DARK ONE SHOTS | 18+ - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Her knees scraped against the rough carpet. Soldiers shut the door close after them, leaving the psychotic princess and her aunt in the room alone.
"What did you think you were doing?!" Elise screamed in her ears as Francesca managed to stand upright, opening the window to breathe fresh air, sniffling.
"I am speaking to you Francesca" the older woman gripped her elbow, turning her towards herself, "Was that any way to speak to the king-"
"Its him Aunt Elise" Francesca broke into tears, unable to stifle her cries, "It's him".
Elise stood dumbfounded, unable to make any meaning out of princess' words but the longer she stared into princess's eyes, the gravely she understood. Suddenly why a king as influential as him wanted to marry the princess of Quodor didn't seem that convoluted of a mystery. Her eyes widened, her hand covering her open mouth.
"That's impossible" she shrieked in disbelief, her hand hanging in air for support, finding the table nearby.
"He followed the suits of his treacherous grandfather"
Francesca could not believe her own words. It had taken a century to recreate the story of Antoninus the first by his own grandson, who had not only resided in Quodor for years, but had become a part of their army, learning principles he would have had no access to from Alcazar. All to acquire a bigger hand in the battle, to learn from the best and then later, destroy it to rule the kingdoms. If that wasn't deceitful enough, he had lured Francesca in the trap of his love, taking advantage of the princess of Quodor in more than one ways.
Francesca repulsed at his memory, of the way he had ran his hands all over her. She could not fathom that she had been such a foolish victim of the devil himself. It took courage for Francesca to look in her aunt's eyes that were now zoned in on nothing in particular, still absorbing the dreadful information.
Both of the women flinched back to reality when the doorman bellowed again, announcing the approach of a man both of them dreaded to their life.
"Antoninus the third, The King of Alcazar"
Francesca's body shook in terror, so much so that she could not afford to look at him. Her body turned to the window, looking out as if all of her senses weren't focused on the strong footsteps of the man that had walked in, even his breathing audible from her heightened senses.
There was silence, moments of it.
"I would have been delighted to have moments of privacy with the Princess"
"She goes NO WHERE" Francesca incensed almost immediately, having understood his intentions.
But much to her shock, Aunt Elise braced herself, standing appropriately. Francesca looked bewildered when her Aunt bowed to the king, paying him respect before starting to leave. Francesca couldn't hide the look of betrayal as it crossed her features, shocked that her own aunt wasn't on her side.
But what was her side anyways? She was a woman at the end, a woman that the king wanted, the king of Alcazar wanted, the king of Alcazar with his enormous army waiting just outside Quodor wanted.
Elise was a practical woman. It had taken her only minutes to know that Francesca held no grounds regardless of the past. It didn't matter who he was before, in the moment however, he was powerful, with a choice to destroy their lives with a single clap. If he wanted her, she would be exactly what he would get. She didn't want to be no one to be standing in between him and his obsession.
When she left, she closed the door behind her, only hoping that Francesca did not make this harder for herself and her kingdom than it had to be.
She felt him walking closer to her, the air he inhaled catching up with her. Her breath shortened each second, as if with his every step, her air was stolen.
His hand softly brushed over her elbow, inspecting the bruise soldiers and the elder woman had given her.
"Won't you even look at me now?" his deep voice shuddered her internals as if they were swirled in a hurricane. She realised his voice was just as magical, just as soothing. It took everything in her body to remind herself that he wasn't the same man she had loved.
"You used me" she couldn't but stammer, hiccups waiting down her throat to break her into pieces yet again. An abrupt gasp left her lips when she was suddenly pushed against the wall, his hand strongly holding her back by the waist.
And then for the first time, she saw him, really saw him, his eyes, his nose, his neck, his air, his aura.
"Never say that" he seethed, finding her words stabbing, "If I ever did anything to you, it was love"
Another tear trickled down her eye, finding no lie in his dark eyes. But it hardly soothed her rage, the scar he had invoked with his cruel betrayal.
