Chapter 186
Sabrina’s POV:
The salve had a minty feeling to it, cooling down my skin. I stared off into the distance at an expensive oil painting handing on the wall. And I wondered what made the king choose that painting. Was it a gift? Did he buy it? Or did lady Nifra choose
1 sat on his bed, my gown off my shoulders and bunched at my hips, one of his shirts pressed to my naked chest, he rubbed a cooling salve into my back, his fingers firm and gentle.
“Does it hurt?” He asked, his voice deep behind me.
“No,” I replied. “Lady Nifra healed me”
The cuts were gone and the blood had be washed off. But there were still some welts on my back.
“The people that did this, I’m going to kill them.”
1 turned to the king. There’s no way he just said that. “What?”
“I will kill them. For hurting you.” He said.
Oh my. Lady Nifra wasn’t joking when she said he would do that
I laughed uncasily and pressed the shirt tighter in my chest. “Your majesty, that’s unnecessary.
“It’s not.” He replied simply. “look at what they did to you.”
My mind drifted back to the incident at the gardens.
***Flashback***
Lady Nifra had helped me down the tree trunk after she announced to those women that I was the king’s beloved. The harem girls expressed varying degrees of shock and disbelief. And I wasn’t going to lie, I felt a bit embarrassed that she just outed me that way.
And I also felt excited.
“Lady Nifra” one of the women stepped forward. “You need to understand why we had to punish her. She used a….a freaky trick on Blair over here.”
“And she used them on the guards too!” The other said.
“That’s a lie!” One of the girls stepped forward. “Well, lady Nifra it isn’t exactly a lie ”
“Yes?” Lady Nifra prompted.
“Sabrina only used that because Blair was being mean to all of us! She tortured us and didn’t allow us to leave. We couldn’t even speak out.”
Lady Nifra was shocked. “You two! How could you?!”
“Lady Nifra it wasn’t out fault!”
“And besides, this whole thing about her being the king’s beloved. Are you sure? She is a slave ”
Lady Nifra laughed. “Am I sure?”
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Chapter 186
“She’s a slave. She used to serve us. And also, a few weeks ago when dhe returned with Lord Calden, the meget so kee quarters. How is she the King’s beloved
I stood there, blinking at the sheer audacity, and yet also appalled, to ness does fly fat is the part of our word Ponds thing knew everything.
“Well,” Lady nigra said. She took my hand and held me. “If you really want to know if she’s the King‘ beloved or not, wh not give it a few hours? Since my warnings mean nothing to you, I’m sare you’ll appreciate a vial foglay
“Lady Nifra-
She ignored them and turned to me. “Come now Sabrina. We need to get you patched op
I followed her out, a strange sense of pride brewing inside me.
Once we were out of earshot, she turned to me. You used your powers**
I nodded.
“How were you able to?”
I explained how I felt in that moment. Cornered, angry, wishing I could strangle the life out of my assailants. She listened without interrupting me, nodding gently.
“That is wonderful” She said once I was done. “I was so worried your powers were being blocked, but now it’s dear fat’s not the case.”
“What does this mean?”
“It means that will a little bit of help, you will be able to master your powers.”
My eyes lit up and I smiled. “Then I’ll be able to use it at will?”
She nodded and smiled back. “Yes. You will.”
“Oh that sounds brilliant! When do we start?”
She laughed softly. “Let’s clean your wounds first.”
“Oh right.”
We walked to the closest room, where she had me lay down as she worked a healing spell on my back.
“Why did Blair always want to control the harem?” I asked when she was done.
“Well, if I’d say it’s because she thought she’d be the king’s bride. But that is very clearly impossible.”
As much as I do not like Blair, not even a little bit, I cannot help but admit that she will make a good Luna. It she worked on herself and stopped seeing people as below her, that is. She had a magnetic aura about her, that was really quite good. Plus how ruthless she was in getting what she wanted.
“Why is it impossible?” I asked.
Lady Nifra rolled her eyes. It was so sudden and so unlike her that I burst out laughing.
“You’re asking me why it’s impossible? I should be asking you, Sabrina.” She said.
My cheeks turned red and I turned away.
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Chapter 186
“I must ask, is this what you truly want?”
I turned back to her and shrugged. “I don’t know what I want right now. But I trust my heart to figure it out.”
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She stared at me for a moment. Then she sighed. “Be careful, Sabrina. And don’t force yourself into any situations that make you uncomfortable. Not for any reason at all.”
“What are you hinting at?”
“At this point, I am fully convinced that the king would let you go if you ask for it.”
“What? That’s crazy. He wouldn’t-
“You have no idea how much you have him wrapped around your finger, do you?”
I refused to think about that. “Why are you even saying this? Aren’t you loyal to the king? You want me to leave?”
Lady Nifra turned away.
She avoided my eyes.
“You may not believe this, but I care about you.”
My brain short circuited. “You do?”
That’s actually…. unbelievable. I mean she’s never been mean to me, she just isn’t exactly the picture of warmth.
“I didn’t like you at first. You were always trying to kill yourself and stiring up a lot of trouble”
I laughed as those memories came back. “Yeah, I remember.”
“But, I have learned that you are different from what I first perceived ” She turned and met my eyes. “And I have started to care for you, without realizing. You’ve grown on me, Sabrina.”
“Like a fungus?”
She laughed. “Like a fungus.”
I went silent, she went silent too. It wasn’t uncomfortable, if anything I liked it.
“You remind me of my daughter, just a little.” She said.
I blinked in shock. “Oh, I do? What was she like?”
Her eyes went out of focus. Then she blinked and got to her feet. “We should get back to the king now.”
There. That conversation is over. She’s put up an ice wall now, reminding me that she is Lady Nifra.
“He has heard about the incident and he is furious.”
Oh. Great.
***End of flashback*
“Your majesty, I don’t want you to kill them. To kill two people because of me is crazy”
“Why not?” He asked.
“Why not?! They’re people.”
Chapter 186
“People who hurt you, Sabrina. No one gets to do that”
“If you kill them, you will make me lose sleep and feel like a shitty person?
He frowned. “Fine. What do you want?”
I thought about it. Was that sarcastic? It didn’t sound sarcastic, right?
Then I remembered what lady Nifra said about me having him around my finger.
Time to test it out? Right?
I came up with the craziest request I could muster at this moment. “I would like to be in full control of the harem”
I waited, my breath tight in my chest for him to refuse it. Or laugh it off. Or something,
“Done.” He said. “Anything else?”
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