Beyond(7)

I grit my teeth. “You’re going to make me regret choosing you, aren’t you?”

“Every day of your life. And you don’t need a priest to make a marriage legal.”

I sigh and look up at the blue sky. “I want to go out with the next group that leaves the walls.”

“No.”

“Women leave all the time.”

“Not you,” he replies flippantly. “Your father wants you safe.”

“And I want to be free.”

“You are free,” he replies. “You’re a princess. How many women in this castle do you think envy your position? And I think it’s time that you and I started over.”

He made me sound ungrateful.

Spoiled.

Maybe I was.





Late that night I couldn’t sleep. Sliding out of my bed, I open my door and wander the halls. The castle we were living in was old, and surrounded by huge walls that were made from a time of war. Back when castles were sieged and taken by sheer force. This castle withstood that, and now it keeps us safe from the monsters. I touch the wall and feel the stone beneath my palm. What did it look like out there? I always wonder. How was the rest of the world surviving? How many were still alive?

Dressed in my white nightdress and bare feet, I follow the noise of laughter and cheering. Curious, I stop when I come to the door that leads to a separate block of single women’s housing. My dad told me that the women here are ‘free with their pleasures’ and invited men to visit them. It sounded like a brothel to me, but he insisted it wasn’t like that. I hide by the wall as a group of three men walk to the door and knock. A woman opens it, my eyes widening as I take in her attire. She’s wearing a see through red dress that shows her nipples along with everything else. The men enter, and she shuts the door behind them. Continuing down the hall, I head to the kitchens in search of something to snack on. Not finding anything interesting, I sigh and take a seat on one of the benches.

“There you are,” comes a deep voice, making me jump. “What are you doing wandering the halls?”

“What are you doing searching for me,” I fire back.

“I went to your room,” Dane says, walking in front of me. “I forgot to give you these today.”

I look down at the honey flowers in his hands and smile. “Thank you,” I say, taking the bunch from his hands.

“I heard you’re fond of them,” he says, sitting down next to me, our legs touching.

“You heard right.”

“I’ve never tried one,” he says, staring at the pink flowers in suspicion.

I grin and pull one of the flowers out, breaking the flower and holding it up. “Suck.”

His eyebrows raise.

I roll my eyes. “Put your mouth on it and suck.”

Firm lips open and I lift the flower. He sucks out the honey liquid and swallows, his throat working as he does so. His tongue peeps out and licks his full lower lip, and I’m drawn to the motion. I squeeze my thighs together.

“Not bad,” he murmurs. “Not as sweet as I was thinking it would be.”

I look down at the flowers. “Did you wash them?”

His eyebrows draw together. “No, was I meant to?”

I purse my lips together, to try and stop laughing.

“What?” he asks, disgruntled.

“Nothing,” I reply. “Thank you for bringing them to me.”

“Olivia,” he growls. “Talk.”

I shrug. “You didn’t wash them. I always do because imagine… you know… animals that pass by…”

“What?”

“They probably pee on them,” I say in a rush, my lips twitching with the urge to laugh once more.

Dane looks at the flower now on the table with disgust. “Are you saying it wasn’t that sweet because I possibly drank animal piss?”

My body shakes as I let myself laugh. “Probably.”

He shakes his head at me, then stands up and grabs a bottle of water from the table, taking a sip and rinsing his mouth out. “You could have warned me Olivia. You’re going to be kissing this mouth very soon.”

I scrape my teeth along my bottom lip, wondering what it would be like. “Maybe. On our wedding day.”

He smirks. “Pretty sure we could try it before then.”

I tilt my head to the side. “Did we just spend a few minutes in each other’s presence without arguing?”

He copies me, tilting his head also. “Did you just change the subject on purpose?”

I stand up, smoothing my dress. His eyes take me in, his lips kicking up at the corners.

“You look f*cking ethereal in that dress. Like an innocent angel.”

I cock my head, resting my hand on it. “You a poet now?”

He smirks. “Not quite. What size are your tits?”

I gape at him for a second.

“Aaannnnd he’s back,” I murmur, even though I know he said it to get a rise out of me.

I listen to his deep laugh, unable to stop a smile from playing on my own lips.

“We better get out of here,” he says. “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your room.”

I pick up the left over flowers and walk with him. When we pass the door I saw the men disappear into, he glances at it before looking straight ahead. I wonder if he ever goes there.