He climbed onto the bed and laid in between the mattress, on his back. He glanced at the guard. “Step near the bed,” He murmured and averted his eyes to the ceiling. The guard reluctantly stepped ahead. His hands were already sweaty as he knew what was going to happen next. “Tighten your hold on the whip,” The king said. He complied. “Raise it in the air and show me,” He lifted the weapon and showed it as ordered. Zebian glanced at the whip. His nails were white with the pressure. He hummed pleasantly under his breath. “Now flog me with all your might and do not stop even if I’m dead,” He stoned his gaze at the ceiling as the command slipped out of his lips. The guard’s complexion blanched in the following. His mouth parted in shock with eyes wide open. “Y…your m…majesty,” He stammered, couldn’t decipher if he actually picked up right on his words. “It is your king’s order. I have said it and you shall be obeying it,” Zebian gritted. The guard closed his eyes and sighed breathily
The door ever so slowly opened and revealed a petite brunette woman wearing a translucent robe, not a single curve of her body was hidden from the two men, her nipples were peaking through the see-through fabric and the line of her pussy was smiling at them. Lucian rolled his eyes and side-glanced at him. “No, Zebian. You are not,” He warned him in a whisper, but Zebian was already walking toward her.“Come here,” He halted in the middle and softly ordered. Thea, with no wish to anger him more, walked closer and halted two steps away with a lowered gaze. “Kneel,” She fell on her knees. Zebian sorely smirked and collected the blood off the block of the left chest on two of his fingers. He brought them to her mouth and smeared one finger on his cheek and inserted his middle finger in her mouth. Thea unresistingly took his finger and sucked it. Her forehead creased a frown when she tasted the metallic flavour. “Taste the blood and tell me how it feels?” He knuckle-deepened his finger t
22It had been two days to the incident, but ever since then Arinia and Renai had grown impeccably close to each other. They already had started acting like a mother-and-daughter duo. Renai couldn’t stop appreciating her presence. Every night she would narrate her fairytales and the little one would end up sleeping on her shoulder. They talked, played, ate, and slept. Almost stayed side by side. It was like both lonely souls had found a home finally. Renai even taught her different hairstyles as she had lusciously long strawberry blonde hair, it had become their favourite pastime so far. Apparently, it seemed the kid was yearning for affection but in reality, it was Renai who needed her closeness more than she ever needed her breath. This kid was unconsciously mending her broken pieces. This was the first time she had felt better after weeks of torment. It was evening. Both the parents were off to their duties. Renai and the kids spent a playful evening and now, both kids were dozin
*****A loud slamming on the door had stirred her senses. She tried to open her heavy-lidded eyes as the door kept banging. By the third bang, her senses jolted awake. She lurched forward and glanced at Mary who was also awakened by the disturbance. Quickly, Renai lifted the sleeping girl in her arms and rushed to hide in the bathroom. Mary straightened her hair and strode to the door to open. Renai’s back was hitting the wall which prompted shots of pain momentarily. She tossed Arinia in her hold to position her head on her shoulder. Her ears perked in its wake when she heard a loud sob coming from the outside. She frowned and slipped close to the door. “No, this can’t happen. He can’t do this to them. No, no, nooo!” It was Mary who was screaming in pain. Renai frowned in pain. She was tempted to go out but didn’t. She desperately waited for the person to go away. “Oh my God, Atlas. What would I do without him? I will die,” Mary sobbed louder. Renai’s heart clenched when she hear
23Zebian’s arms were wide open. His head staff was wrapping gauze around his broad chest. He quietly stood on the soapbox with a straight face. No expressions, no remorse. No one could tell he was the same man who sentenced nearly fifteen hundred men to death an hour ago. The head staff snuck a glance at his face and immediately snapped down when their eyes contacted for a blink. His heart trembled badly. For the state which the king was in, he could even kill the poor man for simply looking at him. Abruptly, the doors of the dressing chamber slammed open. Everyone’s eyes darted in that direction except for Zebian’s. He knew who had the audacity to disrespect him. “I command you all to empty the room,” Lucian commanded as he stormed inside the chamber and halted in front of Zebian. Zebian didn’t look at him. The whole staff remained still in their position. The head kept wrapping his wounds. He dressed the king in a black shirt, tunic and long faux black cape and after clicking hi
24“Found her, your majesty,” A guard bellowed out from somewhere. Zebian’s eyes quickly followed the direction of the voice. It was among the crowd he noticed. Without realising himself, he was stepping down the stairs and walking toward the ground with restless feet. Just as he reached in the middle, the line of guards parted away and made a route for another guard to walk ahead with a woman he was dying to see. Her eyes were lowered as the guard dragged her ahead. Zebian’s mouth escaped a relieved breath as he sprinted toward her. He reached her and effortlessly joined his mouth with hers. Renai freely let him kiss her. His kiss wasn’t cruel, surprisingly. It was deep, passionate and full of yearning. His hands came to cup her cheeks as he locked his tongue with hers. He groaned in her mouth, his eyes were closed. His body was enduring punches of electric currents. She was divine. She was his medicine. How much he had missed her in a day. He parted his lips and breathed heavily.
25FlashbackHer waves of laughter were ringing in the air as he yanked the bridle. It wasn’t her first time riding a horse but she had always enjoyed it as her first, even Pegasus neighed when her laughter subdued, she patted near its ear and laughed a little louder when it jerked its head. The horse had two riders. One was the duke and the other was his secret duchess. They were on a meadow of Sebria named Carmen. Around it were some enormous mountains standing tall. On their right was a long lake that stretched for as far as they could see, the hills behind the river belonged to the duke. The lord of five states had gifted it to his son. The greenery around them was mesmerising and refreshing. The clean air that she inhaled killed every bad memory that was a part of her life. She closed her eyes and escaped from her reality, even if it was for a minute. She erased everything that did not belong to this moment. She only remembered him and the warmth his closeness brought within her
Her eyes dimly parted. Renai was gaining consciousness. There were many things she felt at once, but above them was one sensation; ache and the next was the sound of her ragged breathing. Exhaustion filled her body instantly. Her muscles were packed in knots and even moving a pinch was excruciating for her. So she stayed still until her eyes were fully opened. She sighed heavily as she realised where she had been put. Blinding darkness, the odour of fresh blood and rotten meat around the weapon that she would rather not think of. Her body bore a shiver. She also realised why her legs were hurting the most. She had been standing on her feet for God knew how long. Her hands were tied above her head. Her back was brushing against the cold walls of this dark cellar. She closed her eyes and let tears burn her face. This time she wasn’t fearing that he would rape her, she feared the fact she wasn’t dead and he would be coming any time to take her life. Her intuition had declared that he