ARIA.
Things had gone from uncomfortable to outright disastrous. I focused so hard on my food while the brothers argued, taking note of the food on my plate I hadn't identified before. Take for example the tiny crust of nut seed caught between the spicy grains I was spooning into my mouth.

When I finally looked up, I caught Sheila staring at me. She didn't make a move to tear her eyes from me and when I realized what she was doing literally making her presence known, I knew the best thing to do was just look down at my plate and act like she was inexistent while the brothers argued.
"You're always like this," Marcus spoke, bringing my attention back to them. "Your ego is so inflated that you don't want to speak to anyone. You don't think anyone is better than you are. That's why I don't like you. You had me kicked out because you were afraid that I would take your place which is actually true," He shrugged. If this was in a different situation with a less serious topic, I sure would have burst into laughter at how amusing this was. But I remained silent, focusing more on my food than the brothers fighting.
Once I was done eating, I pushed to my feet. Lyall looked up at me and his eyes softened immediately. I knew he was asking me if I was comfortable even if he didn't say the word and I nodded at him before making my way out of the dining room.
I'd just gotten to the door of my room, just about to pull it open when a throat cleared behind me. I turned to see Sheila standing a few feet away from me, one arm folded over the other as she accessed me. Cocking her head to the side, she spoke. "Now making eye contact and communicating with my husband, are we?"
I looked down at the doorknob, searching for the right words to say. I didn't want to upset her as it was going to make things really awkward between us so I answered her in the politest way I could.
"I'm sure anyone would have understood that. He only looked at me that way because he wanted to know if I was feeling uncomfortable."

"Feeling uncomfortable indeed," she nodded her head, taking tentative steps towards me. Just as I was about to tell her that she didn't have to worry about anything, she pulled me by the hair, drawing me back with brute force and when I cried out, she covered her hand over my mouth to muffle my screams before banging my head against the wall.
Blinding pain shot through me and my eyes flew open in panic as I struggled to be free from her. These were the moments I wished I could communicate with Lyall. I wished I had coerced him into marking me so all of these could end but none of that was going to be possible for a while.
Hot tears streamed down my cheeks and I closed my eyes, enduring the pain as it coursed through me.
"Listen and listen carefully, whore," She hissed into my ears. "I know you think you can have my husband but you must know that it won't be possible. Don't even try anything nasty because I am going to make sure I mess you up! I'll make you regret ever sleeping with my husband. I see through you and I see clearly so if you think you can act all innocent to deceive me, then it's not going to work!"

She finally let me go and my head crashed into my door before she walked away. I heard a few giggles behind me before pushing the door open and rushing in.
As soon as I shut the door behind me, I crumpled to the ground and burst into tears, sobbing my heart out as the pain in my chest and my head intensified.
Things were getting worse and as much as Lyall cared for me and belonged to me, I knew he wasn't going to be here to help me all the time.

****
"Who did this to you?" Daneesha asked as she cleaned my bruises and soothed it with a balm. I could see the pure anger on her face. "Don't tell me the King did this?"
I immediately shook my head in defence of Lyall. "Not at all. He wouldn't do that to me."
"Then who?"
A stray tear slipped down my cheeks and I immediately wiped it off, contemplating the need to tell her. Daneesha grabbed my arm and stared into my eyes. "I know this might be hard for you but you're my friend and I want you to tell me who did this to you."
"It's Sheila— it's the Queen."
Daneesha suddenly went silent. She said nothing after that and continued to clean my face before she pushed to her feet and picked up the bowl of warm water. She walked towards the door and stopped, heaving a sigh before she turned to look at me. "Are you going to tell the King?"
I looked down at my hands and shook my head. "I don't think I can."
She looked at me like I had gone crazy. "So when he asks you who did this to you, what are you going to tell him?"
"I hit my head somewhere." I forced a laugh that didn't even get to me. "He's going to believe me."
"You're so close to him and yet, I know that he's going to see through your lies. You must have forgotten that he is the Alpha of all Alphas."
She shakes her head and walks out of the room, leaving me to think. In as much as she is very right, I am not going to tell Lyall about this. I know I must find a suitable lie. I don't want to be the one to cause an issue between the couple. As much as he was mine, I had to give their union an ounce of respect, even if that was the last thing I wanted to do.
Pushing to my feet, I walked to the mirror. The angry bruise on my face had worsened, turning into dark purple. The side of my face was slowly starting to swell and I knew I had to do something about it or else, Lyall would know it wasn't just a bruise.
It was going to take a few hours to heal. Maybe tomorrow but the marks were still going to be there and it was one thing I hated the most.
Deciding that I wasn't going to obsess over this injury, I went to take a seat on the balcony, watching as people trained at the perimeter. I had found joy in watching the men combat, imagining which one was going to win and most of the time, I was always wrong but none of that mattered at all.
Someone familiar walked into the perimeter and as soon as the men bowed, I knew it was Lyall. I could feel my body really go from dormant to excited in a matter of seconds. My hormones were on overdrive and I was this close to jumping over the balcony and making my presence known to him so he could wrap me in his warmth and kiss me with everything in him. He pulled off his robe and his tunic came next. I gulped hard when I saw how ripped he was. It felt like the first time again, like I'd never seen him shirtless. How he was able to dominate every man around me fazed me and made my ovaries jump with excitement.
He was handed a sword and he said something that had the men hesitating and whispering to themselves in amusement. I could tell that they were all afraid to go one-on-one with Lyall and that he was going to beat them with ease.
Just as he was about to pick one person, a woman walked into the field, dressed in a combat outfit. She looked too familiar to be ignored.
She stood before him and offered to go one one-on-one with him. I didn't recognize her yet but I was filled with so much anger and energy. I literally felt bile rise in my throat at the sight and the only thing I wanted to do right now was go down there and choose to duel with her so I could warn her to stay away from my man.
They both got into combat and I could tell that she was good. Surprisingly good. She fought and defended hard, not missing any hit but Lyall seemed to have a trick that immediately worked. He let out his leg when she attacked and she missed. He caught her by the side and she fell to the floor in surrender when the tip of his blade touched her neck.
It was...The Queen.
I immediately stood to my feet in shock, watching as he pulled her up and pulled her into his arms. She said something that caused him to laugh and kiss her.
I lost it.