A Deceptive Beauty

~ Prologue ~

Confusion swirled in his mind. Why was he acting this way? What could possibly make him act like a mindless fool? The questions were at the tip of his tongue, ready to be asked.

But he kept quiet and absent-mindedly rode the horse next to her. They passed towns, small buildings, and fields. Smoke from the chimneys could be seen from far distances. He knew some of these towns, along with its villagers, because of business he did with them every once in a while.

They mostly kept away from the houses and stayed on a dirt path. The trotting noise was the only sound that accompanied them on the way.

Before he knew it, they were both by a small cottage towards the outskirts of one of the main villages. Smoke came out from behind the cottage, and the light hit it in a way that made it seem as if dark shadows were crawling over it. It seemed to clash with the pale yellow color of the cottage.

The girl jumped off of her horse and told Kaiden to do the same. After he got off, she waved her hand to shoo the horses away. As if she had commanded them, the horses obediently trotted away. Then, the girl walked up the stone path that led to the house and opened the wooden door.

The door creaked open as the girl called out to her mother. "Mother? I brought him back! You can meet him!" she called.

He paled once more. The girl, mistaking it for nervousness, murmured to him not to worry. His throat felt dry and he couldn't manage to get any words out.

A woman in a dark robe appeared and then went up to hug her daughter. She looked like an older copy of the girl. Her blonde hair had a few silver streaks within but their hair color was nearly the same.

"Agatha, I see you've brought him home," the girl's mother said quietly, yet loud enough for Kaiden to hear. Kaiden finally knew what her name was.

"Yes, I did. The waiting is over," Agatha smiled. Her mother smiled back before she turned her attention of Kaiden.

Agatha's mother stared at Kaiden, studying him. She looked back at Agatha and gave her a smile of approval. Then, she steered them into the house.

It was a quaint little place. The heat from the fire place filled the rooms. There was a small wooden table that looked like it was barely big enough for three people.

"Dinner is ready!" Agatha's mother announced. Three bowls of soup rested on the table. Agatha had clearly planned this out beforehand.

Kaiden automatically sat down. Internally, he was screaming in confusion about why he felt as if he wasn't in control of his body. Did Agatha have some sort of power? If she did, then why hadn't he noticed it before? His fingers were stiffly clutching the spoon, and his head hurt. He needed to clear his head.

While Kaiden was mentally resisting the mind webs clouding his thoughts, Agatha started to frown. She felt that something was off. Or that something would go wrong. Her mother sensed the same feeling and tensed ever so slightly.

"Can I speak with you privately?" Kaiden managed to get out. Agatha's eyes flickered to her mother before gazing into Kaiden's emerald green eyes.

"Of course," she replied, taking his arm and leading him outside. It was grey and gloomy out, darkness about fall. She sat down on a rock while he stayed standing up.

Kaiden knew he had to get rid of her, before she got more attached. He couldn't ever be tied down and Agatha needed to know that. But how to do so without her making a scene in front of of her mother...? Angry parents were a pain to deal with. Especially when they demanded marriage agreements, which had happened a few unfortunate times.