~RUNE
I swallowed hard as I stared up at the man before me.
This was the first time I was standing this close to him and I got to experience his height first hand.
Although he was not as tall as Uriel, he was still way up there.
His eyes glinted a violet haze.
His dark hair was cut short to his neck and he had this natural charming aura.
From the way he smiled to the way he stared, he carried this sense of danger with him and my inner voice told me to beware of him.
He bowed slightly.
“It’s an honor to finally meet you alone, Queen Sayla.”
His voice was dark and silky.
Exactly the type a devil would use to lure you into his trap.
Suddenly he brought his fingers forward and tried to touch my cheek.
The action startled me and I flinched away from him instantly.
He stopped and laughed before dropping his hand to his side.
“I’m sorry, did I frighten you?”
“I’d prefer it better if you kept your hands to yourself.”
That’s right, even if I was a fraud, I still carried the title of Queen.
He had to respect that.
“As you wish, your majesty,” he answered as he deliberately strained his last words.
“Are you afraid of me?”
His lips turned up into a smile as he watched me closely, like he was daring me to do something.
It made the hair at the back of my neck stand.
I shivered internally as fear began to creep up my spine.
That was when I remembered what Uriel had said; ‘Don’t let them sense any weakness within you…’
It suddenly gave me new courage and I faced him with my fiercest expression.
“You tell me… Should I be afraid of you?”
He narrowed his slightly as if a message I hadn’t learnt to decipher had been passed between us.
Then he chuckled.
“I like you. I will be glad if you survive being Queen here.”
I shivered again.
I already had Uriel to deal with.
Were there others more dangerous than him?
“In fact, I’ll tell you a little tale,” he added.
I raised my brows at him in confusion.
A tale now?
Why of all things in the world would he choose to tell me a tale now?
“I’m listening,” I said in the end.
He placed his hand on the high wall of bushes beside us, plucked a tiny flower from it and began to twirl it in his fingers.
“On a late afternoon, a small white rabbit was scurrying around the woods, searching for food when it heard the cry of an animal in pain,” he began.
I folded my hands at this.
Great, he was telling me a tale about animals.
Was this supposed to give me survival skills in the palace?
“The white rabbit, unable to ignore the cries, followed it. Only to find a big wolf who had gotten trapped and wounded. Like every other animal, the rabbit should have let it be. After all, the wolf was one of their biggest predators…”
Sylve plucked another flower from the bushes.
“The white rabbit was about to leave, deciding it was the right thing to do when the wolf cried out for help. Eventually, the rabbit gave in and helped it out of its misery.”
It was either the rabbit was stupid or it was being forced to.
“As a form of gratitude, the wolf asked the rabbit to follow it home for dinner. After much persuasion, the rabbit agreed and the wolf took it to its home, a den filled with other wolves.”
“But when cooking began, all the rabbit saw were tomatoes and vegetables. So the rabbit asked what was for dinner. The wolf told her rabbit stew.”
Suddenly, Sylve crushed the flowers he had picked in his hands.
I flinched slightly at the sudden action as I felt my heart begin to race.
“By the time the rabbit realised what the wolf meant, all the other wolves had already surrounded it. They killed it with one simple snap and dipped the dead rabbit into the stew.”
Sylve went silent afterwards and I realised the tale had come to an end.
My heart was still racing and I found myself trying to understand why he had told me a tale with such a gruesome end.
What was the point of it all?
“You look pale, do you hate the end?” He dared to ask.
I blinked at him continuously, trying to understand what was going through his head before I gave up.
Sylve chuckled and suddenly began to close the distance between us.
“Like the rabbit in the tale, you have also followed your greatest predator home,” he whispered.
My heart sank at this and I began to retreat, stumbling as I tried to get away.
Until my back hit another wall of bushes.
There was nowhere else to run.
“What do you think will happen to you within Oraena, Little White Rabbit?” He asked in a small whisper.
My heart began to pound heavily at this point.
My mind was racing with so many thoughts.
I could never be safe here.
I needed to plot my escape as soon as possible or I would end up like the rabbit in the tale.
“My Queen! Where are you?” Anna’s voice echoed from somewhere close.
This made Sylve back away from me and give me space.
“It seems your handmaidens have found you,” he muttered.
That was when Anna, Sofia and Bella appeared from the front.
“There you are, your majesty!” They called before freezing at the sight of Sylve.
Sylve stared at them for a long time with an unreadable expression.
The women didn’t move too until Anna broke away first.
She tapped the others hard and they bowed to him.
“I should leave you to your ladies. See you tonight, my Queen,” he muttered.
“Red will look good on you.”
With that, he left like he was never even there.
It was only when he was completely gone that the girls instantly ran to me.
“Why was Lord Sylve talking to you?” Sofia demanded and I could not miss the tremors in her voice.
“Next time you see Lord Sylve, run!” Anna stated.
At that moment, I felt a cold chill run up my spine.
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
Anna exchanged glances with the others.
“Tell her,” Sofia urged while Belle nodded.
“He once attacked me,” Anna revealed.
Beware of the storyteller… They hold immense power.