The sun barely peeked over the horizon when Aramith awoke to an unsettling feeling. A weight pressed against his side, something soft and far too warm. His instincts flared- what was that? His body tensed as he turned his head only to come face-to-face with Kesha, her silver eyes staring directly into his.
Aramith jerked backward so fast he nearly rolled off the bed. What? How?
"Morning, husband," Kesha greeted, completely unbothered by his reaction.
His mind blanked. "You-how-when did you-"
Kesha stretched languidly as if she hadn't just shattered his peace. "I came in a while ago. You looked so serene in your sleep. I almost didn't want to wake you." A pause. "But then I thought...why not start the day together? We'll be like this soon enough, right?"
Aramith inhaled sharply, fighting the urge to attack her. "Get out."
Kesha tilted her head, unfazed. "No need to be shy. We're engaged, after all. Isn't it natural for fiancés to wake up together?"
Before he could unleash a very un-princely response, a sharp voice cut through the morning air.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Mozrael stood at the doorway, looking absolutely murderous.
Kesha, still lying on the bed, turned lazily toward her. "Good morning, Moz- Sister-in-Law."
Mozrael looked ready to combust. "Morning?! Why are you in his bed?!"
Aramith, still struggling to process the situation, muttered, "That's what I want to know..."
Kesha hummed thoughtfully before sitting up. "Simple. I wanted to."
Mozrael's eye twitched. "You wanted to?!"
Aramith passed his hand through his hair. It was too early for this.
And somehow, he knew this was only the beginning.
Mozrael stomped toward the bed, looking ready to throttle Kesha. "Get out of his room!"
Kesha, entirely unbothered, merely gave a slow blink. "No." She drew circles on the bed with a finger.
Aramith did not have the energy to deal with this. Ignoring both of them, he stood up, snatched a fresh set of clothes, and made his way toward the bathroom. If I don't get out of here now, my survival rate will plummet.
Mozrael and Kesha barely noticed his retreat, too caught up in their brewing war.
He shut the door behind him and locked it. Finally, silence.
Or so he thought.
A second later, a soft knock came at the door.
"Aramith?" Kesha's voice was sweet, persuasive. "Let me in."
Aramith's eye twitched. "No."
"You don't have to be shy."
"I'm not shy—I'm not letting you in!"
Kesha sighed dramatically. "But why not? We're engaged. This is normal for us to do."
"We're not engaged!"
Aramith pressed his back against the door, reinforcing it just in case. "How is bathing together normal? Are you mad?" He could see his heart hammering through his chest.
Mozrael's voice rang from the room, filled with disbelief. "He doesn't even bathe with his sisters! What makes you think he'll bathe with you?!"
Kesha dismissed that with a casual, "That's because you're shy sisters. But he is my husband."
Mozrael let out a strangled noise that sounded like she was about to explode.
Kesha, however, sighed as if she were the most patient woman in the world. "It's fine if you're nervous, Aramith. I'll give you time to get used to me. I will court you." [Yup, she's gonna rizz him up]
Aramith was about to respond, but Kesha continued, her voice growing warmer. "And if you get comfortable with me, we can bathe together. Always."
Aramith slammed his head lightly against the bathroom wall. Kill me now.
Then, just as quickly as she had appeared, Kesha turned away. "Anyway, I need to clean up too. I must look perfect for my husband."
With that, she exited the room. Mozrael didn't wait long.
Aramith exhaled in relief. Finally.
Just as the two left, another presence entered.
Henndar stood in the doorway, arms crossed, watching as Kesha practically floated out of Aramith's room. He blinked, glanced at Aramith's door, then back at Kesha's retreating form.
"Heh," A smirk crept onto his lips. "Well now… he's becoming a man I see..."
He took a slow step forward, a glint of amusement in his eyes.
However, before he could say anything, Kethra appeared by his side, pinching him hard.
Henndar turned slowly to see Kethra standing nearby, her expression unreadable.
"You were thinking something wrong, weren't you?"
Henndar rubbed the back of his neck, unfazed. "You wound me, dear . I merely came to check on my son. Our son."
Kethra narrowed her eyes. "That smirk tells me otherwise."
Henndar chuckled, but before he could tease further, Aramith finally emerged from the bathroom, freshly dressed and looking about ten years older from sheer stress.
"Father," he greeted warily.
"Son," Henndar replied, still smirking. "I was actually planning to have a talk with you about… your situation. But judging by that girl waltzing out of your room, I feel like I might be too late."
Aramith groaned. "Can we not talk about this?"
Henndar patted his shoulder. "No promises."
By the time Aramith arrived at breakfast, he felt like he had already fought a full battle.
Unfortunately, the war was far from over.
As he sat at the long dining table, he noticed something odd immediately:
Kesha was already seated, looking as composed and elegant as ever.
It's our family dining.
Mozrael was gripping her spoon so tightly it might snap in half.
Kesha, upon seeing Aramith, gestured gracefully. "Come, sit beside me."
Aramith was about to sit anywhere but there when Kethra conveniently nudged him in that direction. He was pained, but she simply looked away.
Sitting reluctantly beside Kesha, he muttered, "You are not supposed to be here."
Kesha smiled. "Of course, I have to. That's what wives do."
Sitting opposite the two, Mozrael inhaled sharply like she was restraining herself from flipping the entire table.
The family started as usual, everyone eating well, except Mozrael, who ate sparingly, seeming to have lost her appetite, and Aramith, who was finding it difficult to eat peacefully as Kesha tried to feed him every three seconds.
