His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 37: Feigned Kindness

We’d spent hours in the strategy room with no results besides placing more protection on the surrounding villages and those venturing closer to the palace. Alaric pulled me aside before I took my leave, pleading with me not to do anything reckless-- say, like running away. I nodded, still a little dumbfounded by the description of the bodies, the whole ordeal, really.

Were the two attacks linked? Was it the same person or group? They were both so brutal and sounded unreal. Their bodies were drained of blood; even if a sacrifice was needed to appease the gods, they would not be bled out until there was nothing but skin, bone and organs.

"It would take longer than a few hours..."

"Lia."

"Agh!" I almost jump out of my skin, clutching my chest where my heart thuds wildly. My arms ache from where I’d been gripping my elbows tightly, almost to ward off the eeriness that followed me out of the strategy chamber.

I’d been completely unaware of my surroundings, too focused on what I’d spent hours with the men in that room organising arrangements for the survivors, the surrounding towns and what manner of person or creature could cause such a scene.

His scent coils around me, announcing who it is without looking. Eryx steps out of the shadows like some sort of phantom. "Creep," I mutter, lowering my hand as I steel my spine.

Eryx smirked as if he enjoyed being insulted. That smugness vanishes when his attention moves behind me with a slight narrowing of his gaze. I look over my shoulder and almost jump again. Damn, my wolfless self. Soren had been guarding me quietly.

I do a quick sweep over his features. Soren looks well, dressed in his usual armour, his eyes steely as he looks past me to Eryx. Does it suddenly feel hot here? The eeriness has vanished, and the air has become thick.

"What are you doing here, Eryx?" My attention returns to the Alpha Prince, who has closed the distance between us, so I have to crane my head back to look at his face and not the bottom of his chest.

His hand slides along my lower back, and he steers me along the corridor. Warmth spreads from his hand curling around my hips, lowering between my thighs, but it also shoots across my body. Subtly, I lean a little closer to him, the warmth welcome against the bite of the cold in this part of the palace.

"I came to escort you back," he replies casually, like this was normal.

"Did you... spy on us?" I keep my voice low, looking up at him as we walk.

Eryx’s chuckle is low, deep and smooth like velvet sliding along my skin. I blink back and look away from his lips. "Why would I do that when I have you?" He hunches so his face is closer to mine, and I can see his amused expression.

I do not comment on that. Any attraction for him is merely my ridiculous heat. We walk in silence for a while. I ignore his probing stare as my thoughts return to what was discussed in the strategy room. The pressure squeezes my chest. We had nothing to prove who did it.

"Lia," Eryx draws my attention back to him at the odd softness in his tone. We stop by a sconce at the end of the hall, the firelight dancing across his tanned features. The halls were quiet at this time of night except for the guards stationed at every corner. We were near the King’s quarters after all.

"Are you still hurt?" He asks gently, eyes trained on me with an intensity I did not expect.

He looks concerned. DO NOT fall for it.

"Hurt?" I tilt my head.

"You were punished severely for the other night." At his words, my back straightened, my eyes sharpened, looking between his, trying to read his expression.

"Punished?" I ask, my voice lilting low, almost in jest, feigning amusement so the subject will be dropped. "You must be mistaken-"

"Do not lie to me," Eryx clips, stepping closer so we are almost touching, invading my space. "I smelt your blood. You were punished for running away."

His little intimidation tactic makes my shoulders straighten and my hands ball into fists by my side. "It is nothing-"

"That was not nothing," he growls, pupils dilating before he takes a deep breath. He breathes out slowly, cursing under his breath harshly. Stepping back, he looks to the side, a glare replacing the concern I knew had been fake.

It hits me then. I’d been so stupid! My initial guarded response to Eryx distracted me. I should have used this to my advantage. "And what if it wasn’t nothing?" I whisper, watching his gaze move back to mine.

A muscle ticks in his jaw as he observes my expression. "I underestimated you," he admits quietly, glancing back down the hall we came from. "You have the King’s ear, speak Issorian... Tell me, was your escape merely a scheme to earn my pity and make me think you hold no real power here?"

"I do not," I begin to say, but Eryx’s closed-off expression warns me he will not hear any more of it. He does not believe me. Why would he? For some unknown reason, it still hurts. "If Faidon has not reported this to you yet, then he is not a good shadow."

Eryx’s head whips back to me. "Faidon?" he growls, eyes almost luminous; he steps close again. "Since when did you speak with each other?"

Oh? What was this?

"Since he tried to take me back to the palace..." I cover my mouth with a gasp. "Oh, I’m sorry. Did your little shadow not tell you that?" I take a step back and swish my hair over my shoulder as I turn. "I suppose he doesn’t tell you everything then."

My heels click against the floor as I saunter away, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips in my little victory.

"Lia... You’ve troubled me enough these past days," Eryx calls out, making me frown and look over my shoulder at him.

"Troubled?" I scoff. "How so? I have been recuperating at my brother’s quarters. We have not interacted-"

"Exactly." He is before me again in one large stride. My neck hurts from looking up again. His thumb and finger pinches my chin, and his face is close to mine. My breath hitches in my throat at his touch, and I clench my thighs together. "You have been useless to me so far... So, tell me what has happened in Mornfell."

I try to rip my head away from his hold, but his fingers are steely. Soren enters my peripheral vision. Any sigh of relief deflates when his grip on Eryx’s forearm does nothing to remove his hand from my chin.

Eryx looks at him up and down. "This is your guard?"

"Release the Princess," Soren demands, his grip tightening on Eryx’s arm to the point it shakes slightly.

"Hmm, does my knight really have to teach you manners?" My brow arches, enjoying Eryx’s reaction. His lips tug up into a smirk before it swiftly vanishes, and he steps back.

"You will tell me tomorrow," Eryx says nonchalantly, ignoring Soren’s glare. "That is part of this deal." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"How can I forget?"