Hi, everyone! I just wanted to thank you for reading, voting and commenting on this original story, it really means a lot to me.
I just wanted to say that this is one of my favourite chapters from this book. I hope you will enjoy it as much as me.
xxx
Pride was gone for a long time. I watched the sun shift and lower in the sky. I pushed myself up from the ground with my stick and walked around the clearing for a bit. I hated how I felt for the prince. I wanted to hate him like I did for the past six months, but it was ebbing away faster than the tide. And other times, hate or anger flared up. At times he is caring and open, at others he is gruff and withdrawn. I just didn't know what to do with him, how to read him.
I leaned against a large tree and slid down. My leg protested a little until I shifted. I searched the sky for stars but since the first night I came to Ferri, none of them were seen. I looked at the fire when I saw movement. Pride had come back with wood for the fire and what appeared to be fish on the point of his sword. When he noticed me gone, he dropped his things and looked around. I wondered if it really was concern in his eyes or if he just didn't want to lose me because I could break the curse. When he spotted me, his shoulders slumped down. He came over in large strides.
"Do you enjoy giving me a heart attack?" He asked as he stopped in front of me. I tilted my head slowly, blinking up at him.
"Do you enjoy giving half-ass answers, then storming away when you won't give it to me?" I raised an eyebrow. We stared at each other for a long moment. Silent minutes stretched out between us.
"Come on, it's almost dark." He leaned forward, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me up. "It's going to cool quite a bit." He said, his grey eyes fixed on the night sky. "I got enough wood to last us through the night."
We were almost back to the fire when I asked. "The sky is pitch black. How can you know what's to come?"
"Ferri is my home. My brothers and I are all connected to it. Weather can be quite unpredictable out here." He put me down on the leaf-covered ground. "I'll start dinner."
As Pride worked on the fish, I shuffled closer to the fire, a chill wind already covering the ground. I looked away when he gutted the fish.
"Still can't look at it?" I heard amusement in his voice.
"Not even in a hundred years." I said. I looked back at him, deliberately avoiding the fish in his hands, finding his stormy grey eyes.
"You think you'll still be here in a hundred years?" Something sparkled in his eyes.
I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But even from my grave, I wouldn't watch it."
The sparkle vanished like snow before a summer sun, he frowned before he looked at the fish. "Don't say that."
"Say what?" I asked confused.
"You, in a grave. Dead."
"I'm not talking about tomorrow. At least I hope not. Maybe in sixty years when I'm all grey and wrinkly. After a full life."
"A full life." He repeated, still not looking at me. "Full of love?"
"I should hope so." The moment my gaze was back to the fire, his shifted to me.
After dinner, I laid down on the leaf bed and pulled my cloak up to my shoulders. Pride threw more wood in the fire before he laid down behind me. His arm around my waist without hesitation and pulled me flush against his chest. I closed my eyes revelling in the warmth that radiated from me, but I couldn't find sleep. I turned on my back and gazed at the starless sky, Pride's arm still over my waist.
"Where is your mind at?" Pride whispered. I thought he had fallen asleep. I rolled over once more until I was facing him. His grey eyes sparkled in the light of the fire. His hand rested softly on my hip.
"I miss the stars."
"The stars." He repeated softly, his eyes went to the black sky before it fell back on me. "Why?"
"When I was younger, my father and I went camping a lot." I looked at the dark sky again. "We slept under the night sky, littered with millions of stars. It's strikingly beautiful."
"I know what you mean." His voice was barely a whisper. I glanced back at him. His eyes were on me, and my heart stopped for a second or two from his intense gaze. He reached up with the hand that was on my hip and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "The first time I saw you, your eyes reminded me of Caeruleum Waters, the pond you bathed in."
I swallowed thickly, trying to slow my breathing. I wetted my lips with the tip of my tongue. The memory of us flush against each other flashed through my mind. It may be the same for Pride because his eyes darkened.
"The first time I saw you, I thought you were an arrogant prat." I grinned before laughter broke out. A large smile appeared on his face. I leaned my head against his chest as I laughed. When my laughter died down, I lifted my head. His face was so close.
"I like your laugh."
