Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 133: Be Safe

Chapter 133: Be Safe

{Welcome to my Month dear readers! ♡♡}

In the empty corridor that seemed to be devoid of any ubiquity, Ivan paced restlessly through the grand hall, his deep crimson eyes revealing a hidden torment as he went into his room to find neither Lord Draven, nor his little lamb present. His troubled mind was already assuming the worst as neither of them were nowhere to be seen in his chamber, but when he turned to head back incase Draven had returned downstairs, the oddly familiar scent of his little lamb hit his nostril, making him halt in his gait as he inhaled it further in a whim.

Since she had used his lavender oil, the fragrance was pungent enough to hide his little lamb’s scent from being detected. If he hadn’t stopped to inhale it one more time, there was a chance he might have missed it, the same way Draven must have missed it when he came up here to find her... which means his little lamb was still somewhere within the corridor’s premises.

Inquisitively, his piercing eyes darted across the rest of the closed rooms, knowing she had to be inside one of them. Individually, he searched all the available rooms, trying to fish her out without alerting Draven who must have headed for the orb room. When he made it to a specific door, he reached for the door knob and quietly tried to open it, but it was locked from the inside. When he placed his ear against the door to detect any sound, he could hear the drumming of his little lamb’s heart beat, but it was one that expressed her peril.

Unable to keep himself out, he had to break the door open, but it was also a little trick to make Draven assume he was searching for him as well, wherever he might be. Stepping inside, Ivan’s gaze darted across the room that was shadowed in darkness, but he knew she had to be here, her scent had grown stronger.

"Where could she be?" He uttered out loud while coming to stand in the middle of the room, surveying the entire place. He had checked every possible area that seemed like a good hideout, but no matter where he searched, he found nothing but her absence. Already getting slightly frustrated at not being able to locate where she was hiding, at the last minute, a frightened cry shattered the stillness in the room, alerting Ivan whose keen ears instantly picked up on the sound.

"Samantha?!"

When he no longer heard her voice, he reached for the door that led to the opened balcony, kicking it open, but before he could gain his composure, his worried eyes caught sight of her hand slipping from the edge, followed by her alarmed cry, and his eyes grew wider upon seeing her plummet before him.

As Samantha hurtled downwards in a slow motion, with gust of wind ruffling her hair and dress, she squeezed her eyes shut while bracing herself for the impact that would come with her fall, whilst hoping that it would not hurt too much as the pain in her back, but what she hadn’t expected to see at all was for Ivan to swoop down with her, and when he stretched her hand for her take, Samantha, whose eyes watered due to the wind, tried to reach for it until their fingers eventually interlaced, and in a fluid motion, he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around, but that was when the greatest shock occurred to the two of them.

Halfway down their fall, a pair of magnificent black wings, enveloped in moonlight, immediately unfurled from Ivan’s back before they could both plummet to the hard ground. The sight was almost ethereal as the wings, which had spread wide and gracefully behind his back, began to beat powerfully as they ascended swiftly into the air with Samantha holding on tight to Ivan who appeared as bewildered as she was by what was happening.

"You have wings?!" Samantha uttered her disbelief, her voice almost drowned by the sound of the wind that blew behind them.

"Hold on tight!" Was all Ivan said as he took her away from the Palace, and with a control he had managed to gain for only a millisecond, he flew past the trees until they were out of sight.

Draven, who had heard the scream and rushed to the balcony, could feel his face blanch at the sight of Ivan who had grown.....wings?! Yet there wasn’t any time to react or summon his shadow knights since they had vanished from his line of sight.

"How interesting.." the corner of Draven’s lips twitched into a malcontented smile, his eyes glimmering with incredulity. "Ivan... you have no idea what you’re in for."

Meanwhile, Ivan took Samantha to a different destination as his wings kept beating in one with wind, but unfortunately, he couldn’t control the direction as much as he wanted, whilst he enveloped Samantha in their protection before they crash landed against a dune of sand that had been formed in the middle of who knows where. For a moment, they both remained that way, unmoving, but that was until Ivan’s majestic wings eventually opened themselves to reveal Samantha who had been saved from the fall by their protection.

Opening her eyes, Samantha carefully propped herself up with one elbow, feeling her eyes spin in a circle as she tried to regain her balance.

