Touch of Flame

"Get out!" Nazneen curled up, trying her best to hide her body, and kept throwing him whatever she could find. "Don't look!" She panicked looking for somewhere she could hide.

He tore the skirt she threw at him from his face and tossed it aside.

"Have you no shame?" She asked when he stared blatantly as she held the small towel around her body.

"Shame?" he raised a brow. "Not anymore. I am trying to adapt to your culture."

While he spoke, she turned away from him in the stool she was sitting on so he could only see her back.

"Please leave," she said, hiding behind her long hair and burning with fury when she heard him ignore her and step closer.

"Did you hurt yourself?" He asked, now sounding serious.

"No," she hunched and flinched when she saw him from the corner of her eye before she could make a serious threat.

Oh, now he could see her. She dared not look up but she knew today she would strangle him. Breedmate or not.

"What happened to your legs?" He sounded concerned. "Did you get burned?"

Before she knew he was on his knees in front of her bare legs. She stiffened and looked at his face as he studied her legs with a frown.

No disgust...yet.

She knew humans found this utterly disgusting. The servants in her home used to shiver just thinking about it and hated to clean up after such bath.

He reached for the flake of skin. "This is not a burn," he said thoughtfully and then looked up at her.

"No," she whispered. "I am... shedding skin."

"Shedding skin?"

"Like a snake?"

"I know nothing about snakes."

She almost smiled. "To get new skin, I shed my old one." She explained while trying to maintain her expression of displeasing.

"Oh..." he said looking at her skin again. Her heart pounded. What would he think now? "Do you peel it?"

She couldn't tell what he was thinking as he asked. Since he had already seen it, she thought of getting it over with. She peeled the top layer off her leg.

Ares frowned as she tossed the skin aside and it made a strange sound. He looked at her leg again as if to make sure she didn't tear her skin off put he only found healthier skin.

​ "Oh..." he almost breathed. "That explains a lot." He looked up at her. "Is it some kind of secret that I found out?" He asked with a subtle smile.

"No. I just didn't want you to see."

He narrowed his eyes but didn't ask why. "Now that I have seen, do you need help? It is taking you so long."

Help?

"Um... my back..."

He stood up and went behind her. She dropped the towel to her waist and then felt his icy fingers on her shoulder blade.

"Why did you go out in the rain?" She asked. "You are still human. You can get sick."

"I like rain," he told her as his fingers worked on her back. "It is your coronation today."

"Yes." She became nervous thinking about it. "Can I not go there?" She joked nervously.

He remained quiet as he finished peeling everything on her back and then walked around to face her. "You don't want to be queen?" He asked.

She shrugged.

"What do you want?" He asked her.

She was confused by the question.

"You got a second chance to live your life. What would you want to do with it? What do you wish to do differently?"

She looked down at her hands, remembering her life before she was locked. "I... I would like to... respect myself." She said, her eyes burning. She dug her nails into her fingers. "And... accept myself and... live the way I want. I also want people to see me and like me for who I am and I would like to have meaningful relationships."

She took a deep breath to calm down the rising emotions. Ares kept his eyes on her.

"I want to be happy, not from inflicting pain on others. I want to find something good that makes me happy." She added, looking up at him. "You know the things you like. I don't even know... rain or sun... day or night. How am I supposed to be queen?"

"A queen doesn't have to know everything but you have to be open-minded, ready to listen, learn and grow. Surround yourself with different kinds of people who have knowledge in different areas to expand your own knowledge and view. The key is having the right people on your side. I will help you with that, but then you will have to learn to work with them."

She listened carefully.

"You said you want to accept yourself, as a woman I am guessing. Use that to your advantage. You will be a queen. Win over the women in your clan. Make them celebrate a female ruler. Invite them in, listen to their concerns and show them that you as another woman can understand them. If you win the women over, you also have their men on your side. Include women as your guards and in court as well."

She nodded.

"Most of all, remain calm at all times. Especially now in the beginning." He added.

"Alright."

"Also, you will introduce me as your adviser. As a wise queen, you need to work with a human who can keep you updated on matters concerning humans and their recent development of threatening weapons that I also will supply you with."

