Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Chapter 129 The sweet burn of peace

The middle of her chest started to burn like never before. Doris clenched the area with her hands but ofcourse it did nothing to relieve the pain. William moved closer and gripped her chin to force her to look athim.

“Where does it hurt the most?” He asked in a strained tone. Doris wordlessly pointed to her chest. Hereached his hand up her shirt and brushed his fingers over the area it burned. It ignited a loud groan fromher. “It’s going to pass, it’s almost finished.”

Doris looked up at him with wide eyes. What was almost finished? What was even happening to her-orany of them?

One by one, the people around them started to sit up and rub different areas of their body. Did they feeltheir skin try to melt off like she did?

It felt like her heart was about to combust out of her chest. William was saying something but shecouldn’t hear a thing. All she could hear was the sound of her ears trying to explode. She was about todie, she was certain of it.

Was she screaming? It was impossible to tell.

Minutes passed and suddenly the pain stopped all at once-as if it was never there. Doris opened hereyes to see William still bent over her, but Enzo was there as well. The sound came back to her but itwas almost as if she was underwater for a second as William repeated her name over and over.

“What—what just happened?” Doris gasped. It was hard to even get the words out, they didn’t evensound like her voice.

“You were marked by the blood promise.” William said calmy. His blue eyes quickly turned from worriedto furious. “What the fuck were you doing out here? I told you I didn’t want you here! You were supposedto stay in the cabin!” 1

Doris sat up slowly, her heart about to burst from her chest. “What do you mean I’ve been marked by theblood promise?” Doris wanted to rip her hair out and scream as loud as she could, but her voice wouldn’tlet her. “You even didn’t tell me why I shouldn’t come! All you did was tell me you didn’t want me there!How was I supposed to know it would mark me?”

How could he possibly turn this around and try to blame it on her? He only made her feel unwanted, notas if he was doing it for his own good. Doris felt her rage quickly return as it crawled up her throat. Hewas so close, she could punch him right now if she had any strength.

“The blood promise marks everyone near enough to the flames to follow through.” William angrilyunbuttoned his shirt and showed her the mark beneath. His skin had a blood drop seared right down themiddle. It was still red as if the burning hadn’t Doris forced herself not to reach out and touch it, it wasno bigger than her thumb.

“That’s what I have too?” Doris touched the area over her clothes. She was close to strangling him. “Whydidn’t you just tell me why you didn’t want to be here?”

William rolled his eyes to the sky and took a deep breath. “I expected you to just listen, not go againstme. You never went against my wishes at the palace.”

“I’m not a maid here, I’m a person with feelings—someone who feels the burn of your words every timeyou carelessly throw them at me.” Doris moved to stand. She ignored his offered hand and brushed thesnow from her pants. “What does this mark mean?” 1

“It means you are tied to the promise just as much as William is. You have to abide to the rules and makesure you don’t mistreat any of the rogues.” Enzo filled in. He nervously looked between both of them as if

he didn’t know what to do.

“What if he breaks the bond?” Doris glanced at his guards. “What happens to us?”

“Unfortunately, it would all lead to the same punishment.” Enzo said softly. Doris filled in the missingwords-it would lead to their death if William decided to go against the promise. But what about the rest ofthem?

“I don’t plan on ever breaking my end of the deal.” William said through his teeth. Doris tiredly ran herfingers through her long hair.

This was the opposite of what she needed right now. This pushed her back even further from thefreedom she craved. In yet another way besides her mate mark, she was tied to William. It would neverend.

“Great. I’m going to bed.” Doris mumbled and turned to get back on the path towards her cabin. Shedidn’t hear anyone follow her, and she was only partly disappointed by it. She wanted the solitude to lether thoughts override her mind—but she also wanted to be followed back so she didn’t have to deal withit alone.

Doris closed the door behind her and immediately went into the bathroom to look at her mark. Right inthe center of her chest, a blood drop was carved into her. She traced the shape with her finger andhoped it was just another cut that would fade away after time—but it already looked healed.

Doris crawled into bed and let the exhaustion take her over before her thoughts started up again.

Late afternoon, Doris woke to replace a large arm draped over her body. Slowly, she turned to see Williamasleep beside her without a shirt on. Normally, it would distract her to see his bare chest, but she feltnothing when her eyes fell upon his matching mark.

Doris started to move out from under him, but he tightened his hold. His eyes were wide open when sheturned back to him.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“It’s late in the day. I want to go out for a walk and get some air.” Doris went to move again but hewouldn’t budge. His arm dragged her closer to him and she debated whether she wanted to bite him ornot. He might take it wrong and get turned on.

“This mark won’t affect you like you think it will. You wouldn’t be cruel to the rogues, you wouldn’tmistreat them or betray them. You can live through life and forget it’s even there.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing that I have so many terrible scars now. It’ll blend right in.” Doris said bitterly.

“Your scars are beautiful. They all have stories.” William said almost gently. It surprised her. He hadn’tever said something like that to her, it almost sounded alien and she eyed him suspiciously.

William released her and fell back against the bed. His eyes went up the the ceiling and stayed there.Perhaps he already regretted what he said. She didn’t blame him in the slightest.

“Do you think they trust you now?” Doris asked.

“I do. They don’t look as if they want me to die every time I enter a room.”

“That must be a first for you.” Doris said as she slipped out of bed. She glanced back just in time to see aghost of a smirk on his lips. It was gone before she could capture it forever in her mind.

“I know you don’t owe me anything, but I would appreciate if you were honest with me.” Doris quicklyturned away from him and searched through her drawers. She heard the bed creak behind her.

“I see it as trust. I wish you had just trusted me.”

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Doris clenched her hand around a pair of socks and took a deep breath. After a second, he continued.

“I will tell you next time.”

Doris turned to look at him, but he was already in the bathroom.

After they were both dressed, Doris followed William out of the cabin and into a crowd. Immediately sherecognized a lot of the villagers blended in with the guards. Many of them looked tired, but othersseemed happy.

“They were brought back after you went to bed.” William answered the question in her mind. “They’re allaware of the deal, many other guards are going to other

villages to let them know as

Doris bit her lip. None of them glared at them as they passed, several even smiled. Did this mean peacehad already started? Less than two days ago Doris swore she was close to death.

“William.” Enzo broke through the crowd and headed straight for them. His face was serious, in his handhe clenched a golden letter. “The palace has sent this for you.”