Chapter 6

Benhard's eyes subject me to a confused scrutiny after which his gesture relaxes, he opens his mouth to murmur in my direction.

–Your Majesty?

I turn my face towards him to verify that he heard me, but to my surprise I must repeat it again.

–Lady Elijah is about to go for a walk in the garden and the night has already turned cold.– I speak to him but I'm not even looking at him, my eyes give like two sharp daggers straight towards the direction in which Lady Elijah has gone

Benhard bows, silently disappearing from my sight going down the hall, losing himself in him. As I am alone, I glance around the room where the nobles talk and the younger ladies talk to each other; the sound of the musicians does not make my attention divert from where my goal is.

I play with the straps of my shawl, inspecting the whole place wondering where the hell the red-haired lady's fiancé is, apparently he has gone unnoticed as soon as the presentation ended so the lady has been alone all this time. I smile a little anxiously, although my attempt to appear jovial has been damned in a new uneven that even I cannot understand; eyes are on me tonight so everything I do will be criticized, analyzed and even deliberated by the mute judges who are in the audience.

Even though I am the sovereign king, I feel like a poor recluse who is going to be judged shortly, I continue to scrutinize the room, after a few minutes I notice how some join the room to dance as is the tradition. Given the time they kept me isolated, I cannot distinguish between dealing with a business and a person, nor why approaching a woman, I have seen the example of how father treated my mother all the time but I could never put it into practice and I feel that it is too early for it, the Crystal Castle has always been in complete calm and silence, only more voices were heard from my tutors and my parents in the administration of business and political treaties.

In my life there has been nothing more than that. I bite my thumbnail, now the council wants me to find a consort, isn't it too early to chain myself to a person? However, I understand what your insinuation is when you tell me that my position would be more secure and respected if I had my empress.

I look away from the room, from thinking so much about the matter, my head is already spinning on itself; he made out Benhard's silhouette sneaking out with a silver tray with its respective lid and a coat to the outskirts of the castle.

Tremulously I see how he disappears from my sight, several times when he was growing up, he asks me if he could go out the front door and disappear just as my secretary disappeared behind the wall.

My thoughts are again captured by the red-haired Lady staring into her own world, with eyes still perfectly focused and a tinge of defiance and stubbornness in them; not even my youngest tutors ever had a look as lively as hers, yet she was crying before coming here, I could tell at first glance. That cloudy and dejected expression, on top of it, the obvious discomfort of the proximity of his companion, and his reddened eyes; it was as if he captured his gaze on me so as not to forget what his emotionless eyes look like.

I guess when people see me, they can only notice that.

•Elijah's POV•

It is fortunate that it is allowed to go out here, to be exact, I feel terribly suffocated in there; so many colors and laughter pierce my head like a woodpecker in a thick tree. I rub my hands against the skin of my arms. The night stands precious above all things, the scarcely seen moonlight provides an atmosphere just as is the fame of the frozen territory, however, the few places where the light reaches on the edge of the gardens below us, they look like sparkling freshly polished gems.

It is the first time to come here, and despite my bad temper this afternoon, the landscape has completely captivated me; I have to mention that, since we are higher up in the territory, it makes the diameter of the dumb watcher seem larger and closer to us.

The sound of footsteps startles me, it seems to come hurriedly, with the already made assumption that it is Travis who will appear before me, I dig my nails on the balcony already unwell. I prepare myself to refuse to go back to the place that causes me a terrible daze; I scratch the concrete on the balcony with my fingernail, causing some kind of chill that takes me out of the reality I'm in for a minute; the footsteps stop and I can perceive them just behind me, as soon as he confronted me on the defensive, I was surprised to find His Majesty's secretary with a silver tray in his hand and a coat hanging from his other arm. Quiet, I wait for the explanation that I urgently need to hear.

