"Faith.."

A distant whisper tickled her half asleep mind, trying to brush the haziness around her with its feebile attempts.

"Faith!"

A moment later, the voice called out her name again. This time, louder.

Her clouded brain could detect a tinge of urgency in it. The sound pulled at her heartstrings, urging her to pry her eyes open and answer to it, immediately.

"Faith?!"

The person crying out her name seemed to have come closer now, too close to ignore their presence anymore.

"Why did you leave me, Faith..?"

The question was thrown her way in a barely audible murmur as if the person was asking it more to their own self yet she was clearly able to hear the anguish lacing the silent plea. It sounded like someone who had been betrayed, ruthlessly

Someone who had been betrayed by.. her.

She tried opening her eyes but it felt like someone had glued both her lids shut, rendering her unable to part them. She tried opening her mouth, in a failed attempt to speak, but the words remained stuck at the back of her throat. She felt helpless, imprisoned inside her own body, forced to hear things she didn't want to.

"You said I could trust you. I had started trusting you. Then why?!"

Despite its frenzied state, her brain was finally able to put a name to the gradually raising voice. The realisation proving to be a nightmare in intself.

Ares.

She, once again, tried opening her mouth to utter some coherent words, but only air came out of her parted lips.

'I didn't leave you, Ares. I didn't!'

She wanted to scream but her weakened state didn't allow her to.

The feeling of helplessness crawling inside of her was starting to be replaced by an unconditional terror that gripped her heart tighter and tighter every passing second, suffocating her with its bone-crushing clutches.

For some moments, only her own gasping sounds could be heard by her as she tried over and over again to speak something, anything.

Just as she felt a hot liquid flowing down the corner of her eyes, a bloodcurdling scream shattered the stillness around her into several pieces. Involuntarily, her hands attempted to cover her ears to block out the terrifying screams, but her limbs felt much heavier than expected. Her lips quivered with the fear of unknown as she thrashed her head side to side to somehow wake up from this horrible nightmare.

Out of nowhere, a sudden gut wrenching pain hit her in the form of a strong wave, forming cracks all across her defenceless shell. She felt as if her whole body was going to break down any moment.

Hot tears continued flooding down her cold cheeks as the unknown pain kept her feeling sick to her stomach,

'Is this.. his pain?'

She once again tried forcing her vocal cords to function and this time, miraculously, a single word left her drying lips,

"I'm here."

She woke up with a start, eyes wide with horror, coming face to face with nothing but a sea of eternal darkness. Unable to see anything in the obscuring shadows, she started panicking with the fear of reliving that nightmare, all over again.

"I am here, Faith."

The voice had an immediate soothing effect on her chaotic nerves. Her eyes searched blindly for her source of reliance before eventually settling upon a silhouette sitting at edge of her bed. She blinked her eyelids repeatedly to focus her sight better on the blurry figure resting alongside her.

Soon enough, the murky lines started forming distinct lines, separating each and every corner of her field of vision till it eventually showed glowing emeralds peering down at her with worry creasing their brows.

"Ares..."

Her body shot out of the bed on its own as she grasped the man tightly into her small arms, leaving him speechless under her hold. Her head rested on the junction of his shoulder and neck as her hands found the back of his shirt, clutching it till her knuckles turned white.

"I wouldn't leave you, Ares. I will never!" The words were tumbling out of her mouth on their own accord. Her ears still ringing with his horrifying screams.

There was a small pause before he reacted to her surprising statement, ".... I believe you, Faith."

Passing his cold fingers lovingly through her raven locks, he untangled them gently with every soft stroke of his hand.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she snuggled deeper inside his cold embrace until the cold waves emitting from his large built became deeply incorporated into her warm frame, causing her to shiver involuntarily. She felt his sensitive reflexes kicking into drive immediately as he turned stiff under her touch before two large hands gripped her shoulders, separating her from his chest,

"Do you feel fine?"

Heavy drapes allowed little to no sunlight to enter inside the room. The only source of light there, was a little yellowish orange flame glowing beside her bedside, turning her surroundings into a mess of murky outlines. It was too dark to detect his facial expressions, but the way those green orbs peered down softly at her, she could tell one thing with great surety.

He wasn't her Ares.

"Lord Ares..." The hold he had on her shoulders loosened visibly, telling her that he had not missed her disappointed tone.

"Honorifics are for people under my rule." He said looking away, as his arms dropped back at his sides.

"I'm existing in an era where your reign hasn't ended. I'm obliged to use your title." To avoid looking at him, her fingers started playing with the intricate patterns drawn skilfully on the silk sheet. His sullen look was hurting her heart.

"Am I no longer a lord in your world?" His question caught her off guard.

"No," Her gaze lowered for a millisecond before lifting again to meet his gaze. He was staring her dead in the eye,

"You're a king."

If she wasn't observing his expressions keenly, she'd have easily missed the minute narrowing of his eyes in the dark of the room, "Whose king?"

