Chapter 10
Aeliana had only been in the new room for a few days, but already, she felt the weight of something heavy pressing down on the air between her and King Tharx. The room was beautiful, certainly more comfortable than the cold cell she had been confined to before, but it still felt like a cage, no matter how gilded. Yet now, there was something else in her world-something she hadn't expected.
Tharx.
He was everywhere, even when he wasn't. His presence seemed to linger in every corner of the fortress, in every shadow that moved along the walls. Since moving her to his personal wing, Aeliana had begun to notice him more often. He wasn't constantly by her side-in fact, he rarely spoke to her-but he was there, always hovering at the edge of her awareness.
Sometimes, she would catch him standing just outside her door, his tall, shadowy figure outlined by the faint green glow that emanated from the fortress walls. He never entered. He never called for her. He simply stood there, silent and still, as if watching over her from a distance. It was unnerving at first, this silent sentinel who seemed to haunt the corridors of his own fortress. But soon, Aeliana began to feel something else.
Curiosity.
What had once terrified her-his cold, looming presence-now stirred something deeper inside her. She didn't understand him, but she wanted to. The king was a puzzle, his motives hidden behind the mask of his harsh exterior. And yet, despite his coldness, despite the distance he maintained, Aeliana could sense that there was something more to him. Something beneath the surface.
She saw it in the way he lingered outside her quarters late at night, as if drawn to her without understanding why. She saw it in the way his eyes sometimes flickered with something that wasn't just cold calculation. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but she was learning to read him, to see beyond the armor and the title of king. There was torment there, a storm swirling behind those unreadable eyes.
One evening, Aeliana sat in the room's low seating area, her legs curled beneath her as she stared out the wide window that overlooked the alien city. The skyline shimmered with the same eerie, green light that illuminated the fortress. It was beautiful in its own way, though hauntingly so. The city below pulsed with a life that was alien to her, its towering spires and twisting streets a constant reminder that she was far from home.
But tonight, her thoughts weren't on the alien world beyond the window. They were on Tharx.
She had sensed him again that evening-just outside her door, lingering in the corridor like a shadow that refused to leave. He didn't come in, as always, but she knew he was there. She could feel his presence, heavy and brooding, even when the door remained closed.
Aeliana shifted, biting her lip as her mind turned over the strange encounters they'd had since her arrival. Tharx had claimed her, but he had done little beyond that. He had given her this room, allowed her a degree of freedom within the fortress, but he kept her at arm's length, both physically and emotionally. It was as though he couldn't decide what to do with her.
And yet, she felt his eyes on her, even when she couldn't see him.
She thought back to the brief conversations they'd had-the way he had spoken of her as his possession, cold and matter-of-fact. But there had been something else in his voice too, something deeper that he seemed to be struggling to suppress. Aeliana couldn't quite place it, but it tugged at her, drawing her curiosity closer to the surface.
What was driving him to keep her here? Why hadn't he discarded her like so many others before her? What was it that kept him standing outside her door, watching but never speaking?
A part of her wanted to confront him, to challenge that cold distance he maintained between them. Another part of her feared what might happen if she did.
But it wasn't long before fate made the decision for her.
Late that night, long after the fortress had fallen into its usual eerie silence, Aeliana heard the familiar sound of footsteps outside her door. Her heart raced, knowing it was him-Tharx. She hadn't expected him so soon, but there he was again, lingering just beyond the threshold of her room, as if tethered to her by some invisible force.
This time, however, she couldn't ignore it. She couldn't let him remain a silent presence in the shadows. Not anymore.
Rising from her seat, Aeliana padded quietly across the room, her bare feet soft against the cool floor. She stopped just short of the door, her breath catching in her throat as she steeled herself for what she was about to do.
Then, without thinking too much about it, she opened the door.
Tharx stood there, just as she had known he would be. His tall, imposing figure cast a long shadow in the dim corridor light. His glowing eyes flickered down to meet hers, his expression unreadable, but there was no mistaking the tension in the air between them. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The silence was thick, heavy, charged with an intensity Aeliana hadn't expected.
"What are you doing here?" she asked softly, her voice steady despite the wild thrum of her heartbeat. "Why do you keep coming?"
Tharx didn't answer immediately. His eyes held hers, and for a moment, Aeliana saw something flicker there-something like conflict, like a storm brewing just beneath the surface. His jaw clenched, and he shifted slightly, as though weighing his response carefully.
Finally, he spoke, his voice low and rough, like gravel grinding against stone. "I am the king. I do as I please."
It was an answer, but it wasn't what she had asked.
Aeliana stepped forward, closing the distance between them, her heart pounding in her chest. "That's not what I meant," she said quietly, refusing to back down. "You keep coming here, standing outside my room, watching. Why?"
Tharx's gaze hardened, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he were preparing to push her away, to shut her down as he always did. But Aeliana could see the way his hands tightened into fists at his sides, the tension coiling in his body. There was something more here, something he didn't want to admit.
"It is not your place to question me," he said, his voice colder now, as if trying to regain control of the situation. "I have given you freedom, yet you test my patience."
Aeliana's heart twisted at his words, but she didn't back down. She couldn't. She had seen the cracks in his armor, the way he lingered too long, the way his eyes sometimes softened for just a second.
"I'm not testing you," she said, her voice firm. "I'm trying to understand you."
Tharx flinched almost imperceptibly, his expression darkening. For a moment, Aeliana thought he would walk away, retreat into the shadows like he always did. But he didn't. Instead, he stepped closer, his tall frame looming over her as his glowing eyes bore into hers.
"You will never understand me," he said quietly, his voice thick with something that sounded almost like regret. "I am not human. I do not care for your world, for your kind. You are mine. That is all you need to know."
But Aeliana wasn't satisfied. She had seen too much of him now-the way he struggled, the way he tried to hide whatever it was that haunted him. She shook her head, her voice softer this time. "You don't believe that. You wouldn't keep coming here if you did."
For a long, agonizing moment, Tharx said nothing. The silence stretched between them, heavy and tense. Then, finally, he broke his gaze, his eyes flicking away as if he couldn't bear to look at her any longer.
"You think you know me?" he growled, his voice rough with emotion he couldn't quite suppress. "You know nothing."
And with that, he turned sharply on his heel and walked away, his footsteps echoing through the corridor as he disappeared into the darkness.
Aeliana stood there, her chest heaving, her heart pounding in her ears. She didn't know what had just happened, but one thing was clear.
Tharx wasn't as cold as he pretended to be. There was torment inside him, a struggle that ran deeper than she had realized.
And now, more than ever, she wanted to understand why.