–Your Majesty, you are interested in the welfare of Your Highness, so you have sent me with food and a coat– he bows his head respectfully

I look aside expressionlessly; How real will the rumors be? Let's hope they are wrong, otherwise their attentions would be a falsehood and their cunning would lead the kingdoms to ruin.

–Thank you– I say with a polite smile –You must appreciate His Majesty very much– I conclude

–I have been with His Majesty since I was 9 years old .. he will become a great king– he assures

I nod without words to his statement, in his clear eyes you can see with the naked eye the appreciation he feels for his master; his expression is serene and he could well say that the man does not lie.

–That is what we shelter all the other nobles of the three remaining kingdoms. However, from the contribution he has made in recent years to the other governments, it is evident that Majesty is qualified– express –his people will rest in peace– I conclude

My now companion also smiles in a measured and leisurely way as she places the tray on one of the benches under the balcony and carefully spreads the coat over my shoulders. I watch him do all this; I swallow the lump of discomfort in my throat since I have only been dressed and cared for by my personal maids, no one else has ever come to me, much less a man, and has attended to me.

–I will go back inside for a few minutes, if you need anything else you can call for me, I'm Benhard Cuz– he bows and just as he arrived, he discreetly disappears leaving me at ease.

The crowd that swarms in the beautiful lighted room, stocked with every possible luxury, walks from one side to the other, talking to each other or dancing, oblivious to everything else. I sit on one of the balcony benches, eating a canap while I calm myself, trying not to think about how much I would like to return home. Moreover, I do not complain about this attentive treatment for me, only the discomfort goes away little by little; I get up again, clean my hands and go back to where I was, lean my elbows on the balcony and look at the pearly forest around the castle, a little further, is the big city, despite the cold of the night, the lights on they look like a shining lamp.

I let out a little breath from my mouth, which, thanks to the cold, now turns into white smoke, fascinated and distracted I laugh, enjoying the solitude of the night.

–Your Majesty, have him visited the other seasonal kingdoms?– I blow my hands to warm them –most likely not, they should have a meeting outside their country. It would be good for him to know the other stations– I mutter

Although I am not in my greenhouse, I feel comfortable, the little flowers that grow as a minimal population in the planters, are really pretty and have a gentle tone.

All quiet, until the indignation returns to me like stingers on my neck, disturbing my serene peace; Anger breaks me to pieces when I find myself hearing the groans in the background of the place where I am, the illumination hardly reaches there and it is perfect to hide.

–Ah ~– I grit my teeth at the laugh

–Wait. They can see us.

I know perfectly who those voices belong to, it is not the first time something like this has happened to me, however, the previous times, I did not pay attention to it because I had other responsibilities, but now I can see and hear explicitly what they do. And that just annoys me.

My face burns and not with shame; Their voices disgust me and I control the urge to open my mouth and put on a kind of show in front of all the damn nobles for them. I approach in silence, and I stare at the creeper of legs, arms and copper hair, sticking out a little from the darkness of the corner. Travis delights in kissing Lady Lana's neckline, while she laughs or moans for him, her hands are under the skirt of her dress, to which the woman's eyes open and they let out a forceful moan accompanied by a giggle, my stomach turns along with my head, I squeeze each side of my dress between my fingers with great force.

–Save your voice.

–Travis– whisper

I stomp on the heel of my shoe to make them stop. I look at them attentively, while they both quickly separate thinking that it is someone else, but seeing that it is only me, the princess of the autumn kingdom lets out a squeak that turns into a mocking laugh.

–Do you mind? We were on to something– she says adjusting her dress and letting the light shine on her

I face her and let out a sarcastic laugh. –At least I will have a perfect reason to end this great engagement hoax– I let out contemptuously

The girl does nothing more than look at me and laugh as if I had told her something very funny.

–Do you know who I am?– he says putting his hand on his chest, which has a big pacifier on it.

I sink my finger into the piece of skin that has become reddish under Travis's mouth, she lets out a scream that irritates Travis; I save my pathetic crying for later, because even though I'm not in love with Travis, what he does is a serious offense against me.

