Word Count: 1621

~Lavelle

I stumble up the stairs after Zyre, a stupid grin on my face.

He walks with unrestrained purpose, his hand still gripping mine, tugging me along with him. He stalks through the halls like the palace belongs to him.

"Why are we going to my bedroom?" I ask breathlessly.

"You'll see."

We keep walking until we reach my door. It's a bit unnerving that he never had to ask where it's located, but I bite my tongue as we press inside.

My bed suddenly comes into view, unmade and unkempt.

Shit. I can't be alone with any male like this, let alone Zyre. I'm getting married tomorrow, and I just giddily followed him up here knowing there's a possibility he's about to take me to bed.

I pull away from him. "I can't sleep with you...I want Avi."

He pauses, looking over his shoulder at me.

For a moment, we just stare at each other, our breathing and the faint swell of music below us being the only sound in the room.

Suddenly, he closes in on me. I know I should back away, that I should demand he stop, but I can't bring myself to. I let him take me into his arms, drawing my mouth back to his.

My entire body melts into his as his tongue sweeps into my mouth. He kisses me deeply, passionately, like he's trying to prove something to himself.

When he pulls away, I'm breathless.

"I didn't bring you here to fuck, Lavelle." He drags his gaze over me, eyes darkening. "We fuck when you're mine."

My lips part.

"Wait—"

"You need to leave," he states, turning away.

I frown, watching him survey the room. It feel strange, seeing him amongst all this pink and white, the darkness of his clothing contrasting starkly against the dusky walls.

"I'm sorry, what—"

"Do you have a bag in here? It's all you need, for now. I can get more things to you soon," he says determinedly. "I'll distract the guards while you take my carriage."

He hunts around the room, pulling my closet door open. His flinches at the clothing stuffed in there, all pale colours and plush fabrics.

"Zyre, have you lost your mind?" I snap.

He digs out my trunk, flipping open the lid. I watch in muted horror as he begins yanking clothing off hooks, dumping it in unceremoniously.

"Something bad is coming. Something I can't save you from unless you leave tonight." He picks up a few pairs of shoes, tossing them in.

I shake my head in bewilderment. Has he been drinking? He's so focused, I'm not sure anything would pull him out of this.

"What is coming?" I wander closer.

"Bad things. Once those things happen, there is no going back." He isn't looking at me, so focused on stuffing the trunk full of clothes he isn't making any sense.

It's unnerving me, watching him select clothing like thick sweaters and jackets, long pants and boots. It's as if he's packing for me to spend the next month living in the forest.

"If you know, then you have to tell me." I wring my hands anxiously. I don't like this dark foreboding he has settled over me. He has been hinting at something bad since I've met him, and now, whatever it is, feels imminent.

He steps back, sweeping his hand through his hair.

"I can't...I can't stop it now. I don't want to stop it now." He grimaces. "But it's not too late to get you out of here before you're wrapped up in this."

I shake my head, taking a wary step back.

"You're trying to scare me. For some fucked up reason you don't want me to marry Avi, and you never have," I say.

His attentions whips to me, his jaw tight.

"Of course I don't want you to marry him," he says darkly. I stiffen as he advances on me. "Lavelle, you must run. You mustn't look back. I'll find you at a later date, and I'll explain everything."

I gape at him as he turns away again, driven by some phantom sense of desperation. He stalks into the adjoining bathroom, opening drawers and shelve doors.

I sigh, following him. "Where exactly am I supposed to go? What about my father?"

"I'll protect him." He grabs my hairbrush and a bottle of lotion.

I swerve in front of him before he can leave the room, prying the items out of his hands. He lets me with a huff, nearly knocking me back in his rush to leave the room.

"I can't trust you," I say through gritted teeth, arranging my belongings back where he found them.  "I can't leave. I won't."

He's back to packing my trunk when I enter the room again. I can feel my irritation building.

I thought he was bringing me back here to seduce me. I thought he wanted privacy to take me to bed, not to force me to leave. He's impossible to predict, and it aggravates me to no end.

I just want to know what it is about me and Avi being married that offends him so much. I want to know what he knows, because clearly it's driving him to insanity.

He closes the lid to the trunk with finality, stepping back.

A horrible feeling stirs in my stomach. What will happen if I don't follow his instructions?

"Please, Lavelle. Please, you need to leave," he murmurs lowly.

I brace my hands on my hips. "Not until you tell me what is going on."

"If I could, I would." He shakes his head. "If you marry Avi, you're not just marrying him, you're..."

He breaks off, rubbing his hand over his face.

I wander closer. "What?"

"Marrying him means so much more than you realise. You just don't know what you'll be agreeing to." He says is softly, like he pities me. It only makes me feel worse.

I step close enough to him to reach out at touch him. So much has shifted between us from when we were dancing together downstairs. He's gone from wanting me close, to wanting me as far away as possible.

"Then tell me!" I plead.

"I...I can't, Lavelle. You just have to trust me."

Trust him? I don't know him. He could be sabotaging Avi by separating us. This could be fuelled by jealousy, or something equally insidious. I have idea, and I have no reason to trust him because he won't tell me a thing.

"This is ridiculous, what you're asking me to do," I snap.

"I'm calling in the favours you owe me," he says suddenly. "For hiding your father and sisters identity. For keeping your secrets."

I flinch.

Any feeble scraps of trust I had for him immediately vanish. I was beginning to think that the secrets he learnt about me would stay secrets forever. I thought he had no motivation to share them, to ruin my life.

And here he is, weaponising them against me.

"You can't do that..." I breathe. I don't want him to do that, because it will mean everything I've admired about him will mean nothing.

"I'll do anything. Anything to get you to leave, right now." He points to the door. "It needs to be done under the cover of darkness."

My fingers bundle into fists, rage swelling inside of me, building up to the point of rupture.

"I'm marrying Avi," I growl. "I trust him. He's kind to me, and I care about him. It's more than I can say for you."

Avi has never threatened to weaponise my secrets. In fact, as far as I know, he doesn't have so many secrets he is keeping from me.

"It's not too late to tell him no. If you won't run, then reject him," he insists.

"It's not fair of you to ask me to do that without telling me why I need to," I grind out. How can he not see how unreasonable he is being?

Both his hands dig into his hair, fisting the dark strands between his fingers. He's never looked so close to losing control before. For once, he is lost on how to proceed.

"I know..."

"I know that marrying him is a risk, but I want this. I want him." I don't care about my doubts now. Not in the face of Zyre's.

I refuse to be undermined. I refuse to have this taken from me.

He angles his head, his irritation melting into an unfathomable sadness. "I can't convince you, can I?"

I shake my head solemnly. "Not unless you're willing to tell me the truth."

He looks down at his hands, his shoulders deflating. He knows that nothing can be said aside from the truth to convince me to trust him. Not when he failed to prove himself to me over again.

"You're really going to marry him," he whispers.

I nod affirmatively. "I'm really going to marry him."

He nods slowly, backing away. I watch him go, before I sink into bed, a dark, empty feeling clawing my insides.

Am I making a mistake?

The thought haunts me into sleep that night. And again, into the next day.

Even as I stand before Avi, sealing our marriage ceremony with a kiss, I can't help but ask myself again.

Am I making a mistake?

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