He is about to agree when suddenly, he rams against me and envelops me in his warmth. He tightly squeezes me and I can't breathe. He takes uneven breaths and sniffs. When I feel that he is trembling, I realize he is crying.
After a few minutes, he lets me go. He is looking down with his hands tightly clutching my shoulders. "How can you easily let me go, Kaiya?" he whispers. "Is this how little I matter to you, even with the mate bond?"
"You are about to agree to it. You are the one who-"
He presses his lips against me and then lets go after a few seconds. Then he touches his forehead on my shoulders. "I don't want to let you go, but the way you push me away, I can't take it anymore…"
He stands up from the bed and looks down at me. "From now on, you will be a regular warrior. You will remain to be my personal guard and I will use your life as I see fit. But our relationship will be nothing but that of a protector and the protected–as a warrior and her King."
He pauses for a while and we stare at each other. I know that he is waiting for something, but this is what I want–at least, this is what I think I need for the meantime.
"You may leave my presence, but once we meet again on the ship going to Orttenburg, act accordingly."
"And the plan to act as your concubine while on Orttenburg? Will we forego that now?" I ask.
"Yes," he answers. "You can still wear your dress, but I will introduce you as my personal guard."
"Okay," I answer. I get my clothes and fix myself up. Once I am done, I bow at him, but he is not meeting my eyes. I lightly close the door, only to be met by the young woman outside.
"Oh! You will be going now? I was about to serve your breakfast."
"You can ask him if he wants breakfast," I say. "Maybe he'd like to eat some before we leave."
Then, we hear crashing sounds inside and the magic of the barrier shimmers. We look at each other and the server asks, "You didn't make up?"
I shake my head. "We ended it. You saw how we are yesterday."
"Oh! Damn, now, I can't bring this to him."
She looks at him and asks, "Is there another man you like?"
I scowl at her.
"Oh, sorry. Now, how am I going to ask for payment?" She looks at me, and then, "Ah! You can remind him later when-"
Another crashing sound and the barrier almost breaks.
"-he has a cool head," she adds.
I nod. I am about to leave when she catches my arm. She looks seriously at me and squeezes, "Good luck." Then she scurries away from me.


**********************
It's after lunch when finally Theo appears alone. He doesn't look good, and he still looks furious. Climbing up the ship, our eyes meet for a while, but he transfers his gaze just as fast.
"Kaiya! The ship will leave," Ami calls.
I go beside her, and with our wind magic, we help the ship safely move away from the harbor. It takes only an hour before finally, we can take a rest and the ship can now move automatically. I brush my palms together and smile at Ami who is beside me.
"How was your night with Silvino?" I ask.
She instantly blushes. "It was amazing," she whispers. "I didn't know it will feel that good."
"We are going to stop over here once we're done with Orttenburg, you plan to meet up with him again?"
She nods and I smile knowingly. Suddenly, I remember. I need to guard Theo! So, I say goodbye and walk towards our room. I open the door at the same time that Theo comes out of the bath. My eyes automatically travel through his perfect, muscular form, and when my eyes reach his face, I see that he is smirking.
"Bring me my clothes," he orders.
Right! I jerk. I run towards the dresser and take the usual clothes he wears, just a white shirt and any color of pants will do. I move towards him and hand him the clothes.
"Dress me up," he says, his eyes focused on me.
I wince. "That is not a personal guard's duty, my King."
He snatches the clothes from my hands and clicks his tongue. "I should have gotten another guard," he says.
I bow my head and am about to leave the room when he asks, "Where are you going?"
"Ahm, outside?"
He snorts again. "Where did you find a personal guard who stays far from the one he is protecting?"
"I apologize. I will stay here," I say.
He walks past me and sits at his worktable. With nothing to do, I look for a blanket and pillows that I can use, so I can sleep on the couch tonight. Or the floor, depending on his mood. Besides, I doubt he will be generous towards me after that scene at the restaurant inn.
When night came, servants come in to bring the food. I jerk awake. I stand up and fix the table and couch as Theo sits on it to start his dinner. When the servants leave, I sit beside him and am about to get food from the plate when he asks, "Why are you sharing my food?"
