OUR FIRST ENCOUNTER

- MARILIA -   

      I felt my heart beat slower and slower until just a breath could be heard. He had one hand on my neck, the other on my shoulder. His legs spread apart and I was in the middle. 

I pinned his gaze, his emerald green eyes fixed right above a nose so nicely sculpted I was tempted to bite it. His jaw was delicately cut by the gods and his broad shoulders left an exciting desire to feel his wide back. For a moment I thought he wasn't real.

I opened my mouth but no words came. I didn't know what to say to this devil; this handsome devil that I didn't mind if he ate me up. At that moment, a thought hit me; Ares looked nothing like his father. Alpha Magnums had a bad scar so one of his eyes was affected. He was three times larger and he had a crude look but the man in front of me had the softest skin and the most enchanting gaze. Anyone could mistake him for a god.

'How could someone like him be destined to destroy all realms? What the hell happened to make him a monster?’

I know I didn't want anything to do with him before but now, more than anything, I wanted to find the answers to the mystery that is Ares Klaus.

“Who sent you?” He drew out his claws and held them close to my throat. “Speak,"

“No one sent me. I just em… I… I thought the groom was here. I just want to see him before the wedding."

He held an unreadable expression. His eyes searching mine, then they went to the hairpin on the floor. “Do you really want me to believe that?” His facial hair fell seductively beside his eyes. He looked so much softer than he did in the Slaver’s den.

“For a maid, you have really smooth skin and beautiful clothes. Take my advice. Learn how to lie before you do Princess.”

I bated my breath, but it wasn't because he figured me out but because he didn't realize that I was the slave he tried to buy.  

“What are you really doing here?"

I pressed my quivering lips shut. Fear vividly laced my face. He looked away from me and exhaled. His claws pulled back. He stood up and sat on his bed. I scurried off the floor immediately. Something in me found the position we took just now, unsettling.

“Please leave. You are not supposed to be here. I don't want anyone to see you here. You and my brother are to be married soon; I don't need people making brilliant guesses.”

I turned slowly and traipsed to the door. For a second, I paused, my gaze finding him. “I came because I thought the groom was here?"

He raised a brow. “What?" 

“I said… I came because I thought the groom was here. I honestly wanted to see him before the wedding. I thought maybe we could reach an agreement on something. Don’t ask me what it is because I won’t tell you.” I lied again cos I knew I had to make sure he believed it.

Ares looked at the hairpin momentarily. “I don’t need to ask. I already know you didn't come for pillow talk.”

I opened my mouth but no words came so I pursed them shut

“You don't need to say anything. For freedom, a person can even do the insane. I will tell you though, there is no such thing as freedom. Let's say you succeeded to kill the groom and end your forced marriage, would it change that someone will always control your life?”

There was a disquiet silence after that question. I knew that I had pricked him where it hurt. 

“You look pretty free to me." I said, spurning around and facing him. He looked away; his eyes traced the moonlight that crept into the room from the only open window. He sighed softly.

“You too. I guess… looks can be deceiving; very, very deceiving.”

I lost all the words I wanted to say after that so I just stared at him. He was gloomy but he tried to hide it. For a moment, I wanted to comfort him and to ask him what had happened to him but my legs seemed to have a mind of its own; It carried me out of his room immediately. I head straight for my chambers, walking tiredly. I looked towards the groom’s room, unconsciously. In the distance, a shadow opened his door and stepped outside. It looked in my direction. I hid immediately. It must be the groom. I don't want him to see me and realize I am coming from the angle of his brother's room.

Carefully I took a peep. He was gone. "Pewww” I rose and hurried off. 

My eyes went to the clock immediately I shut my door. It was some hours before dawn. I threw myself on the bed, my thoughts drifting to the encounter with the Klaus prince. I sighed heavily. 

‘Perhaps his ordeal is the reason the goddess was so certain I couldn't kill him.’

I closed my eyes trying to picture his face again…. Something strange and loud resounded through the palace, breaking into my reverie. It was Bells. Large bells rang from the outside. The sound of clanging doors filled the passages. I sprang up from my bed, racing to the Open window.

My heart palpitating.  

The uproar outside and the eerie feeling in the air, gave me a really bad feeling in my gut. Torch lights flashed from corner to corner; wolves shifting and racing off to different directions. There must have been a security breach. I felt a sudden urge to know what was going on. I fought it but my curiosity always wins. 

Immediately I touched the door knob, some one's wail awoke every being in the palace.

My heart stopped.

The voice grew louder, scarier.

"The groom is dead!! The groom is dead!!"