Domineering

**************

CHAPTER 41

"Last I recall, I never made mention of what you were to do. That being said, would you call what we had a deal?" Xavier questioned.

The smile on his face was rather thrilling than most, further making the rage in Sky want to burst forth.

"If it's not a deal then, I can respectfully decline."

"No. That was not an option. To decline means," Xavier began as he took a step closer to her.

With that single step, the air around them turned burning hot and cold at once, as though he brought forth the full force of hell and that of Antarctica.

Feeling the choking air in the room, Raven's eyes went wide. She could tell something was off.

He did nothing of any sort but the power emanating from him spoke a different tale. And for some unknown reason, she could see what couldn't be seen by the naked eye.

His powers converged, mixing as though they were not deciding for which to come first but together, thus bringing about the change in the atmosphere.

"You should recall what that would mean. Or shall I remind you?"

The hair on Sky's body stood on end, recalling their little duel a few moments back and its arbitral end.

Without uttering a word, she maintained her stand but even Raven could see her body tremble when he came close and she swallowed hard.

"You got a problem, Skylar?"

"Sky," she corrected through gritted teeth, balling her fist at her side.

For now, that was the best she could do. He was much too powerful for her to contend with.

And this was true power. Not the one she felt when she stood before King Jared or his father before him.

Even so, rather than cower before him, Sky felt a new surge of joy envelop her person. He was different and that difference spoke volumes.

'He is the true King.' Sky noted inwardly. 'You can do this, Sky. This is why you were here, to be at his service and stand by his side.'

'Not on the right-hand side though.' Xavier voiced in her mind, shocking the living daylights out of her.

Instantly, Sky felt the dreadful presence envelop her entire being and her eyes widened in shock. She had always been one to keep a block around her thoughts.

Somehow, though, he read her mind and spoke to her.

Fighting the fear in her mind, Sky slowly turned her head to the side to look at him.

True enough his eyes were turned to the side, boring right into hers.

'That spot is kept for Xander. Pendragons, though Chief Dragons would always be under him in my eyes. That spot, the right hand is kept for my best friend.'

'For now, the left would be mine. And then I would just become your best friend, Your Majesty.' Sky challenged him.

The moment she steeled her resolve to come here, she was ready to take on any challenge and that included him.

'Sorry. By descent, he won that right without having to do anything. You cannot have it.' Xavier responded as a matter of fact.

Just hearing him try to kill all hope for her made her heart harden.

Her hands balled into a fist at her side as she clenched hard on it, feeling his mischievous grin creep life out of her.

However, on the surface, Raven wondered what was going on between the two of them.

All she knew at one point, they were speaking and the next, they remained silent, staring at each other.

"Huh…"

She had barely gotten those words out when she felt the deadly atmosphere suddenly drop, returning to normal.

At the same time, Xavier's face lit up in a smile and said, "As I said, that wouldn't happen. It is Skylar to me. Now, the main topic at hand. From now on you shall be responsible for her. And that means, sending her meal and the likes."

"Why?"

This time around, Raven voiced out her displeasure. She did not want anyone to be with her. That is anyone who was siding with him. To her, it made them traitors to the kingdom.

"Because I said so. You do not need any other reason, Raven."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Sky bowed her head before him.

Personally, she was tired of their back-and-forth argument. "I would do as you have commanded."

"Better. Let us take our leave, then. I have introduced you. Later you can have her meal sent to her."

That was it.

Raven watched as he turned his back on them and made his way over to the door. Just then, he halted in his tracks and turned to the side.

Following his line of sight, Raven also noticed what she had forgotten because of all that had transpired.

In the corner of the room with head lowered, Layla lay quietly, ignoring what was going on around her. It was either she did so deliberately or simply do so out of fear.

Ever since she came here, Layla had always been on her best behaviour.

Normally Raven would have questioned it but she had been too busy thinking of an escape out of there to be bothered.

Withal, witnessing it herself, she understood why. His aura was domineering, forcing one into obedience to him and Layla was no exception.

"You've been good. Here is your reward," Xavier praised while turning the inside of his palm out.

To the surprise of both girls, his palm shone a little bit and a very big peach-coloured fruit appeared on his hands.

"The biggest of the divine tree's fruit," Xavier noted and directed his hand at her. The next moment the fruit appeared on the floor in front of Layla.

"You deserve it for putting up with your owner."

0_0

At this point, Raven could barely hold in her rage and was ready to burst out. "Damn…"

Sadly, Xavier wanted none of it. Cutting her short, she lifted his palm. "Bye."

That was all they heard when he snapped his fingers and disappeared along with Sky.

"Arrrghhh! He is so unbelievable!" Raven fumed.

She could not believe this was the king once praised in history before he went mad with anger.

Seeing him personally, she did not know whether he had allowed his anger to persist till now and thus behaved the way he did.

'Tsk, tyrant.' She huffed where she sat on the bed and whipped her head to the other side.

For the next few minutes, Raven did not do anything. Instead, she let her mind process the dream she had and figure out what it was about.

"At the very least, I… No, what if that was a vision of the present and not the past. Then the person there would be…?"

She stopped herself from thinking further in that direction.

It was true she did not know the lady nor did she see her. However, she felt immense pain from having watched her lay dead in her pool of blood.

"I do not know the lady. Maybe that was his queen? It would be preferable to go with this notion," she said out loud.

Whether or not what her conclusion said was the truth, Raven did not know. What bothered her the most was the fact that she had that dream and why?

She had no connection to him or his past but it did not change the fact that what she saw was a memory.

"I want to know more. History doesn't record much of what happened before he went berserk. I need to find a way to leave this room first before anything."