The Beast's Possession

**Bane

pov**

"My dear friend," I started and instantly stopped, taking a moment to breathe out the frustration that was coursing through my veins. "Don't get me wrong, please, you know that I do appreciate your help.. However, while you believe this information might be of use for me, please, tell me how. Just how.. You know the Goddess hasn't blessed the men in my bloodline for generations. Ever since he.."

I couldn't finish the sentence. I was too much of a coward to actually speak those words out loud. If I did, all of them would become reality and that was the last thing I wanted.

The king ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He appeared to be deep in thought, so I took a moment to watch him.

It seemed that everyone aged as the years passed.. Everyone but him. I had known him for years, but I hadn't seen even one line appear on his face or a gray hair, which in itself was admirable. Someone who lived under as much stress as he did was bound to age early, but the fucker still was as handsome as ever.

Before I could stop myself, I spat out the stupid question, "do you even age? Will I see the day when you don't look like a goddamn sex symbol?"

My words made him laugh so loud, the sound echoed against the walls. "I don't age as everyone else does, stop acting like you forgot. I am bound to outlive my people, as unfair as it sounds to you, I will outlive you too, my friend." My heart dropped. "Sounds lonely," I muttered under my breath.

"It truly is, but it's not like I can change anything," he agreed, looking into the distance as if nothingness was more interesting than anything I could say.

"How about you find someone to make your days less lonely? I don't think it's healthy that you refuse to be with anyone. Company changes people, just look at me, crazy about my woman, a changed man. You can't spend the rest of your days alone. And besides, the Goddess doesn't have a grudge with you, I'm sure she has blessed you with someone special." I tried to uplift his mood.

Unfortunately, my attempts brought the opposite effect. His shoulders slumped and his eyes focused on the floor. The king's entire body became so tense, it looked like every piece of clothing covering his body would burst in seams any moment now.

"Ever since Magda, I can't," he muttered, voice barely a whisper.

"What do you mean? I don't want to bring up anything painful, but.. What happened? Who is or was Magda? If the memories are too bad, just tell me and I'll back off. Promise." As I spoke, I threw off the blanket and tossed my legs over the edge of the bed to sit closer to him.

I had never been someone who liked to discuss private matters with others, but once I started to talk to Zion about my struggles, after those conversations, I felt a little better.

Carrying a burden on your own was the worst thing, especially with no support system at all. Just letting it all out helped.

"She was my queen," he suddenly whispered and reached his hand out to grab mine.

I didn't pull my hand away, instead, I held his and listened. I could hear him out, no matter how much he wanted to tell me.

"She was perfect. Magda wasn't a woman from the upper class and while the Council encouraged me to look for someone who had the status, once I laid my eyes on Magda, I couldn't look away. I couldn't stop thinking about her, even after she spat in my face and called me a wannabe king. She hated me so much," he chuckled and tensed up again.

I squeezed his hand. "If it's too much, you don't have to tell me more. It's completely fine. I can listen, but only if you want to speak. I don't want to hurt you even more by opening the wounds of the past."

"No, I should get this out. I haven't spoken about this with anyone, so maybe coming clean with you will help me deal with the loss," he muttered and let go of my hand to stand up.

My eyes followed him as the king started pacing the length of the room, seemingly deep in thought.

As much as I wanted him to sit down before I would get dizzy just looking at him, I figured this was the easiest way for him to gather his thoughts, so I remained silent and waited.

It took about five minutes for him to finally stop, but much to my displeasure, he just shook his head and started pacing the room all over again.

After another five minutes, he groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Fuck, I never thought talking about this would be so damn hard," he hissed.

A bitter chuckle left me as I shook my head, "but it is. I had to learn the hard way too."

My words caught his attention. He dropped his hands and pinned me with his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I had to learn how to talk to others about private matters. I kept hiding my feelings, emotions, pain and everything until I snapped. With time, I started snapping more often, so my Beta sat me down and forced me to talk. It's hard at first, but once you get over the initial struggle, you learn how to open up and later, these types of conversations happen naturally. It's easier to spill your heart out to someone you trust than hold the pain until you explode," I explained and shrugged. The king nodded. "Okay. Makes sense. I'll start from the beginning if that's okay?"

I just nodded, fearing that any of my words could distract him from finally talking about whatever he was hiding.

"Obviously, this happened many years ago. I opened the palace door for people to come and speak to me in person. It was the first year I decided to do that, against every advice of the Council. Not many came and she was at the end of the line. When Magda finally reached me, I was taken by her beauty and boldness. She didn't kiss my hand or bow. She stood before me, head held high, full of pride. Then, instead of voicing any issue, she did the unthinkable - that woman called me the king of fleas and spat in my face. When she turned to leave, I had to call the guards back so they wouldn't hurt her."

I listened and couldn't hold back the chuckle of amusement. So, after all, there has been someone who could put him in his place, huh?

In the meantime, the king started pacing the room again. "After she left, I nearly turned the entire territory upside down until I found her. I went to her home and offered her marriage. I had no idea what her name was, but Goddess, I wanted that woman to be mine so bad, just the thought of not having her killed me."

After another brief pause, he stopped. "Obviously, she didn't want to marry me. Back then, Magda hated me and I was a stranger to her. Why would she?"

"But you did marry?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, eventually we did. At first, her parents wanted to sell Magda to me as they had hit a pretty bad place financially. She was appalled, and so was I. Instead of doing that, I offered help or loan, whichever they preferred, but I refused to buy a woman. Let's say it wasn't pretty, I literally tore into her father."

A slight smile appeared on his lips as he recalled the memories, "then, Magda offered to work as a maid to earn the money her parents needed. Despite the hatred she felt, she would still work for me. Of course, everyone advised me against it because for all I knew, she could be plotting to kill me. But as always, I didn't listen and agreed, for as long as she would be under the same roof as me."

I couldn't take the suspense he was building, so I had to speak up, "what happened next?"

"She tried to kill me," he laughed.

"Wait, seriously?" I gasped.

The king nodded. "Yes, a couple of times, actually. She never succeeded as you see, but I must admit, I enjoyed the game we were playing. I think it lasted for six months and after that, she gave up. After another six months, I managed to win her heart and married the woman of my dreams. After the wedding, everything went to shit. Like a rollercoaster - one moment I was happy, then she made me the happiest man alive and then, it all burned to ashes."

"I'm scared to ask what happened," I whispered.

He looked at me and flashed a sad smile. "When we married, I was happy. When Magda told me she was pregnant, I was the happiest man alive. And when my pregnant queen disappeared, it all burned to ashes. Her body was found three years later, the only way thet knew the body was my Magda were the fucking dental records. I lost it all the love of my life, my queen and my baby."