Word Count: 2389
The pencil shudders between my fingertips.
The stark white of the page frames each uncontrolled line and faintly erased mark. I'm not sure what to think, what to feel. Instead of staring at the page, I eye my bare ring finger. I've been proposed to; I am a pawn in a dangerous game between two royals.
I want to be angry at Tai, but I don't know what to think. I'm more confused than anything, considering I haven't spoken to him since about his intentions.
He wants to kill his father. Is he crazy?
Never mind the strange politics of this household. He's forcing me into marriage without considering my say in it all. His parting words weren't much at all, and Marek left quickly after with no insight for me at all. So I just stood outside for awhile, staring into the darkness as I made sense of everything.
The pencil suddenly snaps, lead crumbling across my page. I can't draw, which although is disappointing, is not as confronting as my current engagement to a King. I shouldn't be surprised that this is another skill I do not have a natural inclination toward.
I need to get away from this place. Even if it's just for the day.
No one notices me as I leave, the manor oddly vacant after the Noble's departed this morning. With a tawny coat pulled over my shoulders, I emerge into the midday sun, which is partly muted by a thick, menacing cloud that has rolled over.
Vaia's instructions ring clear through my mind, as I circle around the manor to the servants entrance, where parked upon the gravel, is a small cart pulled by a wary looking horse. Swallowing past the dryness in my throat, I approach, eyeing the colourful rags hanging from it, an older Jade Province dialectic plastered in bold signage upon the front, alerting everyone that this is a cart selling fresh vegetables.
A man appears from behind it, startled at the sight of me. He's an older gentleman, dressed in clothing that would be common place in my home village, yet after spending a week in Tai's whirlwind world of lavish expenses and beauty, it appears almost unrecognisable.
"Excuse me," I say tentatively. "Princess Vaia told me that this is a way to get to the nearest town."
Instead of replying, he simply motions toward the back of his cart. It takes me a moment to process the fact that he wants me to clamber into the back and hide behind the cloths. If I get caught, there will be no way of explaining why I'm in the back of this man's vegetable cart.
Regardless, I oblige, falling between empty crates, likely having once been full and then transported into the manor. It takes a moment for the cart to begin moving, swaying and undulating over the gravel.
My heart is racing uneasily. Maybe this is a bad idea, but I need to get out of here. Underneath my coat, clutched against my chest, is my book for preaching. I want to go out there and share my faith again, to feel as though I'm away from all this mess, back to familiarity.
I may be marrying a King, but that doesn't mean I don't still have a duty to my faith.
The ride to the town was long and drawn out. Once we passed through the main gate, I could breathe, knowing it would be unlikely that someone would find me now. Maybe I'm being dramatic...I bet most of the guards don't even know I exist, nor care to know.
The town is small, hardly bigger than where I was in the Azure province, but it will do. For most of the day I just walked around, trying to speak to people who didn't seem to have much interest in what I had to say about my Tani. But it felt good, to wander around and speak to people who have no idea who I am, or what my fate is to be. Most importantly, being around normal people took my mind off everything...
Now, after wandering around the edge of the forest for awhile, putting off my return, I've decided it's time to go back and face Tai. He has a lot to explain.
Suddenly someone grabs my shoulder, the grip firm enough to startle me.
Whirling around, I see dark hair, blue eyes and a silvery marking, and a very confused expression.
"Marek!" I startle, my hand falling to my chest as my heart races wildly beneath. "You could have killed me."
He looks like he could be apart of the woods himself. He wears a dark brown leather coat, beaded with droplets from previous rainfall. A black cloth bandana that must have been covering his nose and mouth, has been pulled down to his neck, his breath fogging before him. And more frightening, is the bow he handles and the wood shafted arrows stuffed into a quiver on his back.
His gaze sweeps over me with careful precision, examining me with unrestrained confusion. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was going for a walk," I say breathlessly. We are both confused to see each other out here, beyond the King's initial walls. I don't want to tell him that I've been preaching, not wanting to hear the delusional lecture about my Tani, the Beast, being a children killing creature.
"If you're caught out here..." he warns, not having to finish his sentence as he steps forward, grabbing my forearm. Despite the cool grasp of his wind-chilled fingertips, the touch feels burning hot, my skin alighting in quivers with the sensation.
He doesn't seem notice my short gasp at his touch, his brows furrowed beneath his fringe of hair. He must have been in the rain, as his once bronze hair has turned dark, the strands plastered against his forehead, hiding part of his marking. I wouldn't have thought me leaving me would be so troubling to him.
"There are no guards in this town, I'll be fine," I remind him, motioning around me, letting his grip slip from me. Having me lost in thought, I didn't realise I had wandered so deep into the forest. A choking mist seems to have followed me, noosed around trees and floating down depressions in the land.
"How did you get past the first perimeter?" he questions.
"I could ask you the same thing," I pry. Marek's eyes narrow slightly, sooty, thick eyelashes layered with rain droplets.
"I'm working," he murmurs deeply, motioning over himself. His attire and weapon would be enough to suggest that, but it's confirmed by the slight sheen of blood on the left side of his coat. I swallow uncomfortably at the thought of the fresh kill that is being sent back to the manor now at the hand of Marek.
"I'm...going for a walk. Clearing my head," I tell him, inhaling the crisp, fragrant air as if to prove it to him.
When he doesn't respond for a moment, I begin walking away, weaving through the trees in what I hope is the direction where I will find the cart to return back to the manor. Marek falls into step beside me, his hair a mosaic of colour under the dappled light that struggles it's way through the coven of leaves above us.
