Erna immediately turned around and went out of the room. A little while later, she came back to the couple bedroom with a decanter in a hand and a glass in another. Erna had picked the strongest alcohol she could find from her collection and downed a glass of it, hastily.
Why didn’t I think about that? She thought. She felt like a fool. Unlike Kalion, she loved her liquor. But she always held out on drinking a lot because once she got drunk, it was difficult to use her magic. But today, no magic was needed. She downed the half of the alcohol remaining in her glass. This fruity liquor was especially made in the southern region of Hessenguard. It was the region’s delicacy. Although sweet in taste, the alcohol was quite strong. Usually, it was drunk after diluted with water or ice. But she didn’t care, she drank it undiluted. She needed it.
It took only a few sips for the effects to kick in. Erna’s stomach started to burn, heat rose to her cheeks. When she lifted a hand to her cheeks, it was hot. Her vision started to go blurry. Normally, she hated feeling this way, so she always kept herself in check while drinking. She liked being in the right mindset at all times because she could use magic that way. But today was different. She didn’t want to be able to think. She didn’t want to be sober.
When everything began to tilt in her vision, she shuffled towards the big bed in the middle of the room. She lay down on it and heaved a deep breath. Kalion was looking at her, silent and sneaky. What in hell… Do I have to tell him everything? she cursed.
“Do it,” she snapped.
“Do what?” he asked.
She let fly some swear words. “Hurry up and do what we are here to do,” she snapped, “You how how to, I expect.” Erna clenched her jaw, as she clenched her fists to her side.
The technicalities were that when a man was ar*us*d, he would insert his sh*ft into the int*mate female parts. That was the int*rc*urse Erna knew about. People who were in love did it mostly. She knew it would hurt. Erna didn’t like pain. Though it was said that it begins to hurt less as one becomes more ‘s*xu*lly proficient’.
I have never done it before, I know it will hurt, she thought and wondered about Kalion. It was said that if one of the partners is experienced enough, they could lessen the pain and change it to pleasure. Erna felt the goosebumps prickle up her arms. She didn’t like pain, but thinking about ‘pleasure’ from Kalion made her want to vomit. Just the thought of what she was going to do with Kalion made her shudder.
It had been ten years now, and still Erna’s hostility towards kalion hadn’t changed an ounce. It was the same for Kalion. Perhaps they wouldn’t murder each other in their sleep, but there was no love lost between them.
However, Erna was reluctant to look at Kalion. All this brought forth the memory from their wedding night. The disgraceful marriage and the night after. Whenever she saw him, she tried her hardest to avoid him. He was present that night. He brought out all the bad memories. So she tried to walk the other way when she saw him coming. Everytime.
Erna heard him walking towards the bed. She became still on the bed. I hope it gets over soon, she thought. She had read about it in a book. The time differed from person to person, it said. She wasn’t sure how long this would take, she had no one to ask about it. She just prayed it would be over soon.
It didn’t matter. She would endure it no matter how long it lasted. Hopefully, it will be over soon and she can go back to her room.
*
Kalion’s days were very meticulous. Out of bed at half past five in the morning, breakfast at six, attend a meeting with Congress after checking in with the knights at seven. If there was no meeting, he would go to the field and train with the knights. Lunch at noon. Meeting again. If not, training sessions on different weapons. Then dinner at seven in the evening. After that he went to his room, looked through documents, and read a book. He would do anything he fancied and went to bed at midnight.
Since his recovery, he had been moving every day according to this routine. But not today. From the time Vanessa had called him for a meeting, he had felt this deep foreboding that something bad was going to happen. His mood had been low ever since.
Kalion hated Erna. His first memory of her was her standing nervously, staring at him in a state of shock as he entered the wedding venue. Erna was used to being laughed at. She was always frowning. But that day, her expression had been of pure astonishment, perhaps that’s why he remembered her so vividly.
He hadn’t been on the verge of starvation from the beginning. He was the first son of King Aether’s beloved second queen, so he had pretty much been the object of his parent’s affection from a very young age. They simply adored him.
