Blood and Crown

Chapter-17

I was avoiding the Prince with all my might from the past two days but it was impossible when I was his personal slave, when I was supposed to look after all his needs.

Here I was cleaning his room with extra care as instructed by Mayi since guests from various kingdoms had started coming in Aryanka already. The celebration would commence from tomorrow and end with skill exhibitions after fifteen days.

My toes curled as a wave of mortification washed over me recalling the night we kissed and his reaction to it afterward. I closed my eyes feeling a sob rising in my throat, till now the tag of slave didn't really sink in my heart for my consciousness never considered it as a fact but the way I let Jay kiss me and his reaction afterwards made me realise I was exactly what this world thinks me to be, a slave.

"Ah" An inarticulate whimper escaped my mouth as I stepped on something sharp. The exquisite pain made me collapse on the ground before I took my left foot in my hand and found several pieces of glass were stuck on the sole of my foot.

"Hey Kanha" I bit my lower lip and closing my eyes tried to take one of them out but before my hand could do the needful it was clasped by a now familiar rough hand and my body instantly recognised the touch forcing me to shot my eyes open.

My silvery orbs collided against a certain pair of hazel, the same hazel that haunted me in my dream and reverie all the time, the hazels I loathed with everything I had yet couldn't get over how captivating they were.

"That's not how you take it out" He informed needlessly in his usual deep robotic voice while his eyes were still stuck into mine.

I tried to form some, any word in my mouth but I felt oddly shy under his penetrating gaze since all I could remember was the kiss, the damn kiss. Tearing my eyes off of him I swallowed the freshly arose embarrassment "I can manage"

"You clearly can't" He detested making me clench my jaw in frustration.

"I absolutely, perfectly and clearly can" I retorted through clenched teeth trying to take my hand off of his tight grasp. Why he could never have a normal conversation with me. Why must he—

"What on earth are you doing?" I almost shouted as he lifted me up, before my arms instinctively encircled his robust shoulder for support

"You can continue with your little game of ignorance but first let me treat your wound because I need you to alright" He stated and paused to look down into my eyes that flickered with confusion before clarifying "For the celebration"

"I'm not playing any game with you, My Prince" I replied back averting my eyes as I felt my throat closing up "I neither have the audacity or zeal for such things"

"Is that so?" His voice merely a whisper as if he knew something that no one did.

I was anyways extremely conscious about how his bare skin felt against mine, how his hot breath was fanning my face, how sculpted and hard his chest was and on top of his stupid questions

"It is" I whispered back as he put me down on the couch and kneeled on the ground before taking my ruptured foot on his lap taking me by surprise

"You don't have to touch my foot" I tried to take it away from him but in vain.

"How else am I supposed to treat it?" He asked as if I was the stupidest person to ever live on this planet, while inspecting my wound.

"You don't have to" I didn't even try to hide the pique in my voice.

What game he was playing with me? One moment he was too cold and the other warmer than the summer sun. This cold and hot behaviour from him was creating a haze that my mind was unable to remove.