The Beast Within Us

Chapter 3: ↭ Yara

↭ To say that this particular trip to Pitis was different was an understatement. Yara listened intently as her king spoke, her attentiveness was a quality that others often loved about her. The woman was careful to keep her gaze trained on Serell after his soft comment to her about her tendency to look everywhere else but at him. The wardeness could sense his infatuation with her, and it did not make the task any easier. Her insides screamed for her to turn and bolt, to put as much distance between the twisted king and herself as possible, but duty and valor kept her rooted in place, standing tall before the pacing man.

As he described his true reasoning behind her summons, she felt partially relieved at his quest for her. While the journey to ally with the mysterious group could be a dangerous one, the trip itself would ultimately put more distance between them and could possibly be stretched to take more time than he expected. There had been no signs of an impending war when they arrived at the capital, as Yara was safe to assume that this quest was to be an ambush attack. The thought of an ambush made Yara's brow raise slightly at the king and she internally noted that meant hardly anyone else had knowledge of the entire conflict.

Serell's conversation dwindled as he spoke finally of his reward for her effort on the quest and Yara opened her mouth to tell him it was not necessary.

"I will cherish anything you present to me, your grace. It would be an honor to lead the expedition to secure an alliance between Audor and your prospects. Please allow us a fortnight to prepare for the journey, your grace."

Yara fell into a low curtsey in respect for her king, allowing the words to resonate in tune with the gracious gesture. While she had wished she was free to tell him she did not want anything he had to offer, she was honorbound to accept anything he would present her, regardless of how much she did or did not appreciate it.

"Take as long as you require, my dove. My palace is always open to Audor's warden of the north and her company." King Serell brushed the tips of his fingers across her cheekbones as she rose from her bow and bid her goodbye. Yara did not flinch as she wished to as she stroked her porcelain face, and as her guards were led away from her she took several calming breaths once in solitude.

Yara spent as much time during the fortnight spent in Pitis in her anointed chambers as possible. She allowed the obsessive king access when she felt she could bare it, but otherwise allowed the excuse of a woman's monthly demise to keep her bedridden. The small fact that she spent little of the fortnight in her bed meant nothing to Yara, as she preferred to keep the white lie of her reason for remaining secluded to herself only.

By the end of the long and uncomfortable fortnight within the palace of Pitis, Yara Wheiler was eager to begin her journey. The looming anxiety on the night before her departure had made sleep fitful for Yara. The king had spent most of the fortnight upselling his promised gift to Yara, and several days before her day of departure had set out on a small journey of his own to retrieve the promised delicacy.

King Serell was still nowhere to be found as Yara and her troops dined for breakfast, and later as they went over their strategy for confronting the prospective band of sellswords in Briniel, the Whitecloak Syndicate, he had yet to show himself to her. Yara attempted to focus on the task at hand, and as her group of guards and her bannered troops gathered outside the gates of Pitis she had begun to accept the fact that the king may not arrive at all to see her off on her quest.

"My lady, the king requests you wait before departing. He is on his way from the palace with your gift." Yara's charcoal gaze flickered from her bay mare to the scrawny squire that halted her mounting of the large horse. She let her weight settle back on the frosted winter grass and she unhooked the toe of her boot from the mare's stirrup.

"Thank you. We shall wait for his arrival." The sun was high in the sky and the party should have long been on the road by now. Yara was growing weary of the king's absence and its halt on her mission, but she trained her steely gaze on the scenery as she remained silent and waited for his overdue arrival. ↭