The prince looked to me amused. "Are you always this feisty after battle?"
I deadpanned at him. "Do you ever take anything seriously? Need I remind you that if you had listened to me before dinner two days ago, perhaps you wouldn't have been drugged."
The prince leans close to me. "Now where would be the joy in that? I love being saved like a damsel. Especially if you're the one doing it." My jaw dropped. The prince had no limitations to his constant flirtations. "You don’t understand what it does to me, Morana. I could just see it, how fierce you must have been, oozing with power and satisfaction as you won the battle. I can barely breathe at the thought of how devastating you must have looked. It makes me want to reward you with the most sinful acts that only I would know, would bring you bliss.” My mouth dried as I listened, not daring to stop him even though it was so very wrong, not stopping him even when a pleasing heat pooled between my thighs with just the thought of him knelt beneath me. His red eyes glaring into my own while he brushed his lips against my inner thigh. Rewarding me like he said he would.
The prince frowned. "These are however, only things I can imagine as I did not witness the fight. When I had awoken before everyone else, there were scorched flames, broken furniture, the stairs were a mess, doors were burst open and lastly. I ran around like a crazed man looking foryou. There was blood splayed all over the stables and then there you were. Broken, yet not destroyed." I watched the prince's jaw clench and let the tension go as he once again smiled. "It does seem that you came out well compared to your foe. How did you defeat him?" The prince then studied me.
I bit my lip and then breathed out an answer. "My fire blades were able to outmatch him, but he was... a maker of his own end. The potion he drank was far too strong for his body. It killed him."
The prince raised an eyebrow then. His red eyes flickered as if thinking through the answer I had just given. "Anti-climatic, he did quite some damage to you before he died. Care to explain why this was next to you?" He reaches from under the bed. My heart beating in answer and my blood thrumming loudly. So loud that I heard it in my veins. The violin. Obsidian wood—inked with golden engravings. The violin that belonged to the little girl that haunted my mind.
"It must have fallen from my stallion during the fight." I didn't look at the instrument more than I should have. Instead, I looked into the prince's eyes. The eyes I once feared but had now slowly become used to.
"Do you play?" The question had caught me so off guard that I didn't answer until he asked again. "Do you?" A sly grin danced on his lips.
He looked handsome like this.
Goodness, I must have hit my head hard to be having these thoughts.
"I do… I used to but not anymore." I gave a half truth. Good enough.
“If there wasn’t a restriction, I would have loved to hear you play. I am sure it would be quite entertaining.” He traced the gold inked engravings with his fingers lightly. He then moved to place himself on the bed and laid his headsovery gently onto my lap. Barely putting his weight onto my thighs as he closed his eyes and relaxed on me. The sight left me dumbfounded and at a loss for words. His white curls kissed his forehead and his eyelashes swept across his cheeks when he closed his eyes.
"Was everyone nearly dying not entertaining enough?" My tone was bland as I resisted the urge to touch his hair.
His face scrunched and then pouted. "I was drugged. I slept through everything. You can't possibly blame me."
"I do. If you hadjustlistened. Maybe we could have avoided that." I felt like hitting my already concussed head against the wall. That's what talking to this foolish prince made me want to do sometimes.
"Foolish? Why not be foolish when I have such a capable warrior at my side to always protect me." His eyes opened then and there was so much mirth in it that it made him look more youthful. I bit my cheek hard, not realising I had called him foolish out loud.
"If you weren't drugged, do you think you'd have been able to defeat the necromancer?" My question took away whatever mirth he had in his eyes.
"Perhaps, I could have, but I fear I would have been killed in the process." The prince paused and then lifted himself from my lap with the same gentleness he had. His back faced me as he continued to speak. "There is no use keeping this from you. You are no fool like myself when I'm around you and neither are you deaf. You heard what the necromancer said. I do not have the kind of power the king and my sister wield.Compared to them, I am utterly powerless." I remained quiet, listening closely and understanding his words as he spoke. "The power I wield is a mere grace I may use in sudden defence. It makes me feel as though bits of my soul are being ripped to shreds, making my heartbeat pump slower until it stops. And believe me, I have tried to max out my power, not convinced that this is all I was graced with. It all ends the same. Extreme pain. Difficulty breathing. Blinding headaches. Intense nausea. Feeling as though I was being burned alive from the Apollon sun." I frowned at what he expressed. I couldn't believe I was actually... feeling bad for him.
The room was quiet, and the prince's usually upright posture slouched just a bit. As if defeated from his loss of power. "Well... at least you're scary enough to make it look as if you are the most powerful man on Terran," I said thoughtfully and smiled, knowing he wouldn't see it. The prince's shoulders shook in silent laughter.
"With you at my side, warrior, I am," he answered.
My eyes widened at the answer, the prince turned to look at me. "Don't get me wrong though, my fae attributes like my vision, sense of smell, hearing and speed are efficient enough. To my family, however, it is merely nothing. Thousands of years ago when true fae existed, they'd have called me a lesser fae if I had not been born a royal," he answered truthfully. I took in his little confessions with great care and decided not to prod him more on it. I was already pleased with getting this extra insight into his life.And about himself.His eyes looked at me and then smiled lightly, reaching for my hair. "I prefer your natural colour. It's magnificent. How fitting for a girl named Morana." Dread washed my face as I then looked to the lock of hair he held. And then... I noticed my hair.
It had been my magic that had caused that. It did not want me to be concealed any longer.
Panic swept my mind, the shadows immediately coating my heart, trying to calm me. I touched the onyx black hair that waved down to my breast. I wanted to cut it off, I didn't want to look at it.
“Do not be ashamed of your past. Be proud of what you carry,”the shadows in my mind whispered. I immediately shut them out. The prince looked as though he was going to say more until he paused and seemed to be listening to something.
"Someone has been eager to see you. I will leave you two to it." The prince grabbed his golden cloak which I had not noticed was on a couch in the corner of the room.
Was it always there?
And just then, I heard footsteps approaching the room. With an annoyed voice. "Why does he get to see her first?!" I nearly covered my face at Red's words when the prince no doubt heard.
"Oh, and Morana? Try not to get so close to death the next time you save my life. I quite enjoy conquering Terran with you." The prince gave me one last look before opening the door to let Red stumble forward. I tried not to let the prince's words linger in my heart.
Because it wasn't the conquest I was beginning to enjoy. It was something else that my cowardly heart failed to admit.
"A simple thank you would have sufficed," I muttered and simultaneously mentally prepared for Red's immense talking. The prince and Red shared a look. The prince giving Red an unamused glare and Red giving a guilty smile. The prince shut the door when he stepped out, and now I inspected Red from head to toe. "Are you well?" Red gave me an incredulous look and came to the bed to give me a hug. I kept my wince of pain in as he squeezed me.
