38 — Destiny

Nicolas looked at her, almost willing himself not to do it. He didn't want to ask her but he was going to do it and this silence was sickening.
"I noticed in your library that one of the books has ripped pages, it was unsettling" he cleared his throat and widen his eyes to show his concern.
"Ripped pages?" She asked as though confused or maybe she was really confused, he reasoned how she was even expected to know in the first place, she wasn't supposed to know from that moutain of books, unkempt books that reeked of poor maintenance and poor health.
"Yeah, they were so ripped, it could cut a finger deeper than a pen knife. You should come see" he gestured, anything for her to fix the mess and help him see what he could do to get the knowledge that someone so knowingly did not want him to get to. It infuriated him no doubt.
She got up from her bed and he stood up too " show me, this ripped pages" he smiles and lead the way to the library.
They walked to the library, while he kept on inhaling her perfume and her scent, leaving a mark on his memory, infusing itself with his senses. He was in front of her, leading the way but her scent was what filled his nostrils and clogged up his mind. He wished he could stay here with her, be with her, be inside of her, anything to be hers. He had never felt such a thing before, he was stunned at how quickly everything was spinning aroh d him and it was a miracle and a curse that he still had the plan in his mind, he hated himself that he was like this at all.
They crossed the threshold and found themselves in the library, he walked her to the aisle and brought out the book "Werewolves: the mating season" she looked at him and at the book like she had never in her life, seen such a book. He had guessed it but right now, his disappointment was mounting and it wasn't telling good for him, considering how much time he had wasted and how much he had given up been here.
"Here" he beckoned on her, using his hands to feel and show the ripped pages, ripped like they were in a hurry and abominable to see. She took the book from his finger tips and traced those same edges with her fingers and looked confused somewhat.
"I haven't been here for a very long time but. I can tell you that I haven't been here much, lesser than I have been commander. I have never seen this book, I do not know what it means or who these people are. I know we used to have a cousin of theirs, king Alok of the bearshifters but he escaped and haven't been heard of since, he would have proferred more help to you if that was possible but he isn't here. I'm sorry" she said apologetically. His face fell only slightly that she would notice "why and if I may ask, is this so important to you?you seem to want this information so badly, it's almost strange to seek out information in this manner" By the moon! Did he just show that he felt slight disappointment that he was at square zero, is that why she asked him his purpose for wanting the book, so much?
He needed to think, he needed to think and fast.
"Well, I know nothing about them and yet, I would be staying with them for a while because of my father's treaty to the werewolf king, so to honor it, I have to spend some time with the werewolves and know everything about them and when my time elapses, they would come to my kingdom and study our culture and way of life, as I have been tasked to do. I'm on a mission, you see. It's something I have to do" brilliant! He clapped himself on the back, what better way than a tray of truth with lies for toppings. It made so much sense that way, he would have believed it himself but by the moon! He hoped she believed him.
She cocked her head to him , almost giving nothing away " let me take the book to the elders, and to the high priestess, they would know" no no no, taking it to the high priestess would make his intentions known. The witch who could see despite that she looked like she couldn't see. He couldn't risk it.
He took the books from her fingers and gently placed it down " or we could leave it and ask the werewolves themselves" he knew he had said the wrong thing when she refused to reply until.
"Where were you going before you started to trespass?" She asked, knowing nothing of this man, her defenses were kicking in, creating a whirlpool of suspicions.
He was in for it, what would he say?
" Well, I was coming here. I knew this place was rumored to have the best library in the whole realm and I didn't know it. I kept at a straight line until you found me" she drew away from him for a moment.
" But you were coming in the direction of the werewolves... You're not making any sense" she was starting to think things through. Maybe this was a mistake?
"But, they had little knowledge, only about where they originated from. Nothing of good quality, I felt they were been vague and I didn't want to stir a board of dishonesty and cancel the truce, because I would be killed. Outnumbered and outmatched, I would be swallowed whole, so why wage a senseless wars when I can get what I need from somewhere else"
He hope to the goddess that she believed him because this was a cold and close call. She took the book from the shelf and thrust it into his hands "make notes but return it. Things kept here, never leave" if it wasn't his lucky day. He would have jumped for joy but he managed to smile broadly and utter a soft "thank you". She smiled back at him and turned to leave " let's see after dinner? You still need a tour" he smiled back at her and watched her sashayed out of the wing .
****
Dinner was lovely but it wasn't as lovely as the walk they were having right now. She still had her mask on and despite having the mask on, she was still as beautiful as ever. He longed to see what was behind the mask, he wanted the moon to shine on her face and let the light heal her if she was wounded or had a nasty scar, he bet even her nasty scar looked beautiful from the right pair of eyes.
" Why do you always wear a mask?" He asked and immediately regretted it. He shouldn't pry, he chastised himself for even attempting to get to know her, maybe she wasn't ready for the closeness he intended to bring.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. You don't have to answer that" he turned his face away from hers as he believed his side glances and lengthy unnoticed stares became such a burden and a bad thing.
She cleared a throat and sat on a mega stone that was located at the center of the land, nobody ever stayed here for too long and on a night like this where he was known to be around, a vampire that walked the kaayans land, nobody came out and this the only other thing from their breathing and the silence were toads that gave speeches right outside their walls.
"I wear it because I look horrible" she must be exaggerating because, that couldn't have been possible. If she was horrible by appearance, he would know. He was the prince of charms, he would know from the beginning and would have been repulsed by it but instead whatever face that kept enchanting him, it was far from horrible.
"I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all, I think you're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I don't care how horrible you look but I'm not believing that and I should kill you for believing and uttering such words" he was serious about the killing part.
She chuckled into the night, it was funny that he thought if her in that manner, her heart fluttered at the thought that maybe, just maybe she may just have a 'thing' for him. What it was, she doesn't know but she knew that it was stronger than it was with mbazi and she had never felt that way.
"You really believe that?" She asked.
"With every fiber of my being" he replied. She nodded her head.
" Then it wouldn't hurt for you to see then?" She raised her hands to her mask and he touched her fingers
"Only if you want me to" he whispered with this hunger and longing in his eyes, she felt that it must have come from somewhere genuine. Somewhere deep. Somewhere like his heart? If he had one.
She casually nodded her head, that it was ok and she didn't see him as a threat or anything. She slowly and painstakingly removed the mask, her black luxurious hair blocking his view, he took a finger and gently brushed the hair aside, taking the same hand to tip her chin up to the moonlit sky like a scale and gasped.
If not that he had seen Laura and that he knew that she was an only child, he would out here, right here and now proclaim that she was the twin sister of laura, they looked so much alike for a second there, he wondered if she was playing undercover and he had somehow seen that she was about to confess that she was somehow not a rich spoilt bratty princess but a warrior who beat the crap out of him.
She recoiled and immediately went for her mask, attempting to recover herself but she was stopped.
"Wait, wait! I didn't mean that in a bad way but in a good way. Your face and the night sky are so flawlessly matched, it makes me wonder what sort of death I am to bestow on you right now that you lied to me. How dare you consider your face horrible?" She felt ashamed and gently removed her chin from his hold, she looked sad all of a sudden.
"Can't you see my scar?" She asked, feeling embarrassment crept on her clothes and crawl in her skin.
"All I see is beauty Lily. Your scar doesn't define you. Not now, not ever" she didn't answer him, he took her chin again and his eyes showed how much marvel and adoration he held in them, she was so overwhelmed with the moment, she leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheeks that might have lingered a little more than necessary and the strangest if things happened, Nicholas was dying to have her right then but his discipline, which he surprised himself at having, smiled at her and joined in her giggle.