Verena held her breath as the world around her seemed to slow down drastically as Koen wrapped an arm around her waist and flipped her onto the bed beside him. He hovered above her, straddling her hips as he held a knife to her neck. Verena already had her knife pressed against the skin of his neck. If she wanted to, she knew where she could cut that would drain the life from him. Quick and easy, but something made her stop. She didn't feel as if she was in danger.

Koen's eyes danced with amusement as he stared down at her. "What's your name?"

The rumbling of his voice moved through her. Before this, she had only heard him talk from afar. She didn't want to admit that hearing his voice closer was doing things to her. Verena knew she needed to get herself under control.

Koen's smile widened as he moved his head closer to hers. "What's your name, intruder?"

Verena, behind her mask, sucked in her lips. She didn't trust her voice and decided it was best if she didn't answer.

Koen chuckled slightly as he sat up, removing the knife from her throat and straddling her waist. Verena dropped her arms to her sides but kept a tight grip on her knife. While she felt like she wasn't in danger, she still didn't know if she could completely trust him.

"You're not from here, are you?" Koen asked her, his head cocking to one side.

Verena's eyes narrowed at him. "How did you know that I was here?"

Koen chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "So she does have a voice."

"Answer my question," Verena sighed.

"Why?" Koen countered. "You haven't answered any of mine." Silence hung between them, neither one breaking eye contact. Eventually, Koen sighed and rolled his eyes. "Your smell."

Verena scrunched up her nose and furrowed her eyebrows. "My smell?"

Koen shrugged. "You don't smell like you're from here. You smell of honey and vanilla. Something that the women of this kingdom don't smell like." He leaned down, his forearms resting on either side of her face. "Every time you've been in this room; I've known."

Verena let out a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "You've known that I've been following you."

Koen nodded as his eyes slowly moved down her body. "I will say that I am relieved to know that you are a woman. Makes everything more interesting."

Verena rolled her eyes at his comment.

Koen moved off of her and leaned against his headboard. He kept his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her sit up. His eyes were very watchful as silence once again hung in the air between them.

Verena cleared her throat. "I should leave."

Koen's hand shot out as she made to move off of the bed. His hand gripped her wrist lightly, making her turn to look at him. "Are you hungry?"

Verena couldn't help but be surprised by the change of conversation. She studied him for a moment before reluctantly nodding. It had been since the morning that she had eaten.

Koen smiled at her as he pulled her to the edge of the bed. He made her sit on the edge and held out both of his hands. "Stay right here. I will be right back."

Verena watched as he hustled to the door before leaving her in the darkness of his room. A small smile spread across her face as she shook her head. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to be here. In this room. On his bed waiting for him to bring her back food. She was supposed to stay in the darkness, only watching the man that she had become obsessed with.

Her eyes moved back to the door Koen had walked out of. It had been too long since he had left and Verena couldn't help the sinking feeling in her gut that everything was about to go wrong.

Verena moved off of the bed and into a dark corner of the room, closer to the window she had come in. She didn't know why she had trusted him so quickly. Of course, he wasn't getting her food. He was getting the guards. Why wouldn't he? She had broken into his room. Any sane person would go and get the guards to put his intruder away.

Verena took a deep breath as she heard footsteps moving outside of the room. Her hands itched by her sides, ready to grab her knives at any point. She sucked in a deep breath as the door opened.

Koen stopped just inside of the doorframe, two bowls in his hands. He looked around the room until his eyes settled on where Verena was hiding. A smirk spread across his face as he kicked the door close behind him and moved to the bed. He sat down on the edge and held out one of the bowls to her.

Verena hesitated for a moment before returning to his side. She bowed her head as she gripped the bowl and sunk onto the bed beside him. She took a deep breath and sighed in satisfaction as the smell of beef stew met her nose. Verena watched him take a bite out of the corner of her eye before taking a bite herself, careful not to reveal too much of her face as she lifted her mask.

"Why did you hide?" Koen asked her after a moment of silence.

Verena dropped her spoon back into the bowl before shrugging. "Why would I not be cautious? You could have been getting the guards."

Koen chuckled lightly as he nodded in agreement. "True. I could have gotten the guards. You did break into my room. You have been stalking me for who knows how long. But I decided not to." He took another bite of his stew.

Verena's eyes moved over his face. "Why didn't you?"

Koen shrugged one shoulder. "I don't feel threatened by you."

Verena snorted. "Because I'm a woman?"

Koen shook his head. "No. I don't feel as if you are going to hurt me or do anything bad to me. You could have killed me many times, but you decided not to. Like I told you before, I know when you are around by your smell. You've had plenty of opportunities to kill or harm me and you never did." His eyes met hers. "You've seen that I do not have very many friends. My family doesn't even waste that many guards on me when I go out of the castle." A small smile danced over his lips. "It's nice to talk freely for a change."

Verena blinked up at him. "I don't freak you out?"

Koen chuckled as he shook his head again. "No, you do not freak me out."

Verena couldn't help the smile that moved across her lips as she looked down at her bowl. They sat there in silence for a while, the only sound was from their spoons taking the soup out of the bowl. When her bowl was done, she decided that it was time for her to leave. While it was nice to feel as if she had a friend, she knew that it wouldn't last. She would eventually have to move back to her kingdom and leave the one person she had any connection with.

Verena stood up from the bed, placed the bowl on the bed, and moved to the window. She knew Koen was about to reach out for her and sidestepped his hand. "I've got to go. I'm sorry."

"At least tell me your name," Koen stood up quickly.

Verena shook her head as she began to move out of the window. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" he asked quickly. "You can trust me not to give you over to the guards. Just tell me your name, please."

Verena's eyes met his and shook her head again. "I'm sorry." She was quick as she moved to jump out of the window.