Into the Azure: A Fantasy Bad Boy Romance (11 page)

I laid curled into a ball on my bed for what seemed like an eternity, listening to her breathing and maddened by how she had obviously not found my beds comfortable enough for her. She just always had this assumption that she was entitled to absolute comfort all the time, “Only the best for Izzy” had been my nickname for her since high school, and she was even living up to that nickname in a different dimension.

Who did she think she was? Bathing in the Queens quarters? Dressing herself in fine silks and velvet? Rushing out to try to save the mutant, slave girl? Then coming back into my house and tossing and turning in your bed like it wasn’t good enough for you? She had no idea where she actually was, or who these people were. The kind of power they held, and how they would dispose of it at their own free will. I wasn’t sure what king of spell she had cast over the prince on that fateful day, but whatever she had done, he had fallen for it hook line and sinker.

I chuckled to myself as I grasped my pillow tighter and thought of how profoundly stupid she had been. Sure, maybe she had caught the Prince’s eye, but that didn’t mean anything in this kingdom. The poor prince, I thought to myself, chuckling again. What a fool he must be, he must have been almost as thick skulled as my Neanderthal lover, the guard. What a sad place this will be when he’s king, I thought, a slow smile spreading across my face with the mere thought of such a worm of an Azurian trying to control this land like my King.

This place would eat both Izzy and her prince alive.

I closed my eyes and watched the static on my heavy lids play before me like a light show. I could still feel the heat from my anger pulsating through my body as I tried to slow my breathing and concentrate on something that was not the sound of Izzy’s labored breath. I still could not believe she had treated me in such a manner that day. Her questioning, the way she was flipping her hair in the courtyard. She indeed felt very proud of herself.

I lay laid there in bed with the image of her floating across the stone ground of the courtyard like she herself was royalty and I felt myself becoming angry again. But, suddenly it hit me; This was the first, and probably the only time anyone had ever really paid any attention to Izzy in the first place. Our entire lives I had always been picking up the slack in our social relationships, and forget about going out. I was always the one who had to keep the conversation going between us, always the one who had to come up with the ideas as to where we were going that night, who we were hanging out with, everything I always had to do. I practically had to drag her out of the shit hole apartment of hers on more than a few occasions. Even when we did go out she would just sit there with this look of absolute boredom on her face the entire time, looking completely unapproachable. I swear on every star in the Azure that she still would have been a virgin to this day f I had not hooked he up with Bobby Richmond in the 11th grade, and even then when I asked him how it was the next day all he could say was.

“Oh, man, well, that Izzy sure is a smart girl. Um- she’s uh, really, really nice!”

He said this while nervously touching the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact with me before the bell rang and he shot down the hallway like a bat out of hell. When I had questioned Izzy about it she had barley even looked up from her book to answer me.

“It was OK I guess; boys are so clumsy; I guess maybe he just wasn’t ready.”

She sat there and returned to her book and stirred her tea. I remember that my jaw almost dropped to the ground. Did she have no fire in her? Was blood not pumping through her veins. Even when one of the biggest milestones happened in her life she could just shrug it off and then return back to her book. Sometimes I had wondered if she had any passion in her at all.

I turned over in my bed and looked at her through the darkness of our room. The moonlight was pouring through the window and the smoldering, crimson embers from the fire provided me with just enough light to see the outline of the best friends’ body. I could see her bare chest moving up and down slowly with the labored breath of her slumber, I could see her tasseled red hair laying off the side of her mattress, auburn in the moonlight.

“You have the emotional depth of a bird bath, don’t you Izzy?” I whispered in the softest tone I could.

I have to admit that in that moment, I did feel genuinely bad for her. The Prince, for reasons unknown to me had taken a liking to her, and this was probably the most exciting thing that was ever going to happen to her in her entire little life. No one ever treated her special, or fawned over her. I was always me the boys flocked to.

I sighed deeply as I continued staring at my sleeping friend. I must have made her life hard, I thought. It must have broken her heart to watch her best friend be able to get any guy she ever wanted, while she faded into the background like beige wallpaper. I shouldn’t be so angry with her, I told myself. Let her have her dress and her fine bath, because whatever charade she had put on for the Prince was bound to fail.

In no time she would be wearing the same dirty linens as my slave girls and I would have to order her around, that same way I did them. Let her have her moment in the spotlight, I told myself, now smiling at her as I pulled my pillow in closely to me. Let her just have this one taste of what real adoration feels like, because I knew it was about to vanish before her very eyes and I knew that I was going to have to be there for her. I would be the branch that she grabbed onto before hitting rock bottom, as I always was. I was always the strong one.

I stared off at her then turned my head and fixed my gaze onto the embers of the fireplace. The coals hissed and crackled as they died out, I stared deeply into them almost transfixed until I began to feel my eyelids getting heavy. I blinked a few times and then closed them all together.

“Don’t worry Iz,” I whispered, my voice as quiet as the hissing embers, “You’ll learn soon, sweetheart, you’ll learn your place soon.”

I felt myself begin to become light with slumber as I was drifting off to sleep when I heard a soft tapping at my window. I shot up in bed and rubbed my eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. I peered out my window and saw the dark figure of a hand waving, the deep blue moonlight illuminating his shape. I narrowed my eyes until his outline came into forces; it was my guard.

“What the hell could he want at this time of night?” I whispered to myself as I threw the blankets off of me, grabbed my linen dress from the post of my bed frame and pulled it over my head. I reached around in the darkness trying to find my she when I heard Izzy sit up in bed. Oh god, I hissed in my own mind, just stay asleep Izzy, this doesn’t concern you.

