Chapter 66 - Revealing The Truth To Jed

(From Ella's Perspective)

"You need to give up that too confident attitude, Leora. It's not good for you," Jed said.

"I'm not confident. I just know that I'm right about particular things. Anyway, let's go. We'll be late," I said.

"The king will summon you to know why you didn't come for two days," he said.

"Really? Then I'll say that I was sick and that's all. Valid or not, they have to accept what I say because it's the rule," I said thinking when Leandro told me the same thing. But when he said this, he sounded better than me. 

We again ran our way to the castle. We were five minutes earlier than the time. We went inside and I was panting, crouching, and placing my hands on my knees. 

"Leora Edrei."

The voice was not cold, not warm, but very different and ugly in a way. Jed nudged me on my waist with his elbow and I almost fell. I stood up straight only to be face to face with Nicklaus Gregor, the king. 

"My king," I said and bowed, not as much as others used to do though. 

"Come with me," he said. 

"Where?" I asked, then hastily added, "My king."

"To my study room," he said. The way he was looking at me was not welcoming at all, unlike Leandro's. Something was going on in his mind that I could not understand, but I was sure that whatever it was, it was not something good. 

"Yes, my king," I mumbled. 

Jed gave me a look that clearly said- 'Be careful'. I nodded at him and then followed Nicklaus into the study room. I had never been here before. Jed and I cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms only, occasionally the library and the roof. 

The room was something that looked more of Leandro's taste than Nicklaus's. I had a hunch that it was Leandro's room and Nicklaus's was using it now. I was sure that Nicklaus barely read a book. 

He sat in the chair and I stood in front of the table thinking of how to make myself sound truthful. I never lied much, so it was always hard for me to do so. 

"Why have you been absent for two days?" he asked.

Huh! He never cared when I came every day, and now that I was absent for two days only, he had to ask me the reason. Royals were truly the biggest jerks I could see in the world, except Leandro. 

"I was sick, my king. I had fever. I could not tell anyone to notify you as I don't have anyone...," I replied.

"Do you live alone?"

"No, my king. I... I live with my_ husband," I said. 

"You're married?" he asked with clear disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, my king. We married a few days ago. He is away for a while, so I could not send him as well. I am sorry, my king. It won't happen again." 

"What does he do?"

"He is_ I don't know, my king. He doesn't talk about business with me," I said, trying to sound ignorant. It was hard to do so as I was always accustomed to sound know it all. 

"What is his name?"

"Lee Edrei, my king," I said, thinking that it would be better if I told him that he and I shared a surname. We were supposed to be husband and wife after all. 

"You can go now," he said. 

I bowed once more and left, thinking if I did the right thing by saying that I lived with my husband. I wondered how Leandro was going to react finding out about what I had done. I could not take the risk to say that I lived alone. What if he could smell another man from me? Leandro said that they could smell when they were in their human forms. I thought that it would be better if I said that I was married. There would be fewer problems in this case. 

"So, you're married now?" Jed's voice brought me back to reality. 

"What? You eavesdropped? That's not a good thing to do. Why did you do that?" I asked.

"You're the one who does it all the time. And it doesn't matter now. I can't believe you never for once mentioned that you're married," he said. "And I thought I was your friend."

Now it was a problem. I knew I could trust Jed, but I never told him the truth about everything. It seemed like it was time that I should tell him what was going on. I knew he was not going to betray me. And besides, having a true friend would help in the difficult times as well. 

"Alright, I'll tell you everything. But not here. Let's go clean the rooms. We'll talk there," I said and pulled him with me though he kept talking all the way. 

As we started to clean the first room, I was kind of glad to find that it was not as dirty as I expected. 

"Now tell me," he said. "I want to know everything."

"Well, I'm actually not from this world."

"Stop joking, Leora. I want to know the truth. No jokes this time."

"I'm not joking, punk! Listen to me first," I snapped. "I'm from another world. You don't know about it, of course. You're human after all. Listen, there are two worlds."

"What..."

"Stop interrupting!" I hissed. "There is a portal through which I have come into this world. I mean, it wasn't intentional and I didn't know that I would end up here. In a basement of a mansion, I saw a hole and so I entered it. You know how I am. And then, I ended up in a forest. There I met the Beast."

"Don't tell me you're still alive after that."

"How am I talking to you then?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, so I touched his fur to see if it was soft, and then he managed to get back to his human form. But I fainted at the sight of blood. I hate blood, you know. He took me to his cave and then our story began that way."

"He? Don't tell me it's..."

"Yes, it's him. Just don't shout around. He'll kill me if he finds out that I told you. Well, I'm going to tell him that I told you anyway. I don't like to keep things from him," I said. 

Jed was dumbfounded. It took me a while to make him believe what happened. I told him almost everything and he listened to all of them with great interest as we cleaned the rooms. There was a lot to absorb. 

"Honestly, why the hell did you think that hiding all these things from me would be a good idea and then spilling all the beans at once would be an even better idea?" he asked tiredly sitting on the bed as we finished cleaning the 30th bedroom. 

"You can't tell anyone any of these," I said. "I trust you, alright? Just don't break my trust."

"Or your man is going to kill me, I know. But why the hell are you helping him now? Is it because of a place to stay only?"

"It was for that only at first. But now... It's more than that."

"Are you..."

"I think I'm falling for him, one step at a time. But I surely am falling for this cold man."

"Do you think he's worth it? Everyone says that he is dangerous and cruel..."

"If that was the case, would I still be alive?"

"Well, no."

"Then? I like him, Jed and I think he... He has a heart. He cares for me and he said that he likes me too. I trust him with my life, so I want to stay with him. And besides, he has marked me as well."

"As you wish. So your father is a shifter? That means, he is in this world now."

"He should be though I'm not so sure about it," I said. 

"What if you meet him here?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do. Well, if you smack your dad in the nose, is it considered bad?"

"Are you planning on smacking your dad if you meet him?"

"Kind of. Just tell me if it's wrong or not."

"Why would you do that?"

"I told you that he left us. Because of him, I was insulted and humiliated everywhere and Mom also hates me for him. He deserves it."

"I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it. It's just... It would look weird if you smack him. You can try to talk to him at first, then..."

"We'll see if I ever meet him."

"Yeah, that's good. Anyway, my head is aching with all the things you've put in my head. I'm having a breakdown for a while. You better clean the next room without me. I'll sit for a while."

I could not blame him. I had to admit that there was a lot to take in. But I felt happy to let him know about it all. He was a true friend after all.. But in case, he was not the friend I thought him to be, I would prepare my cards in case he decided to betray me.