War

TITASAL KINGDOM

Rana's head snapped to the door as she heard the creaking sound of her door. She was sitting by her room window. A habitual thing she now took pleasure in doing.

She turned her head back to the window sharply and noticed her father's figure approaching her.

"My princess," he mumbled, taking straightforward strides not to offend her.

Rana didn't answer him. What did he want to say to her? Her mother hated her for her sister's misfortune; there was no need to come to meet her.

King Zachary stood close to his Firstborn child, and he understood her emotions perfectly. Every parent has a favorite child, but they shouldn't hurt the feelings of their other children with their preference; that was of utmost importance.

"Darling, I know you are not happy with your mother's outburst towards you when your sister left us," King Zachary started carefully, selecting his words.

Rana turned to meet her father's eyes, and they held peace and warmth. She turned back, sobbing, covering her face with her hands. "Father, my mother has never loved me or looked at me the way you do now. She doesn't love me!"

King Zachary knew his daughter was vulnerable at this moment and decided to strike.

"My princess, don't think that way. Your mother loves you; after all, she gave birth to you, you are her firstborn child, her pride as a woman, and nothing can ever change that!"

Rana sniffed, evaluating what her father had just said to her. "Then why does she yell at me all the time? She doesn't even scold Raziya and Archie."

King Zachary thought of what to say next; he didn't want to lose the only daughter that he now had close to him. She shut herself and never stepped out of her room; he got to find out from Archie what transpired. He feared that she was slipping into depression gradually.

"Your mother yells at you because she is correcting you; she's grooming you to be a future Queen. Soon enough, the Princes will troop in here to seek your hands in marriage. You need to be tough to be a Queen. That's exactly what your mother is trying to achieve." King Zachary was anxious as he spoke these words.

"They will take you away from me, and you will be a Queen in a great kingdom, or don't you want to marry?" He probed with a chuckle, tickling Rana on both of her sides.

Rana squirmed with stiff laughter but soon started to laugh boisterously when King Zachary increased the frequency of the tickles.

"Father, please stop," Rana begged.

"I will, but you'll have to promise me that you will come out of your room, forgive your mother and be yourself again!" King Zachary bargained. This would surely do the trick of ending the feud between daughter and mother.

Rana didn't say anything, she was not ready to bargain with her father, so she decided to endure. Her father always taught his children that your word is your bond, so she kept that in mind. She didn't want to make a promise that she wasn't ready to save.

The tempo of the tickle was getting intense; her father wasn't ready to give up.
"Father, please bargain with any other thing, but not the former!" Rana pleaded breathlessly.

"I'm sorry young lady, but that's the only thing I need." King Zachary grinned. He knew the trick was working smoothly.

"Alright, I promise," she surrendered. She cringed that she had to give up so soon without much fight. Her father knew her too well to attack her weak point, so she gave him the credits.

"Remember, your word is your bound!" King Zachary reminded her.

"Yes, you say that a million times," she rasped. It was starting to sound like a cliché whenever her father reminded her.

King Zachary stopped beaming at his success. Rana stood up from his lap; she fell on him in the process pushing him to a seat while she ended up on his lap.

Rana faced her father and said, asserting, "King Zachary, one, and Princess Rana, zero, but I will surely get at you."

"I might be getting old, but I'm still strong enough to defeat you," King Zachary warned.

Rana sneered; she enjoyed the banter between her and her father. She knew her father loved her, and he always had a way of bringing her out of any sour mood.

"I love you, father," Rana whispered. It always melts King Zachary whenever his children proclaim their love for him.

"I love you too, my princess." He stood up and planted a deep kiss on her forehead, closing his eyes.

He turned away, seeing his mission was accomplished.

"Take your time, make yourself beautiful before you make a grand entrance outside your room, and make sure you go see your mother." King Zachary called out as he headed out of her room. Now that he had talked to his daughter, he needed to speak with his Queen concerning her attitude towards Rana.

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"Quick, take these Apples to Alpha Jagger." Layla handed a tray of apples to Raziya. Raziya cringed as she didn't want to face the devil; fear surged into her body.

"Please, can someone else handle this and not me?" she begged Layla.

"I'm sorry, I know how you feel about this, but the Alpha doesn't like the other maids serving him; I am the only maid permitted to serve him except his concubines; he asked that you specifically serve him," Layla explained hoping Raziya would understand.

"Ugh, can't he leave me the hell alone?" Raziya groaned. Layla chucked at Raziya's lamentation finding the way Raziya was squeezing her face to be amusing.

Raziya took the tray, clutching it firmly; she wondered why the demon that torments her life loves apples and constantly chews on them.

"Why does the Alpha love Apple this much and always eat them?" she quizzed Layla.

"I don't know; all I can say is that he has loved them this much since he has existed. Now, go give it to him quickly, and after that, you can rest for the night."

Ever since Layla had seen Raziya in her vulnerable state, she had been so kind to her.

Raziya decided to warm up to Layla; she was no devil and acted as a human even though she wasn't entirely a human, but that was enough score for Raziya's good book, something she adopted after her first travails in the Alpha Jagger's palace. The old arrogant Princess Raziya didn't have a good book. No one could please her.

She hated the fact that she would face the devil again. a moment she didn't look forward to. She passed so many deserted and quiet walkways because it was nighttime; she was scared because she was alone.

The chilly air blew at her face, throwing her red hair up. The cold from the wind was doing no justice to keep her calm. Eventually, she reached the Alpha's door. The guards at the door moved away to create space for her entrance as if they had been expecting her.

The moment Raziya reached for the doorknob, the door opened, revealing Jerri. He was smiling but turned cold immediately; his eyes fell on Raziya. Raziya didn't care about his attitude; she knew he couldn't hurt her without her demon's approval, so he wasn't a threat to her.

Jerri shifted for Raziya to enter and closed the door after her. Raziya looked up at the Alpha; his gaze was an evil one. She remembered when he threatened to pluck out her eye and cut off her nipple, and she shivered in fear. she quickly went to the table in front of the Alpha and dropped the tray of Apple

Jagger watched Raziya keenly; the maid uniform suited her perfectly, hugging her figures perfectly. He was lost in the beauty of the woman in front of him. The urge to grab her and explore her beautiful body was too much, but he suppressed it. She was a danger to him, and he needed to figure out why before he could have her.

Raziya hurried to the door to escape Jagger's wrath and torment; she couldn't bear the nightmare it might give her in her sleep.

Jagger noticed Raziya slipping away to the door, alarmed that the show he was having would soon end.

"Stop right there!" Jagger growled.

Raziya stopped in her tracks, and she dared not move an inch for fear of what her demon would do to her. Jagger stood up abruptly, moving towards Raziya.

"Turn around," he ordered her. Raziya did as she was told. Jagger dragged her towards him, pressing Raziya into his body. Raziya whimpered; she could feel jagger's bulge beneath his trousers

Jagger grinned, leaning towards her; he kissed her neck, leading to her ear.
Raziya gasped, Jagger's breath was fanning her naked skin, and the peppering kiss made her feel a certain way. She hated how it made her feel. It irked her that her body was thinking of betraying her.

"Unbutton your dress; you know how I love watching and fondling your beautiful breasts. I would have done it myself, but I like this dress on you, so I wouldn't want to ruin It!" Jagger ordered sarcasm laced in his voice