Her Fear, His Obsession

It had played him, for the last time...

After about five minutes, Alia finally got fed up of Luca's pleas. She was a captive here, she wasn't going to sit here and make him feel better about himself. But at the same time, she felt guilty. She wasn't even crying because she was upset with the room, they were tears of joy.

Quickly wiping her face, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder as he kneeled before her, his head bowed, pleas and apologies streaming from his lips. Her touch made him freeze and he hesitantly looked up to see Alia with a slight frown. His heart sank- he thought it meant he was forgiven.

"My Queen?" Luca pondered.

"I'm hungry, Luca," Alia spoke softly. She didn't know what else to do to distract him without justifying herself.

"Of course, my love. Let me call for a slave to check on our breakfast. It should have already been here, my heart. I'm sorry. Let's go to our room," he spoke, rising and gently placing his hand on her cheek. Luca turned to call out for a slave when he felt a gentle tap.

"C-c-an I st-t-tay here?" Alia stuttered, her heart stopping as she asked him.

"Of course, my love. We can eat here!" He responded.

Alia's face fell as he said the word "we". She had been hoping for some alone time to plan her escape and just think about what all had happened. Going against her desire, she wisely said nothing as Luca turned back to call out.

"Slaves!"

A group of three women and two men ran in and bowed silently. "Arrange for breakfast here!" Luca demanded, losing all softness and love in his voice. The group who had just seen him on his knees were shocked from his sudden demeanor change but recovered quickly, moving to get things for breakfast.

Ignoring the commotion behind her as breakfast was being set up, Alia began lightly tracing the books in the shelves at her arm height, which also happened to be her favorites. The Harry Potter series, Dan Brown, Christopher Paolini, Jumpha Lahiri, Khalid Hosseini, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen all spread her heart with warmth as she fondly remembered reading these books.

A/N: the author and the characters in this book do not condone the behavior and actions of JK Rowling, especially with her comments towards the LQBT+ community. But I can't give up Harry Potter, guys. Hogwarts was my home as a kid and I will never stop loving those books.

Luca turned back to see her fingers lingering on each book, one by one as she read the titles and different expressions formed for each book. As he was about to ask her about eating breakfast, he heard a quiet knock at the door. Furious that someone would disturb his time with his Queen, he turned, ready to kill the intruder. But he stopped in tracks when he saw a panicked Viraj, bowing at the door. Knowing Viraj as the strong, emotionless machine, it was disturbing to see him so frantic. Luca's heart set into overdrive as he made his way to Viraj.

Barely containing his concern, Luca spit out, "What?"

Viraj bowed and said, "I apologize, my King, for bothering you but it's rather urgent. Luca, the Darkness, it's back."

Stunned. Luca was stunned. How the hell did the Darkness come back? How was it released from its maze? Who dared!

"How?" He demanded, speaking louder than he intended. He saw Alia perk up and stopped but when she didn't respond, he continued whispering.

"I thought that the spells were strong enough to stop it from coming back and they were being continually read, Viraj?"

"They were, Luca, but someone started reading the counterspells."

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Um, well, Luca, they tried but you were... you were... busy with Alia."

"Viraj! She is your Queen!"

"Apologies, your Majesty," Viraj bowed his head. They had a complicated dynamic but it was obvious that the complexity didn't apply to Alia and Viraj's relationship.

"It's fine. I need to make sure that this darkness doesn't spread and enslave more people and I need Alia safe. F*ck!" Luca hissed.

Hearing Luca's curse broke Alia out of her memory lane trance in her books. The two men in front of her looked furious and it scared her. A small whimper escaped her lips as she saw the two men whispering harshly to each other.

Viraj instantly froze as he looked up to see the Queen staring at them. He fell to his knees and bowed, remaining silent. In that moment, the Queen needed to see him as no threat.

Seeing him, Luca know that Alia was no longer looking at the books. Walking over to her, he sighed, "My love, I'm sorry but I need to take care of something. Liam and 5 other guards will be right outside this door and there will be 3 slaves in here for you. You eat your breakfast and let them know if you want to go rest. Whatever you need, you tell them. Ok, my love?"  Luca was patting her cheek gently to reassure her.

Alia was over the moon! Finally, some time alone! She quickly nodded to an already distracted Luca. He pulled out his phone and called Liam. "Bring 5 guards and 3 females with you."

They arrived soon after, bowing to the King and Queen. "Rise," Luca ordered. "You all are being given the task of protecting and serving your Queen. You know what happens if you fail. Liam, you will stay here- she recognizes you." They all nodded, their heads still bowed in respect.

Luca took one look at Alia who had started peeking at breakfast. Sad that he couldn't feed her, he felt his anger rise at the Darkness. It had taken too much from him and he had always shown it leniency, but no more. It had played him, for the last time.