Predatory Marriage

a moment of silence, he finally spoke…

“You’re testing the patience of a Kurkan,” he warned her.
She wanted to apologize to him, for all her troubles.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, no voice had come, only a puff of breath.
Her body seized up, her grip loosened as she hunched over with a light groan.

All strength had gone from her body as she fell.

Something was strange.
The heat began to grow.
She felt hotter by the second, as she began to heave for air.
Her initial thought was that the adrenaline died down from all the running, and her fatigue had returned with full force…

But it kept getting worse…

“You!” Ishakan lightly cursed as he crouched down.
He felt her body temperature rise and admonished himself for not realizing something was wrong with her.

At his cool touch, Leah let out a groan.
Despite his normal body temperature running higher than hers, this was no normal situation, and his body was now cooler compared to hers.

“What did you eat?” She heard him ask, and the wine glass flashed to her mind…

She remembered how clean the glass was after she drank from it.
How smoothly it had gone down her throat than what she had been expecting.
She remembered her fiancé’s words as he told her he’d keep her company until the drug wore off…

“Byun… the wine…” She whispered, she was beginning to see black spots…

“Come here.” Ishakan’s voice whispered back in concern as he grabbed her by the waist, positioning his arm so that she rested against his chest.
He grabbed her chin with his other hand, and tilted it up until she met his lips.

He prodded her mouth open, before she felt something slide from his mouth to hers.

It was as if she was shocked by something electric.
She clung onto him, not even able to think about pushing him away as her mind grew hazy.

As his tongue darted inside, he tasted the remains of the wine in her mouth and frowned.
Slowly he broke away from her and looked at her complexion.

“He met with Dormaris the other day, you remember?” he asked her, and Leah nodded as she remembered him mingling with the gypsies.
Ishakan let out a sigh.
“He bought some love potion from them,” he told her, and Leah’s heart sank…

Did this mean she’d fall in love with him?! With Byun Gyongbaek?

“He, it’s okay, it’s alright.” Ishakan comforted her, as he took note of her quickening breath, “It’s only a name.
It’s actually a cheap aphrodisiac.
Love potions, the real ones are few and far in between…” he continued…

But Leah could hardly hear him properly, smacking her lips absentmindedly, before her body shook violently.

Hot.
Everything turned hotter, like a fireball was churning her stomach.
She felt as though she was boiling.
Her vision started to blurry the more she tried to keep awake and blinked her eyes to keep her head on straight.
But it only got worse.

Above her, Leah could see Ishakan as he stared at her with a bemused expression.

“Antidote… we need the antidote…” She mumbled at him, and Ishakan chuckled softly, smirking as he pulled her closer in a hug…

“Don’t worry…” She heard him whisper, “The antidote’s right here.”

And her vision went black.