Disguised Vengeance

Chapter 18

OHHHH LOOK AN UPDATE!!! This chapter ended up going in a directly opposite direction to my original plan thanks to my sister, but i am happy with it :) Hope you guys enjoy it too! Please share your thoughts :)

This chapter is dedicated to ReNee_Rose_Vazquez. Her comment made me laugh :):)

Lying on his back, Jase was examining the canopy of the four poster bed with a strong sense of nostalgia. He found that if he kept his eyes fixated solely on the intricate wooden carvings, he could almost pretend that he was still the Prince of Esyria. The extensively furnished bed chamber was both familiar and unfamiliar. The goose-feather pillow and warm duvet reminded him of his boyhood bedroom in the Esyrian palace, but at the same time, they felt foreign against his body.

Jase reminisced about the young prince who had the potential to mature into a confident leader and grimaced at the vast difference between that boy and himself. While that boy spent his carefree days pondering over the various pranks to pull on the palace staff, he dedicated every waking hour to choosing the ideal weapon to end a king's life. That boy had a reason to smile; Jase had a reason to kill. A good reason.

Detecting a new presence in the room, he raised himself into a sitting position on the four poster bed and saw a boy who was a spitting image of Jase when he was eleven. Jase had to blink a few times before realising that although the boy had messy blonde hair, it was curly and a few shades lighter than his own. The child's eyes were hazel brown instead of cerulean blue, his cheeks were chubbier and his forehead was slightly broader.

He also noted that the boy wasn't smiling; his lips were pulled into a frown that didn't match his features and his small fists were clenched by his side.

"I hate y – " The child shook his head and soft, blonde curls bounced up and down. "I dislike you."

Hiding his surprise, Jase arched an eyebrow and said, "You dislike me, but you don't hate me?"

"My sister said 'hate' is a strong word."

Jase felt the corner of his lips quirking up into a reluctant smile. The boy's brown eyes and the way he spoke reminded Jase of someone.

Catherine.

"May I ask why you dislike me?" he inquired, wondering how he had offended Catherine and Calla's little brother.

"You made my sister cry."

A soft knocking interrupted their conversation before Jase could respond to Cade's remark. Chris stepped into the room and grinned at him. "About time you woke up."

The memories Jase had been subconsciously repressing invaded his mind in a rush, causing his head to pound painfully. Massaging his temple with the pad of his thumb, he remembered the ungrateful Haters, the poisoned pie and the searing pain in his chest. Furrowing his brows, he struggled to recall what came after the pain.

"Do you remember anything, Sir Bretson?" Chris asked, his voice laced with concern and curiosity. Catherine hadn't shared the details of Jase's hallucination with Chris. The only other person who witnessed the hallucination was Nathan.

"No."

Chris nodded absentmindedly before smiling fondly at a spot on the bed behind Jase. "Wake her up. She's been anxiously waiting for you to open your eyes," he said before turning to leave the room with Cade.

Confused, Jase glanced over his shoulder and saw a girl hunched over in her seat beside the bed. Her arms were folded across the edge of the mattress and she rested the side of her head on them, using them as a pillow. Jase's heart constricted when he saw the tear stained tracks that ran along her cheeks.