The Devil's Temptation!

The recollection of what she did at Ark Ville hasn’t left her mind yet and she still has a hard time believing she was capable of doing something so mystifying as a human. Just recalling every bit of her action made her rub her forehead slightly as though she wanted to ease an incoming headache and a tired sigh left her lips.

As unintended as it was, she hoped the assassin was alright though. For a moment she didn’t really feel like herself after holding that blade, she was conscious, but her body tended to move on its own without giving her enough time to plan the next attack.

She delivered all sorts of unique acrobatics that if she wanted to repeat those stances, she was sure she would never get them right. If possible, end up with a broken wrist or leg, but surely, something would go wrong as her swordsmanship skills hasn’t advanced to that level completely.

“Why do I feel a headache?” She quietly uttered in a low painful groan while pressing her palm to her forehead, instinctively closing her eyes for a few seconds, silently trying to deal with the head pounding aches and the moment she opened them, what she saw next was somebody’s palm stretched to her front and when those palm opened, a pill was resting on it.

Baffled by the sight, she looked up to meet the gaze of a certain glacier, his eyes met hers and Anna nearly jumped from her seat due to his unplanned presence, how did he get in??

“Roshan?”

“It’ll ease your headache.” He told her instead, changing the foreseen subject and not giving the startled Anna a chance to spill how his presence had frightened her, cause he already knew that would be her next line if he gave her the chance to speak.

Anna stared at the pill in his hand before shifting her gaze to meet him, refusing to take the pill.

.....

“It’s fine.” She assured him but Roshan simply ignored her remark and fetched a glass of water from the small jug resting on her side table before handing it to her, along with the pill.

“Don’t make me force you.” He could see she was drained out, probably weak from the whole thing that had happened, most especially after witnessing herself do something that was oddly mystifying and it got him worried too, even if he had a hard time showing it.

He couldn’t risk letting her put her health at stake as well. They already have a huge one on their plate and triggering any further emotions might not be the best idea due to her condition, but the stubborn woman was already shaking her head in refusal.

“I’m really–”

“Anna.” His tone came out even more serious, signifying he wasn’t playing around and that he means every word. She has to take it, even if he had to shove it down her throat himself.

Seeing how persistent he was at making her take the medicine, Annalise finally gave in and took the pill from him. She took the tiny blue pill into her mouth, using the glass of water to aid it down her throat and hopefully, her head would stop banging in a few minutes.

She wiped her lips and dropped the cup close to the jug before walking past Roshan to go sit on her bed.

On a normal basis, she wouldn’t hesitate to chase him out whenever he stepped into her chambers unwelcomed, claiming this was her room but today, she seemed somewhat distant with herself and it wasn’t helping Roshan either who found no joy in seeing her like this.

“What’s the problem?” His tone came out soft and pleasing, just as she always liked it, but she pinned her lips together before letting out a soft sigh and looking away from his direction.

“Nothing, I just think my life is a little too complicated, confusing and I guess I must have overworked my brain too much to earn a headache.” She laughed it off while awkwardly scratching the back of her head, but Roshan wasn’t easily fooled by it, he had spent a lot of time with her to understand the woman already, at least to a certain point.

“What’s bothering you?”

She shook her head while staring at the golden badge in her hand, “I just wanted to visit my parents grave that’s all, I miss them a lot and–”

“We’ll go tomorrow if that’s what you want.” He interjected before she could finish, leaving Anna’s eyes to widen in amusement. Truth be told, she wasn’t expecting him to agree so quickly.

“You don’t mind?”

“I understand what you’re going through, maybe not completely but I understand.” He licked his lips as he looked away from her, trying to pick out the right words to say, “sometimes people feel weighed down by a lot of things and tend to visit the place they gain comfort, where they can let it all out to gain inner peace and that’s what you need, I have no right to stop you.”

Hearing him speak, Anna couldn’t stop herself from smiling his way, when did Roshan become this considerate?

But then, his approval wasn’t going to help her get into Euphrasia since people like Sir Arlow would surely be roaming around Draekharm village. That man wouldn’t miss a chance to end her life for sure.

“But... I can’t go there, I’m being framed remember? I can be killed if caught again.”

“Framed for what exactly?”

Annalise sighed softly as she was forced to recollect the incident, “I’m being framed for the death of my people who died in the river bank at Euphrasia, I’m still yet to prove my innocence or how they were killed, I fled from the palace when they planned to execute me, that’s how I ended up in the dark forest, with guards chasing me.”

She shook the painful recollection away and Roshan still remembered that day, it was still vivid in his mind and back then, he had only killed them out of his awakened anger, but now he felt relieved that he did. If Anna had not freed him on time, she would have died from those arrows and he never would have met her.

That wasn’t the main issue now, he was interested to know which filthy bastard dared to frame his innocent mate. Whatever anger he had left will be used on the idiot who thinks he can get away after ruining the name of an innocent lady.

“Who framed you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Answer the question.”

“The king’s most trusted Marshal, Sir Arlow, he should be the king’s current courtier by now.”

She laid flat on her bed, still unable to stop herself from recalling how he managed to twist his words and use a victim into calling her name. She still can’t figure out why she gave him this much respect by adding sir to his name.

“He never really liked me and made several attempts to hurt me, but luckily I had the old physician and princess Calista by my side to help me.” She would have mentioned Adryan as well if she hadn’t figured out the bitter truth at the dark forest.

Sometimes the people who you think are willing to be there for you, are the first to stab you right in the back when no one’s looking. Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes, but she laughed as well, unsure of which emotions to fill at the moment.

“I was a cursed girl, the one who brought chaos to Euphrasia, no one wanted to believe I was innocent, I was blamed for killing the people who died on a ship, no one was willing to accept me. You know I’ve heard great stories about my father, my mother never hesitated to sing his praises and now, I wish I wasn’t even born into such a loving family, if they never had me, maybe things would have been different for them, maybe I wouldn’t have spoiled their names like this, maybe I should have died–.”

“Stop.” Roshan silenced her, not pretty much liking where the conversation was heading to, Anna’s eyes shifted to him and it was obvious on his expression that he didn’t fancy the word she just said.

“Tomorrow, we’ll visit your parents grave and then figure out how to prove your innocence to your people.”

“How?”

“Leave that to me, you just get ready for tomorrow.”

Anna quickly sat up, unsure of if she was supposed to feel calmed by his words, “what are you planning on doing?”

He squatted before the puzzled Annalise, his beautiful fingers reaching to wipe the tears that smeared her cheeks and just seeing how someone made her cry only infuriated him on the inside, “Getting your respect back,” he responded, “you don’t have to worry, I never hurt people without a reason.”

He gave her head a gentle pat before rising to his feet, but that phrase of his wasn’t clear to her.

He never hurts people without a reason?? What is he talking about?

“Get some sleep.” And he stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him and leaving Anna’s mind to ponder on that subtle word of his.