Issac was about to knock on the door when he heard Aldric’s familiar voice say, "Come in."
He wasn’t surprised knowing Faeries had superior hearing and the prince must have sensed him arrive. Issac pushed the door open and walked into the dark prince’s study. Aldric was going through a parchment while books were piled high on his desk with some of their pages open.
"I’m assuming that your tour has come to an end. Why so soon though? I was expecting her to bother you for the rest of the afternoon and perhaps, I would have to come in and play the hero, saving you from her tight claws." Aldric said without taking his eyes off the parchment, a slight teasing in his tone while Issac shuddered at the thought of such happening.
"Unfortunately, we came to a deadlock and would have to finish the rest of the tour later." Issac disclosed, trying hard not to show his excitement that the tour was over. While Islinda was entertaining, she was as curious as a child and that was enough to drive him crazy.
At that comment, Aldric finally lifted his face and lowered the parchment onto the desk, "Why? What happened?"
"We toured the library and her books of interest were not exactly readable. She would need your permission to access the books, my prince." Issac said.
For a minute, there was nothing but silence, only for Aldric to burst into laughter. He had been bored here for hours, and now it seems something good was finally about to happen.
"So what happened? What did she say? Are you here to plead her case before she comes in to beg me?" Aldric inquired out of curiosity, his eyes glinting with excitement.
"The human shouted in terror upon learning she would have to come to you to access the books. Aside from falling on the ground and throwing a tantrum, she chose books from the human realm rather than coming to meet you." Issac told him truthfully, without hiding a single detail.
"Is that so?" Aldric smirked devilishly, "Let’s see how long she lasts then. It would be fun to know between the both of us who would run out of patience."
He laughed harder, "How long do you think it would take her before she comes bursting into the room?"
Issac’s face was furrowed deep in concentration, "I can’t really tell. Perhaps, an hour?" Islinda had left with some books and he assumed it would take her that much time before she got bored of them.
"Hmmm," Aldric said, "I guess we would have to wait and see."
Issac stood awkwardly in the room when the conversation was over, his gaze falling upon the scroll Aldric held with both hands and going through it again. But the prince sensed him staring at him and put it down with a sigh, "I thought that there would be enough reports to keep me busy now that I have fewer things to do but the reverse seems to be the case. And the books bore me after some time."
Aldric continued, "I’m beginning to think that I made a mistake refusing to return to the battlefield. I’m not used to this laziness. At least there, I had a sense of purpose and the direction was clear, kill the enemies. It has barely been a few days and I’m beginning to question myself and my identity. It’s almost as if I don’t remember who I was before I became a god of war."
Issac’s jaw fell to the ground, finding it hard to believe that Aldric just shared his feelings with him. He never saw this coming, not even in the hundred years to come.
Aldric saw his gobsmacked expression and was disappointed. The Faerie think of him as an unfeeling monster that it shocks them when he shows even the smallest of feelings.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Mated To The Cruel Prince