She smiled. "I am sure they already know you are my breedmate."

"That you don't plan to mate with."

"Hmm..." she tilted her head.

He just peeled her skin. She was not letting him go anywhere after this. One day she would look back to this day and remind him, that she made him hers.

"Why do you look at me like that?"

She smiled. "I will tell you one day."

He looked at her skeptically. "Alright. Do you need more peeling or are you done?"

"I am done."

He decided to make his own bath and mix the water but the tub was very heavy. Wrapping her towel properly, she took it from him, carrying it with ease, she threw the water out the window.

"Must be nice to have such strength," he said as she carried the heavy wooden tub back and placed it on the floor. The boiling water was lukewarm now, and she poured it into the tub.

"Do you need help with something else?" She asked.

His emerald eyes found hers. "Breakfast would be nice. Made by your own hands."

Huh? She frowned.

He raised a brow. "You asked."

He was teasing her again? Because she couldn't cook? Did he like to have someone cook for him?

With questions swirling in her head, she left him alone. Once she got dressed, she went downstairs to the kitchen. She would just ask one of the maids to make breakfast but she kept wondering as she arrived at the kitchen.

"Do human males like their woman to cook for them?" She asked one of the maids in-case they knew something.

One of them chuckled. "All males do. Especially human males. They even say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Really?" She was skeptical. Of everything, food would be the trick. "Alright, show me!"

Nazneen made a mess just to make eggs and porridge. Why was this so difficult? After a few failures and still her breakfast was not like the one he made her, she went upstairs to feed him the poison. To hell with winning his heart.

She arrived at the room and found him hanging his wet clothes near the fireplace. "I need to bring more clothes," he said without turning around, as he heard her steps.

He wore one of the male garments around his hips, holding it together with a brown belt.

"I made breakfast," she said as she placed the tray on the bed.

He turned to her. "You did."

"Yes. For you," she smiled. So come and eat and die!

He walked over with a smile that she would slap out of his face. "What did you make? He sat down and looked at the tray. The good looked fine, but looks could be deceiving.

He picked up the fork and went for the scrambled eggs. As he tasted it, he smiled. Was it good? She looked at him hopefully but he just picked more without sating anything.

"Is it good?"

He held back a chuckle as he continued to chew and when he swallowed, "Oh, Neena." He said almost with disbelief.

Her heart skipped. She couldn't have won him over so easily. Could food truly do the trick?

"Sweet Neena." He leaned closer and whispered. "It is... horrible."

When her face hardened, he laughed.

"This is a paste of salt. I could just drink seawater."

She grasped his wrists and he looked at her confused before she squeezed hard.

"Aw...ah.."

She held his eyes as she crushed it slowly. He dropped the fork. "Alright... ah... I am sorry." He groaned and chuckled at the same time.

"How does it taste?" She asked.

"It tastes utterly delicious."

She squeezed harder and he held back another groan. "Then you will finish it all."

"Of course. I am starving."

Liar, she thought amusedly as she released him.

He rubbed his wrist. "So this is how you want to play?"

"You never played fair anyway, pirate."

He picked up his fork again and proceeded to take some more. "The witch... that locked you up.." he suddenly began, and she stiffened. "He is still alive."

"He is? Was he the one..."

"Yes."

She shivered, thinking about what the witch could have done to him.

"You don't have to be scared, but be careful. Also, how do you fight a witch?"

She shook her head with dread. "You can't. They use magic. It is very difficult to fight them, especially those who live long enough to hone their skills and they can use that to live even longer."

"There is no way?"

"Back then, witches were killed while still children or in their teens to stop them while they still couldn't protect themselves. Once they reach a certain age, they can protect themselves and be very dangerous with the abilities they have." She explained.

Ares was thoughtful for a moment. "Well, don't worry about him."

She just stared at the wall without blinking. She didn't like this at all. Ares reached for her face, grabbing her jaw, he made her look at him.

His eyes were soft, almost concerned. "I will take care of it." He promised.

"No! Don't go anywhere near him."

"He will show himself someday, so it is better to talk to him."

"Then I will be there with you."

"Alright. Let's eat now. We have your coronation coming."