As long as Alara remains within the walls of Arya’s palace Malich will be worried. He can see the hope in Arya’s eyes every time she looks at her sister. It’s the same hope he used to have that his older brothers would accept him and welcome him back with open arms. It never happened and eventually he made his peace with it. He loves his brothers, but they’re not to be trusted. Ever. copyright protection199PENANAFsnejBDab4
From birth they were taught one thing and one thing only…duty to the crown. Malich covets the crown as much as his brothers do; only he was groomed for it. His ambition and intellect made him the better choice. While his brothers treated the crown as something they were owed, Malich worked for it. copyright protection199PENANAwLDs5pb1H6
They’d forsaken many lessons for pretty faces and the touch of soft skin. While Malich also had those wants, the crown always came first. It always would. copyright protection199PENANAKVqkWc2BlD
Arya’s relationship with Alara is the same way. She craves that closeness the way he once had and probably has hopes they will actually become sisters one day. Perhaps they can, but the potential cost of being wrong isn’t a price he wishes either of them to pay. Then there is the matter of Alara’s Darkin abilities. She wasn’t born with that power, it was given. And only someone powerful could have gifted her that.copyright protection199PENANAuhrBvyONau
Malich’s thoughts travel back to the day he and Arya first met. The day she was handed over to him…the day theywere handed over to him. Twins. Cassian Vale had asked him to keep them safe, but twins would stick out like a sore thumb, so he did the only thing he could think of. He took Alara to an orphanage and kept the feistier one for his army.copyright protection199PENANAg1BosLl15P
“If you’re planning to scold me, save it,” Arya enters the room and his thoughts.copyright protection199PENANAXJ7vm6yAzJ
“No,” he smiles shaking his head. “Your life…your mistakes.”copyright protection199PENANAdG7S1xmuxE
“No reverse psychology either,” she narrows her eyes at him. copyright protection199PENANAFKbs5K6lZH
He laughs, closing the space between them and setting a gift in her hand. Her eyes light up and she quickly tears into the box. Her smile fades when she sees what’s inside. “Hushstone?”copyright protection199PENANAB1hYNsIXsc
Malich had a ring commissioned with a hushstone placed where a diamond should be. “I knew you would go soft where your sister is concerned. At least if you’re wearing this it will keep you safe,” he explains.copyright protection199PENANA23JqXRZeub
Arya casts him a pointed glance then slides the ring on her finger. “I would’ve gotten a gift for you, but there wasn’t really anything I could find that said arseholethe way I wanted it to.”copyright protection199PENANAXuxwPVLAlY
Malich laughs, taking all of her in. He wants her as much as he wants the crown and refuses to let another moment pass without touching her. His fingertips caress the contours of her face and his lips graze hers. Her breath catches in her throat and he smiles. He likes that he can affect her breathing…her pulse, and watches as she flushes red.copyright protection199PENANAeKwX3gWPQk
Pulling her closer, he tastes her lips and groans. It’s been way too long. His hands move quickly, reaching to undo her clothing, but she stops him. “We should wait until our betrothal is complete,” she breathes against his lips.copyright protection199PENANAm8VGoDQbq0
He pulls away, “You’re joking, right?” copyright protection199PENANA66yupCkZU1
“No,” she laughs. “Not to mention my citizens are uneasy about you and Alara being here all the time. I don’t want to give the nobles any reason to question me.”copyright protection199PENANAld6ONA1pKQ
“It sounds like someone is enjoying being Queen,” Malich smiles.copyright protection199PENANAm9e5RwY51X
“And soon you’ll be my King.”copyright protection199PENANAiUEDKCWvyh
As much as he doesn’t want to, he calms the throbbing in his pants. “What are we to do with our time now then?”copyright protection199PENANAu25wveSXV0
“Talk,” she suggests.copyright protection199PENANAjRpuM2YljW
Malich arches a brow at her. “The last thing a male wants to do is talk, especially when there is a perfectly good bed in the room.”copyright protection199PENANArMHxfTuyI2
Again Arya laughs. “Even if it has to do with politics?”copyright protection199PENANAn3gfv1gsnW
Now she has his attention. “Such as?”copyright protection199PENANAwSAeIsvxyr
“Have you received my requests?”copyright protection199PENANAeuoXM9CViM
He has. “That isn’t politics Arya, it’s negotiations. Usually one party makes a request and then an offer of equal value in return. The former you covered, but the latter…the latterwe have yet to discuss.”copyright protection199PENANAal888VesWA
