A.N: Hey guys!
First I wanted to thank you for all the reviews! It means so much to me. Okay so now I got a few questions so here are answers…No Maven didn't go all the way in the last chapter he stopped before. As for posting more than a chapter a week…I want to give you quality and I have a very time consuming job (the downside of being a lawyer) and my beta is quite busy with University (she is quite awesome too!) so… But I will try my best to try every once in a while to so that.
Again don't forget to review and let me know what you think, I love reading
Steffy2106
Chapter 4:
I awoke to warmth, something I had not felt in months. I was enveloped in soft doonas; the mattress soft and comfortable. I, obviously, was not on my usual mattress. Frowning, I pulled back the sheets, noticing my clothing: I was still wearing the dress but a man's shirt covered my exposed top half.
"Maven," I whispered, trying to sink further into the bed, trying to suck as much warmth into my body before someone came and took me away.
A throat cleared, rough and masculine. "It was him, yes."
I sat up, startled, pulling the blankets closer against me. It felt secure; safe. It was irrational, but somehow, the feeling of those soft feathers enclosed in cotton acted as a ward between me and the cruelty of the outside world.
Jon appeared from the corner, and suddenly, all the anger, betrayal, and hurt that I had shoved down, down, down, resurfaced like a tidal wave. The force of it so strong, it could topple over castles, or maybe drown the girl who cried herself to sleep. But I wouldn't let him know that, wouldn't show weakness.
"I don't want you here," I said coldly.
"I know it's hard to explain but –" he sighed. "I am here to make sure you win this war."
I snorted. I wouldn't believe him again, wouldn't subject myself to that pain, to that betrayal. Never. No longer would I fall prey to the likes of Maven and Jon. "Why would I believe you?" I asked, incredulous. "Do you want me to list your crimes? You let my brother die, you sold me out to Maven, you betrayed your own goddamn people. I. Trusted. You. And then you went and stabbed me in the back."
I was shouting now.
Jon stared at me, at least having the decency to look guilty. "Shade's loss was a tragedy but believe it or not, it was the scenario with the fewer casualties. We're at war and every war requires sacrifices."
Now it was my turn to feel guilty. "Why did it have to be my brother?" I shook my head, the despair of losing Shade seeping in through the cracks in the walls that I thought I had cemented over. "And why should I listen to you? If it weren't for your mouth, I wouldn't be here."
"No, you're right, you would have been dead." He sighed. "Going to the tranches was a decision driven by emotion–only death and chaos would have waited for you there. You would have seen your prince fall and you would've followed him down. And when King Maven sees your body in the middle of the field, his fury would have been the death of us all."
"You tried to save me?" I asked sceptically.
He nodded. "Believe it or not, what I did, I did for you, for I finally figured out what his weakness is. It was difficult, mind you, because I don't think he even knows it himself."
"What is his weakness?"
"You."
I snorted.
"You will be his downfall, my dear," he said with a smile.
"Right. Sure. Whatever you say."
"Believe me, don't believe me; it doesn't matter. But I am telling you the truth, Mare. He came to me last night, asking if there was a future in which you and him could be together."
"What was your answer to that?" I asked, my mind still spinning with confusion and incredulity and suspicion.
"I told him that there was a chance- "
I shot him a murderous glare.
"Which was a lie of course," he added hastily. "At least not the way he thinks and not in the way you are ready to hear."
I sighed, exasperated. "Your cryptic messages are getting old."
"I am doing what I have to do to save us all. Someone will be coming to save you. Don't leave with them, the fate that would follow…." He shuddered at the thought.
"I have no time to explain, the King will be back in twelve minutes. But when they come to save you don't leave, do whatever you can to keep them away. If you were to leave now, Maven will destroy everything to punish you. Everybody you know and love will die – Norta will be a river of blood." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if the thought itself was painful enough. "It will be a slaughter of the likes we have never seen before."
I looked down at my hands, not entirely sure of what to say. "What about Cal- "
Jon gave me a small smile. "You were always meant to be Tiberias' downfall. From the moment you met him at that tavern he was lost; no matter the choices you would have made. "
"How–"
He shook his head. "We don't have the time. Listen. When the blue moon reaches it's peak, a proposal of betrayal will come your way–don't accept, use your love for Tiberias to make the king believe he can have what he wants more than anything else…you."
"Why would I do that?"
He glanced quickly at the door. "Because you want to keep Tiberias and Farley safe, because you know that it's right and because you want to finally save the New Bloods."
"They're dead, Maven killed them." I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "You're lying again, I've seen the bodies."
"Are you sure? Can you be sure it wasn't a decoy?"
I frowned.
"He didn't kill them; he is keeping them in a place you can't access just yet. But soon, you will."
"Why? Why does he have them?"
"I don't know, I don't think he even knows. He wanted them because he knew you wanted them. I can't stay longer." He jumped up and walked to the door. "I believe in you," he added before exiting the room.
I realized that I had forgotten, in the heat of things, to ask him how he managed to get into here without anyone noticing. Did Kyan try to stop him at all?
I didn't have the time to ponder over his words as Maven walked in the room.
"Mare," he acknowledged me, with a clip voice.
I realized all too late how I must have looked, sitting on his bed as if it was my home. "I am sorry Your Majesty, I shouldn't-" I stood up slowly, with as much dignity as I could muster.
"No Mare it's…" He sighed, shaking his head. "You don't have to…"
He was at a lost for words. It was disconcerting; Maven was nothing if eloquent. I looked down at his hands, which were currently holding a folder.
He saw my eyes on the folder and opened it, spreading its contents across the bed. "You held your end of the bargain even if I didn't…act on it. This is what I promised."
He pointed at the folder.
I took a tentative step toward the bed. "I don't understand."
"The Reds in the war. These are the orders changing the law, it is effective already, don't worry."
Jon's words replayed in my head. Was I really his weakness? Would I be his downfall?
I reached for the folder and smiled as brightly as I could. Hid eyes light up at that smile, and in that moment, I believed Jon. I had been good at faking when I was Mareena, I was close to being a master of deception. I just had to up my game a little and attempt to deceive the only man I never had before– Maven Calore, King of Norta. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Please…call me Maven, at least in private." The gentleness in his tone hurt me just as much as every harsh word he had spoken to me.
"Maven," I repeated, keeping my smile on my face. I will destroy you. I added to myself and at the thought, my smile turned genuine. I will destroy you…
