The Bastard Princess

60.

-HER-

I was left hot and bothered after the intense kiss. I resorted to glaring at him and ignoring him while cooking the breakfast. Although he didn't give up on his shenanigans. They continued even after breakfast and I was slowly starting to find it hard to stay sane.

"Just leave me alone already!" I cried out loud when my nerves were on the verge of wrecking. He eventually decided to leave me alone but not before asking me with a serious tone if I was alright.

I kept my answers passive and my stance towards him, aggressive. After he left me alone, I decided to have a bath before resting some more.

Since we resided deep into the woods, hardly anyone wandered our way. This part of the woods was mostly untouched by civilization. Nature wasn't shy here. Bird's chirping always floated in the air while some stags would come down to the lake behind the house to have a drink or a bath very often.

Although when I went to the lake today, the woods seemed to be standing still in attention- as if waiting for something to happen. There was something very eerie about the woods today. First, I thought that I felt so because Ares wasn't home but then slowly it started to dawn upon me that there was in fact something wrong with the woods today. I just couldn't put a finger on it.

As I stripped alone and descended down in the water, I got the feeling of being watched. It was as if thousands of eyes were staring down at me all at once. A chill ran down my spine and I decided to swim to the depths of the lake to escape from the strange eeriness of the surface.

Just when I dived deeper, I heard something move within the woods. I looked over my shoulder to see a shadow cast over the water. The seeds of fear were starting to sprout in me. With my dive, I had expected that the feeling of being watched would be washed away and would be left on the surface, but strangely it still lingered.

I stayed underwater as long as my lungs allowed but at one point, I had to swim back to the surface. I heard a warning call of one of the birds as I broke the water surface.

A wave of anxiety and fear washed over me. I was scared as my mind started to weave strange things into my imagination. I looked around to look at whatever it was but all I found were trees standing tall. Although, sometimes I would imagine a strange creature or a ghost of the past peaking from behind a tree. It would smile at me creepy before tugging its head back behind the tree.

A shiver ran down my spine instantly. My heart was already palpitating. I didn't know what was happening but I chose not to wait and get out of the water before getting dressed and going back inside the house.

As I went inside the house, I heard someone move among the trees again. I chose not to look over my shoulder and pretend that I didn't hear or feel anything.

The first thing that I did after stepping inside the house was looking for something sharp- something that could be used to defend myself. The only thing that I found was the knife that I used to cut fruits and vegetables. It was starting to turn blunt and didn't have much to itself to be a promising weapon.

Then I considered using my powers but I soon found myself refraining from the idea because I was already weak due to the heat and using my powers could make my health worse. The last thing I wanted to be was weak and vulnerable at the moment.

I rather resorted to searching Ares' belongings to find something that could be used as a weapon but the only thing I found was disappointment. While I searched the house for anything, I heard more commotion outside.

Whoever it was, they were close and just outside the house. Just this realization made my heart race wildly in my chest and my mouth turn drier than a desert. Beads of cold sweat decorated my forehead and my breaths became ragged as if I had run a long mile.

I clutched the blunt knife in one hand and reached for the first pan I could find in the kitchen to use it as a weapon. Holding my breath and equipped with cutlery and the utensil, I waited silently just by the door. Everything was drenched with silence- the house and the woods outside.

The only things that I was able to hear were my own racing heart and the heavy footsteps of the being outside the house. The door remained ajar as an invitation. A tall shadow cast in the house while I waited for the intruder with my back pressed firmly against the wall.

As soon as they stepped inside the house, I stepped in front of them, ready to swing the pan right into their face. But as soon as my eyes locked with a familiar pair of silver ones, I dropped everything and stepped back with wide eyes.

Ares watched me with bewilderment while his eyebrows came together.

"What happened, Arsinoe?" He asked. I turned on my heels and chose to walk away instead of answering his question.

"Arsinoe," I heard him call for me but I climbed to my safe space instead.

"Just get lost," I grumbled at him as he followed me upstairs but he stopped just at the entrance. I instantly gave him my back and laid down and continued to ignore him.

"What happened, Arsinoe? Why were you trying to swing the pan to my face?" I heard him ask. Hadn't I known him well, I would have thought that he was scared but I was too familiar with his ways to know that this was one of his initiatives to strike a conversation with me.

"I thought you were a thief," I grumbled nonchalantly when in reality, my heart was still racing and just reminiscing about the feeling of being watched itched my skin. Could it be that it was Ares? And it was one of his new shenanigans?

I would have felt at peace if it were so but something told me that it wasn't. It was something else – something I was waiting for. Something ugly and scary. It seemed like we were about to run out of the peaceful and the monotonous days.

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