FATE #3 *(A ROSE IN BLOOM)*

LOVE UNLOCKED*

GENERAL POV

They horsed away after their king and the queen to be, Nathan kept taking glances at her whiles smiling.

Following the brief which was given to her by the palace maids , Ariana planned to be wily in order to get what she wanted. She was eager to see the human in contest with her over Nathan.

It was midday and the sun was mild up there, while the horses gaited, Sandra offered fruits to Pearl and Matrona but Pearl rejected. " Are you okay huh ?" Nathan asked but she kept to herself. " Lloyd !, Come here!" Nathan summoned.

Immediately as he drew near , Nathan used telekinesis to snatch Pearl off her horse , he placed her in front and wrapped his right arm around her waist, her resistance got him smiling as he slightly squeezed her into his bosom.

Lloyd help onto Flamingo's robe and kept it at par with his after the king's command.

She felt embarrassed after hearing murmurs. " Do I always have to move you before you yield to me huh" he spoke to her undertone. " I don't want you Nathan! I hate you , remember?" She retorted getting him to smirk.

" Can we not make haste in drawing conclusion now huh? I am the one who loves you , I chose you and that's all that matters." She nearly pulled out after his statement but his hold on her was so firm.

Pearl couldn't defeat nature for long, she fell asleep in his bosom, upon realizing that, Nathan smiled and fixed his helmet on her head and sped on quickly.

Two hours on, they arrived, Nathan carried her in his arms and sped off to his chambers, he noticed Ariana's presence but ignored her, the guards made way for him as he crossed over to his room and tucked her in his bed.

He took off the helmet , unintentionally touching her shoulder to position her well, she shrugged from his touch, getting him to think something was wrong , he touched the spot again and she flinched.

She fluttered her eyes and woke up, " did I interrupt your sleep?" She held his hand and took it off her shoulder. " I'd love to take a shower!" She stated , " mm! I'll take care of that , but .. are you alright huh?" He darted his eyes to the spot on her shoulder, but she wasn't ready to let him have a look.

He stepped out for a moment and met Ariana in front of his chamber in an embrace with her brother, Sandra stood close with folded arms , the king called out to her which got the siblings looking his way .

" At your service, your highness!" Sandra curtsied. Ariana thought Nathan was looking quite different from how he used to be back then ., " He's quite radiant I must say, just as he used to when Sofia was around!" She faked a smile to her brother.

" Yes ! You've got sharp eyes now ! He's got the empress now, what more would you expect!" Lloyd replied to her disdain, she was furious inside just listening to that but her stoicism was quite fantastic.

Nathan wanted to inquire about what might be happening with Pearl but didn't know how to go about it, he just instructed she mobilize some of the servants who will only attend to Pearl and everything she will be needing, a number of guards who will escort her anywhere she would go and they must be trustworthy too.

He ignored Ariana ones again and walked inside, when he got in there Pearl wasn't in the room, he almost panicked before thinking of checking the bathroom , it was locked and the sound of water splashing and pouring told him she was taking her shower.

Before he would walk away , the aroma of her blood tickled his nostrils so he paused and turned towards the glass door again, he felt it could be from her shoulder, but wandered why it hadn't healed up to now since they've been together the whole time and her cleric healing had been active.

He knew it wasn't from the strike Xexem gave her earlier but couldn't point out where it might be coming from, so he held himself from taking a peep at her while she bathe and walked to the bedroom.

He picked a royal dress from the closet for her to wear before heading to one other room in his chamber to shower too .

After a while, she stepped out making sure she kept everything as they were before she showered and dressed an opened wound on her shoulder, when her gaze fell on the dress selected for her, she didn't like it.

Instead, she walked into the closet, to the king's side and grabbed one of his purple t-shirts and placed it on, it was so long, reaching down to almost her knees and big enough to cover her shape. She took the dress back to the closet and tied her hair in a ponytail.

She realized her body accent had switched up quite a little, she looked prettier than before and nearly refined like gold.

She then stepped out satisfying Ariana's curiosity as she stared at her from afar. Pearl nearly flipped at the site of nearly twenty vampires in uniforms and armors who kowtowed in front of her.

She went wide eyed when they addressed her as your majesty, what got her reacting was the fact that Sandra did same. Ariana was quite amazed at her reaction she wanted to know more.

" Really Sandra!" She held herself from saying more because she had the assurance Nathan might be behind that. A few moments later he crept up behind her and stared deeply to see what she was hiding, but Pearl felt it quickly and turned to find him there.

She saw his royal apparel and his magnificence too, he appeared so beautiful and glorious in contrast to the environment. Nathan was quite pleased with her wearing his t-shirt but that wasn't what he wanted to talk about.

He dismissed them all but Sandra and buckled his arms behind him, he stared down at her face , maintaining eye contact.

" What are you hiding from me Pearl!, You should know whatever it may be I have my own ways of finding them out , I .. I'm just giving you the opportunity to let me in on your will, because that's what you are used to and yet, you try to conceal it every time!" He spoke with displeasure and she could feel that.

" One thing I'll never lie low on is when something bad happens to you , you cannot suffer a pain while beside me ! You don't have that right Pearl, and you'll never have it.. tell me now, what are you hiding from me?" He sounded furious.

"I can take care of myself, Nathan! so stop trying to treat me like I'm some child who knows nothing, my problems are my problems and I'll solve them anyhow I can !" She clarified but sounded gibberish to him.

" Wrong! Your problems are totally my concern and you don't get to solve them, I've known you to be a brat, so stubborn and willful and that alone tells me you cannot be trusted to solve your own issues!" He retorted.

" You cannot call me a brat or stubborn, because I am not !" She fumed, " it is you who is bossy, willful, oh so cunning and stubborn!" She retorted angrily, " yes you are Pearl!" He replied as they kept going back and forth, Sandra laughed whereas Ariana fumed in her hideout, she was irritated by their childish behaviors and the rights Nathan has given to the human.

" You're behaving like kids both of you !" Sandra called them out but had the two cordially yelling out the same thing , " stay out of this !" Sandra had never seen this cute side of Nathan all these years , and Pearl too since she has known her.

She shook her head and sped inside to retrieve the armour she had given Pearl, her eyes fell on a portion which seemed to have melted away strangely and finally understood Nathan's anguish.

She sped out .