Arya smirks. She already knows where his thoughts drift. “If I were to concede, would you grant them?”copyright protection199PENANAsdGO1socFR
Malich thinks on it for a second before replying. “You can have Eli and Lola, but my soldiers will remain.”copyright protection199PENANANwfiFAfbN0
“First off, it’s Lilaand second, why must they remain?”copyright protection199PENANAtF1sYFOSC2
Malich waves off the first part of statement, clearly focused on the latter. “I’ve already lost Navi, Ihsan, and you. I can’t afford to lose any more of my skilled assets Arya.”copyright protection199PENANABHUr3ae6p0
“Okay but Lumi’s family is from the Seelie Court. I owe her the land her father owned and she doesn’t go anywhere without Jax. Ever since they’ve become lovers they’ve been glued together.”copyright protection199PENANAdFs127SlOo
“And Rayu?”copyright protection199PENANAO7F4LHMGj9
“He’ll be hurt if I take Lumi and Jax but not him,” she pouts. He smiles at her attempt to garner his pity. copyright protection199PENANAChWqJMwsPF
“You’re an extortionist,” he huffs a laugh. “Anything else?”copyright protection199PENANAcRYKx6ocij
“A nymph. You’re the only one within the planes with a civil relationship with them.”copyright protection199PENANA6IZCCewmLu
This raises his suspicions and he asks, “Why do you need a nymph?”copyright protection199PENANAsZNoxtzGM7
“I have need for their particular gifts,” she carefully answers his question without answering it completely. This only makes him more suspicious.copyright protection199PENANAK6wNjEaPHr
“For what?” He presses.copyright protection199PENANA4nr8bPhMwb
Arya’s eyes search the room before serving him a poor lie about servants stealing from her and wanting to keep her valuables hidden. He narrows his eyes at her and backs her up against the wall behind her. He’s amused she even attempts to lie to him. She never could. “You, my love,” he grazes her lips with his own, sliding his hand up to her throat. As much as she fears his grasp around her neck, it also turns her on. He leans in close, taking her lobe into his mouth with his tongue. “Are a liar. And a poor one at that.” Arya mutters a curse and he pulls back to watch her surrender to his touch, tracing her lips with the pad of his thumb. “Concede,” he commands.copyright protection199PENANAd6A3hBwJbz
“Sod-off,” she challenges him instead. “Give me what I want.”copyright protection199PENANA8dxhrfS6pT
He smiles, lifting her up by her neck. She wraps her legs around his waist and he presses his hardness against her core. She groans at the feel of it, her eyes pleading with him for more.copyright protection199PENANAyenluMTKcO
“I know what you want,” Malich rests his head against hers. “Concede.”copyright protection199PENANA0BHRSWBycq
“So we’re back to this again,” Arya smirks. “We both know I won’t give you the satisfaction.”copyright protection199PENANAi5UluSmIBy
“You want something from me and I want something from you. Concede, and we both get what we want.”copyright protection199PENANAGuOqfVivD4
He waits for Arya to come to her senses. After an intense staring contest, she finally utters the words he wants to hear. It only takes a moment to get her out of her clothes onto her bed. They spend several hours tousling between the sheets to make up for lost time before coming up for air.copyright protection199PENANAfPGy6QgWyu
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives like this,” Arya smiles up at him. She lays on top of him, staring up at him from his chest, her chin resting on the back of her hands. “And I can’t wait to have children with you.”copyright protection199PENANA3tSB46Movq
Truthfully, it’s all he’s thought about lately. She’d be a horrible wife, objecting to his every command and forcing him to grovel whenever he wants something, but he has no doubt she’ll make an excellent mother. copyright protection199PENANAEh0kpwBsRC
“Soon,” he smiles, “But I have some things I’d like to accomplish before we start having children.”copyright protection199PENANAQJ2MbnP12q
“Like what?”copyright protection199PENANAS0zZN1F6Z4
“My parents…I need to find my mother and father.”copyright protection199PENANAWejuQFkOkV
Arya knows better than anyone the void he feels not knowing where his parents are. She’s felt her own void since she was a young female, wondering where the people who were supposed to care for her had run off to. Now she knows they were citizens of the Seelie Court. A Court that died along with most of its citizens. Her parents had escaped, but where had they escaped to? And when the others had come back, why didn’t they?copyright protection199PENANAS8EZQoo9Mf
Taking a deep breath Arya presses a kiss into Malich’s chest. They have so much in common. More than either of them had ever stopped to take note of. copyright protection199PENANAh6LvG0FwFk
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