"You're getting married." Both his tone and expression are unreadable, however there is an unmissable darkness lingering there, glazing over his eyes to leave them with a glacial chill.
I eye him uncomfortably. "Allegedly."
Marek appears to be dealing with an entirely different emotional turmoil to me. My feelings are still rattled, struggling to find a place within me to finally slot into and begin to make sense. I know I'm frightened, confused, angry. I know I'm going to demand answers at the soonest point, and not relent until I'm allowed out of this engagement.
I didn't even have to say yes. To marry a King should be a privilege, especially to the ancient laws that govern the land. Disgusting.
"He won't get a chance. I'll get you out of here before then," he promises, pulling me to a stop. My smile is weak, tired at the thought of having to face this reality. Instead I concentrate on the warmth of his grasp as he holds my hands, the flutters that tease inside me because of it.
"It doesn't matter-"
Words fail me as my eyes fall upon the sight behind Marek, a shudder chilling my blood. Frowning, Marek turns arounds to follow my gaze.
"What is that?" he questions, an unmistakable shiver tainting his voice.
Thick, long beams of darkness cascade through the trees, the light failing the penetrate through the obsidian shadows. They weave and wind throughout each other, creating an intricate, purposeful pattern. This isn't the first time I've seen this, in fact, it's a relatively familiar sight.
"Spider webs," I say slowly, risking a glance at Marek. His face is pale, his muscle tense as he considers this new threat, that hunters grace and precision falling over hi.
"I don't think that's spider webs, Akara." His voice shudders.
They may not look like the common spiders web. This has been woven from darkness itself, the creature that created this having turned light into shadow with magic no one has been able to harness otherwise. A spider like this one will create its web in its territory, disallowing any other Tani to enter without risking it's life.
"Oh it is alright," I assure him, even as I take a cautious step backward. "Those webs belong to a long line of predator Tani native to the Jade Province."
Marek turns to me, fear washing over him as he grabs my forearm. "We need to get out of here."
"Wait...If it really is a Shadow Spider, we need to be careful," I warn, knowing that as I look around I'm not going to see it. This Tani is especially elusive, despite its size. "Their webs might look like nothing more than shadows, but they will wrap themselves around you, until she comes and finishes you off herself."
Marek looks especially uncomfortable. His bow and knife, lethal hunting skills will not matter now. The Shadow Spider will not reveal itself until it's victim is caught up within its web, which is why it's so dangerous. However, it's tricks are most barbaric at night, as it's almost near impossible to see at night unless the moonlight happens to be favouring you. During the day, as long as you don't get close, it's practically harmless to the point where even my mother wasn't worried about me stumbling upon one.
"Her?" He shudders. "Why are you so calm?"
"Unprovoked, she shouldn't hurt us," I tell him firmly, shaking myself from his damp grip. His unfamiliarity with this creature is weighing down upon him, especially as someone who likes to plan ahead. "I've lived with this Tani my whole life. They dwell in the forest near my home village."
"I'll kill it."
"No, you don't need to," I reprimand. "Follow me."
Reluctantly, Marek obliges, following me as I pick through the undergrowth, careful to keep the web in my vision at all time. I smother a smile behind my sleeve as I listen carefully to Marek's hitched breathing and awkward movements. The thought of a giant, man-eating spider would surely scare anyone, even a skilled hunter.
"I'm used to different Tani than this. Direct, aggressive combat works well against those in the Azure Province. Being on the defensive isn't something I'm used to," he says, the quiver accompanying his tone making my lips quirk up further.
In truth, the Jade Province is especially renowned for its tricky Tani. In a forest, one must use its environment to prepare an attack. The Shadow Spider is one of many Tani to hunt from a distance, strong and diligent.
Suddenly Marek gasps.
Whirling around, I see him fall into one knee, struggling to brace himself upward as his other leg seems to be pulled back behind him, the web having spun itself around his ankle, dragging him toward what will be the dark, obsidian centre where he would be held until nightfall.
The shadow splits into tendrils, consuming his foot first before creeping up his leg as it drags him backward, controlled by forceable magic that brings it to life. Each section of web is like a working limb, able to manipulate itself around ones body.
Scrambling through soggy leaves and bracken-like ungrowth, I grab his hand, not allowing fear to grasp me as I fight against the power of the magic, knowing darkness, as powerful as it is, cannot outdo human strength. Especially in numbers.
"Marek!" I growl through gritted teeth, letting the painful grasp of his fingertips on my forearms keep him from succumbing to the slow, excruciating pace at which the shadow begins to consume him, to drag him away. "I thought you were a hunter."
As if it were a command, Marek kicks into nothingness, managing to free his foot long enough to push himself up, dragging me with him.
The shadows seems to retreat in fear as we back away, our rushing breaths cutting through the eerie forest silence.
"Run!" I shout.
We take off running in step with each other, adeptly dodging large boughs and thick bracken. We weren't in any real danger, as I allow the adrenaline surging through me to carry me back to where the cart awaits, Marek right behind me.
We both fall against it, holding our stomachs as we laugh, letting the foolishness rush over us as well as relief. We are safe.
And I've never felt so alive.
ðâ¢â¢ð
If you guys want to read ahead, you can read more of KING'S POSSESSION on Radish! It's chapters ahead of Wattpad (:
ð¸â¢â¢ð¸
Stay safe! Thank you for reading (:
ð¦â¢â¢ð¦
I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radiah! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!
I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:
Instagram: Sophie_Midika
~Midika ðð¼