I sat on the edge of my bed as I pulled on my shoes, I looked up and could see Izzy sitting up in her bed. She was rubbing her eyes and looking at the window with a puzzled look on her face. She grabbed at her blankets and pulled them over her bare chest when she realized who it was and then looked over at me, her eyes full of confusion.

“Ev-Eva,” she shuddered, sounding like an invalid,” There’s someone at the window.” She pointed her shaking hand towards the window and my guard continued to wave, looking like one of those automatic Christmas toys you see in store windows.

“Well I know that Iz-“I stopped myself. My voice sounded harsh and venomous, like I was ready to jump down her throat at the drop of a hat. Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Taking a deep breath, I remembered what I had told myself. Just let her have her time in the spotlight, it’s not going to last long so just let her have this little bit of time to think she is special before it is ripped away from her. Be nice Eva. I took a deep breath and walked over to her bedside.

She looked up at me and I reached my hand out and placed it on her face. I sat down on the edge of her bed while she looked back and forth between the guard and me. I moved my thumb in a circular motion around her cheek trying to calm her. She still smelled of roses for her bath that afternoon and her skin soft, like the velvet of her dress underneath my finger.

I pulled her head towards mine and away from the window. I could see her bright green eyes flashing with fear as she stared at me. I pulled my lips to the side of my head, trying to side at her with sincerity instead of the maliciousness I felt boiling at the pit of my heart. I could feel her skin trembling as I touched her face. A sudden surge of power flowed through me as I held her scared in my hands. She shook the way the mutant slave girl did when I would touch her. Trembling, scared, and at my mercy, like a wind animal that lays in the hunter arm. Total power.

“Izzy darling,” I cooed in a soft, soothing voice as I continued to touch her face, “There’s nothing for you to be frightened of, it is just my guard here to visit me.” I turned and looked back at the window, I saw the guard jump as I stared at him and he went back to his mechanical waving, look almost frightening with the moon low in the sky behind him.

Izzy looked off towards the window and the back at me, her breath was fast as she licked her lips, trying to find the right words.

“Wha-,” She stuttered pathetically, “What does he want?”

I chucked as she continued to stare at the guard. Of course he wanted me, I thought as the touch of my thumb became rougher on her perfect skin. What did she think? That he was here for her? The he somehow got it into his mind to take her for an evening stroll? Did she really think that suddenly everyone in the kingdom now wanted her?

Stupid Bitch

I held down the rage with such vigor I was certain I was deserving of some kind of medal. It took every fiber of my being not to draw my hand back from her face and punch her as hard as I could.

Just remember Eva, I thought to myself, just let her have her moment.

I breathed in deeply and let out a large sigh, trying to keep my composure before I began talking again.

“There really is no reason for you to be afraid, sweetie,” I moved my hand to her head and began stroking her hair. As I caressed her soft locks, it released a powerful perfume of roses that filled the small, musky room. I didn’t remember there being roses in my bath, and I defiantly did not smell good enough to fill the room with my bouquet.

Just let her have her moment. She means nothing.

I lifted myself from the bed, pulled my heavy cloak off of the table and headed out the door, leaving Izzy alone and scared in the darkness of my chambers.

Stupid bitch.

I stepped out into the cold night and the guard grabbed me around the waist and lifter me to his face, kissing me deeply. I almost wanted to push him off of me. I wanted my lips to only be touched by the King, I did not want them compromised by him. Yet, I locked lips with him anyway, reminding myself that I needed him, that he was an essential pawn in my game at this point, and I could not waste him.

He placed me back on the ground and led me off around the castle walls, when he was sure that we were hidden he pushed me up against the hard stone and pulled at my cloak, wanting me to reveal myself to him. I pushed him back as hard as I could and he looked at me with confusion. I lifted my hands to my face and forced false tears into my eyes. I knew what I needed from him, I knew I was going to have to lie, have to keep him wanting me to get what I needed. He grabbed me by my face and stared into my eyes, welled with tears.

“What is wrong, pretty one?” He said, his voice sounding ignorant.

I paused, taking deep breaths, trying to well up more tears in my eyes. He tried to pull me in close and I pushed him away again, almost sending him stumbling to his feet. He looked at me in shock for a moment before I began to talk.               I needed him to believe me.

“Guard,” I stared, making my voice tremble slightly, “do you know of the necklace the Queen wears around her neck, the one in the shape of a ball?”

The guard stood before me and looked both ways, keeping on the lookout for anyone who may have been listening to us. When he was sure the coast was clear he looked down at me and nodded, his face still contorted underneath his mask in confusion.

“I need you to bring it to me,” I told him, my voice was stern and cold. I needed him to fear me.

“My darling,” he started reaching out for my hands.

I smacked them away, not wanting to give him an inch of approval before my needs were met. He looked at me in shock and stopped what he was saying.

“I need you to not ask me any questions, I need that necklace and I need it by tomorrow,” I whispered, my voice stretch and hard. I walked towards him and looked up at his face. He towered above me but I knew that I was the one that was in control of him. He wouldn’t dare deny me something I wanted, something I needed. If he was going to hang onto me so, trying to follow me wherever I went, wanting to have my body every single night, I was going to make him work for it.

“If you do not,” I started pointing my finger towards his face, “get me that necklace by tomorrow morning, I will throw myself off of these castle walls or I will run into the woods and let the King brand my face the way he did the mute. Do you understand me?” The guard looked down at me and then to the sides, trying to make his decision when he knew deep down it had already been made for him.

He looked down at me, I swore I could see tears in his eyes as he made up his min.

“Yes,” He said, his voice breaking, “Yes, I will do what you ask of me.”