"Really?" I stopped breathing as his finger trailed over my lips. "I like this look." I pushed past the intimacy of the moment and ruffled his hair.
"You like this bird's nest on my head?" He asked incredulously.
"I do." I cupped his stubbled cheek. The raw hairs scratching over my palm. "But I love the beard." I laughed again at his perplexed expression. He rubbed over his cheek with his knuckles.
"I have never not shaved before." He rested his hand back on my hip.
"You can do it when we get back, but -" I looked away from his intense gaze. I shivered from another gush of wind and Pride pulled the cloak tighter around me. I shook my head. "I have a better idea." I opened the cloak.
"What are-" He stopped talking as I shuffled closer. I draped the cloak over us both and nudged my leg between his. He stretched his arm until I laid my head on his bicep, my nose grazing his chest. My hands rested between us. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me as close as possible. His cheek rested on top of my head.
"This is better." I sighed happily. Feeling his body warmth spread over my whole body.
"It is." He murmured against my head. I was just dozing off when he spoke again, his voice echoed in the dark of the night. "You and Wrath, Wymond."
I hummed, showing him, I was listening.
"You kissed."
"A couple of times, yes."
"How many times?"
I pushed back a little so I could look at his face, but his expression was unreadable. But the nature of these questions... Was he jealous? "Does it matter?" He stared at me, his eyes almost like fire because of the reflection of the flames. "Four times," I said. "Including the one where we parted."
"Did anything else happen? With him or any of my brothers."
"No. Lucien tried once, let me just say he will never try again." A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Or did you want something to happen?" I frowned.
He cradled my head back against his chest and I couldn't see his face anymore. His hand travelled up and down my back. "Sleep well, Ava."
I held back a groan from another lack of answer before I closed my eyes. "Goodnight, Poppy." I felt him smile against my head before I drifted off.
"What is this?" I woke up from Pride's voice. I was still lying against his chest, our legs intertwined. I blinked my eyes open slowly, the first thing I saw was my ring. Pride was holding my engagement ring in his hand. "Ava, what is this?!" His voice was angry, and the way he said my name was full of mistrust.
"I-" I didn't have a chance to answer. Pride unwrapped himself completely and stood up. The ring fell back against my chest.
"I'm going to kill him." He growled. "He lied to me." His eyes were furious and locked solely on me. "You lied to me!"
I pushed myself up with my stick. Clenching my eyes shut from the pain. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"You're betrothed. You are betrothed to Wymond. Four kisses." He huffed. "Yeah, right."
My eyes bulged out of my sockets as I looked at him. Then I started laughing hysterically. "You arrogant prick! Don't start accusing me when you don't know what's going on."
"You are engaged to one of my brothers while you seduced me."
"Seduced you?" I huffed a laugh. "Don't flatter yourself."
"What is it then? Why do you have an engagement ring?" He threw his hands in the air.
"Because I was engaged!" I cried out. Silence fell between us. Pride was standing a few feet away, he eyed me up and down.
"And what? You keep the ring on your neck because you're still sad a poor mortal man left you. I think he's better off."
I was fuming. I wouldn't be surprised if steam blew out of my ears. I can't believe I told him all of these things over the past days and now he accused me of fucking his brother and now how he spoke about Jack. I grabbed the dagger out of my sheath and charged up to him. Ignoring the pain in my leg. I pushed my blade under his chin, hard enough to draw blood.
"I told you don't speak to me about things you don't know."
"Then don't lie to me." He said through clenched teeth.
"I'm not the one who's hiding things." I twisted the blade.
"Ava!" Pride and I snapped our heads to the cave. All six of Pride's brothers and Leon rode into the open clearing on horses. It was Leon who had called out. They all froze when they saw my blade against Pride's throat.
I looked back to Pride. "My fiancé -" I pushed the blade a little harder and Pride's eyes glimmered down at me. "Died. It was a long and painful death. Is that what you wanted to know? Because that is the truth! And if you had given me a chance, I would have told you." I lowered my dagger and turned around.
"Ava."
"I'm done talking about this." I glanced over my shoulder. Different emotions passed over his face. "I'm done talking to you, Pride." I said his name in a sneer. Leon had jumped off from his horse and made his way towards us.
