By all rights, seeing Osita should have struck terror into her heart. She should have fought to escape. He was a stranger, worse, he was the fated enemy of her husband. Yet, the panic vanished. For the first time since the onset of her strange, fractured condition, Taiwo realized she was looking at the elusive, illusionary figure she had desperately been searching for in her mind.
The moment her eyes locked onto his, an overwhelming wave of certainty washed over her, she was safe. He may have been an enemy to the throne, but a deeper, undeniable part of her soul refused to see him as a threat.
A hidden, deeply buried part of her held genuine love for him. Gathering her composure under his calm, steady gaze, Taiwo let her royal breeding take over. She adjusted her posture, wrapping herself in the effortless dignity of a queen.
"I think I am owed an explanation, King Osita," she said, her voice steady and demanding answers.