–You're Travis's dog, aren't you?– I mumbled derisively raising my eyebrows.

–Argh ~ you– she raises her hand to hit me but is delicately stopped by Travis who takes her wrist and lowers his hand, and then gives me a malicious look that flushes my blood

–Calm down, his humiliation will be greater if he opens his little mouth– he assures emphasizing the words

They both look back at me expecting their words to hurt me or to fall to the ground crying, but no.

–I guess prudes never change– she teases

–I guess prostitutes will never die out– I say against her with every intention of hurting her.

Does she think she have the right to treat me like this? She is not the only one with a sharp tongue.

Lady Grinzem watches me with a sunken brow and her lips in a single line of expression, I laugh internally at her face but I remain expressionless in front of her, she sighs and separates from both of them.

–I have nothing to do with his problems, don't get me into them– he reproaches, addressing Travis.

He watched her go to the central room, losing herself among the men and women; between the smell of cigarettes and the alcohol of some. As soon as I no longer see her, I remember that I am not alone, but it is with Travis that she has let me be on the balcony.

The tips of his boots brush the fringe of my dress, I swallow hard, preparing myself for whatever he will do, his hand lashes into the headdress of my hair and makes a tangle of my delicate hairstyle, he pulls me together with him to the side of the balcony devoid of light, with my heart beating at full speed I struggle as much as I can with it more, my moans are drowned out when he pushes me to the ground and I hit my side with the edge of the bench with great force, I take a hand there It has taken my breath away so that my breathing is reduced to a practically erratic gasp; but it is not enough for him since he drags me with all the pain to the surface of it and sits me there, I scratch myself with the branches of the bushes that are in full bloom and my dress is filled with minimal drops of blood while the blond He makes an effort to control me and get on top of me.

–Agh ~!– moaning and moving as much as I can, I try to push him away from me but it's impossible, I can't reconcile taking some air to give me strength

He puts his hand on my face, covering my nose and mouth, he laughs because I cannot breathe and I am losing my strength since I have not managed to take some air, I bite his hand as hard as I can and manage to catch my breath; I make my hands into two fists and put them between us, managing to push him a little out of me, as long as possible to take a breath and regain my composure and return to the living room.

I get up as fast as I can to leave, I still can't even speak well since I'm still gasping for breath; His hand closes around my waist and he pulls me back into his lap, immobilizing my legs by putting his between mine. He brings his mouth to my ear and licks it, he covers my mouth and the last I know is that I am bellowing against his grip like a trapped wild animal.

–You will take her place– he whispers in my ear panting –I will take you by force, sweet Elijah.

I resist his force, but then all I hear is my voice bellowing like a dog fighting for its precious bone.

–Shut up, woman– he presses me against him

I lower my head as I feel his hand sink painfully into my stomach. I'm not scared, now I'm feeling so angry, helpless, outraged. I feel like I fought against a current that I can't carry myself and the effort is draining me infinitely.

I'd love to have the strength to hit him; but my hands rest under his arm which presses me like a boa to his prey, to split his bones and weaken his defense. The thought of resigning myself now and sending all the nobles gathered in the room to hell for having ignored this invades me firmly; then plummeting with the last thought as I struggle with the strength I still have and resist: still, you will have to marry him.

Shut up, hush!

I yell at my subconscious who crushes the idea over and over again, making me lose strength little by little; when my waist can no longer be tighter and I can no longer be exhausted and out of breath, the king's voice startles us both.

Travis receives a strong punch on the cheek, causing me to let go, I cough and fall to the ground like a simple sack, I gasp until I catch my breath as I can and I bring a hand to my side which has been hurt by the brutality of Travis Montgomery, my fiance. I look back, Travis's anxious eyes staring back at me asking for me to intervene, plus I just smile barely out of breath in anticipation.

My heart beats in malice and malice awaiting the punishment of the offender.