"Leon!" I put on a smile and ran up to him. His eyes were concerned as he saw me limp. He reached me just in time as the pain became too much and I crashed to the ground.
"Ava." Leon's voice sounded panicked. "What happened?"
"Here are my favourite brothers." I smiled as the others came to crowd around me. I saw Gideon walk over to Pride.
"What happened?" Sevrin asked.
"We were ambushed when we went riding. Lady Ava got hit by an arrow in her leg and was thrown off her horse." Pride said as he came over with Gideon.
"I need to treat it here. It's more than a day's ride back to the castle." Elmir said and he kneeled beside me.
"We're not wasting another day here." Pride sneered. "Make a portal."
"We can't," Gideon said. "We tried to but something blocked -" He looked to Leon. "How did you say it?"
"Our signal. Something blocked out the signal." He glanced down at me, caressing my hair back. "We had to ride all the way here."
"Did you see the rebels?" I asked.
Wymond was the one who answered. He sat down next to Elmir, grabbing my hand in his. "We did. They were still looking for you but when they saw the seven of us, they fled."
"Where did you get hit?" Elmir asked.
I reached down and touched the hole in my breeches. I started to push them down. The princes cleared their throats and looked away. All except Elmir and Pride.
"Uhm, Ava." Leon said uncertainly.
"Don't start acting all prudish. Any of you." Lucien had even completely turned his back towards me. "Lucien, really?"
"I remember your treat vividly, Ava." He winked over his shoulder and turned back around. "I'm not taking any chances."
"Elmir needs to tend to my wound. How is he supposed to do that if I have my clothes on." I rolled my eyes. I leaned my back against Leon and nodded to Elmir. "Go on."
Elmir started to clean the wound, wiping off the tree sap with a wet handkerchief. "This is from an arrow?" Elmir frowned. I kept my gaze on the wound, not looking at Pride even though I felt his gaze.
"The arrow broke off when she fell," Pride said, taking a step closer. "A piece of it and the arrowhead was still stuck in her leg." He took in a deep breath, and I glanced up at him. "I needed to make the hole bigger to take it out." He let out a shuddered breath. His brothers didn't seem to notice, except for Gideon who was standing right beside him. He eyed him for a moment.
"The cut is clean," Elmir said. He leaned down to get a better look. "You got everything out." He looked over his shoulder to Pride. "Good work."
"Pride basically operated on you while you were conscious and didn't have any painkillers." Leon gasped. "How?"
"With a lot of screaming."
"And biting." Pride said under his breath. Gideon frowned as his eyes shifted from Pride to me and back.
"I'll need to stitch it up."
"You got something for the pain with you, right?" Pride asked. Worry flickered in his eyes. At least I think it was that. Maybe he just couldn't bear to hear my voice anymore.
"We came prepared." Griffin said as he took a few vials from his pockets. "After Leon couldn't find Ava, we went to your house and knew you'd be gone riding for over two days, we knew something must have happened." Griffin stepped closer and handed the vial to me.
"It's safe, right?" I asked, eyeing the purple liquid.
"Since you didn't come near it when I made it, yes." Lucien replied with a grin.
I stuck out my tongue in response. I opened the vial and drank it empty. It had a bit of a lavender aftertaste, but that was about it. My sight got blurry, and my head lolled to the side. I was in a happy daze. I smiled lazily at the men before you.
"You all look so handsome. My gorgeous princes." I tilted my head to look at Leon. "I haven't forgotten about you, Leon. If you weren't into men, I would snog you."
Leon laughed nervously and glanced at Lust. "What did you give her?"
"Something strong."
"Apparently." Sevrin mused, concern and amusement in his voice.
"What do you think of me, love?" Asked Lucien.
I turned my head at the golden-eyed prince. "I think it still remembers my treat to you." I giggled and Lucien paled. "Have you seen Persephone? He has a beard." I giggled again. What in the world was in this potion? I never giggled. "It suits him even if he's an ass."
"Persephone?" Wymond was smirking from ear to ear at his brother.
"Can we get going? I barely slept in days." Pride said impatiently, running his hand through his wild hair. My eyes focused on his hair and beard for a moment.
