SILIN

There's a strange noise, outside my door.

It echoes a little distant. And my eyes leave the book open on my lap as I listen, to the sound. It's almost as if someone's dragging their feet against the floor of the hall. Footsteps. But—

A sharp, heavy sound seals it. Someone's collapsed.

I abandon the book on the chair, eyes tense with alarm as I leave the room. The hallway outside is empty. But I hear low, strained gasps. It comes from around the corner.

My steps are cautious at first.

But the moment I recognize the figure crumpled on the ground, I rush forward, guard completely lowered. It's Taehyung. And there is something wrong with him.

Then I hear a voice, just before I reach him with my hands outstretched to hold him.

"I don't think you want to do that, Your Majesty."

Someone else stands there, in the opposite corner of the hall. A tall man, with rumpled dark hair and silver eyes. A look of both warning and amusement tinges the corner of his lips.

Silver eyes.

He's the one I've been looking for. I recognize that slant, that amusement. He had looked at me the same way back at the auction when he had been draining me out of my money over Taehyung's possession.

I glance back at Taehyung. He's shivering, shaking from how he's trying to suppress those shivers. His dark mask is in tatters over his fangs, already extended to full length with his hunger. Blood runs in a thin rivulet from where he's biting down on his lip too hard.

And I look back at the man, realizing he knows about Taehyung's Tarakan secret.

How he isn't running away in a storm, to tell everyone else in the entire Palace.

My eyes instantly narrow. Voice hardens like ice.

"Who are you?"

A smile flickers through his lips.

"Someone who doesn't matter, my Queen." He whispers, eyes slightly widening. Almost as in a Challenge. He glances towards Taehyung. I see his lip slightly curl upwards.

I hear him murmur.

"And I thought that he was in good hands. How foolish I was."

Who is he?

My jaw flexes.

"I asked you a question." I say, meeting his eyes straight on. "And I asked who you were."

"Answer me. I will be the one to decide whether you truly matter or not."

His brow raises the slightest angle. And his lip curls, in the face of my presence. His silver eyes gleam like the deadliest diamonds.

"Dear Queen." He smiles. "You are clever. And surprising, in more ways than I'd expected."

He glances at Taehyung. Then he looks back at me. His gaze is like steel, mirrors of truth.

"Do you love him?"

I don't answer. Because I do not have to.

The man laughs. And just from the sound of that laugh, I know that whoever this man is, he is not someone to look lightly upon. The silver in his eyes are stained with his past. The aura he carries is a type that I have not seen in a long, long time.

It's the aura of one that possesses true power.

He bows.

"I will see you soon, Your Majesty."

He turns. And my lips slightly part, at how he announces his own coming and going. When he turns, the back of his dark, thick cloak slightly flares to the side. I see white underneath, tethered with vibrant emerald. It's engraved on the skin of his wrist, as vividly as a nightmare.

Ah.

Now I see why.

The Mark of Sage.

Silver eyes. The darkest smile, shadowed with the burden of a man who had lived a hundred lives and had seen such things. The Healer of this Generation.

The corner of my lip curls.

I hadn't known he was nearly as young as I.

_________________________________

Why isn't he eating?

My eyes narrow. The meat, raw and fresh with blood, lies on the top of the nightstand. The light of the lamp makes it gleam a dark shade. I can see the stains, slowly soaking through the wood.

It is there for him.

Yet he sits there, unmoving and refusing to eat. Even when his eyes are so scarlet that I could swear my own reflection upon it. Even when his entire body is practically in spasms with the urge. I see his fingertips tear through the sheets.

His eyes flicker back and forth. And there's a hidden anxiety that I don't understand.

"Eat, Taehyung." I whisper. "It's for you. I—"

Ah.

I'm the problem, aren't I?

I hush a smile.

"I'm sorry." I murmur, turning on my heel. I hear a sharp gasp run through his lips. They are raw and tender, from how much he's bit down on them. "I'll leave you in peace, love. I—"

"You'll come back."

My eyes lift. I turn, and I see him nearly shuddering with self-hatred. But his gaze is fixed on me, still. His hands dig deeper into the frame of the bed. He repeats, the words nearly grinding past his pressed fangs.

"Come back, Mistress. Come back after. Please."

The smile ghosting on my lips deepen. And I give him a quiet nod, just before I leave the room and shut the door behind me. The moment that I'm in the cold darkness of the hall and the wood is between us, I hear the sound of tearing meat and the low growls of an animal, mixed in underneath.

My fingertips overlap. My eyes close, as I listen to my Tarakan.

How I wish I could tell him that his Beast did not bother me. That I had done worse things, than simply eat raw meat out of the hunger he couldn't even resist. How I longed to let him know.

But the least I could do was uphold his dignity.

The sound soon ceases. My brows knit, and I place a hand on the doorknob, wondering if I had his permission to make my way back in.

A smile tinges my lips again.

Look at I.

Supposedly Queen. Yet so beneath the hand of my Taraka.

Then the door suddenly swings open. My eyes slightly widen. I hadn't expected this door to open first. But it does, and my gaze meets bright, feverish eyes.

Taehyung looks down at me. His full lips are blushed and wet. A thin stain of blood marks the corner. The edges of his eyes are red as well, and my own edges soften as I see him struggling with himself. He looks breathless. Trapped in a room that's in his mind.

I smile. Then I step in, and let the door fall close with a click behind me.

I'd seen the panic in his eyes before he had slammed open the door. Then he had seen me. And the panic had melted into those red, tearstained pools.

"Did you think I'd left you?" I murmur softly, tilting my head to the side. My eyes briefly flash over the nightstand. The meat is gone. All of it.

He purses his lips and shakes his head.

I raise a brow, a smile still on my lips.

"Liar."

"I'd never leave you." I say, placing a hand on his shoulder and tracing it gently down the hard flesh of his arm until I reach his wrist. With the other, I place it on the bloodied corner of his lips and wipe it clear. "Not when you're like this. I would never."

"Do you understand?"

There's another silent nod. And I blink, slowly.

There were so many things I wanted to ask him. About his relationship with the Sage. How long he had known him. How come they had met. A Sage and a Taraka. It was an unimaginable combination.

Yet now is not the time for an interrogation.

"Come."

I grip the end of his sleeve and lead him towards the bed. He lets himself be pulled so easily, as if putting himself entirely under my control. Trusting me so easily.

When he shouldn't.

"Down." I whisper, and he follows my orders like a puppet. His eyes are fixed on me the entire time. Only when his head has touched the pillow do I see the fatigue weigh down on his lids. I see him try and force them open, to look at me yet again.

I let out a quiet breath.

"It's a late time." I start. And just like a child being put to bed, his expression twists in a slight frown. But I continue, ignoring his displeasure.

"Sleep, Taehyung. Do not worry about anything."

"I will take care of it."

"No," He mumbles, his fingertips twisting my sleeve. "Mistress, don't leave."

"Mistress."

"I will be right next door." I say playfully, but still he shakes his head with a firm, childish look. "There's only a single wall between us, love."

But how could I ever win against him.

I sigh, at his unwavering stare.

"Very well,"

"I will stay until you fall asleep."