt crushing against her soles. It had been a happy memory, until it wasn't.

"I expected that you'd find your way back," he said gruffly. The sound emanating from his six foot one inch stature commanded attention. Although it wasn't at its most pronounced she'd heard, Yazia felt the sting of a whip against her dewy skin. She tried to swallow the thick lump trapped inside of her throat.

"I just want to know where we stand," Yazia said with a hushed tone, "I do not want to make an enemy out of you. I just want to know what happened...Whether those...things were real." Yazia grimaced as the vivid imagery of the dark shadows that choked her came flooding back to her. She glanced up, hoping that his expressions told more than his voice was, whether he truly did have to be her enemy or not.

"What exactly is it that you saw and so clearly claim that I did?" He paused for a brief moment, Yazia's mouth left agape as he added, "I am not the monster you should be fearing in this Kingdom, Malya."

Monster...

"Well, then I ought not to think of you as one," she stated with certainty. He was correct, there were worse things out there than corrupt monarchs. She looked down to her pale hands resting on the balcony's edge at the thought.

"You shouldn't," he confirmed, "I had no intention of hurting you, Malya...Actually quite the opposite."

Yazia was relieved to hear that he wouldn't hurt her, to know that what she had done to him had no effect. She turned and briefly made eye contact with him, realising he had been watching her. Her eyes swung up to the dark bruise that formed on the side of his head where she had cracked the candle's stand at him. A tinge of guilt formed deep inside of her stomach, though she also couldn't tell if it was just the nausea talking.