Valen knew better than to argue with the King, so she bowed and left, her heart still racing incredibly from earlier, she had never been exposed to such explicit scenes.
She took a walk through the halls of the palace when she overheard some maids, she didn't mean to intrude but what they were saying intrigued her the more.
"The King really doesn't show mercy to no one," one of the them spoke softly.
"What do you mean?" Another chipped in.
"The king making one of the best looking guards and the most skilled as his body guard, you sure he's not into..."
"Shh...." one of the maids covered her mouth before she could continue talking, "are you insane?" She turned her head to check if anyone was around but I was quick to hide immediately.
"You are lucky no one is nearby, do you want to lose your head?" The maid scolded.
The other shrugged and they both hurried to leave the place.
Valeb came out from her hiding spot, "that's weird," she muttered to herself.
As she made her way back to her resting quarters, "sir Valen..." a guard stopped me in my tracks.
He seemed out of breath, "the majesty seeks you and he is very angry."
She nodded and dismissed the guard, heading back to the King's quarter.
"Why was he angry? Wasn't he the same person that told me to leave?" She muttered under her breath as she fastened her pace.
She took a deep breath and walked into the chambers, an object was thrown at her but she managed to weave on time only attaining a little scratch on her face.
"Your Majesty..." she said softly as soft liquid streamed down her face.
"Where the fuck have you been?" He roared, his eyes flaring with rage.
"I was excused by your majesty and stepped out a bit," she continued, her face still fixed on the floor.
"Did I tell you that you could step out?" He walked closer, his robe a bit loose exposing his bare chest, she couldn't resist looking at him.
"When I talk to you..." he used a small knife to raise her face to his, "you look at me."
Valen maintained a clear gaze with him, "your Majesty, we are trained not to talk to our superiors with our gaze on them."
The king tilted his head then withdrew his knife away, walking back to his bed, Valen released a sigh of relief and maintained a calm posture.
"Does it hurt?" The king finally said.
"No, your Majesty," her voice was calm and steady, not moving an inch from her position.
"How are you enjoying your stay here?" Valen furrowed her brow at the question, what could he possibly mean?
It felt like a trick question and with a wrong answer, away with her head.
"Everything is a bit different from where I come from and I hope to learn and grow accustomed to this place."
Valen bit her lips as the silence grew thicker after her answer, she remained calm but her palms grew sweaty.
The King maintained her gaze with her, "you are quite different from the others."
Valen scrunched her forehead a bit, "I...I don't understand."
The King finally stood heading to his personal balcony, "follow me," Valen nodded and trailed calmly.
"You are calm, not spiteful and wear a face of fox."
A fox?
Was he trying to insult or compliment her? She thought to herself.
"Get my maids, we are vis3it the training guards," he suddenly changed the topic, she bowed and turned to leave immediately.
Valen called the maids and waited outside for the King to finish his business. The maids outside kept making flirtatious looks with her, she only smiled to return the gesture.
"He smiled at me..."
"No...it was me..."
"Oh my gosh, he's so dreamy, too bad he's the King personal bodyguard,"
"I hope he wasn't scolded by the mad king for too long, any slight thing ticks the king off...too bad,"
"Oh that's true, his last personal bodyguard died within days, I hope he lasts long..."
The last sentence sent shivers through her spine, was the king really awful? Or were these just another set of rumors. The king came out fully dressed and they started walking to the training grounds.
"The king is here..." one yelled immediately getting the attention of the troops.
They arranged their lines immediately and faced the king, he raised his hand and they went back to their sparring.
Valen stood beside the king watching and focusing on the troops training.
"Join them..." the king said as he sipped his wine.
"Yes your Majesty," Valen bowed and went to join the troops that were trainings.
Giggles and whispers from the women followed him to the court but the envious looks felt like daggers from the men.
"Isn't that the kept man?" One of them whispered but Valen heard, she threw them a side eye and they retreated.
She slowly went to the side in order to train in silence but the people were not going to let him.
"You there..." a huge man called out, Valen pointed to herself to be sure he was talking to her.
"Yes you...come over here," the sly smirk on his face sold him off, there was nothing good from that smirk and Valen could smell it.
Valen walked to the spot, the man dragged her closer and faced the king, "Your Majesty, permission to borrow your bodyguard."
The King raised his hand, said nothing and sipped his wine gently.
The man turned swiftly, whispering close to her ear, "you may the King's bodyguard but in my turf you're a nobody."
Within a second, he tried to rake her down but she was quick and jumped quickly in the air, going back.
Valen tilted her head and smirked, "you must be faster than that if you're planning to take me down."
That caused a crowd to gather round them, "he dare disrespect General Draegor, he will surely pay for it."
Valen remained still but Draegor moved slowly, like walking in a circle watching Valen, suddenly he attacked but Valen stopped his punch by weaving her head, she swiftly held his hand and turned it behind his back, Draegor managed to break free pulling Valen closer, she used that opportunity to climb over him, using her legs to strangle his neck and bring him down.
Gasps filled the training grounds, "how...?" That was the question that ran through the air.
The king watched with a proud smirk on his face, Draegor was still trying to break free but couldn't, he found it hard to breathe because of the position he was in.
"The only way I'm letting you is if you tap according to the fighting rules..."
"Never..." Draegor struggled to say, Valen scoffed and only tightened him more.
Draegor was practically choking, finally he tapped on Valen's legs. Valen let him go and bowed.
"Nice battle General Draegor, though it was quite fast I must say." Valen held a mocking smile on her face causing Draegon to fold his fists angrily.