Whispers Of Desires: A Sense Of Truth {Book 2}

꧁༺ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓧𝓧𝓥𝓘𝓘: 𝓐 𝓣𝓪𝓼𝓴 𝓜𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓤𝓷𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓽 ༻꧂

Kazi's heart hammered against her ribs as they reached Azrael's chambers. The servant knocked once, and then the prince's booming voice echoed through the door. "Enter!"

Kazi took a deep breath, steeling herself for the encounter. Pushing open the door, she entered the room, the servant following close behind.

The room was big and white just like the rest of the rooms in the castle. There laid on his bed, Azrael was propped up against a mountain of pillows. He looked bored, even though he was smirking. His long hair was tousled, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

Azrael dismissed the servant with a wave of his hand, and the door clicked shut behind them. A heavy silence descended upon the room, thick with unspoken tension. The air crackled with a strange energy that Kazi couldn't quite place.

"You wanted to see me, Your Highness?" Kazi finally broke the silence, her voice carefully neutral.

Azrael's lips quirked into a smirk. "Indeed, K," he began "There is a...task I require your assistance with."

Kazi braced herself, her mind racing with possibilities, none of them pleasant. "What kind of task, Your Highness?" she asked cautiously.

Azrael uncrossed his legs and pushed himself off the bed, his movements slow and deliberate. He stopped right in front of Kazi, "Undress me," he commanded, his voice low and husky.

Kazi's mind blanked. "Undress you?" she repeated dumbly. He wanted her to undress him. But why? Did he know that she was actually a woman? Well of course not...

"Surely I spoke English clearly, K. I require assistance disrobing." He smiled, a cruel smile that made her shiver despite herself.

"Hell no!" The thought of touching Azrael, let alone undressing him, made Kazi's skin crawl.

"Your Highness," she began, schooling her features into a mask of professionalism, "that is...that is the servants' job. I am not here to be your personal valet."

"We are both men," Azrael replied, his voice low and dangerous. "There is no reason why you cannot assist me. It is not as if you have never undressed another man before, K."

Kazi's heart hammered against her ribs as the prince's words sank in. She couldn't let him find out her secret. Not now.

With a sigh that spoke volumes of her frustration, Kazi stepped forward. "Fine," she muttered under her breath.

Azrael watched her with an unreadable expression as she began to unfasten the buttons of his shirt. His muscles tensed beneath her fingers, and she could feel the heat radiating off his body. She forced herself not to flinch as her hands brushed against his chest, his smooth, hard skin sending a shiver down her spine. The shirt fell to the floor, revealing his pale torso and broad shoulders.

Kazi couldn't help but steal a glance, a traitorous part of her appreciating the view. "Stop it, Kazi," she warned herself internally. "He is a pain in the neck, and you know it."

Clearing her throat, she retrieved his nightshirt.

"Here," she said, her voice clipped. "I trust you can manage the rest, Your Highness."

Azrael simply nodded, his expression unreadable. He took the nightshirt from her hand, his fingers brushing against hers for a moment, sending a jolt through her disguised form.

"Dismissed," he said curtly.

Kazi practically fled from the room, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and anger. She did not know what came over her, allowing Azrael to manipulate her like that. But she knew one thing for certain: she couldn't let him find out her secret. Not now, not while she was still undercover.

Kazi hurried down the hallway, her frustration mounting with each step. The encounter with Azrael had left her unsettled, and the lack of answers about the traitor within the Althean court only added to her unease.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of chatter from a nearby room. Peering through a crack in the door, she saw several female servants gossiping and laughing, their dresses flowing around them as they moved about the chamber.

"...the King's been in meetings all morning with the councilmen," a young maid's voice floated through the door.

"Meetings about what?" another, older maid replied, her eyes narrowing. "Do you think it has anything to do with the recent...troubles?"

Kazi perked up. Recent troubles? This was exactly the kind of information she was desperate for.

"Shh, Thea," the younger maid hissed, lowering her voice. "Walls have ears, you know."

"But surely the King would not—"

Kazi did not hear the rest of their exchange. She had all the information she needed; the King was indeed worried about something. Now, to find a way to eavesdrop on that very meeting.

Slipping past guards and maids, Kazi made her way to the throne room, her heart racing. The doors were shut, but she could hear muffled voices through the wood. She took a deep breath and pressed her ears against the door, straining to hear the conversation within.

"The reports are confirmed, Your Majesty," a voice said from within the throne room. "The alternative trade ship route we started taking after the recent attacks has been compromised as well!"

Kazi's eyes widened in shock. Not again! These attacks on trade ships were becoming a worrying trend, and now even their alternative route was not safe. What was going on?