"You don't love me, I am only an object in your scheme of atrocious Parley"
"Oh Princess" he neared, closer than she wanted him to be, "I don't want to explain what you are to me now, I've made that clear several times.", her breath stopped when his breath fanned hers, his thumb softly caressing her cheek, sliding towards her lower lip. "However what I want to say now, is that you are mine, just as you have always been"
His hand was spurned out of her face when she slapped it away, her gaze somehow becoming more vehement.
"I reject your proposal, your highness. Do what you must, while we do what we shall"
He smiled at her hostile tone, the glimmer of her defiance always welcomed as a challenge.
"Well Princess Francesca, I am afraid to point it out but I haven't made a proposal yet and now that we have time, please allow me to"
He didn't wait for her agreement, knowing that it would most probably include a curse. He took a step back, giving her a false presumption of higher ground. Little did she know that it was the kind of step that a lion took back before leaping upon his pray, as she would soon grasp in the awaited 'proposal' of his.
"I hope to marry you, in the comfort of your home, your terms and traditions. When we return to Alcazar, so would my army. Your kingdom would remain safe and protected under your father's rule. Probably we'd make great alliance"
His sugar-coated words sounded equally precarious, like a beautifully decorated trap for a rabbit. But no matter how lucrative, Francesca knew, prison is at the end of the day, prison, betrayal a betrayal, and a lie extenuated or not, a lie.
He paced across the room, looking down at the worn carpet, looking upto her only when he was ready to portray the darker side of the deal, of himself.
"Or you can reject me."
He maintained the distance, and yet she could feel him invading her space, his evil eyes disclosing their intentions before his mouth could.
"As you may know I'm a gentleman Francesca. I will respect your decision and return. However I might not be able to promise whether or not I'd strike Quodor."
Even when Francesca knew the bate, when his words confirmed his it, he spiraled down in her eyes deeper than he already had, her eyes watered yet again, this time in sheer hatred, unable to believe how at all her heart had ever beat for him.
"I've spent years here afterall, studying your kingdom, learning your treasured secrets"
She wanted to wipe the smirk off his face with the nearest sword, but instead, her nails dug into her flesh when her fist tightened around itself.
He took a step closer to her, yet again finding himself closer than she wanted him to be, touching her face, wiping her tears.
He didn't like how infuriated she was, neither did he adore the defiance that now was crossing its limits.
He decided to say what he hadn't planned to, but he wanted to ensure no one heard it even through the inch's distance and so he whispered, gothically adding the darkness his question fostered.
"Did you tell your father about our closeness?"
She looked struck, stripped of words. He hummed, a soft smile playing on his features.
"Perhaps I'd convey him on my way back and make sure some leaking walls hear it too" he came closer, his nose touching hers, her senses numb and alert, paralyzed and awake, "That I touched you, kissed you and if my fingers were permitted to speak, fuck yo-"
"How dare yo-" her aggressive attempt at smacking didn't reach his cheek, his hand immediately grasping her little arm before twisting it behind her back, pressing her mouth with his massive hand, shushing her without effort.
Her face reddened, blending into the colour of her hair, her struggles muffled behind his hold. He didn't even seem to be trying, she was so little and untrained to battle a wolf like him. Gone was the Edrick soft with her lips, gentle with her body, he was possessed as if by a demon, a demon that more obssessed and less loved Francesca.
"No matter what Princess-" his dark voice continued uninterrupted, "I take you back as my Queen or a slave I acquired from another victory. Either way, you're mine."
She gasped when he loosened his hold, taking a step back when she found her breath back, too afraid to let a noise out, too scared of...him.
"Decide who you want to be and at the cost of what, your worthless ego or millions of lives."
She remained glued to the wall, watching as he left without waiting for her reply, confident that he had said everything he needed to, infested what he wanted to, fear...and as absurd as it sounded, courage, to do the right thing.
And sometimes the right thing was wrong, but it was the best a circumstance could do. Afterall Francesca should have thanked the gods that she could avoid the worst of her kingdom, by doing the wrong thing,
to herself.