"She needs to keep still. She will still feel it when I start. Pride, hold her legs."
"Why me?" He asked at the same moment I said. "Why him?"
"Because I said so." Elmir raised his voice. I've never heard him raise his voice before. "Put your head against Leon's chest, Ava. It will be better if you don't look."
I nodded. I leaned my head back against Leon's chest. As I closed my eyes, Leon wrapped his arms around my waist. A tingle spread through my body when Pride placed his hands on my legs, holding them in place. Leon started to hum Bohemian Rhapsody in my ear to calm me down. But the moment, Elmir pressed a needle through my skin, I clenched my teeth.
"STOP!" Pride said. I opened my eyes and saw he was staring at me with his own painful expression. "She needs something more for the pain."
"She'll overdose if I give her something else." Lucien said.
"Then give her something to bite on or she'll break her teeth." He snapped.
"I'm fine." I said.
"Not this again." He muttered.
"It seems like she got a good bite out of you." Lucien chirped tugging at his collar, showing of the bitemark.
"You'll let someone bite you too if you dig a knife into someone's leg without pain medication!"
Lucien backed away, hands in the air from the tone of his voice. Griffin stepped forward and handed Leon a thick lap of leather. "Here, bite on this."
Leon looked at me questioningly, when I nodded, he placed the leather between my teeth. I gave Elmir a short nod and he resumed his sewing. I squeezed my eyes shut, biting hard on the lap of leather. I felt Pride's hands grasp my legs tight. I wanted to kick and pull away from the needle in my leg. Then the pain stopped suddenly. I didn't think Elmir was finished already but suddenly I felt like I was floating on a cloud. The lap of leather fell from my mouth, and I stared up at the red sky.
"Ava, are you okay?" Leon's voice sounded worried and distant.
"I'm finnnnne." I purred. "Ask Lucien for the potion. We can make a trip together."
"She's as high as a kite." I heard him say to the others.
"Better that than in pain." Griffin said from afar.
"Look." I pointed up towards the sky. I saw them twist their heads to look upwards. Except for Elmir, he continued patching me up. I giggled. "Made you look."
I could feel Leon shake his head with a quiet chuckle. "We can't ride like this."
"How long until the potion wears off?" Sevrin asked. I glanced at the boyish prince. I ruffled his curly hair.
"At least five hours."
"We'll stay here for the night then." Wymond said. "How long?"
"Nearly finished." Elmir said.
"Right." I saw Wymond comb his blond hair back. "Luci- Lust, Greed. Help me unload. We'll set up camp."
"Camping." I sighed wistfully, glancing up at the sky. "There are no stars for camping." I could feel Pride's thumb graze over my legs softly. "I'm mad at Poppy. Who's going to cuddle with me tonight?" The words stumbled out of my mouth. There wasn't a force that wanted to stop it.
I heard bags drop on the ground; a long silence stretched around us. I started humming. Then multiple voices yelled at the same time.
"Cuddle?!"
"Poppy?!"
"Oh, Ava." Leon chuckled in my ear. "What have you been doing the past few days."
"A lot." I giggled again. "There is this pond -"
"Ava." Pride's voice rumbled over me. A clear warning to shut my mouth.
"Oh, this sounds interesting." Lucien grinned. "Tell me more."
"Ava, don't." Pride's voice was clipped.
I tilted my head to look at Leon. "You would think we had sex with his reactions." I rolled my eyes heavily. I gave Pride a fixed stare. "Nothing even happened, Penelope."
"What's with the names?"
"What did happen at the pond?"
I didn't know who asked what question, but a new melody popped into my head. I was humming it softly, gazing at the red sky, and then suddenly I shouted. "HEY MACARENA!"
"I really do want some of that potion." Leon laughed.
"I'm done." Elmir said. He pushed my hair back behind my ear. "You did great, Ava."
I grabbed his face between my hands and squished his cheeks together. "You're so cute." I kissed the top of his nose.
"She really needs her sleep," Elmir said as he gently pushed my hands down, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He looked at his brothers and the things they dropped on the ground. "Come on, get started." He ordered.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against Leon's chest. Pride's hands were still on my legs even though Elmir was finished. He squeezed them softly once more before he let go.