The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 633. A Condition

Chapter 633: 633. A Condition

"Fine," he said and took a step closer. "What is it?"

"You didn’t say you would consider it," she pouted. The space between them was too little. At this point, if she moved another step forward, she would be in his arms. How was he not bothered standing there in all his naked glory?

Jael went silent for a moment and then slowly closed his eyes. "I will consider it." He sounded as though it pained him to say those words.

"Thank you," she grinned. Mauve wetted her throat as she prepared to explain the situation and her discussion with Jean. "I spoke to Jean and he said he could teach me all I needed to know," she started.

"Okay," Jael said, dragging out his word. He folded his arms as he stared down at her.

He looked very intimidating, and for a second, the words dried out of Mauve’s mouth, but it wasn’t because she was scared. Quite the contrary. She did her best to keep her gaze on his face. She needed to phrase her words in a way that would make it harder for Jael to say no.

The cut on his cheek was still obvious, but she was more worried about the one by his side, though Mauve knew better than to look downwards.

"He also offered to teach me how to plant some of the herbs in my garden on the rooftop. That way, I can always have access to them."

"I already heard this part," he stated impatiently.

"I have to say everything from the top," she glared at him, annoyed that he was messing with her concentration.

"Carry on then," he said.

"He wants me to go along with him during the lessons. He said there are a lot of herbs around the castle, and he would show them to me so I can easily recognize them, it would be best for us to do that in the daytime when I can see the plants myself and where they are likely to grow."

Mauve didn’t miss Jael’s slight pause, nor did she miss the way his folded arms tightened, further accentuating his muscles. "What exactly are you saying?"

"I think you have an idea already," she whispered. Still, this was certainly not the appropriate situation to be having this sort of conversation. Mauve was apparently more concerned about this than Jael’s was.

"No, completely out of the question," he said and took a step back, walking away from her.

Mauve gasped. "You said you’d consider it."

"And I did," he replied, stopping in front of his wardrobe.

"No, you didn’t," she angrily stated. He wasn’t taking her seriously. "You didn’t even think about it for two seconds."

"One second is more than enough for me to come to a proper decision." He threw the wardrobe doors open, almost making them fly off their hinges with the force he used.

"No, it’s not. You won’t even consider what this means for me."

"It’s dangerous, and my answer is no."

"No, it’s not. It will be daylight, and I won’t be alone. Also, the fences are high up to the sky; no wild animal would be crazy enough to scale the walls. Furthermore, I haven’t mentioned it, but I am pretty good with arrows now."

"You couldn’t shoot a bird," he said without looking at her. Mauve could see his clenched jaw from the side of his face.

Mauve felt the blood rush to her head, but she did her best to calm down. She knew from experience that butting heads with Jael was the worst way to get him to agree to what she wanted.

Mauve slowly approached Jael and stopped by his side, close enough to touch him if she needed to. "You made the castle grounds safe enough. I will be fine."

Jael sighed, "I won’t be able to keep an eye on you. This is completely different from the rooftop."

"I know," she whispered and gently placed her palm on his arm. "But you said you don’t like to tell me no, and yet here you are doing it again without even looking at the situation."

Jael sighed and tore his gaze from the wardrobe to look down at her. "Surely, there must be a way to teach you without you having to step out of the castle by yourself."

"I won’t be alone, and I am sure the last thing Jean wants to do is put me in danger. We will be careful. We won’t wander too far out, and as soon as I see anything suspicious—though I highly doubt there would be anything like that in the compound..."

Jael gave her an unimpressed look.

"I will run to the castle. I will abandon Jean and use him as bait while I make my escape. What do you say about that?" Mauve smiled at Jael as she asked.

She knew he had no reason to say no, and he knew this. However, Jael was stubborn and wanted to have his way at all costs. Unfortunately, this was the one time he couldn’t. She wasn’t just happy to go herb hunting with Jean; she also wanted to see what the surroundings looked like in daylight. It wasn’t nearly enough to just peek at it from the rooftops.

"And there is no other way for a safer arrangement to be made?" he asked.

Mauve felt her annoyance dissipate. Jael wasn’t just being stubborn because he wanted to restrict her movements—though she was almost certain this was part of it. It wasn’t the only reason. He wanted her to be safe.

"This is safe enough," she said, not backing down.

Jael sighed and looked into the wardrobe. "Fine," he responded reluctantly. "But only until you hit something with an arrow."

"Jael!" she cried.

"You brought it up. I’d like to see how true this is."

She looked at her feet. "It has been a while, and I haven’t seen an arrow since I left Greenham, let alone held one. I am sure I am very rusty."

"People don’t lose skills that easily. It hasn’t been that long." He looked in her direction and stepped closer to her. "It’s my condition to let you out of the castle alone."

"Fine," she groaned, resisting the urge to add that she wouldn’t be alone but she knew Jael wouldn’t want to hear that. "I will show you a demonstration. It doesn’t mean I will hit the mark. I understand that you enjoy being difficult about this."

"I don’t," he responded and turned away from her.

Mauve didn’t know what to say to this, so she just looked at his back as he shuffled through his wardrobe. He selected something casual and put it on.

"After the last meal," he whispered. "You will show me after the last meal. Also," he said, stepping closer again.

Mauve was glad he was dressed. He still looked angry, and she could tell he was not very happy. She truly wished she had asked some other day and not today or right now, but there was barely any time left if she wanted to learn anything and send Jean on his way early enough.

"Also?" she repeated, taking a step back.

"Why are you only just mentioning that you learned how to use an arrow?"

Mauve blinked and then frowned. She hadn’t expected that to be his question. "I would have sworn I mentioned it before now."

"No, you didn’t," he replied, leaving no room for argument.

"My bad. There wasn’t any reason to bring it up."

"Why?"

"Why? I don’t understand. It’s not exactly something you just say," she mumbled.

"I don’t mean that," he said and started walking away. "Is it because you don’t think I can..." he paused. "I mean, why did you try to learn how to shoot an arrow?"

"Well," she shuffled on her feet, "it was definitely easier than trying the sword. Besides, it was a nice hobby to add while I was learning how to ride a horse."

"I see," he said. "I will be back."

"Where are you going?" Mauve asked as he headed for the door.

"Nowhere far. I will be back before the last meal."

Mauve wanted to protest. There was obviously something she was missing. The air had gone from tense to solemn, and Jael’s countenance was even more so. Did she say something she shouldn’t have? Or was he just angry that he had to give in to her request? It was hard to know which.

She nodded, and he slipped out the door. She sighed and walked to the bed. There was still maybe two hours before the last meal, and she had assumed she would spend that time with him. Now what would she do with herself?

She dropped on it and groaned. She couldn’t exactly roam the castle. Or maybe she could go to the dining room and just sit there. That sounded pathetic, so she pushed the thought away. She would have to wait for him to come back.

But it was just for her to step out for maybe a handful of hours. Why did he fix the bloody fence if he still wanted to keep her locked in the castle? Mauve growled and kicked her legs in the air in annoyance.