Chapter 10 - Unholy Thoughts

Adeline woke the other girls up and they left with her. Neera quickly bid Penelope bye before she joined the others.

In front of the castle were two chariots loaded with food and necessities. The soldiers, about twenty of them were tending to their horses as they waited for the king.

They had not waited long before the king walked out of the castle. Neera's eyes turned to him and her heart beat hastened, she could stare at his face all day and still not get enough of his beauty. He was speaking with his soldiers so Neera took her time to admire him.

He was tall, she didn't know how tall but when he stood with the soldiers, he towered them all. She was sure if she stood beside him, her head would barely reach his chest.

He was not huge, like the men who lifted bags of sand back in her village, and fought in the rings during the fall, his body was proportional and toned, just perfect.

He was perfect, and so was his horse. Neera glanced at the horse he was patting on the head, a beautiful white horse, with its long mane flowing down it's neck. It stood out among the other horses and seeing the smile on the king's face, she knew he adored it. As though Zavian felt someone was watching him, he looked in her direction and their eyes locked. Neera looked away immediately, her heart banging against her chest, did he catch her watching him?

''You do not know your place at all. '' Neera almost jumped when she heard someone whisper in her ear.

Adeline…

She cursed under her breath,

''How dare you stare at the king? Who do you think you are to look at him? ''

Neera watched Adeline for a second, now she thought about it. Was she wicked to her because she thought she was interested in the king?

''Adeline, I just looked at the king, am I not permitted to do that?''

"No you are not. A lowly maid like you should not even behold his shadow."

"Or maybe you think the king would be interested in me?"

Neera said and Adeline glared at her, a chuckle leaving her lips,

"Why would he be interested in a useless maid like you?"

Neera folded her arms,

"It seems you've forgotten I look exactly like the king's wife, of course, he will be interested in me."

Neera smiled when she saw color drain from Adeline's face.

She had suspected that Adeline loved the King but she did not want to conclude, but seeing her face now, she could not think otherwise.

Shaking her head she said,

"Adeline, the king is not someone you should want."

Adeline's lips opened to say a word, but no words came out of it. She did not think it was obvious that she liked the king.

"He is a demon Adeline, no matter how beautiful he seems on the outside, he is a monster, and monsters only destroy. You should wake up Adeline, unless you want to be thrown out of the castle, I'm sure you do not want that."

Neera smiled and walked away leaving Adeline rooted to a spot.

Neera could not believe she said those words to Adeline. She laughed when she remembered the look on her face. But how would she even dare to think about an Ancient demon? Was she courting death?

Soon, the journey began, Neera and two other maids stayed in one chariot, while Adeline and the other two in the other.

Neera had not been in a chariot before, when they came to the kingdom, they had travelled on a ship, and the remaining journey on foot. Traveling by chariot was better than walking on foot, the only discomfort was the random galloping which sometimes threw her out of her seat. She did not know how many hours it was but finally the chariots came to a halt.

''We will camp here for the night, set the tents. '' Neera heard the king say and they quickly came down from the chariot.

The soldiers set the tents while the maids quickly prepared dinner as it was getting dark.

''The soul eaters only come out in the dark, and they hide in the woods, so we set out at night, two soldiers would stay back and guard the maids, while the others would go with me.''

Zavian said as he addressed his soldiers. The witches had said that they were more powerful than before so he had chosen the best of his soldiers including Azriel.

''We will visit every city in the kingdom, and wait for news from other kingdoms if the soul eaters has infiltrated their kingdoms, but if not, we would return to the castle. '' Zavian concluded.

''It should take more than two weeks to make the journey throughout the kingdom; '' Azriel added;

''And more if they have extended to other kingdoms;'' Logan the second in command after Azriel said. He was also with Zavian from the beginning but Zavian was closer to Azriel.

''We hope that is not the case. '' Zavian said and that moment, a voice interrupted from outside the tent;

''Your Majesty, dinner is served.'' The soldiers had not eaten since morning, so Zavian concluded the meeting and they went out to eat.

The maids served them food while Adeline served the king by herself. It seemed the words she said to her had fallen on deaf ears. She wondered what would happen to her if the other demons discovered that she was harboring unholy thoughts. She might be executed.

Neera thought as she sat down at a corner to have her meal.