Chapter 22: 22

Beautiful women clad in silk flowed into the room and began to move in rhythm with the music. Lucian watched as the curvy women in front of him swayed with their hips seductively to get the males' attention. Rasmus who was sitting next to him seemed to enjoy the view while sipping his wine.

"I like that red-haired one. Which one catches your attention?" Rasmus asked.

Lucian's eyes swept over the women twirling around each other wearing almost nothing. Yes, they were beautiful, exotic, but none of them enticed him.

"Hard to decide? You can take two if you want." Rasmus said in amusement when Lucian didn't reply.

Maybe he should. It has been a long time since he took a woman to bed, and that might be the reason his demon was out of control. Taking a woman might calm his demon down a bit so that he could finally be with Hazel.

"I'll take the blonde" Lucian finally decided. Rasmus gave him a knowing smile.

***********

Looking out the window, I watched as the clear blue summer sky transformed into a sea of blackness. The sun got swallowed by the rapidly falling night and the sky got freckled by shimmering stars. It was a beautiful sight.

"My Lady, dinner is served downstairs."A maid informed who had just walked in. Finally, I could meet Lucian after not having seen him for the whole day. As I made my way to the dining room, my heart pounded in my chest with anticipation. Images of our kiss from last night replayed in my head and I had a feeling that more would happen tonight, but to my disappointment the room was empty as I entered. There was no sign of Lucian.

"My lady?" Looking over my shoulder, one of Lucian's guards was standing there.

"His Highness told me to inform you he cannot join you for dinner tonight," he said.

"Why? did something happen?" I asked, concerned. These days I always felt anxious, waiting for something bad to happen.

"No, My Lady. He is attending a party the king threw for men only?"

"Oh.." was the only thing I managed to say. Party for men only didn't sound good. The king of Gatrish is known for his parties that include exotic women, sex and liquor. And knowing that Lucian was there made me feel uneasy.

I sat at the large table and tried to enjoy the food and not think about anything else when Astrid and Klara strode into the room.

"We heard that you are dining alone, so we came to accompany you, if that's all right?." Astrid inquired.

"Of course" I smiled.

Once they sat down the maids served them dinner as well.

"I hope you are enjoying your stay here even though a lot is going on in your kingdom," Astrid said.

"I am, thank you." I lied. I was hardly enjoying myself, especially with her sister having an interest in my husband. "I heard the king is throwing a party. What is the special occasion?" I asked, trying to get some information.

"Nothing actually. My brother just enjoys his parties and women."

"Yeah, if there is one thing a man can't resist is, it's the body of a beautiful woman," Klara spoke for the first time since she came here.

I had a feeling she was telling me something. It didn't matter. Lucian wouldn't take another woman, would he? If he had done it before he certainly would now.

My stomach churned, and I lost my appetite.

"Thank you for keeping me company. Have a good night." I said standing up from my seat once they were done eating.

As I headed back to my room, my thoughts drifted back to Lucian. I was both anxious and curious to what he was doing. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, so I decided to take a walk around the castle when I heard giggling sounds coming from around the corner.

Looking around the corner, I found a group of maids standing on stools looking through a window. They were so occupied that they didn't even notice me approaching them. Curious to what made them so engrossed, I stood on an empty stool beside them and peeked through the small window.

The first thing I noticed was the women dancing around each other in circles wearing clothes that cover nothing but their private parts. They were swaying with their hips and twisting seductively with their bodies to some music that I couldn't hear.

"Oh... they are so beautiful." A maid spoke while never taking her eyes off the dancing women.

My eyes traveled to the back of the room where a group of men were sitting watching the dancers. I recognized the King, who was sitting in the middle with a glass of wine in his hand. He had a smirk on his face and was speaking to someone sitting next to him. Lucian!

Lucian nodded and watched the dancers intently. His gaze was dark and held an emotion I couldn't identify. Now some men were leading a few dancers out of the room.

"Wow.. did you see the woman general Richard chose?" A maid gasped.

"I wonder which one the King will choose," another one said.

"And who is the handsome man sitting next to the King?"

The King stood up from his seat and led a red-haired dancer out of the room, which made a few maid's gasp.

"Oh... he is the prince of Decresh, it is said he is the son of the devil," an old maid said sounding disgusted.

"The devil must be extremely handsome then."

Yeah, Lucian looked extremely handsome sitting there staring at the dancer. I didn't like the way he was looking at them. I didn't like that he was looking at them at all, but that wasn't the worst that could happen, because he was now leading a blonde dancer out of the room.