The Nechi's Wife

✣ chapter eighteen ✣

just had a HUGE jump in reads! thank you to those who have been here since the beginning! and thanks to you wonderful new readers!

...

Sir Lorcan's POV

Flynd's eyes had glazed over as he held Ayan's sobbing frame. So empty, as if he had realized something horrible, as if he had made a terrible mistake. "Ayan," He murmured. "Do you remember which room it was in?"

She looked up at him, tears rolling down her face. "N-No. I'm sorry, I can't remember anything."

"It's alright. Don't worry," The prince gazed at the two ladies-in-waiting before turning to me. "Sir Lorcan, I need you to stay here with the women."

"Where are you going?"

He ignored me as he gently released Ayan from his embrace. She seemed hesitant to let him go but after he whispered something in her ear, she relinquished her grip on his sleeve.

When he had gone, not giving any indication of where he was heading or for how long, I leaned against the wall nonchalantly. Scanning the room, I noticed Blanyr and her friend watching the Princess in concern.

Blanyr caught sight of me and her worried expression turned dark. "Your Highness..." She trailed, still eyeing me in disdain. "I will be right back. I just need to attend to something."

The Princess sat in silence, too lost in her thoughts to respond. As Blanyr approached the door, I stepped in front of it. "I'm afraid you can't leave. I was instructed to—"

She grabbed my arm as she stormed by, dragging me along. I could have easily stopped her by planting my feet in the ground, but I was curious to hear what she so furiously wanted me to know.

"Now is not the time," She snapped once I'd closed the door behind us. Her voice sounded so small in the vastness of the hallway. "The Princess was attacked!"

"I never said a word," I muttered. "You're the one who brought me out here to talk."

She scowled. "I saw you looking at me."

"Listen, Blanyr, if you think me looking at you indicates anything other than disdain, then you're in for a surprise," I lied, adding an arrogant chuckle for good measure. 

"You are as bad as they say," She exclaimed in frustration. "I should have known better!"

"As who says?"

Her face was red with a mixture of irritation and embarrassment. "Everyone who knows you."

And with that, she stormed back inside.

You are as bad as they say.

That was discouraging to hear. I'd been trying to improve my behavior. Except for my lapse with the Princess...but that had been a silly flirtation, it wasn't nearly as serious as the things I'd done in the past. And it wasn't as if I would have pursued her, I knew better than that.

I was changing. And Blanyr was different. She just didn't realize it yet.

I was hesitant to go back inside—it was almost unbearable. The silence crackled across the room, too thick and heavy to break with feeble conversation. However, Flynd had entrusted me with protecting the women, so I swallowed my pride and walked back in.

Ayan was now on the bed, quietly crying into a pillow. The ladies-in-waiting stood by her trying their best to comfort her aching soul.

Sir Declan, what have you done?

I didn't know the man well—his reputation preceded him. I'd been told he was intelligent, observant, one of the King's trusted advisors despite his lesser status. But today, we'd seen him for who he truly was—a predator. How could he have been so evil? How had he hidden it so well?

He had taken something from the Princess in that room, something I wasn't sure any of us could give back.

Eventually, Flynd returned. "I called the palace guards to search the castle." He explained as he rushed to kneel at his wife's bedside. He stroked her cheek for a moment before turning his attention to us, "Could we have some privacy?"

The ladies-in-waiting filtered out immediately, but I lingered. "Flynd."

"What?"

"He won't get away with this."

"I know," He said with a curt nod. "Because I won't let him." 

...

Flynd's POV

Ayan's hair felt so soft as I ran my fingers through it. She was watching me carefully, but I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere. She was sinking within herself and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get her out.

"We'll find Declan. Whatever room he's in." I promised, touching her cheek with my thumb.

"Okay," She whispered, extending her hands out. "Come closer."

Confused but obedient, I leaned down. "What is it—"

Ayan suddenly barreled into me, wrapping her arms around my waist. And then she began to cry. Loud sobs that shuddered through her body and filled the room. She couldn't stop, she hadn't stopped in hours. Her pain was twisting my heart into a knot, and sending a burning rage within me.

I wanted to kill him.

"I should have been there, Ayan. I'm so sorry."

If I had heeded Father's warning, kept a careful eye of my wife as he'd told me, none of this would have happened. I could have told her where the piano room was, that she'd been in the right place all along.

In between sobs, she managed to speak. "You couldn't have known. No one knew."

"You don't understand," I whispered, holding her tighter. "Father told me to watch you. But I thought you'd be fine and I didn't listen to him."

She looked at me, her face covered in tears. "Who did this to me? Was it you?"

"No...but—"

"Then stop blaming yourself," She snapped.

Though I knew this was still my fault, I acquiesced. "Alright."

"I want to go home," She whimpered. "Back to Mereti, where I was safe. Where no one hated me."

The thought of Ayan packing her things and sailing on a ship back to Mereti terrified me. The idea that I might never see her again. It was selfish, but I didn't want her to leave. Not when we were just beginning to grow accustomed to one another. Not when I was beginning to feel elation at the sight of her face.

But I would never tell her this. She had too many things to worry about. So, instead, I stroked her hair and hoped she might change her mind.