"My King."

The answer rolled off the tip of her tongue effortlessly, rendering her own self speechless at her bold behaviour. The pin drop silence that accompanied her dauntless remark unnerved her even more, making her direct all her attention towards her innocent bottom lip. She sunk her teeth harder and harder into the soft flesh, almost as if she were intentionally trying to draw blood.

Her attention shifted abruptly to his tall figure as he stood up effortlessly, towering over her small hunched figure in the canopy bed,

"I ought to carry out some duties. You, too, should get ready for the day," He started striding towards the door before stopping midway, his back still facing her, "I think it is time you step out of this room."

With that, he was gone.

She didn't know she was holding her breath, until his absence allowed the trapped air to finally leave her lungs, through her now swollen lips,

'He seemed upset,' she drew her legs closer to her chest, placing her head on top of her knees, 'but he's right. I do need to get out of here. It has already been a week.'

She couldn't believe it was happening.

She was living in the past. Literally.

For a whole week, she had stayed cooped up inside the room alotted to her by the said lord, having no sense of day and night as the embroided drapes hanging from the lone window hugged each other like a pair of long lost lovers, strictly forbidding the entry of any sunlight inside the room.

Every single day Henry brought her a pair of fresh clothes along with three meals, religiously. His face easily gave out the rolling waves of discomfort urging to flow out of his mouth yet he kept his lips tightly shut. If he didn't have a fear of tripping and spilling everything on the floor, he might as well have had forced his eyes shut too.

A knock on the wooden door alerted her of the man in question's arrival. Her slumped frame suddenly sat upright as she patted the nest on her head to somehow make it look less horrifying, 'Funny, how I was too shocked to care about it in Ar-Lord Ares' presence.'

"You may come in!"

The door rotated around its hinges, opening wide without producing any creaks, revealing a nervous Henricus burning holes in the tray he was carrying in his hands.

Operating on autopilot, the man stepped robotically inside the room, as if he had carefully practiced that many a time. His hands tightened around the metal tray as his stiff built lowered to reluctantly place it at the foot of the bed.

She was tired of watching him behave so uptight around her every other day. It felt like he was walking upon broken glass pieces, one wrong step and things would get really bloody.

"Henr-"

His shrill voice cut her off before she could completely utter his name,

"Missus is not a witch!"

His eyes turned to saucers just after he was done screaming his thoughts out. His hold on the tray loosened as he stepped back abruptly almost tripping back on his own foot. Before the tray, half hanging down the bed's corner, could fall out on the floor, Faith leeped forward to grab it.

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Henry visibly flinch.

'What in hell?'

Her eyebrows scrunched as she continued to stare at the grown man, scared half to death, trying to look as tough as a man standing on the border of a bloody battle field could.

"I am NOT a witch, Henricus Christensen," She emphasized greatly on the 'not.'

"Yes, Missus. Yes." She could clearly him gulp as he let the words out with as much sincerity as he could muster in his state.

A frustrated huff left her pursed lips before she scooted away from the corner and patted the space beside her on the bed,

"Sit."

If it were humanly possible, Henry's eyes seemed to grow bigger at her request, "I dare not, Missus."

'God.. these stupid people with their stupid restrictions."

She sighed before shrugging her shoulders and directing her gaze back at the man standing in front of her.

"I repeat it, Henricus. I. Am. Not. A. Witch." She spoke each and evey word slowly, gesturing with her hands, trying hard to talk some sense into the flabbergasted man.

"Missus speaks the truth!" His raised voice gradually turned into an inaudible mumble, "Now, may I.. leave?"

She clicked her tongue, hearing his words. The man was too stubborn, but.. so was his lord.

"Yes. You may."

She hung her head low, slowly massaging her throbbing temples to soothe the growing pain. She stopped rubbing circular patterns on her skin when she didn't hear the door closing.

Raising her head, she was met with a nervous Henry, who hurriedly diverted his eyes away from her,

"Do you have anything to say, Henry?"

She let the question hang in the air between them, giving him enough time to contemplate about his next action. Just as she thought he was going to reject her offer, he opened his mouth, shocking her with his next words,

"What notion does Missus have regarding Milord?"

A scene from her past encounter with him flashed before her eyes, where she had asked him whether Ares wanted her to be around or not. A smirk played at the corner of her lips as she decided to tease the innocent boy with his own words.

"He is a good man," After a small pause, she decided to add another past statement of his, "He is all I want. I've never wanted anything more in my life."

Unfortunately, she didn't get the reaction she was hoping for.

Instead of surprise, his gaze filled with seriousness as his hazel orbs stared deep down into her soul. It reminded her of the day she met him for the first time, in front of the castle's iron gates.

She held his gaze back with the same intensity as that day while he continued probing for something unspeakable in her grey storms. After some seconds, he seemed to have found what he had been looking for.

