Kadic and I walked hand in hand back to the palace. “This is really nice,” I admitted and smiled up at him. “What should we do today?”

Kadic looked toward the palace. “I actually have some business I need to attend to this morning.” He glanced at me with an apologetic smile.

“Oh, that’s okay,” I said, feeling slightly disappointed.

“I won’t be gone all day.” He brightened and I felt relieved.

“Well, I can just wait for you here,” I joked. It’s not as if I had anywhere else to go.

“You could take a nap, if you wanted,” he suggested. “We did get up rather early this morning.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m feeling awake now. I prefer to walk through your beautiful garden.”

Kadic nodded. “That’s fine with me, I can lead you there. Just remember to not reach out and touch anything that you are unfamiliar with.”

“You got it,” I said with a grin.

He walked me to the edge of his dense and gloriously colorful garden. “I’m going to leave you here now, if that’s okay. I will see you later, alright?” He leaned in and gave me a tender and affectionate kiss.

“That sounds perfect.” I smiled warmly at him.

After we said our goodbyes with one final kiss, I walked slowly through the paths and trails of the garden, soaking in the astounding splendor. It must have taken him decades to create a garden of this magnitude and fullness for everything to grow so spectacularly.

I stood next to a particularly exquisite neon yellow flower that had drawn my attention. I savored its beauty, longing to touch it, but I had no idea which plants and flowers in there were poisonous, so I kept a safe distance and admired it from a few feet away.

After a moment or two, I turned around when I heard footsteps behind me.

“Back so soon?” I said with a smile spread across my lips, but when I turned around it was a huge buff alien with a dark expression. I had no idea who he was and my first instinct was to startle and take a step backwards.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing how else to address the man.

“Hello, Marissa,” the man drawled at me with a wicked grin.

It was only after he spoke that I recognized who he was by his voice. It was Kadic’s brother, Dakir. I let out a tiny yet audible gasp.

I looked around, trying to find an escape route, but he was blocking the only path. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end in an ominous feeling of entrapment.

“You are really beautiful, more attractive than I expected.” Dakir took a step forward and I edged subtly backwards.

“Um, thank you,” I stammered.

“You are exactly the type of woman I could use to be my Queen.” His eyes looked hungry and he licked his lips, still slowly walking toward me.

I was completely creeped out by his presence and the aura in the air thickened to a sense of evil that I could feel around me.

“Kadic will be back at any moment,” I blurted out. I wasn’t sure how that would help me out of this situation, but I hoped it would buy me a little extra time.

Dakir’s laugh was slimy and horrifying. “My poor innocent girl. Kadic’s been called away to the town on business. He’s nowhere near here and won’t be back for a while.”

I gulped; my throat was suddenly dry. My breathing was shallow as I tried not to panic.

How long was a while?

I didn’t care for Dakir’s tone and he was leering at me without an ounce of shame. I was growing uncomfortable as my eyes darted left and right. The only way past him was through the plants and flowers and I didn’t want to risk it.

I didn’t know if I had the speed or aptitude to run past Dakir and back to the palace without him grabbing me in the process.

Surely there would be a guard nearby. I wondered if I screamed for help whether one of them would be within hearing range for me.

I decided to try to play it cool. If I ran, it would alert Dakir and put him on the offensive to potentially attack me, which I obviously was trying to avoid.

Instead, I opted for another solution without consequence that I thought of on the spot. I yawned for effect and rubbed my eyes. “I’m actually getting kind of tired. We woke up to watch the sunrise and I need a nap.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie, but I hoped it worked.

“You’re tired and going back to sleep then?” Dakir glanced questioningly at me.

“Mm-hmm, that’s right.” I nodded.

Please let him leave me be now.

The opposite happened. “Good,” his eyes lit up, “I can join you.”

This fucking asshole was seriously getting on my nerves. I had to play another card and pretend I wasn’t afraid of him.

Standing my ground, I tried to be as assertive as possible. “I’m with Kadic. I’m sorry, Dakir, but your efforts are unfortunately in vain. I’m not interested in you romantically and you should be ashamed of yourself for trying to seduce your brother’s fiancée behind his back.”

Dakir’s eyes grew cold and his expression dark. “You spoiled little bitch,” he spat at me.

“What?” I said in confusion.

He looked furious. “How dare you speak to me in such a condescending tone?”

Before I had a chance to defend myself or retort, he grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder.

His grip on me was tight and painful, but I still screamed and tried to kick him, flailing my arms and legs.

He was relentless and too powerfully strong for me to escape. I grew tired after only a few minutes and gasped for air as he charged through the woods and carried me off to a carriage drawn by flying Darailtars.

Without a word, he tossed me like a sack of garbage into the back of the carriage and pain seared my hips as I hit the floor. He slammed the door shut and I heard a lock click into place. It was dark and frightening. I wailed as I pounded on the doors, begging to be set free.

He must have gotten in the driver’s seat because I heard us take off. I was terrified and I had no idea where we were going or what he was going to do to me once we got there.

He was dangerous, Kadic had already warned me. Now I was experiencing Dakir’s wrath first hand and didn’t know how to escape from inside a locked carriage.

I yelled for help until my throat was raw, I pounded on the wooden doors until I had bruises on my fists. I prayed someone or Kadic would hear me and come to my rescue or be able to fight off my kidnapper more successfully than I had.