Kitanna
Chapter 97: TOO QUIET

Chapter 97: TOO QUIET

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: YOU WERE BEAUTIFUL ~ DAY6]

Nix sat up on his bed, his hair looking rough due to the constant rubbing through it. He hadn’t slept a wink the other night; all his thoughts were on the tenderness of the girl’s skin and how it felt against his palm. He almost turned back to finish what he started but had to control himself from doing so; it was not an easy task to control himself.

He had traveled to the mountains to visit Lord Hieron and let him know of the new development within the palace. When he returned, he went straight to Kitanna’s chambers, but she was not there. He heard the palace guards shouting and cheering. When Nix got there, he found Kitanna in their midst, with her gown ripped at both sides, exposing her delicate legs and her dress torn at the shoulder, almost exposing her bosom. Kitanna’s body was filled with sand and sweat, making the clothes latch seductively to her skin, but the princess didn’t mind because she was cheering with the men who surrounded her.

The thought of it again caused Nix to grit his teeth. He stood up from the bed with his long pants, which snuggled to his hip bone, exposing the muscles there. Nix entered the room, which now served as Chantal’s room. The young man sat on the ground with his back leaned on the wall; he seemed like he was deep in thought, as he rubbed his arm gently.

"What are you doing?" Chantal jerked up quickly, as soon as he heard the voice of Nix behind him. He didn’t notice when he had stepped inside the room. Chantal rubbed his hair.

"Greetings Lord Nix," he greeted with a bow.

Nix noticed that the young man kept rubbing his arm at intervals; he trailed his eyes and noticed there was a wound there, but it wasn’t properly treated, so the blood had congealed around it. He moved his eyes to look at Chantal then he said,

"Your grandfather gave me some sweet nuts to bring to you. He said you enjoy it at this time of the season." Nix pointed to the box, which was tied with a red cloth on the table.

"Papa.. how is he doing?" Chantal asked, his eyes filled with curiosity about how his old man was doing.

"Okay." That’s was Nix’s curt reply, Chantal frowned at the blue-eyed guard who annoyed him so much.

As if knowing he was being cursed behind, Nix turned to look at Chantal, "Get that wound treated if you don’t want it to get infected." The continuous rubbing of the wound was beginning to annoy him.

Chantal smiled nervously, "hehe.. don’t worry; this is like a hero mark..." He remembered how close he had been with the princess yesterday and how she stared into his eyes with her brown innocent eyes. Chantal felt his cheeks turn warm again.

Nix noticed the blush creeping on the boy’s face; for some reason, he felt it would be because of Kitanna. "When were you born, Chantal?" He asked still standing at the door.

"The moon of the horse, that’s what papa told me," Chantal replied, pressing his lips together.

"Hm." Nix hummed; if counted, he was twenty-two years or less. He scanned the boy again; he looked way older than his age before now, but since he started living in the palace, he was looking a lot younger.

"Did you check what I asked you to, or were you busy playing with the guards and the princess that you forgot?" He questioned.

Chantal stalled for a minute then he said, "I checked; King Khelan hasn’t left his quarters since the court session, and I confirmed he’s inside. But yesterday the Queen Dowager and another woman went to the shrine. And when they came out, I heard them talk about getting rid of someone but I don’t know who."

Nix nodded his head; before he had left the palace, he asked Chantal to look into these people’s activities. He felt they have been too quiet since after the court session. And it only meant they had something under their sleeves. Nix didn’t want to be unprepared, especially with Kitanna still getting bits of her memories.

"How long did they stay for?" Nix asked.

Chantal tried to count with his hands, but he wasn’t sure he knew what he was doing; then he raked his fingers through his hair and said, "Long enough for a cat to give birth." That was the only thing he could think of.

Nix looked at the boy for some time, as if understanding how long, he nodded and stepped out of the room.

He picked up his shirt, placing it over his shoulder when he heard a knock on his door. Nix looked outside through his window; it was still early morning, and he wasn’t expecting any visitor. He walked to the door and opened it.

Standing on his threshold was Queen Larel. Nix tilted his head; it was an unexpected visit. He raised his brows as if questioning the young queen.

"Greetings, Did the princess come this way?" Larel asked; she was sure that Kitanna ran out of the main palace, and the only place she could come was the isolated quarters.

Nix shook his head, and he noticed worry was marred on the young woman’s forehead, "Did something happen?" He asked.

"She was acting strange this morning; she even tried to choke a maid..."

"But I didn’t.." Larel turned when she heard Kitanna’s voice from the back, Nix raised his eyes, and from what he was seeing, Kitanna didn’t look very okay. Her eyes looked dull, and she was breathing hard.

"Princess Kitanna" Larel walked to hold her, but she was stopped when Kitanna raised her hands in defense.

"Larel how did you know I’ll come here?" Kitanna asked, her eyes scrutinizing every reaction from the queen.

"You ran out of the palace, and it’s just the guard that you trust in the palace. I assum-"

"You assumed?" Kitanna backfired, not letting Larel complete her statement.

"Larel, give me one reason why you have been helping me to bring your own husband down. Do you not want to be queen anymore? Without asking questions, you do what I ask you to do. Now that’s very suspicious." Kitanna’s words were like a bomb to Larel’s ears. She clenched her fist trying to compose herself.

Nix didn’t say anything; he watched from where he was standing Kitanna and Larel’s expression.

"Are you suspecting me? I can’t believe this. Princess Kitanna! I am on your side. I didn’t want to be queen to start with, but I accepted it when I had no other choice. If not anyone, you know very well what I’ve been through in the hands of the queen dowager; I didn’t want Khelan to be hurt, but he abandoned me first." Larel spoke in a low tone as her voice was beginning to break.

Kitanna didn’t back down even when she noticed that the queen was about to cry, "You are a perfect person for a mouse. Let’s go back to memory lane, shall we?"

"You always swore that Axilla didn’t do it, why? Because you sent her?. Then you helped her escape using me. Since then you’ve been so close to me. This morning I had been on my way to your room; how did you end up at the same corridor where I saw the shadows?" The princess asked; her brown eyes turning fiery.

"What shadows? I helped Axilla because I’ve known the young girl. She’s very innocent; she would never hurt a fly. I thought we can be close since we share the same goal. Of making the queen dowager pay for her crimes. I also stepped out of my room this morning after I was helped by a maid. I was going to your room when I heard the baby cry. I saw you rush to that direction; I thought you wanted to carry the baby. When you didn’t, I stepped in."

"I can’t believe I’m explaining all these. What’s going on Princess Kitanna?" Larel sighed in frustration. She looked at the princess then Nix.

Nix scratched his brows gently; the tension between the two women was now very high. He looked at Kitanna.

"What’s going on?" He asked.

Kitanna grinned; it was unlike her usual mischievous grin. Then she said, "I think I found the little mouse," her eyes turned to look at Larel then back at Nix.