Mated To The Cruel Prince
Chapter 32: Play His Games

Chapter 32: Play His Games

"What the hell?"

Those were the first thought that crossed Islinda’s mind when she woke up on the bare floor. She was shivering and her body hurt all over, it almost seemed as if someone tossed and rolled her on the floor.

"Good morning, Big sister!" A voice boomed from behind her, nearly giving her a heart attack.

Islinda turned and met Eli’s clear blue eyes which had a hint of cold, dark amusement in them which cleared away almost immediately that she wondered if what she had seen had been a figment of her imagination. The sleep must be messing with her eyes.

"Eli..." She breathed, running her hand through her hair that resembled a bird’s nest as she looked around her surroundings.

She lifted her worn-out duvet on the floor, brows furrowed in confusion, "What happened?" The last she remembered, she had been in bed with him.

"Don’t you remember, big Sister?" He blinked at her innocently.

She shook her head in response, "What happened?"

"You fell off the bed."

"Oh." Islinda’s brows drew together in realization even though falling off the bed was not a regular occurrence for her. But then, the cot was small in the first place and with Eli joining her, the space was smaller. It must be true.

If only she knew.

He continued to say with his childish voice, "I tried to wake you up so you could return to the bed big sister but you sleep like the dead and would not make a move. So I let you be instead and dropped the duvet on you so you don’t catch a cold."

But Islinda did not feel like she had used the duvet at all since the cold chilled her to the bones and the duvet sprawled far away from where she lay. But what does she know? Perhaps she had kicked away the duvet in her sleep, not to mention this was the first time she slept on the bare floor. No wonder she was shivering.

"In that case, thank you for looking out for me." Islinda easily believed him, reaching out to tousle his hair and the young boy gave her the brightest smile that could even shame the sun. Islinda did not think about the look she had seen in his eyes when she awoke thanks to his good behavior, pushing them to the back of her mind.

On the bright side, she had woken up before the others and had the time to do some chores before Madam Alice arose and tried to make her life miserable. But first, she needed to bathe.

After her, urm, activities with Valerie last night, Islinda had cleaned up the best she could but it was still not enough. She could not bathe last night before going to bed without drawing questions from her stepmother and daughters.

Not to mention, the vigil had gone on into the morning. Islinda only got to change her clothes and waited till the daybreak. Now, the opportunity arose for her to clean up thoroughly without attracting questions.

"You should go back to sleep." She told Eli, trying to coax him into returning to bed. It was six in the morning and children his age were not awake by now. But the boy was different, he was a morning person.

"If you say so, big sister," He obediently walked back to the bed and laid down on it. Islinda then took the duvet on the floor and tucked him in.

"Sleep is vital for children to grow up, so sleep more, alright?"

"Alright, big sister." Eli instantly squeezed his eyes shut in a way that made Islinda chuckle. She was going to miss the boy once he returned to his parents.

Islinda did not leave immediately and sat beside his bedside, caressing his face and massaging his scalp with affection until his breath evened out and he was asleep.

One day, Islinda hoped to have a family of her own. A man that would love her unconditionally and children that she would treasure just like Eli. By chance, would such a future be possible with Valerie when he’s a Fae? The both of them haven’t defined their relationship yet and Islinda didn’t want to move ahead of herself...even if she was beginning to fall for him.

Islinda was not a fool, a relationship with the Fae creature would not be easy and she might be cast out by her own people if they found out. This was why she already made plans against pregnancy. Islinda was in her safe period, but to make sure mistakes didn’t occur, there were herbs available to prevent such a situation.

Islinda flushed when she recalled the way the Fae had been with her last night. Valerie had been gentle and the sex... had been wonderful. Marvelous. Magical. Perhaps, Valerie might want to meet again tonight - No! Islinda banished the thought away at once.

She couldn’t risk Valerie coming to the village once more. What if someone sees him and the suspicion grows? If Valerie is captured, that would defeat the whole purpose of nursing him to health and keeping him safe from the humans. She would take no such risk.

Sure that Eli was asleep, Islinda slowly retreated from the bed, afraid to wake him up. Her movements were careful as she took a change of clothes and left the room to go wash up and prepare breakfast for the family.

However, as soon as Islinda was gone, Eli’s eyes snapped open, his eyes glowing an electrifying blue that would have scared Islinda had she seen it. The human was quite dumb not to recognize the signs that he had been hinting at.

Not only had Adric punished her by kicking her off the bed for tormenting him with the scent of his brother all night, he intentionally flashed her the dark look earlier, a brief warning to what he was, but she ignored it, letting her empathy take over.

She was making all this easy and Adric loved a good challenge. Now that it was confirmed that the human was involved with his brother, Valerie, it was time for her to play his games and his dark side couldn’t wait to get started.