The Cursed

Chapter One- The Precious Jewel

It’s hard to explain how this came to be, for many reasons I still don’t understand it. But who can help who they fall in love with.  Life was just a routine, the same thing happened at the same time every day. I wake up as the sun rises over the mountains and floods my room with rays of glittering gold, My eyes are heavy but I do not wish to sleep any longer. They bring me some breakfast, normally consisting of oats and warm milk, which they wait for me to finish before leaving my room. My lady in waiting then comes to help me dress, she pulls the strings to the corset so tight I wince every time. She makes sure I am presentable, my hair in curls and a touch of colour on my cheeks, but as I look in the mirror all I see are two pale green eyes staring out from my pale ivory face, no happiness to be seen in them, I am forever stuck in this routine.

I am made to study different languages, literature and history. They sit next to the door in my room, watching me, making sure I inhale as much knowledge from the musty pages of these books as I possibly can in one morning.  I am then given lunch by the big bay window overlooking the garden in my room, they still sit by the door. Then my favourite part of the day arrives, I am given the time to walk around the gardens and land of the Castle, but still they are watching me, always four steps behind each of my own. I have become accustom to this, being a sort of prized jewel I wish not to be, being the apple of his eye or some endangered species he tries ever so hard to hold onto.

They take me back to my room where I must then change into whatever dress he has chosen for me to wear to that night’s meal, generally a corset that must be pulled tighter than what I wear during the day. He always picks out green, green velvet, green silk, green lace, it must be his favourite colour, or maybe he just likes green as it is the colour of his favourite drink either way I am always dressed in green whenever I am in his presence. This night he had picked out a dark green velvet gown with pewter hooks and ribbon on the corset, my hair had to be pulled back away from my neck and shoulders so they were bare, ebony curls fell down my back and large diamond earrings in my ears. I was never to wear a necklace, a scarf or any item around my neck in his presence.

It was a cold night in Avaria, as the seasons were changing. A cool draft wrapped itself around me as I was escorted to the dining hall. I was frozen to the bone hating him for making me wear something that did not cover my arms or shoulders. The staff around the castle lined the walls as I walked towards the entrance to the dining Hall, That’s when I first saw him.

Standing just inside the door, I could not help but look at him, his eyes the palest blue, looked right into mine and a small smile pinched the corner of his lips. The structure of his face was as if it had been carved out of marble, chiselled to perfection, except for his nose which looked like it may have been broken in his past and never quite healed properly.  He was clothed in a guards Uniform, dark grey and emerald green with pewter buttons up to his neck and a pressed pewter crest of a Raven clutching a snake in its talons displayed itself proudly on his breast plate covering his broad chest. My arm was suddenly taken hold of and I was pulled away towards my seat, he continued standing at attention staring in front of him at the stone wall.

I directed my attention at the table and seated myself down. Goosebumps covered my body but I put that down to the cold. I looked up from the beautifully decorated table and saw his dark Green eyes staring at me from over his crystal glass full of his favourite liquid. A cruel smile spread over his face as he lowered his glass from his blood red lips. The prince was a handsome man, many women admired him and flustered over him when he walked past or gave them the slightest acknowledgement. He had a strong jaw and burning eyes, his lips were always pursed into a cruel smile and his dark hair was always pristinely slicked back. The prince cared a great deal about appearances and prided himself in making sure he was always made up unto the highest level of immaculacy.