A Malice Heart

More days passed, meaning more headaches. Malice again struck to stay in his room, Drew now visiting him more often rather than taking him out to someplace he had already been. The king refused to leave the palace again, no matter how much the assassin pleaded with him.

Now Drew would find herself wandering into his chambers, sitting down and picking out one of the books he had been reading as if she owned it. Malice hadn’t minded it one bit, yet her presence kept distracting him from the work he actually had to complete in the meantime.

Drew had gone completely quiet, barely smiling or making any form of acting. Sometimes he would spot her walking with red eyes as if she had been crying at something, but when she spotted him walking up to her, she would clean them up in a matter of seconds and put on a bright smile that once again didn’t meet her eyes. A fake smile to keep him at bay.

“The weather is clearing up,” Drew spoke as she looked outside the window. The weather has indeed been getting better. There were barely any clouds in the sky and it was possible to walk outside without any jacket or cloak.

“How about we go on a picnic tomorrow morning?” she questioned, now turning to Malice with a slight grin. “I’m sure that would be more pleasant than eating in your chambers again.”

The king watched the desperation in her eyes and couldn’t help but nod at her suggestion. “I have no problem with that, as long as the cat is gone.”

“Then we can go to the far side of the wall where there shouldn’t be anyone,” she said, standing up from her seat and cleaning up her pants. “I’ve been there a few times, that area with all the trees and the mini pond. It’s a perfect place for a picnic.”

“It’s a date then,” said Malice before getting back to looking at this week’s losses. He took a look at the numbers, yet they mushed up in his head once again, the black numbers merging with the white paper.

Damn it, not again.

He caught hold of himself from the edge of the table, but it was too late, Drew noticed him losing his balance.

“Malice, what’s wrong?” She was already by his side, hand on his shoulder as she lowered herself so she could take a closer look at him. “Did you just lose conscious?”

Not wanting Drew to see him in this state, Malice shook his head, attempting to look up, but it only made him dizzier. The assassin quickly took hold of his shoulder with one hand, her other reaching for the cup of water on his desk.

“Drink this quickly while I call for a medic,” she was already up and running, but Malice’s voice stopped her.

“No, don’t call a medic. I don’t need one, I’m perfectly fine, Drew,” he attempted standing by holding the side of his chair and drank all the water that was inside his cup, hoping that it would help his dizziness. As soon as he noticed himself getting more stable, Malice let go of the chair and took a few steps forward. “See? I’m fine. Probably something I just ate.”

Drew squinted her eyes in question, assessing the king. She took a few steps towards him and grabbed his chin, moving it left and right, not taking her eyes off of him.

Malice found himself holding his breath at her careful movements before she turned his head back to hers and brushed her thumb over his chin. There was a moment of silence between them, a moment where only their hearts beat and their blood rushed.

Malice carefully picked up his own hand, cupping Drew’s cheek with it, and watched her eyes gloss over once again at the slight touch. She leaned her head into his touch, allowing them both to savor this moment.

“Malice,” she breathed, a single tear now shedding from her left eye. Malice wiped it away with his thumb, and as another tear streamed down her right eye, he brushed it off with his other hand, now cupping both sides of her face.

“I’m here, darling. It’ll be alright,” he reassured her. Drew had done her best to never show him a side of her that was as vulnerable as this, a side of her that spoke so much, and he loved that about her.

About how strong and adamant she was, how she would never give up on anything, trying every route no matter what, even if it killed her in the end.

Malice took this chance to lean down close to her, so their faces were merely inches apart, and had her open her eyes to see his own. To see this love and affection that had grown in his eyes for her, and saw her own blue ones soften and shatter as he pulled her in and kissed her deeply.

He watched her eyes widen at the sudden contact, but then flutter shut as she leaned back on his desk while he held her firmly by her waist.

Drew wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her, and Malice allowed her. Their lips crashed with one another, all those words that the two wished to speak to the other being said in these few seconds of pure tenderness.

Malice took a moment to pull away from her just so he could look at her face, watch as Drew was flushed with color, her lips swollen and her eyes wide before he dived in once again.