[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: OUT OF MY LEAGUE ~ FIZ AND THE TANTRUMS]
Hey readers, I’m back! First things first, a MASSIVE thank you to all of you, especially Jennifer Goliah! Opening the app today and seeing all your collections and support absolutely choked me up (happy tears, of course!). I can’t express how much it means to me. To my amazing core readers: you guys rock! I hope these three Chapters make up for the break (I poured my heart into them!). Honestly, you’re the reason I keep writing. Thank you for sticking with me through my little hiatus. Now, let’s get back to the story!
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Far away from the merchants’ inn, Panha and Deonisia read the parchment that was sent from Odel together. It was from Hubert, the innkeeper who was hiding in the town.
"Lucía was caught?" Deonisia flared, crumpling the paper in anger. These people were biting off more than they could chew, and it was starting to get on her last nerves, especially knowing it was that little princess of yesterday who was creating disorder with her husband, who is also a white Lord.
"I thought you said she’s one of the best out there; how come they caught her immediately?" Deonisia transferred her anger to the young pale woman sitting beside her.
Panha bit her lips; she didn’t expect their plans to fail so woefully before it even started. They had wanted to get into Nix’s head using his late father, manipulating him, and finally causing his downfall, but it didn’t even get to that, and Lucía’s cover was blown. Lucía, one of the best seductresses she met during her days on the road.
"She... Lucía is good at what she does, maybe...I don’t know," Panha rubbed her temples, looking confused.
Deonisia pushed everything on the table, the cups and candle stand scattered on the floor. "You think this is a joke? Do you know how difficult it was for me to get that amulet? What do I tell the Supreme King if he asks for it? You will have to pay with your head! Even to seduce a man and have him wrapped, that woman couldn’t even do it! I guess I put too much trust in you." The elderly woman barked, dabbing her chubby neck with a handkerchief.
Panha’s face turned red in shame; she had been so confident that her plan would work. After all, which man would resist a naked woman in a cold night? Not just any woman, a woman with full endowments, but she had been proven wrong. Nix rejected Lucía and even locked her up.
"Lady Deonisia, I can get someone to infiltrate the palace and get the amulet. Or we can abduct Larel’s son and use him as bait." Panha suggested, trying to still sound relevant. If she didn’t do something, the elderly woman would leave her hanging dry as she was not of any use again. Panha gritted her teeth at the thought of it. She still needed to take revenge on Kitanna for her sister’s death.
Deonisia stood up from her position, with the help of a maid who arranged her crumpled gown after the lady balanced on her feet.
"I think I’ll make the plans myself from now on." Saying this, the woman stepped out of the room in anger mixed with disappointment.
Panha raked her fingers through her hair, letting out a sigh of frustration. "Kitanna!!!! Urgh!!!" She shouted.
"Die already!!! Die!!!! That little girl making things difficult for me, making people look down on me. I’ll get my revenge, and when I do, you’ll beg for your life." Panha spoke to herself, as her whole body shook out of hate for a particular princess now queen who was living happily in Morado with her husband.
Panha stepped out of her room, searching for Khelan. If only the young man had agreed for his mother to be avenged, she wouldn’t have been disgraced to this point.
Khelan sat inside a small shed near a pond; it was just like the one back in the palace at Morado but this one was smaller. He flipped through the scrolls he had written, humming a gentle song when someone barged in to interrupt his solitude.
"Khelan!! Are you not ashamed of yourself? Kitanna now sits on the throne your mother fought so hard for, while you sit comfortably writing God knows what!!! Your mother would palm her face in shame in the afterlife looking at her incapable son!" Panha nudged the young man’s shoulder roughly trying to get a reaction from him.
Khelan, who knew exactly what was going on in Panha’s mind, didn’t react. He continued with what he was doing, not paying attention to the young woman, who was obviously trying to make him angry.
"Oh, you won’t talk to me now? Khelan, Kitanna murdered your mother in cold blood, took away your birthright and she’s still living happily. While you’re here separated from your son." Panha raised her hand showing the small shed Khelan was sitting in, compared to the throne room back at Morado.
Khelan finally raised his face, staring at the young woman. "You want to revenge your sister, go ahead. Why do you want me involved? Please Panha, we’ve had this conversation countless times, and I am not interested, allow me while I enjoy my own company. There’s peace in it; maybe you should try it for your mental health." He remarked curtly, turning his attention back to the scroll in front of him.
Panha fisted her hands, clutching her dress tightly. If it was possible she would have wriggled Khelan’s neck just to quench her anger. Her eyes glanced at the scroll he was reading, but she couldn’t make meaning out of it, not like she cared to.
A lost cause! Panha exclaimed in her head; there was no need forcing Khelan to react anymore; he already chose the kind of life he wanted. Panha exhaled sharply, trying to calm herself; then she turned to leave the shed, she needed to devise another plan to bring down Kitanna, revenge her sister and also prove to Lady Deonisia that she was capable. As Panha descended the first stairs of the shed, a mischievous thought flashed her mind.
She walked back inside, and dragged the scroll away from Khelan.
"What are you doing, woman!" Khelan, who was surprised at the action, raised his voice.
Panha glanced through the writings, "How would you feel if I tear these?" She brought her two hands together, trying to rip the book apart.
Khelan jerked up quickly, looking at the woman warily. "I don’t know what you’re scheming, but please release that scroll at once!" He marched forward going to collect his parchment, but Panha moved backward, raising her hands up so he wouldn’t be able to grasp it.
"Keep trying," Panha grinned, watching Khelan’s step as she provoked him. When she noticed he was about to grab it with force, she moved the book to her chest so Khelan’s hand cupped her breast.
There was a moment of awkward silence, as they both stood still looking at each other. Panha moved closer and planted a kiss on Khelan’s lips, which he also accepted. After the shared kiss. Panha stepped back, giving a surprised Khelan space, as she sucked her teeth while nodding her head.
"Truly, men don’t resist women; it is that Nix that has the problem. Lucía did nothing wrong." She said, biting her lips as she was deep in thought.
Khelan recovered from the shock when he heard what the young woman said; his brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Panha finally looked at the young man she had just seduced. "Here, take your pitiful write ups." With a scowl on her face, Panha finally walked out of the shed.
Khelan picked up the scroll that was dropped on the floor, he looked around making sure nobody saw him. It was so embarrassing, he almost ate the forbidden fruit again. The same reason he had betrayed Larel in the past and yet he wasn’t able to control himself.