Tonight's sky laid empty, no star, no moon. Instead it was dark, rumbling and angry. It warned of a large storm coming and Aveedah could not help but wonder if it was a premonition from the heavens.
Would the storm douse the wild fire during her reign?
Would she be helpless while the Kingdom her father had fought so hard for crumble?
Would her people beg and curse the day she ascended the throne?
So many thoughts ran through her mind as she watched the sky keenly. The meeting had ended after a lot of argument and curses. The kings were furious and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that but she could not understand why she felt angry and suffocated throughout their banter.
She wanted to tell them to quit the ranting, it would not bring her father back neither would it save their nation. They needed to come up with strategies and not depend on brute force, they need to assure her that she was not alone in all of this but in the end, they all failed.
They were too emotional to do so and she was too desperate to understand them.
"The state of your mind can be read from your face." Velaine stated, his eyes on the sky too.
"You should not be here. There is a reason why I accommodated you in the guest palace." She snapped, allowing her eyes rest on him for a second before she turned back to the view.
"Should I say something you will doubt or tell that which will convince you?" He asked, mischief in his voice.
Aveedah turned to him, her eyes compelling him to look at her, she raised an eyebrow at him to which he chuckled before he replied.
"I wanted to see you." He said truthfully.
"I believe you have a question, if not questions for me." He added.
Aveedah watched him for a while before she sighed and turned away.
"If I had a choice, I would never take the hand you are offering."
"You do have a choice Your highness and you chose to take my hand." He replied, his eyes still on her.
"So why do I feel like you were the one who took my hand, my desperate hand like you were the last straw for me?"
"Change it then." He answered simply.
"Trust me enough to convince yourself that you are doing the right thing or make it so that you can do without me, that way you can tell yourself you are taking my hand because you want to." He explained keenly watching her.
"You know Kebarah?" She asked and she watched him slowly smile.
She is choosing to trust me then.
As if reading his mind, she countered.
"Even when I can do without you, I do not intend to forget the only hand during my time of chaos, even if it was intending to lift me high enough to push me hard."
Velaine laughed quietly and she could not help the small smile on her face.
It may not be that of humour but she felt a bit free, why? She could not tell.
"Even if that is the purpose of the hand, you could still take it and make it yours or turn against it before it does against you." He advised, his demeanor nonchalant as opposed to how he should feel.
He was talking about a possibility of betrayal between them and instead of reassuring her of his undying loyalty, he was telling her to betray him before he betrays her, it was both unsettling and refreshing.
He is promising nothing so she should expect nothing.
"I know Kebarah and seeing you ask, then you must have seen the face he made when he saw me so I do not need to convince you of our history." He replied, now taking his eyes off her.
Her smile though beautiful, reminded him of her mother and it tugged at his conscience.
He should not be here, he should not be anywhere close to her daughter.
"Why did you kill Simon?" She asked again.
"I could not help it. It felt too wasteful to use my energy to change the path of the knife and like I mentioned earlier, I bought us time."
"And got rid of our opposition's general ." She completed.
He smiled at how she could see what he wanted her to see.
"Not that I agree with your method though, You underestimated Yvonne." She continued.
"She is an impulsive fool." He remarked
"Yet ruthless." She interjected.
"She was Neil's fiancee yet she participated in ousting him out of his kingdom. Her way of hiding her incapabilities is by being ruthless. Most people refer to her as the dumb beauty. All she has speaking for her is her body and face."
"So she could go any extent to avenge her father because she lacks restraint and does not mind losing all in the process?" Velaine asked.
"Avenging her father is just one thing, proving herself is what she sought and what she will seek." She replied.
"Are you afraid?" He inquired quietly.
"Yes, but for the people that will lose their lives before I am able to tame her." She replied, her voice barely a whisper, yet there was an invincibility to her tone.
"I find it difficult to believe you are who you portray yourself as and I want to believe you are not because only then would I be at ease." He stated and before she could ask what he meant, he had gone just like he came, unannounced.
Dunni knocked the door all the others were dreading to go close to.
Yvonne's angry cries filled the hallway and it would be a miracle if there was anything that was not in shreds in the room.
"Yvonne, open the door." He called.
After a while, the door clicked and slowly opened slightly.
Happy, he would finally be able to comfort her, he opened it wider and walked in.
She was sitting on the floor, her dress in shreds just like the state of the room. Her hair stuck out everywhere and her eyes were blood shot from so much crying.
Her tear stained face was red and swollen making Dunni feel his heart squeeze at her plight.
"Yvonne, I am sorry." He whispered.
She did not reply but allowed fresh set of tears fall from her eyes.
"She will pay, I promise to make her pay." He swore.
"No, they will both pay and I will make them pay." She replied bitterly, stressing every word.
"Then I will stand by you." He replied truthfully, using his hand to raise her chin and make her look at him.
Slowly, she allowed her eyes to roam his face and finally they looked into his eyes.
"Dunni, make me forget. Camouflage this pain for me with passion, allow me remember only when I can take it but now, I simply need to feel something else." She begged and without giving him a chance to reply, she pushed him hard so he fell on his back, the pieces of glass that pierced his skin for the force his back landed on them with the least of their concern as she began tearing his clothes off him and him yanking her hair as he roughly kissed her licking the fresh set of tears that rolled down her cheek, after all this is what they are to each other.
This is why she had walked away from her childhood friend and fiancee.
It was not love, it was simply addiction.