• Chapter 3


    The man, Prince Arian I assume, looks at me with pity in his pale blue eyes. With a slight movement of his head, Kavia leaves the room, shutting the door softly behind her without a second glance. For some reason, this hurts me and I look away to conceal the new wave of tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I keep my head turned, but I still here the man moving about my room. I know this is not how you are supposed to treat royalty, but in my mind he deserves no respect. Royalty is not supposed to attack innocent bystanders, but help them instead. This man did neither.

    "How is your shoulder?" His question surprises me and I turn in his direction, finding him sitting at the end of my bed. I open my mouth to respond, but I can't seem to get any words out. My eyes are riveted to his and I can't seem to tear them away no matter how hard I try. I thought they were pale blue before, but really they are a swirl of gray and blue, like the ocean in winter. His eyes dance like Kavia's did and a wave of emotion crashes down on me. I feel connected to him somehow, like we are two in one. An electric current dances between us like a live wire, ready to strike anyone down who got in it's path. Apparently he had, because he is staring at me in this strange, but comforting way and I realize that he feels it too. He blinks once and the current snaps and I look away as if nothing ever happened, even though we both know that something did.

    "It feels as bad as it looks your highness." I retort, trying to hide my earlier emotions with anger, though I keep my voice soft as to keep the venom not so prominent in my voice. I feel the bed move slightly as he repositions himself, but I refuse to look at him, instead I look about the room. It has four walls as per usual, but the unusual thing about it is that the walls are all different sizes. The wall where the door resides is much taller than the one opposing it and vice versa with the walls behind and in front of me - the ceiling is slanted. They don't seem to be made out of the same wood that we have in the village, but as if they were carved right out of the trees. The walls look like bark and as I run my hand over the one behind me, I realize that it actually is bark.

    "Then it must hurt really bad, huh?" The prince says. His statements makes me genuinely angry and I turn to face him once more with a piercing glare aimed right for him. He has a smile on his face as if this statement should amuse me, but it wavers as he is surprised by my reaction. "I... Uh, Fiore is really sorry he attacked you." He says, trying to redeem himself. I can see that he is nervous but this statement does nothing but dig him a deeper hole.

    "Oh, Fiore is? Is that right?" I say between my teeth, anger seething through my veins. "Just him, not anyone else? Figures someone like you wouldn't be sorry for their actions." I'm so angry, that I cross my arms over my chest in defiance, but this brings a new definition to agony as searing pain rips through my shoulder. I try to hide the fact that it hurts, but I can feel tears in my eyes and my lip twitching so I quickly bite down on it.

    "No! I am sorry too. I never meant fo-" He starts to say, but I interrupt him because I am about to break down completely.

    "Just leave! I can't even stand to look at you right now." I say through clenched teeth. Prince Arian's face goes completely blank then changes into one of fury. I can see him fighting the urge to yell back, but he gets up from his seat on my bed, walks to the door and yanks it open.

    "You have no right to talk to me that way." He says, his eyes boiling with anger.

    "And you had no right to attack me!" I retort. He makes no move to leave, so I grab a pitcher of water from the nightstand by my bed and chuck it at him. He moves aside and the pitcher crashes against the door spraying him with water. Surprisingly, he growls and glares at me before leaving and slamming the door hard behind him. As soon as he leaves, I break down and cry, holding my shoulder. The pain is worse than before, but deep, deep down there is a different kind of pain. A new kind of pain that blossomed when Prince Arian slammed the door.