Had anything strange happened that night?Well...Despite Raquel mumblings and jitterings on their way back from the room like something terrible had befallen them, nothing strange had happened that night.At least none that she knew of."You didn't touch anything, the King doesn't have to know of this. N-no one saw, no one can say they saw. If he... if h-he doesn't ask and you don't tell, that is not lying.""Silence, Raquel. Your incessant mumbling is scaring the Lady." Colin had cautioned and for once Belladonna was grateful for that. Immediately she got back to the King's chambers, they bade her goodnight and she shut the door.She had fallen asleep in fear that something might cease her in her sleep and kill her. Earlier, she had tried to tell them that she had indeed touched a couple of things in the room and even admired a gem, but Raquel had been too wrapped up in her worries and Colin had been too focused on his own questions getting answered, to care about any other answer
For days now, she continued reading 'Heart of Fire', finding it hard to put down, taking it everywhere and not paying so much attention to everything or disturbing her servants with questions as she used to. This wasn't just because of how interesting the book was but because of the King's comments that was thrown here and there in the book. Those were the ones that kept her the most interested. Some of the comments she would argue against, some she would laugh about, and some she would nod her head in agreement, like he was right there in front of her, talking to her as they read the book together. Another thing was that reading his comments made her feel like she knew him. Through the comments, she grew to know some of the things he like, a few things he had done in the past and fewer of the things he hated. Not just that, each of his comment usually ended with him asking about her opinion on what he had discussed and she would reply. Talking on and on like he was right in front o
The whole room busted into flames. There was fire everywhere. Smoke, thick black one. Belladonna struggled, her throat clogged with smoke as she tried to reach desperately for the door before a certain dizziness would take over her finally. All that and worse would have been the outcome of Belladonna's late night reading, had Colin not walked in just in time to combat the situation. Raquel went around and around her, checking her hands, legs, and everywhere to see if she was alright. "No burns, no burns, no burns." "I'm alright." She yanked her hand away from Raquel, not understanding what was going on. She had only woken up because of Raquel's clumsily, worried and loud inspection. "You left that lantern burning all night, my Lady." Colin said, looking back at her. "It must have had a lot of oil." That reminded her. She had not fallen asleep on the bed. What was she doing here? It was then she noticed the floor. She rushed up to her feet immediately. "Oh goodness, what h
Unlike the last time, when she had been lead to the dungeon for her 'gift', this time around, they walked quite a distance around the castle, down to an open field.While they had been walking, the King had involved Belladonna in small talks and the more he spoke, the more she could relate him with the person she had known from all those comments in the book she was reading and the more she felt even more comfortable with him.Till they finally got to the open field where Belladonna had thought the dragon would be but it wasn't.At that moment, the King pressed on a small red gem, carved into a ring that was around his left middle finger. Only the gem of the ring could be seen, the rest of his ring was buried into his leather black hand glove.It was glowing like one of the gems in the so called forbidden room.A flash of something like lighting went through the ring, not long after that, she felt the floor vibrating for a while before the dragon busted out from a opened place in the
"I profoundly apologize for Pamela's behavior today. She is not always like that." He said for the umpteenth time when they got to the door. Belladonna was feeling much better now and she offered him a smile. "Maybe she is not used to meeting new people." He hummed lightly, and once again because of the mask, she couldn't determined what that meant. Was she the first Bride he was introducing to Pamela or was she the number... How many Brides had he even had in the past? She pushed the question quickly out of her mind, remembering their promise of taking one step at a time. Instead, she thanked him for the day. After what happened with the dragon, the King had taken her somewhere else they had talked about in the book, and that was the palace garden. It was the same garden where the Choosing Ceremony had taken place, just that this time around, it was just them and it was all for a different purpose. That was where they had lunch and spent their time just talking about ra
There were tress behind her and within the dark shadow was the vague structure of a man. Before she could even make out anything he was, immediately the dream started crashing before her eyes. She felt a terrible headache jam into her head and she fell to the floor, but instead of falling on the soft cold sand of the beach, it was like as if she fell right through it, into a dark abyss. She screamed in her dream through the weightless fall. Long penetrating screams from the depth of her throat. Then she jerked up, awake. Her eyes shot open, blinking to adjust to the darkness while her chest rose and fell, as her gown clung to her body, wet with sweat. She could almost feel the lingering pain in her head. Almost. "Just a dream." She mumbled breathlessly to herself. "It's not real. Just a dream." She said over and over again before she laid back in bed but she couldn't fall back asleep immediately. She kept on thinking about what had happened in the dream. The man had s
"Who are you?""I already told you. I'm whoseover you want me to be. That one person you really desire to see."She started thinking about everything. Who was that one person she really wanted to see, that one person that it had been so long since she had laid her eyes on them, causing her to miss them so much that she now dreamt of them.Also why was he hiding his face from her?Could this strange man of her dreams be the King?"Are you his Majesty?" She croaked.Then she heard him chuckle darkly.It was clear, like as if she was hearing it for the first time.How had she not noticed this before?That was exactly how the King sounded. His chuckling, it was exactly the same."That is a first.""So you are him?""I am who you say I am."She tried to turn around again but his firm voice stopped her."No! Have you forgotten the last time this happened? Have you forgotten what happened?""Why are you coming to me in a dream if you are him. Why don't you--?" She spoke, her words fast abd
It was like a surprise when she saw that the King had invited her to breakfast. Raquel was running around as usual, to prepare her for breakfast. Colin was his usual calm and collected self but today, strangely, Lady Kestra hadn't been here yet. Could this be because of what had happened last time?Anyways, she was ushered to the dinning hall where the King as already waiting for her. Now, she was used to seeing him in his mask that it had started to make no difference anymore.To her, that mask was his face.He stood up from his seat by the large dinning table, then walked up to her, complimenting her as usual."You always make the dress look beautiful.""As do you, for your mask."He chuckled and it instantly reminded her of the dream that she had.She had indeed missed him. The dream was reflection of her feelings after all.Strange.She had asked to see his face in her dream too and that was one of the things she really wanted. Could the dream be all her imagination of things