To all those people who have said In The Woods is a favorite of theirs or that they really like the story I REALLY LIKE YOU TOO OKAY, LOVE YA LOTS AND I HOPE YOUR FAVE MARRIES YOU SOMEDAY.
UNLESS IT'S HARRY. THEN YOU CAN JOIN ME WITH BEING A SIDE HOE AFTER I TIE HIM AND LOUIS DOWN AT THE ALTAR.
Unedited bc woah, I'm busy as hell.
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My eyes stay glued to her figure. Her body curled up into a ball under the thick blankets, one of my arms over her waist.
She had cried herself to sleep last night and I couldn't deny that every whimper from her lips made me feel agitated - like I wanted to do something, but what could I? I couldn't take back what I had done.
Well, I didn't do much really. As she was being mocked, I was just watching by the food table, grabbing a few bites of the snacks that had been laid out.
Sure, she was right that I knew about it. I mean, it was basically what Charlotte had been bragging on about that whole day before the ball. She was also the one that made me go after her that night in the forest, though I didn't want her out there at night anyway.
I mean, a body ripped to shreds on castle grounds - it wouldn't sound too nice with possible future traders from other kingdoms.
But the way the wrinkle between her eyebrows kept forming, no matter how many times I try to calm her down in her sleep, made me wonder if it was worth it.
I mean, she survived this much, hasn't she? I mean I know her entire life now - she had been abused by her drunk of a father, and she had started hunting after he past away. She has a paralytic mother, a sister only a few years younger, a brother who's a lumberjack. And she has a knack for getting into trouble - and after all that she's alive, so I'm sure she could have gotten to her village through the woods with little or no difficulty at all. So maybe I should have let her?
But it was too late now as the damage has been done. Honestly, when Charlotte had told me her plan, I thought everyone in that room would be dead meat by the time Anna was done with them. She may hate to admit it, but she was a lot like me. I knew, without a doubt, that Annalyn would burn everything down if it mean getting revenge. She'll deny it, mostly because she would hate those words. She'd call it justice, but what difference is there really? An eye for an eye, same shit. And like me, I knew she'd burn down villages if she could, just to hurt someone who had hurt her.
Anna groans in my arms, shifting a little and I fear she might wake with me still tangled with her.
I didn't mean to be cuddling with her, it just...sort of happened.
Last night I had brought her in - changed her into a white night dress to make her comfortable, and removed her shoes - and laid her down on the bed.
Halfway through the trip to my room she had already fallen asleep, just as soon as I placed a blanket over her body to shield her from unwanted eyes. And when I laid her down I made sure I was on the complete opposite side of the bed.
However, I woke up with her pressed against my chest, but to my own surprise, I didn't mind. She is quite warm, and it was definitely a hundred times better than my pillows, and I didn't feel like letting go. Still don't, really. So I'm just hoping she'd sleep for a bit longer.
I'm sure I'd get hit more than once when she wakes up. Definitely one hit for just existing, another for being close to her, and another one surely for changing her clothes - but I've already seen her bare, why is she still so conscious about it?
I didn't understand what it is in the girl that stops me from having her hung. If it were anyone else who were to talk to me the way she does, I'd have them executed.
But when I think about it now, picturing her dead body doesn't feel as satisfying as it's supposed to.
She was definitely pretty, that much I couldn't deny - as well as the fact that I feel a sort of pull with her that I didn't pay mind to before. I couldn't place a finger on it, but at some point she had managed to catch my attention. Not a huge part of it of course, a bigger part of me still gets annoyed whenever she speaks up, like I can't help but disagree with anything she says.
Still. Maybe it's the way she acts so brave and reckless, yet there are sparks of kindness here and there. Well, not to me, but to other people at least. Or not even them, just the ones she holds close to her heart.
After the person I hired to run a check of Annalyn's life had told me all about her, it sparked my interest even further. I had already known that she hadn't had an easy life, but I didn't know she was an orphan now. I didn't know that she had been in the woods for eleven years as well. Except for her it was necessary, while it was a chore for me.
And seeing as she ran towards the forest in a time when she was broken, I think she loves it in there, that maybe it meant more to her than a place where she could shoot down food.
I remember the wooden object I found in Anna's boot last night. It fell out when I removed it from her foot.
Reluctantly, I untangle myself from Annalyn, hearing her grumble in protest against the many movements, but she doesn't wake up, which I'm thankful for. I sit up on the edge of my bed, running a hand over my face to try and wake myself up before heaving my body up to my feet.
I walk over to the desk just by one of the huge windows, spotting the object almost immediately. It was a slingshot - not the best one out there - and I wonder where she got it.
I'm sure it wasn't a guard. I mean, what guard would give a weapon to a servant, and what for? A slingshot couldn't start an uprising. Annoy a few people, and break a few things, yeah sure, but neither Anna nor anyone else had attempted to do such a thing so I guess that's not the right angle to look at.
The person I hired - god I've forgotten her name already - told me that Anna was flawless with a bow and arrow, so it makes sense that she'd find a more inconspicuous version of it. But then that doesn't answer my why and how questions. Not to mention why it was hidden in her boot while she was at the ball.
And there's another peculiar thing. Annalyn attended the ball with an unpainted face and muddy boots, yet she still somehow looked a thousand times better than the other girls who had no doubt paid a lot of money to look like porcelain dolls as they stumble around in their high heels.
How she managed that, I don't know.
What I do know is that I had to stop thinking about that issue before it worsens. God knows me, out of all people, could not get attached to someone. Always business before pleasure, if anything. Would I like a shot at a simple future? Of course. Do I get the shot? No, of course I don't.
I sighed, putting down the slingshot before looking out the window. It was already morning, sunlight already bright as I looked down on a great view of people from the richest town taking morning walks or rides in carriages.
But I didn't feel like joining them and frolic around the shops to buy things I didn't even need.
Instead, I felt like I wanted to spend the day in bed - not in the same way I usually do either.
I shuffle back towards the bed, lifting the blankets so I could crawl back under them, before making my way towards Anna's body and slinging an arm around her waist again.
She was so warm and comfy, despite the fact that she didn't smell like expensive perfumes - or maybe that's why. I never did like the smell of those things, they make me dizzy.
Annalyn start to move again, groaning softly. I shush her, expecting for her to quiet down like she had the past few times I did that, but instead I get a reply. "What?" Her scratchy voice speaks up.
She's awake.
"Shit." I am so dead.
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You think this is a filler? Lol no. It's laced with so much foreshadowing, good luck in trying to spot them all guys.
Is there such thing as a teaser chapter? Well there is now, I'm inventing it omg.
On another point, I'm sorry for the short chapters, barely have time to write so yeah. Better than a crappy long one and like once a week updates anyway.
THE COLOR THEME MY AUNT WANTS IS MINT GREEN AND BABY PINK SOMEONE HELP ME TALK HER OUT OF THIS, IT LOOKS AWFUL.
OH AND VOTE COMMENT AND FAN AS USUAL. (the comment part is v important bc feedback.)