The Lonely God novel Chapter 30

-HER-

"You were really hungry," Archander comments as I devour another pastry in just a few seconds. I glare at him but he rolls his eyes before eating a pastry himself.

"So..." He trails off.

"So what?" I ask as I chose which pastry to eat next. There are so many varieties of pastry here. I want to taste all of them.

"So, am I forgiven?" He asks warily. His eyes are pleading me. I narrow my eyes at him before speaking.

"Not yet,"

"How many more pastries will it take for you to forgive me?" He asks. I shrug at him as I devour another pastry. This one seems to be filled with pineapple tart. It's so delicious I almost moan.

He sighs before continuing to devour the pastries on his plate.

"I don't want to be here," I blurt out suddenly.

"Oh come on! Look at all of this! Who wouldn't want to be here?" Archander exclaims while gesturing at the whole table loaded with so much food it would take me seven lives to devour everything.

"I am not a kid whom you can tempt by promising some candies!" I growl at him.

"Oka, then where will you go? You don't have anywhere to go except that pack of yours where I think you'll be hardly welcomed" He says heatedly. I press my lips in a thin line and glare at him because he has a point.

I don't really think that my pack will welcome me warm heartedly after the staged attack. Plus, it's not like I had good relations with them. They hated me already. They must be celebrating in my absence. I don't want to rain on their parade. Hope they're happy without me.

The remaining day passes with Archander showing me around the place. The architecture here is so beautiful and ancient. At the same time, this place has a haunting feeling to it. It looks like a dystopian landscape. Everything is so gloomy and dark.

The walls of this place are dark and ruined yet they stand strong despite the weather and time. This place must have been built a long time ago.

Right now Archander is leading me to another part of the castle through a garden covered with snow. It doesn't look like a garden. It looks more like a burial ground.

"Why is everything so dead here?" I ask Archander while nodding at a dead tree. It stands tall. Its branches are naked and black, looking more like hands of rotten corpses. I could make out other attempts to plant trees here but they all look like they went into a vein.

"The soil is poisonous here," He explains nodding towards the dead tree I have been staring at. This strikes my curiosity. The soil is dead here but why? Did any chemical war take place here that turned the soil poisonous or is it something else?

"Why?" I find myself asking out of curiosity.

"It's..." Archander trails off while looking at a distance, "there's a curse on Zaeris, Nefret. Nothing can be born here,"

"But why? Who put this curse?" I ask further. My interest on this matter is slowly growing. I want to know why this place looks worse than ruins. What happened here? There's always this haughty feeling to this place that I cannot be oblivious to.

Archander keeps silent and looks down at me pensively before speaking,

"Ishtar, the goddess of fertility put this curse on Zaeris,"

"But why?"

"Because Arles killed her mate," He blurts out. My mouth drops open. I open and close it. I don't know what to think about it. I knew Arles was bad but this makes him seem worse than what I had ever imagined.

"One more reason to hate him," I say but Archander shakes his head at me.

"One more reason why he makes a great king,"

"huh? It doesn't make sense!"

"It will when you'll know the whole story..." He trails off, still looking at a distance. He seems to be in deep thoughts. It has started to snow again and the wind is blowing from the north.

"His ministers hate him for this?" I ask. Arles must have done something really bad which earned him hatred form his own council. To be honest, I hate him too but I have my personal reasons. He treated me like shit and made my life hell. I can't help but imagine what he did to his ministers.

"Everybody hates him," Archander says.

"Do you hate him too?"

"I used to but the more I figured him out, the more my respect grew for him." Archander speaks looking up in the sky, leaving me confused. I don't understand half the things he is saying.

"You'll figure out everything soon, Nefret. Please give this place a try. Please give us a try. I promise we won't treat you like your family did," He pleads while I keep silent. Half of the things he says don't make any sense to me.

"I don't know..."

By the time, I am done putting my hair in a bun, a knock rings out before the door opens and Arles steps inside. As soon as his eyes land on me, he freezes.

I feel the air leaving my lungs when my eyes zero on him. He is looking attractive in the black robes. It emphasizes his muscles and makes him look manlier. His curly hair seems to be done lazily yet it looks so perfect, tempting me to run my hands through it. His silver eyes have been eaten up by darkness as he takes in my appearance.

~

-HIM-

I take a last look at my reflection in the mirror before I leave my room. I knock on the door beside my room. Nefret is staying in this room. Rey wanted her to be in our room but I decided to keep her in the room adjacent to mine. She can hardly stand me. Sharing my bedroom would be the last thing she'd ever do but I will make her accept me. I will make her mine.

She can stay in that adjacent room for now. That room is supposed to be our pup's nursery. Soon I'll move her to my room. I cannot wait to have her. I have longed for her. I have waited for her. I want every bit of her. I want to explore every part of her. I want to know all her secrets. I want to have the part of her that no one ever had and won't have. I don't want to leave any part of her unexplored.

I get inside the room and look for her. My eyes fall on her, standing in front of the dresser in the bedroom. She turns to look at me as soon as she senses me. I freeze when I see her.

She looks breathtakingly beautiful. The blue dress she is wearing fits her perfectly. It brings out the color in her eyes and complements her skin color. Her long black hair is put into a bun, exposing her neck. I can see my hickey sneaking from underneath that necklace she is wearing.

Rey wants me to take her and cancel the dinner but I still have my logical part working. I could feel my eyes turning black as I drink in her appearance. My eyes rest on her breasts before they trail down on her slim waist momentarily.

She has blossomed into a beautiful woman. Oh, so badly I want her. My Nefret.

My chest floods with need and desire. Rey is fighting for control. My stomach clenches and I feel a throbbing between my thighs. I want to take her in my arms and do so many bad things to her. It's just me and her here. We're alone. I can do whatever I want with her and no one will interfere us. Rey is begging me to act upon my temptations but I supress him.

I take a deep breath and try to push out the heated thoughts from my head. It's not the time to lose control. I need to take her to dinner. I compose myself before stepping inside the bedroom.

She is watching me warily.

"You look beautiful, Nefret," I tell her. Something flickers in her blue eyes before her face drains of all the emotions.

"Thanks," she says blandly. I nod at her before I put my hand out for her to take. She looks at it but ignores and starts walking towards the door. I sigh and follow her.

I lead her out of my wing and lead her to the grand dinner of this castle. She follows me quietly. I stop in front of the big doors that open to the big dinner. She steps beside me. I look down at her to see her concentrating on the door before opening the door.

Everybody stops to do what they were doing and look at us. I feel Nefret step closer to me as numerous eyes stare at us.