Undress?Angelica's mind wandered away, going anywhere but this place she was in. She thought of her mother and the life she had wished for her. She thought of her greedy father. Even he wouldn't want her to be in this situation and lastly, she thought of her brother. What would he think of this? What would he think of what she had become? She had fought hard for him and herself. But this wasn't the kind of fighting she wanted to do. She didn't want to endure this every day, selfish as it might sound. She knew leaving this place could be more dangerous and possibly lead to her death, leaving her brother completely alone. But she couldn't stop herself from being selfish. She couldn't stop herself from wanting something more and not surrendering to this. Turning her gaze she looked at the man in front of her who seemed to be losing his patience when she did nothing. "It will be easier for you if we get along, Angel." He said. Angel? She became nauseous at the way it sounded coming
1Angelica and her father were amongst the first to arrive at the King's ball. Her father, who had quickly turned into the new King's loyal servant, wanted to take every chance to impress him. Getting a higher military rank didn't seem to appease his greed, so he saw to it that they arrived notably early.Walking with her arm through his, her father led her inside the party hall. Angelica was used to attending these parties because her father would force her to go with him as soon as she came of age to get married. He would introduce her to wealthy, powerful men and let them court her. All of his efforts were in vain because she would deny all of them.Tonight would probably be the same. The nagging only got worse the older she got. She was approaching her twenties, and she was neither married nor engaged."Do you want to die alone?" her father would yell. "You are lucky. If you weren't as beautiful as your mother, no one would notice you at your age."He was right. Her appearance was
A few gasps came from the guests when the man's disfigured face came on display. Thick, jagged scars covered half of his face. It looked like someone had taken a knife and deliberately cut him. It was difficult to look at him, and Angelica averted her gaze quickly.Other people stared, and some began to speak in hushed tones.The King gave permission for the party to continue and the whispers were muted by the music."Who is that?" Veronica asked.Hilde had already done her research through her father. "All six men who came in with the King are the most powerful men in the Kingdom, right after the King. They are the King's arms, eyes, and ears. I would advise you to seduce one of them," she whispered the last sentence.Vesna's eyes lit up. "They are gorgeous," she noted, looking at them with fascination until she caught sight of the scarred one. "What happened to his face?"Hilde shrugged. "No one knows, but he is known to be the fiercest fighter and strongest warrior. The many wars,
Angelica could see her friends' envious faces as she was escorted out of the party with the King. Hilde looked like she wanted to fight her. Her eyes blazed with anger and hatred. Angelica became sure that her friends would now exclude her even more from their friendship circle. They had already been jealous of her ability to attract men, but since she wasn't interested in marriage; they hadn't been worried. Now they would certainly worry.But Angelica had other things to be concerned about other than her envious friends. Things like, why the king wanted to be with her in private? What would he do? How could she escape? Or what should she say or do to make him lose interest in her?Her mind flooded with many ideas as they walked through the large halls of the castle. She was walking beside the King and two of the six men that were close to him walked behind them. One being the scarred man.Angelica could feel their dark auras surrounding her. Her brain was sending her warning signals,
Angelica felt a strange pull, a compulsion to speak the truth. "I am a woman, Your Majesty." She replied.Then she felt as if she was released by some invisible chains. The king leaned back again with a smirk. "I see that," he said. This was the first time he looked at her the way a man looked at a woman."You are wasting time." The scarred man spoke for the first time, and before she could turn to him, he was already next to her. A strong hand gripped her arm and pulled her out of the sofa with such force that she almost collided with him before she could stop herself.Her heart skipped a beat as she found her face an inch away from his chest. Before she could think of anything, he grabbed her jaw and turned her head up so she was looking at him. Those eyes sent shivers down her spine. She had never seen eyes so black that she could see her own reflection in them.His strong grip eased around her jaw, but she was too shocked to pull away from him. Was it the magnetic pull in his eyes
It was late at night when Angelica went home with her father. On her way back, she kept thinking of the strange night she had with the King. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on, yet strangely, she did like him despite the warning signs that frightened her.Speaking of frightening, she remembered Lord Rayven's dark eyes. She could never forget the way he looked at her with such… hatred? Or was it anger? She couldn't tell, but it was very clear that he didn't like her. Angelica couldn't blame him because of how she'd reacted after seeing his face."Angelica. I don't want to see you with any other man. You have to think about your reputation now that you have the king's attention. Don't ruin your chance," her father told her when they arrived home.Angelica wanted to protest and tell him he shouldn't have left her alone with the King if he had thought of her reputation. What if the King didn't like her? Then no other man would be willing to w
The Lords were kind enough to help her find her brother. Lord Quintus was the one to talk to her, the other two were silent and just followed them."Where are we going, My Lord?" Angelica asked."I think your brother might be with His Majesty," Lord Quintus replied.Why would her brother be with the King?They took her to the parlour where the King had taken her the previous night. Just as Lord Quintus predicted, her brother was sitting with the King and they were chatting animatedly.Angelica was both surprised and confused.The King turned to them, and his eyes narrowed upon seeing her."Lady Davis came here looking for her brother," Lord Quintus explained.Her brother turned around and was surprised to see her.The King leaned back on his couch and tilted his head to one side as he looked at her.Angelica curtsied. "Your Majesty, I am sorry to disturb you this late.""Not at all. Please come and sit." He motioned toward the sofa next to him.Angelica didn't know why she looked over
Angelica walked behind Lord Rayven as he led them outside the castle. Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he didn't want to escort them anywhere. She hated to bother someone who didn't want to help her at all.Her brother left her side before she could stop him and went to walk beside Lord Rayven. He looked tiny next to him. Lord Rayven was a bit taller than what she considered tall, with wide shoulders and muscular arms. She could imagine his strength just from the way he strolled, like he could walk over and destroy anything that blocked his way. His tall legs made one step as long as two of hers.Despite his big frame, he moved with the same elegance as the other Lords. It was as if he glided across the floor."My Lord. I want to become a fierce warrior like you." Her brother told him, almost jogging next to him to keep up.Angelica held her breath in fear, waiting to see what Lord Rayven would say. When he ignored her brother and kept walking, she felt even more nervou