The King's Possession ✔️

THIRTY THREE

Word Count: 3029

An uneasy feeling crawls across my skin, forcing me awake.

My room is dark, an icy chill breezing through the open balcony doors I must have left open before I went to sleep last night. Tucking my duvet up closer to my chin, I address the strange feeling that has fallen upon me, almost like I'm being watched.

I sit up suddenly, seeing a figure coming into my room, closing the door behind him. Before I can scream at the intruding shadow, the light flickers on, revealing Marek in his hunting gear and dark coat. He looks awfully stoic, as if he hasn't just entered my room at this ungodly hour with no warning whatsoever.

"What are you doing in here?" I gasp, resting my palm on my chest, feeling my racing heartbeat beneath.

Marek steps toward my bed, looking around calmly as if he expects to see something I don't. "I came to get you yesterday morning, but you weren't in your bed."

I shiver. Yesterday morning I woke curled up and Tai's side, my head on his shoulder. The sun streaming through the window had awoken me, so I quickly snuck out to my room, where I spent the entire day avoiding Tai. I didn't want to think about how comfortable I was last night, and how I hope no one witnessed me leaving the

"I was...you didn't answer my question," I demand, glancing toward the clock at my bedside. "What the hell are you doing in my room at...four in the morning?"

"I've got a lead on someone who may know how to get us out of here," Marek mutters, opening my closet before rifling through my clothing. I sigh, rolling my eyes.

Oh no.

"Wait, we may not need that," I say groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Before it can come out of my mouth, I already know Marek's reaction to what I'm going to tell him isn't going to be positive. He hates Tai, and his life here.

Marek pauses from where he was pulling clothes from my dresser. "What do you mean?"

"Taius is willing to give you a promotion, as my personal guard," I say uneasily. Saying that makes my throat dry, the reality of that sinking in. "You could have a real job."

Marek continues tugging clothes off their hangers, tossing them onto the bed. His movements are stiff, tense, even if his expression is coolly impassive. Clearly my offer of a job for him on Tai's behalf isn't going to stop him from continuing with his plan.

"I don't want a job. I want to leave," Marek says calmly. He is angry at me, thankfully. His gaze raises to mine, consumed with a tumultuous storm of darkness. "Is he threatening you?"

Tucking my knees up to my chest, I shake my head. It's hard, wondering whether I should be completely transparent with him right now about the political standing between Tai and I. It's also hard to tell him that I first tried to get him a job so he would have a new sense of direction, a new life he could live instead of the one previous to these events.

And more selfishly...I don't want him to leave without him.

"No. Maybe I could ask for your freedom," I say softly. Marek shakes his head, hair falling down across his forehead.

The look in his eyes is jarringly adamant. "He's never going to let us go, don't you get that?"

Maybe he is right, about us never getting out of here. I could keep my options open, or indebt myself to Tai for what could be the rest of my life. As I pick out the dark, inconspicuous clothing Marek chose for me from the closet, I decide that if I can't get him out through Tai, maybe I can get him out another way, or at least accompany him.