Twenty-six

Chapter 26

Hope

Darius was here. And he had a deep frown on his face. Much deeper than his usual one. Kyle immediately jumped away, putting a distance between the two of us, then bowed with respect towards Darius. I, on the other hand, stood up from the bench and bent my head a little.

"Good morning," I said to Darius. He grunted in response to both mine and Kyle's greeting.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, his eyes darting around the garden. "Alone." He added with a hint of irritation in his word.

"Pardon?" I said, confused by his unexplained irritation.

"Aren't your maids supposed to be with you every time you step out of your room? Why did you send them away? Why are you alone with him in such a place?" Darius grew angrier with each word he spoke.

I flinched along the line since he stood directly in front of me. I clenched my fists at either side as I registered his questions in my head. What maids? When did he ever assign maids to me? And what was wrong with me being with