The aversion of his eyes when she entered was the first thing that clued Isabella into the fact that something was wrong. Second was the fact that he was across the room even when he moved deeper into the room, he subtly moved in a way that he was farther away from her than he had been when she entered. Something about how he had been able to get that far away from the door after opening was still a mystery to her but she let that go as everything in her was pointing at the fact that something was not right.“What is wrong?” she asked as she picked a seaman figurine that had been on the side table in the living room of Damien’s chambers for as long as she could remember. She couldn’t remember if it was a guest that had dropped it because it wasn’t a thing that her father or mother would have deliberately got. She peered at it intently as she wondered why she was suddenly so interested in knowing something as inconsequential as that. “Or you are merely stalling because you could feel
Damien just couldn’t. He couldn’t stay there without doing something he wouldn’t regret later. Her beautiful, swan-like neck and trusting eyes were too much for him. So he ran. He hadn’t gone down the first rung of the staircase though before he realised his mistake. A maid that was coming up the staircase almost had an apoplectic fit as she saw him. Her eyes widened as she stammered and looked down at his body before quickly taking her eyes away again.“Sir”Damien, who was already on his last thread of patience, snapped at her. “What are you looking at, you idiot?”“I am sorry, sir,” the maid said in a rush as she looked into his eyes and blanched. She went on her knees. Her stammer became more prominent as she said “I am so sorry sir but the king. He wouldn’t…your dressing, sir” she said after several tries. She gestured at his body without looking up.Damien tore his gaze away from her outstretched hands, long enough to look down at his body and he swore loud and long. Oh, he had
Three days. It's been three days and Isabella had not set her eyes on Damien. She had been too weak and scared for the first few minutes when he tore out of his room. Though she had a compelling urge to follow him at that moment she had not acted on it. She had been too busy trying to decipher what just happened as she tried to ignore the sharp pain in her back. Isabella was sure that her father would have Damien beaten to within an inch of his life, and send him out of the palace, right before he had him arrested by the police; if he learnt that he was the one that made her hurt her back. So, she hides her discomfiture from her dad as much as possible. Especially when she noticed how her maid had whitened with worry when she saw the bruise on her back, she immediately came up with a story of how she had not been careful enough and her wardrobe door had smacked her back. She had no idea if her father believe her cliche story but then he seemed to believe her when she told him that
Isabella was just giving herself a pep talk about getting it together as she faced the mirror over the sink in front of the stall when she saw the door open.s he looked up absentmindedly in the direction of the door and was about to look back when her gaze went back to the door in shock.“Ashton?” she looked around the restroom as if to be sure that she was in the right room then looked back at him as she was sure that she was in the right place. “What are you doing here? This is the girls…”“Yes, I know,” Ashton said with a lascivious smile that looked alien on his innocent-looking face. “I am here for you, babe?”“Babe?” Isabella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Was the boy mad?”“I can see that you have been on edge,” he said as the ridiculous smile on his face widened and he struck a pose that sickened Isabella as she shut the faucet and turned to him.”I can take care of that for you, you know. I know the right thing that can calm you down”“Is that so? And what will that b
“Wha…what are you going to do to him?”Damien turned back to look at Isabella when he heard her ask him that question in a tremulous voice. He looked back at the limp, bleeding figure in his hands and looked back at her. “Was that fear I detect in her eyes?” Damien thought in incredulity. Then he realised what he was annoyed about. It wasn’t because he thought the fear in her eyes was because of what had happened to Ashton but of what she thought he would do to him.“What do you think?” he asked in a sarcastic tone. The fact that her eyes widened in something akin to horror annoyed him even more and he felt like he should drop the idiot in his hand and walk out of the restroom undetected.“This is what I get for not minding my business,” he thought acerbically.“I don’t…don’t hurt him…more. I think he is dead. Do you think he is dead? Is he dead?” she suddenly asked anxiously.Damien would have enjoyed this part of the always self-assured princess but he couldn’t. All he felt was ange
Isabella still couldn’t believe what she had witnessed. In fact, she was sure that she would have doubted it if anyone had realised what happened to her. Of course, she firmly shelved the thoughts of what had happened when she had ordered Ashton to stay back out of anger aside. She knew it would take the solace of her bedroom or a long drive for her to be able to come to terms with the fact that she had almost killed someone.But as she mechanically went through the rest of the school hours, the main thing on her mind was what had happened in the restroom. Especially when she raised her eyes and her gaze met with Ashton’s. She couldn’t smile back as he smiled at her the way he always do whenever their gaze met, she was busy tampering with the urge to rush to his seat, lay his head on the table and check his head again.She was sure that rushing to his side in the presence of the class in the middle of an impromptu session with the physics teacher would help the bastard validate the im
“And where have you been?” Damien was not surprised when she barged into his chamber with that question. Flung her backpack aside as she glared at him like she would like to have his head on a pike. He knew she was coming up. He knew even before she got down from her car he was amazed by how attuned he was to her even now. Just as he knew that she was anxious that he had left and afraid of what else he had up his sleeve yet her stance betrayed nothing of her inner turmoil. Her head was held proudly like the royalty that she was as she raised her eyebrows at him in question like the royalty that she was.“You mean before now?” he asked with a shrug. “I was at the school helping you with…” he trailed off when her glare sharpened “Oh that,” he said with an innocent look as if he just remembered what she was asking. He almost laughed out loud at the way her eyes only narrowed more. “I had to go away,” he said, some of his gaiety absent.“You had to… and you couldn’t say anything?” she
The moment he was able to leave the King’s presence, the first thing Damien did was rush off towards the kitchens. The protocol officer met him on the way and gave him an askance look. “What may I do for you, young man?” the elderly protocol officer said with an unhidden sneer on his face. “Young man?” Damien thought with rancour. He would have loved to tell the pompous man that this “Young man” was seven times as old as him but then he doubted if the idiot would have believed him. So why bother, right?“I am looking for someone,” Damien said as he looked over the man’s shoulder towards the kitchen where he could hear the bustle of busy hands and feet. He could see some of them moving briskly from one spot to the other with one steaming something or the ther in their hands.“Erm, erm” the protocol officer cleared his throat, forcing Damien’s attention back to him. He stood straighter as he readjusted his green and gold uniform that has a kind of striped rope around the shoulder. Dam