Defying the helio (2)

She covered her mouth with her hand in horror. Did she just slap the king? She didn't say a word, afraid that she would anger him into ordering for her to be beheaded. He remained silent, making her stomach knot. When she thought she couldn't take it anymore, he laughed.

"Is that how you often react when things don't go your way?" He asked.

He was no longer laughing and she couldn't be certain whether he was joking around or on the verge of exploding in anger. She chose to be safe.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty."

"I would, but you are not sorry." He pointed out.

He was right but she wouldn't admit it unless she was tired of living. She hated him for ruining her life, for being heartless and literally existing, and a slap wasn't nearly enough to express how much hate she felt for him. But if she enraged him, what would happen to Ivrasea?

He reached to take her hand and she reflexively swatted his away and stepped back.

"You do realize that you are my wife, right?" He narrowed his eyes.

"That doesn't mean I am under any obligation to let you touch me. Get over yourself." She spat out in hate.

He stared at her for so long that she thought he was about to do something to hurt her, but then he walked away. She was confused when he did. Why did he always make her squirm in fear and then just leave? Sometimes he acted like he couldn't wait to kill her and at other times, she could swear he meant no harm.

Was he trying to make her lower her guard before finally doing whatever he wanted to do to her? She remained in the same spot for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Nothing came to mind.

Ylvia would have known just what to do to help her calm down so she could think clearly. If only her maids were here.

She sighed when she remembered that she had six days to stop the war and time was running out the more she stood there thinking about irrelevant things. Ever since she met Darius, her life had constantly been on a countdown. Would she ever be free from him?

_____

Darius got back to his room, frustrated and furious. He had always been level-headed and nothing ever fazed him. How could his thoughts be influenced by a princess?

He already knew what to expect even before he met Delaney. He knew that she was a stubborn woman who would definitely drive him insane with her beliefs that no one else held, but he thought it would be alright as long as he kept her away from him. He didn't make any promises about actually trying to make her marriage happy, so why was he so fazed by her?

He had seen it in her eyes earlier. She would stab him without thinking about it if she had a weapon. She hated him so much that all the repercussions would be worth it. Why did that bother him?

Someone entered the room and he was even more frustrated.

"Elifur." He gritted his teeth, and sure enough, the fortune teller was standing behind him when he turned.

"Everyone calls me "The Fox." The Fox grinned. He liked nothing more than getting under Darius' skin.

"I don't care what the fuck humans call you." He glared at the elderly man. "Get that disguise out of my face." He cringed.

"How did you recognize me?" The Fox shed off his human disguise, rubbing his back. "It's hard to pretend to be an aging man but I did it perfectly.

Darius had no desire to listen to his rambling. Elifur was a god of time and for some weird reason that only he knew, he had decided to live as a human in the human world under the guise of a fortune teller.

"What do you want?" He asked impatiently.

The Fox shuffled his cards idly. "You don't know the meaning of marriage, do you?"

"If you are here to tell me anything about treating Delaney as my wife, give up." He narrowed his eyes on the latter. "Don't make me question the accuracy of your words."

"You have nothing to worry about." He took a step back, retreating. "Listen. I know you don't care about her but it's just sad to see her suffering so much. After all, she didn't do anything wrong. She is not to blame for what happened to your mother in the past."

He stopped speaking when he met Darius' deathly glare.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. After all, you know the consequences of your actions." He shrugged.

"I do, so get out. I don't want anyone to see you here." Darius showed him the door. "Don't you come back without being allowed to."

The Fox grinned and didn't answer that. He would be back whether Darius liked it or not, and there wasn't anything that could be done to get rid of him.

As he left the castle, he thought back to the day that everything was finally set into motion.

___

Three weeks ago.

The Fox studied the young woman before him in interest. She looked timid but was quite confident. She had journeyed all the way to the north of Ivrasea to find him.

"Why do you want me to read your fortune?" He asked.

She played with her fingers, not daring to meet his gaze. "I went to another fortune teller. I wanted to know if I will ever be elevated from the status of a concubine. Then I learnt…that I would be his wife in half a month. It's been two months since then and I would like to know if I did anything wrong to alter my fate."

He was amused. "You did nothing wrong. You are King Reginald's concubine, aren't you?"

Her eyes went wide. "How did you know?"

"King Reginald's concubines all wear purple bracelets. However, you trusted me more when I pointed out your identity without asking who you are. Humans think way too much."

She frowned at his words. He liked messing with the heads of mortals and she was not different.

He shuffled his cards and placed them on the table before her. "Pick one."

She regarded the blank cards doubtfully before she finally picked one. It immediately formed an image of a broken crown, terrifying her.

The Fox flicked it twice. "Good choice. Getting the crown is easy but keeping it isn't."

"What does that mean?" She asked, but her mind was forming all sorts of possible scenarios.

"Your son will be the heir to the throne of Ivrasea."

She nearly couldn't stop herself from jumping in joy. But when she remembered what the rumors said about The Fox always breaking a piece of good news and bad news, and the broken crown, she hesitated.

"What's the bad side?"

The Fox smiled, having too much fun with this. "He is cursed."

"What?" She covered her mouth with her hand.

"As a descendant of the cursed king, he will bear the curse of the sun goddess and cause the death of his father, before later dying at the birth of his son."

She couldn't stop her tears. "Is there anything I can do to stop this?"

"Yes." The Fox stood up, stacking his cards back together. "There is someone who can stop the curse. A princess." It was finally time to find her. That had taken way too long for his liking.