I stared up at the fountain of water. I had come to associate this water and the entire garden with a place of peace. As a child, I came here to cry or scream when things weren't going my way. It was here I spent most of my free time while growing up and even though I hated playing with Ariel, I found it bearable when we played in the garden together. Now, it held even more meaning for me. Prince Xavier and I had spent memorable times here and it was here I came to when I wanted to reminisce. I carefully made my way to the shallowest part of the water and dipped my leg in. It was cool and soothing. This was the place I came to when I needed to think. Here, it seemed like time flowed differently as if whatever chaos I was experiencing was minuscule. I like that feeling– the feeling of security. I heard approaching footsteps and I quickly withdrew my foot. It was not princessly to be found in this position. I hastily put on my shoe and turned to see who the intruder was. It wa

I stared him straight in the face. I could tell when someone was hiding something and this guy was. He was breathing so quickly and it was obvious that he was on guard. For a warrior, he was far less than composed. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly interrogate him and even if I did, he wasn't obligated to give me an answer. He stared straight at me too and when the silence became uncomfortable, he gave a small bow. He was still as spiteful as ever and I felt a mixture of amusement and loathing for him. Maybe it was the way he acted all high and mighty for a lowly warrior but I just found it so difficult to like him. I had seen him only roughly three times but he already grated on my nerves. The way he walked, the way he stared defiantly, even the way he deferred to me and the way his name sounded made me dislike him. What sort of name was Asher anyway? I blamed my bad luck for running into him, now of all times. Was it not enough that I'd had to deal with the princess earlier in

I balled up my fists in fury. "Asher, life does not work the way it does in your head" I screamed for the thousandth time. We stood facing each other in the abandoned building like two warriors preparing to face each other head-on in physical combat. I was stressed out, to say the least, and it was sad to see that the one person I considered my happy place was now serving to increase my sadness. It was understandable that he would do anything to stop this marriage but why did he keep pushing me to breaking point? He almost made it look like I wanted the marriage to go through. "If you let me, I'll go to your parents right now." He said. I rolled my eyes. "We've had this conversation countless times, remember? Let's not do things rashly please." "And what have your carefully planned methods helped us achieve? Absolutely nothing!" This quickly escalated into a screaming match. "And what do you think you are going to achieve by going to my parents? Do you have some sort of

I screamed into my pillow. I kept trying not to go crazy like this but at times like this, it was truly difficult. I knew. I knew that this was going to happen eventually. But just because I predicted this, didn't make it easier to live with. And maybe I didn't bargain for it to come so quickly. Two weeks from now? No matter how well I executed my plan, would it ever work out? Would I ever get to keep Prince Xavier for myself? I was never one to engage in such cowardly thoughts but if I was being honest with myself, I was thrown off balance. "Roseline, think. Think! Think!" I yelled and pulled at my hair. Still no solution. I peered at my reflection in the mirror and still, nothing came to mind. Usually, it wasn't so difficult for me to come up with a plan. It was one of those things I liked about myself– the ability to think on my feet. But why was I so empty right now? Why did it feel like I had already lost the battle before it even began? I pushed my bottles of cream a

I focused my sight on the distance ahead and wolfed out. It had been quite a long time since I went for a run in my wolf form and today seemed just like the appropriate day for that. I needed to clear my head but more importantly, I needed to release my pent-up frustration. And what better way to do that than this? As I ran, I felt more alive than I had in days. Here in the woods, it felt like I had broken out of a cage. I could forget the palace and all the politics that went on in there or I could pretend that it didn't exist at all. At this moment, I felt like I was truly myself; the Xavier that did whatever he wanted. The trees passed by me in a blur of green and the ground vibrated under the velocity of my movement. For the first time in weeks, I understood what it meant to feel exhilarated. Two weeks from now and I might never get to feel this way anymore. That got me to stop abruptly. This was not a nightmare, it was real and nothing I did was going to stop it. Since Arie