"Oh!" I exclaim. Am I also not allowed for that now? Ain't he just being petty? Nevertheless, I move away from him and withdraw my hand from his food. He glares at me so I make myself scarce. I stand a few feet behind him so I won't receive his glares.
"Where did you learn glamour?" he asks instead.
I peer from behind him and see that he is already done eating. I go out and ask for the servant to clean up the mess in the room.
Once done and the servants leave again, he repeats his question, "Where did you learn glamour?"
Lightly closing the door, I answer, "I don't know. It might be before I arrive at the hunting park."
He nods, then walks towards his work table and starts checking the documents again. With nothing to do, I fix my bed on the couch. I doubt he will allow me in the bed with him, and besides, this is safer for my heart. In that way, I can prevent myself from touching him.
The next time I wake up, Theo is already sleeping on the bed. The night lamp has gone off. I sit up from the couch and the blanket falls from my body. Blanket? I didn't cover myself with a blanket, did I? I shift my attention to Theo. It must have been him. I groan. Stupid. I am the guard and he's angry at me, and yet, he still does these things. This is annoying.
So, I stand up from the couch and fix it. I am about to open the door when suddenly, I feel like something is wrong. I shift my attention to Theo. He is still sleeping. Then my eyes go to the window. And I realize that the barrier to the ship is shimmering as if it's about to break.
Why? The barrier is done by Theo's ocean magic. He also said that he is the strongest when surrounded by the ocean, so why does it look so… brittle?
Abruptly, the ship sways and I balance myself not to fall. I turn my attention to Theo and find him heaving. I run to him, but I hit an invisible barrier instead. The force of the impact hurls me a meter away from him. I stand up and look at him again. He is not just heaving. He seems to be being bothered mentally as if something is… Shit! This is the same look that General Brandon had when he was being possessed! Why the hell is it attacking Theo now?!
In my panic, I take out my knife and slash at the barrier. It didn't do anything. I swallow. If no physical things can hurt it, how about my magic? I focus my mind, press my palm over the barrier, and then push my fire magic on it.
As expected, the barrier melts before me. Finally open, I climb to Theo's bed and touch his forehead. He's feverish. He is scowling and seems as if he is fighting against something. I focus my magic again and activate my wind magic. I let it soft, just a gentle blowing across his body. And then, I finally saw it, a black creature, coming out of his body.
Without thinking, I grab at it and strike its other shadow with my knife. I hear a screeching sound. It is too high-pitched that if my hands are not occupied, I could have covered my ears.
I wrestle against the shadow, and finally, I take it out of Theo's body. I struck my knife on it and another shrill cry is heard on the ship. The door to the room opens, and at the same time, Theo's eyes flew open. My knife is now is dripping with blood that is flowing on the bedsheets.
"What have you done to the King?!"
Done to the King? I look confused at the warrior, and when I look at myself, I realize that I might look like as if I killed Theo especially when he is just staring at me, unmoving under me.
"I didn't kill him, or anything."
But there is also blood on Theo's bare chest. I touch it, and thankfully, it's not his blood.
"This is from the creature who comes into the room," I inform. I touch Theo's cheeks and asks, "Theo, are you okay? What are you feeling?"
Then he sits up, with me still on his lap. "Shouldn't you move now?"
I obey immediately and he adds, "I am fine. You can leave now. My personal guard protected me yet again. Be sure to promote her once we return to Pitchford."
"Promote your personal guard, my King?"
"Yes, give her the second lieutenant rank." He watches the blood and is about to touch it when I reach for him.
"I think it's better if you use some protection before checking it out."
He glowers at me and then withdraws his arms sharply from me. Like a little child in tantrums, he touches the blood and smells. Then, to the servant outside the door, he orders, "Before you go, call someone to clean this up."
When the door closes again, I approach him and ask, "The attempts on your life are becoming more frequent, should we investigate the-"
He raises his arms. "All you need to do is to protect me. You have no say on that. You are just my personal guard."
Then he turns his back to me and works on the documents while waiting for the servants to change and clean up his room.