His eyes shone brightly as a beautiful smile bloomed at the corners of his lips.

"You put my heart at ease, Milady,"

She watched him awestruck as he called her "Milady" instead of "Missus." He had never done that since she came here, 'Is this his way of saying he accepts me?'

Her eyebrows furrowed even more as he continued to surprise her by putting his hand at his heart and bowing down a bit before standing straight again, asking, "May I leave, Milady?"

They were sure two peas in a pod. Him and his lord.

Unpredictable.

Henry had been extremely cautious around her because he didn't trust her enough to let her be around his lord, but now that he had found no traces of betrayal in her eyes, he had given her his loyalty. So easily.

That man lived and breathed for his lord yet she couldn't bring herself to blame Henricus for putting Ares high up on a pedestal. If anyone deserved that spot, it was surely him.

'But..' Her smile faltered as a thought crossed her mind, 'Which version of him?'

Her heart ached for the Ares she had left waiting in the future, but at the same time she felt bad for the 'Lord Ares' she had been giving silent treatment to, for the whole past week.

Lost in her own world, she vaguely heard Henry repeating the same request. Without looking at him, she hummed a little 'yes' to Henry's discrete question. After some moments, the sound of a door closing reached her ears, leaving her alone in the dark room with her unprocessed thoughts.

~*~

Faith's head popped out from behind the door as she rotated her gaze one eighty degree, from one side to another, keenly surverying the hallway,

'Phew, No one's around.'

She carefully tip toed outside, nervously rubbing her hands on the soft material of her dress. Her hair were tamed into a messy bun on top of her head allowing tiny water droplets to escape and drip down her exposed pale neck. As she moved in the shadows, the water drops occasionally reflected the dim light coming from sconces, resembling little gleaming diamonds adorning her soft flesh wherever they touched.

She had tried her best to dry her damp hair after taking a bath but there was only so much she could do with a cloth. The dress on top of that was a disaster in itself. It was tight around the waist, almost cutting her oxygen supply and the neckline hung visibly low, revealing a quite a bit of her cleavage to the prying eyes.

'It's still better than the previous ones.' She shivered with horror as she suddenly remembered the day Henricus had brought a tunic along with panniers for her to wear.

Her feet padded softly against the stone floor as her hands resumed their struggle, fidgeting around, trying to pull the corners of her low neckline up. The crinkles on the shoulders of her medieval dress clearly narrated the sad story of her relentless efforts.

'It's fine. He has already seen me in a bra. A red one on top of that.' She thought to herself as she huffed with irritation, tired with her meaningless attempts.

Her hand raised to take the band out of her hair, freeing the raven cascade as they scattered down her back in a heap of unruly locks.

'These have to do.' She thought to herself as she tried her best to cover her exposed skin with them.

'Tsk. This sure isn't my day.' She watched as water soaked the front of her dress through the tips of her wet hair, leaving variably sized blotches on the light coloured material.

Her pace turned slow gradually until her feet stopped moving altogether. Two humongous mahogany doors stood proudly some distance away from her. Filled with annoyance, she hadn't realised she had walked down all the way to her destination.

His throne room.

Her heart started hammering against her ribcage as all thoughts of the cursed dress flew out of her mind. Their meeting from the morning flashed before her eyes, reminding her of the moment the ancient lord perceived the meaning behind her crying out for 'Ares.'

The drop in his expressions had told her that he knew Faith was in love with him yet at the same time, 'he' didn't have her love.

'I didn't mean to hurt him... I just miss my own Ares.' She thought to herself, standing there immersed in her own world.

'But why does my heart hurt so much?' Her hand clutched the cloth over the place where her heart beat furiously, 'Should I just leave?'

'Ah.. screw it!'

Before she could talk herself out of facing the music, her hands went to the doors immediately, trying to push them open with all her might.

The slit between the parting doors became bigger and bigger, allowing her to see someone already standing at the opposite way. Her eyes narrowed as the familiar poker face with soft green eyes greeted her from the other side.

His eyes were travelling down the length of her dress and as soon as they came back up to meet hers, she felt her stomach drop. His gaze had turned stern. His silence, on top of it, was making her insides churn with nervousness.

'Why's he-' Her chain of thoughts broke as she felt multiple pair of eyes peering down at her from behind Ares' tall built, 'He's not alone.'

She realized he was trying to cover her from their scrutinizing gazes, 'He had sensed me standing here.'

Her eyes filled with worry as she stared apologetically at the infamous lord. He was staring back at her with a blank face giving none of his thoughts away, 'Is he angry?'

As she was about to step away from the doors, an incomprehensible comment reached her ears, but followed afterwards was what that surprised her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Tôhwon [is] sê?"

"

'How....'

The man has uttered something totally incoherent to her yet she was able to understand it with ease.

'Is this a part of the spell?'

Before she could voice her thoughts out loud, a series of scornful comments started being thrown at her from all across the room,

prostitute