Thief of Twilight

Part Two: Chapter 55

I don't know how long the two of us stayed together. I can't begin to think of how many minutes passed that I stayed in his embrace. Yohan's back was against the tree while he held me in his arms. He didn't want to let me go. Any subtle movement I made, he would tighten his arms around me. I rest my chin on his arm as he buried his face in the back of my neck.

"...Yohan..." as I tried to break free, he only tightened his hold on me. "Yohan..." I sighed heavily. "I have to go." tearing myself from his arms, I got to my feet. "I can't stay here."

"You're right." he stood up and brushed off the back of his robe. "Let's go back to the palace."

"No." I shook my head. "I'm not going back."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't feel safe there. It's better if I just stay here." I walked through the trees heading back to the village.

"What are you talking about?" he walked after me.

"I'm going back to the village."

He followed me through the trees and up the road. Of course, this caused many villagers to look at us with weird stares before whispering to one another. I didn't have any intention of staying here anyway. But now I have more of a reason to find another place to live in peace. But now I have to find a way to get Yohan to leave me alone. That's not going to be easy.

"Zurine, stop this foolishness."

I turned to him as I placed a hand on the door to the temple. "How am I being foolish?" I asked.

"You're saying that you want to stay here?" he gestured to the temple.

"What are you trying to say?" I narrowed my eyes before opening the door. "Just leave me alone, okay?" as I stepped inside, Yohan walked in after me. He took a look around as if judging me for living in a place that wasn't as luxurious as the temple.

"Zurine, your little trip is over. We're going back to the palace."

"No, you are going back to the palace. Not me." I turned to him as he walked to the table beneath the portrait of the god.

Yohan narrowed his eyes before snatching up the necklace.

"Hey!" I ran up to him. "Give that back!"

Yohan held the necklace over my head out of reach.

"Yohan!" I jumped repeatedly trying to grab the necklace. "Give it back to me!"

"Did my grandmother give this to you? This is why I couldn't find you! This is why it took me so long to locate you!"

"Maybe I didn't want to be found!" I spat. "Just give me back the necklace and-!"

"Why!" he asked. "So you can run away again?"

"Just! Ugh!" I stomped my foot. "What is wrong with you!"

"What is wrong with you!" he hissed. "You ran away in the middle of the night! You've been gone for several days! I have sent several search parties into the forest to find you, only to find that you've been right under my nose just west of Jincheon!"

"Did you ever think or wonder why I was running away!"

"That is what I'm trying to figure out now! Why did you run away! Why did you leave me!"

"Because I didn't feel safe at the palace!"

"How did you not feel safe? There was no danger at the palace! There weren't any threats-."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I rolled my eyes. "He's dead. You killed him. Blah, blah, blah-."

Yohan narrowed his eyes. "If you think I'm going to let you get away, then think again. I'm taking this back to the palace so don't even think about running off again. Enjoy your last night in this village. I'm coming to get you at sunrise." he turned his back to me before storming out the door. He didn't slam the door behind him, but it was close enough. I'm pretty sure if he did, he'd break the door off its hinges.