To Bewitch a Devil

“I’m sorry.” With that, she turned and ran away.

Axel stared at her retreating form, a concerned frown forming on his brows. She looked scared and even when she looked like she was about to say something, she would stop herself. Something was really going on with her, and he had to find out what it was.

Neera walked quietly as she approached her room, her heart beating against her chest as she prayed that Zavian had not come to look for her.

She already lied to him once, and she did not want to continue lying. If he found out, she would be in serious trouble.

There was no one in her room when she entered and she breathed out thankfully.

Walking to the table, she quickly took off the bracelet and hid it underneath her clothes; just as she was hiding it, she heard a knock on the door.

Neera jolted and turned around, taking a few breaths before she walked to it,

Outside stood the King and her heart skipped a pulse.

.....

“Your Majesty;” she called, moving to the side, she let him come in.

As he walked in, the events of that morning came rushing back to her, making her cheeks flush. She lowered her head, too embarasssed to look at him.

Zavian did not even know why he came to her room. She had been on his mind all day, unwaveringly. The events of that morning, not leaving his thoughts for one second.

No matter what he felt, he shouldn’t have kissed her. It was unfair that he would do such to her, knowing that he just mistook her for Lilah.

“Where have you been?” Zavian asked and Neera looked up at him, fear crossing her eyes; did he come looking for her earlier? She wondered. Her eyes looked about and she dropped them to the floor;

“I was with my friend, Penelope.” She lied. Again.

Zavian noticed her uneasiness but he did not think much of it. After a minute of silence, he spoke.

“This morning;” There was a pause as though he waited for her to remember the events of the morning, and then he continued;

“I had acted out of line. It won’t happen again.”

Neera breathed out and shook her head;

“I’m your subject your majesty, I exist to serve you.”

Her words made him feel more worse. It was better if she nodded and kept quiet, why did she have to make him feel worse about what happened?

“Even so, there are things that shouldn’t be done, especially to you.”

Neera clenched her hands, then she nodded;

“I understand, Your Majesty. I knew that you must have mistaken me to be your wife...”

Her voice derailed and she stopped talking when she realized her mistake; she shouldn’t have said that.

There was quiet in the room for seconds before Zavian turned to the door;

“Join me for dinner.” He said curtly and walked through the door. Neera was surprised. She had spoken out of line and she thought that he would scold her; but instead, he had asked to eat with her. The king was acting really strangely of late. She thought to herself.

...

Penelope and the other maids who served Lyra dressed their beds for the night when they heard a knock on the door;

The girls all turned to the door as one of them walked to it and opened it;

Outside stood a servant with a box;

“The Commander sent this for Penelope;”

The maids gasped as they all turned to look at Pen, who was staring at them with the same surprise.

It took her a few seconds to connect the dots and she quickly walked to the servant and took the box from him.

“Did he say any other thing?” She asked but the servant shook his head.

Pen nodded and closed the door, going to her bed.

“Pen, you did not tell us you had a thing with the Commander, does he like you?”

The girls asked as they waited for Pen to open the box so they would see what was inside;

“No, it’s not what you think.” She replied, she wished the girls were not around when the box was brought, now they would not stop talking about it.

“So what is it? The commander cannot just bring a gift to you for nothing; or did you do it?”

“Do what?” Pen asked, looking at the girls;

“Sleep with him?”

“What?! No!” Pen shook her head; “stop imagining things, none of those things happened.”

“Hmm, I see, so open the box.” The three girls stared at Pen, eyes wide open and eager to know what the commander had sent.

Pen stared at them and then she sighed;

“Fine!” She said, opening the box. She was innocent anyway, it did not matter what they thought.

Inside the box was a smaller box and Pen opened it; there was a gasp from among the girls when they saw the content of it.

“A jadeite necklace!” One of them exclaimed.

The other girls looked at her; “How do you know it’s jade?” Jade was one of the rarest stones and worth over 100 carats of gold for a stone, a mere maid would not know what it was by looking at it.

“My father worked in the mines before he died, so he brought home some crisp samples of stones. I know a jade when I see one.”

Pen held the necklace in her hand unable to speak. Why did he give this to her? There were other girls that would want to sleep with him without a thought, why was he interested in the one that did not want him.

She stared at the necklace for a while, then she placed it back in the box and into the bigger box.

“What are you doing?” One of the girls asked, as they watched her stand up and walk towards the door;

“I’m returning the gift.” She said, and they all screamed;

“What? Are you crazy? Do you know what that is? Even some nobles do not have a jade and you want to throw it away just like that? If you don’t want it, give it to us, we can share the stones and be rich for years.”

“I’m returning it to him. If you want it, you can go and ask him yourself.”

With that, Pen walked out the door and closed it behind her.