"Aissssss..." she let out a soft hiss due to the dull pain that had been triggered in her head. Shaking off the dizziness that clouded her senses, she sat up properly, but when her eyes landed on Ivan who also appeared to have been disoriented by the landing, they inadvertently locked gaze, but rather than asking about each other’s health, the next thing they both thought they could do was scream out as Samantha pointed at the incredibly large feathered wings that still flapped reflexively behind Ivan’s back

"You.... You have wings?" Samantha asked, still staring at him in awe and disbelief as he got up from the dune to look at the onyx-black wings that were yet to show any sign of leaving. Her tongue was ready to lash out at Ivan for keeping something like this a secret from her, but when she studied his expressions that were mixed with confusion and mystification, it was pretty obvious that he was also witnessing this side of his powers for the first time.

"I....didn’t expect this either." He uttered in a barely audible voice, his tone laced with stupefaction as he looked over his shoulder to see the wings that had stopped flapping.

"But... how is this possible?" Samantha’s initial terror was now transformed into one of fascination as she got up from the dune, taking a step closer to examine the beautiful large wings. If it were anyone else, she would have probably fainted since it isn’t every day you get to see someone growing large wings behind their backs! She should be frightened, any normal person would be, and although she was at first, she doesn’t feel that way now.

"It’s... it’s beautiful!" She complimented, her sparkling emerald green eyes looking up to meet Ivan’s amethyst eyes that narrowed as if she just uttered something very stupid.

"What..?" Ivan hardly knew what to say to this woman. "Why do I even bother, just.... how do I take these things off! Whoa!" Ivan was thrown off guard when his attempt to touch his wings had them flapping away from his touch, but since they had the weight that could match his own, it had him swaying slightly to the side until Samantha grabbed his hand so she could help steady him.

"Wild wings." She uttered to Ivan who met her gaze. "They are not familiar with their owner, you’ll have to bear their presence and tame them to listen to you...if that is possible." She said merely out of what she had observed as she studied them briefly. Although she was undoubtedly awestruck by the sudden turn of events, her eyes moved to their surroundings only to notice they had landed in the middle of nowhere.

"How do we return–"

"You’re not going back to that Palace." He answered before she could complete her questions. Now that they were over the sudden appearance of his wings, Ivan remembered the statement Lord Draven had made in the hall, the unsettling statement about his little lamb not being human but the Mystic Orb he had been desperately searching for. Standing in front of her and looking into her expressive green eyes, how could he fathom such?

"Why... Why was he after me?" With her gentle eyebrows creasing pessimistically at Ivan who immediately regained his composure. "He was after me, wasn’t he? Was it because of the trial? Are you going to be in trouble because of me?"

"No." Ivan shook his head when he sensed her worries growing. "You don’t have to worry about his reasons. I’ll explain everything later but for now, I need to get you somewhere safe, away from the eyes of everyone that can harm you...even myself." Taking her wrist in his firm grasp, he didn’t wait for her to speak further and led her towards where he believed might be the exit out of this deserted place.

—-

"You want me to take her in?" Queen Lucinda strictly questioned Ivan who had brought an unfamiliar woman to her kingdom. "Why on Earth would I possibly do that? I gave you my rules, and you left without considering them."

"I wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t urgent." Ivan explained before glancing at Samantha who had been given a blanket to cover her frail body. Returning his gaze to his Aunt, he proceeded to beg on her behalf. "Please, let her stay here, only for a few days. It won’t exceed more than a few days. There’s trouble in the Palace and I don’t want her to get hurt because of it."

Samantha, whose eyes had grown slightly wide to see Ivan plead on her behalf, had left her speechless. Her eyes moved to Queen Lucinda whose expression remained cold as Ice, but she seemed to contemplate Ivan’s request before letting her blue eyes fall on her, whilst she lowered her head immediately.

"I see, so she’s important to you." Queen Lucinda hummed, "what makes you think I wouldn’t take my chances?"

"Cause you’re not a bad person, you won’t hurt the innocent." He answered genuinely, and that caused the look in Lucinda’s eyes to falter momentarily, and she looked away before flicking her wrist.

Two female servants immediately approached with their heads dipped in a bow. "Take her inside and make sure she receives proper treatment."

"Yes, My Queen." The two servants turned to take Samantha into the Palace, but when she noticed Ivan wasn’t going to stay as well, she felt prompted to ask.

"Are you going back?"

"I have to." He said firmly, but there was a gentleness in his tone that could not be missed. "I’ll come back for you." He assured her, and Samantha could only nod as she watched him step back, his onyx-black wings spreading out as he was prepared to make the flight back to the Chevalier Palace.

"B-be safe!" Was the silent whisper that left Samantha’s lips as she watched him leave. Her eyes glimmered with concern.