He noticed one odd thing though- The food this morning seemed to be more than usual, even if one person was joining them for breakfast, it was too much. And everything seemed overdone as well.
Was there another event or reason for this? He decided not to dwell on it.
Then, as if things weren't tense enough, Kethra casually mentioned, "By the way, Kesha made breakfast today."
Silence.
SNAP!
Mozrael's spoon did snap in half.
Aramith's Jaw dropped.
Henndar smiled.
Kethra continued eating like nothing had changed, and Kesha did same.
Lia, still asleep in her room, was spared from what was sure to be the first of many disasters.
It seemed Kesha was more serious than they thought when she said she would make Aramith her husband.
After the incident the previous night, Kesha went to speak with Mozrael, and after calming her down, she proceeded to see Kesha. All Kesha needed was that one night to make Kethra warm up to her. It seemed luck was on her side, for Kethra had seriously taken a liking to the girl. She didn't support the whole marriage situation as it all depended on Aramith, but it was clear she would still treat Kesha as her own nonetheless. In the morning, she found Kethra and asked to help make breakfast.
Mozrael had her spoon replaced, but she'd lost her appetite.
Aramith would have done the same but he still ate. Out of necessity rather than wanting.
After breakfast, Kethra asked the same question she'd asked Aramith the past few days.
Once again, he declined, preferring to go for a walk. Kesha took her chance and rushed to accompany him. Mozrael said nothing, choosing not to overreact this time.
She went with her parents to see her unconscious sister-that was more important to her than whatever was going on between those two.
Henndar and Kethra exchanged glances. They weren't expecting Mozrael to choose going with them over accompanying Aramith.
Aramith wanted to go for his usual peaceful walk, but the morning wasn't peaceful because of Kesha. She wouldn't stop yapping about future plans she was arranging for the two of them. He tried, he tried very hard, but she was like a leech.
He would have left for the library, but he wanted to wait for Mozrael. She would always come there after going to see Lia. But this time it was different.
He waited.
And waited.
But Mozrael wasn't coming.
Realizing he was wasting too much time, and Kesha was getting the wrong idea that he just wanted to spend time with her, he got up and left for the Library.
As he entered, Kesha holding on to him, he was surprised to find Mozrael seated quietly at a table, reading alone. She didn't even look up as he approached.
"I was waiting for you. I didn't know you would be here," he said as he took a seat opposite her.
She didn't respond.
She's lost in the book, he thought as he got up to look for some books on the shelves. He piled them on the table and started to read through.
Kesha sat beside him for a while, then-
"That's wrong." She was peering through the book Aramtih was now reading.
"This plant doesn't affect the nerves at all. It only prevents blood flow to the brain, causing the person to lose consciousness. That's different from being paralyzed."
Aramith was surprised at her intelligence.
"Oh thank you," he muttered.
"Anything for my husband," she said dotingly.
Aramith continued reading after noting a few words down. Kesha picked one of the books and glanced through it quickly, frowning at some pages. She put it aside, then continued to look through another, making the same expression.
Aramith and Mozrael stopped their reading and watched her intently as she combed through the books he'd selected.
She shook her head and then turned to Aramith. "It's true that I love you, and will support you, but you can't think I will support you if you're going to fill your head with nonsense. These things you're reading are old and very wrong. Take a look at this," She opened one of the books.
This flower, she pointed to an intricately painted flower. It was a deep shade of red.
"It looks red in the day, but at night, it's true color is black. How can you trust this? And look at what they wrote under it. That its a perfume with calming effects. Lies. This thing can make someone go unconscious. And how about this..." She opened another page and quickly explained how the scripts were wrong.
Aramith was seriously taking notes as she explained things in detail. Her level of intelligence was centuries greater than her age.
Mozrael, realizing she'd lost all focus and was also listening to Kesha teaching and Aramith asking questions, tried to focus on what she was reading earlier, but that was impossible. Her mind kept drifting.
I already failed once. He asked me, and I didn't know. But she did. Of course, she did. Like it was easy. Like she belonged there beside him.
But she doesn't. She's not supposed to.
I should be the one helping him, the one he turns to. But instead, she's the one talking, explaining things I couldn't. The one standing where I should be.
Why is she even here? Why does she get to act like she matters? Like she has any right to invade this space-our space?
It's not like I care what she says. Even if it's useful. Even if it's something I should listen to… I just don't want to hear it from her.
I refuse to sit here and let her take up space that isn't hers. I refuse to accept her.
Mozrael finally gave up and left the Library. And for once, she was glad, they didn't have supper together always. She didn't have to sit in that again.
As the day ended and the castle fell into silence, Aramith lay awake, drenched in sweat.
Kesha had somehow ended up in his bed.
He stayed still, waiting—waiting for her to be fully asleep.
In the dim glow of the moonlight, she shifted slightly, her breathing deep and steady. Then, in her sleep, she sniffed him. Once. Twice. Thrice.
I need help.
His skin prickled. Carefully, inch by inch, he slipped out from under the blankets, making sure not to wake her. In the last moment before he left the bed, she raised a hand to grab him. His instincts kicked in and he quickly pushed a pillow into her hand. The moment his feet touched the cool floor, he exhaled softly. He needed air, needed to breathe.
Meanwhile, across the castle, Henndar had barely settled in his and Kethra's quarters before he sensed movement.
Aramith.
Without a word, he slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Kethra, and moved into the night.
Such a perfect night for a father-and-son talk.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he followed.