I heard hushed voices around me as I began to partake in the first stages of consciousness. First were the voices, then a tsunami of memories came crashing into existence, drowning out those voices. That was followed by the awareness of my body. All I had to do was open my eyes, and yet, I wasn't ready to do that. I still felt drained of energy.
"Will she be okay?" I knew that voice, but why was he here?
"She'll be okay. She'll wake when she's ready," a woman replied with a soft, mother-like tone that could soothe anyone. "You should really have some rest. You've been here for five hours."
"I'll leave when I very well feel like it." His voice was final. "If your job is done, then you shall be the one to leave."
Footsteps were all that I heard until a door opened and quietly shut. He then sighed, and I felt his hand touch mine. The coolness sent pleasure throughout my body, which was very confusing and new to me.
"Stupid girl," he shunned, but I heard no anger in his voice. If anything, he sounded tired. "What am I going to do with you?"
I smiled, but I was sure it hadn't made it to my face. I was too tired to do anything but lay there, and soon, I fell back into a stupor...
I finally opened my eyes with ease and found myself sitting up in bed, observing my surroundings. I was alone in what looked like a hospital ward with room for a hundred patients, however I was the only one to occupy a cot. No one else was in sight.
I lifted myself out of bed cautiously, afraid I'd be too weak to walk. Surprisingly, I felt great. I quickly reached down to feel for the stone at my chest and sighed in relief when I felt it dangling there.
How long had I been asleep? Judging by the fact that I still wore the same attire, I guessed that not even a day had passed.
"Look who's decided to wake up."
I had been too preoccupied to feel the static, but it was surely there. I turned around and saw the Prince standing in the doorway.
"Your Majesty," I bowed and then I rose with a frown. "What are you doing here? You were also here earlier. I'd felt you touch me."
The Prince looked at me with unease and then brushed past me. "Don't get the wrong idea. I was making sure that you weren't going to die. If you had, that would've been my head."
"How does watching me while I sleep help me?" I asked, turning toward where he stood looking out of a window. "Especially the 'touching me' part?"
The Prince whipped his head around and glared. "I was giving you my energy," he explained and then looked as if he regretted it. "It's a rare gift that you may not even possess, and if you do, you have to be taught it. But it is not on our curriculum, so do not become hopeful."
My mouth hung open in the most unladylike like way. "And why not? If there is a hidden gift that we can use during battle, why not teach us?"
"As I've stated, Lady Anya, not many can harness the gift of healing. We don't have enough time to experiment. The King was clear: train the new warriors on how to use white fire as a weapon."
"Teach me, Your Highness." It wasn't often when the Prince was taken by surprise, or at least from what I'd seen. But in that moment, he took a single step back, almost looking vulnerable while trying to process my words. "It can be a private lesson. I won't tell a soul, not even Cora, Luca, or Titus. Not even my maid. It'll be our secret."
Prince Sebastian suddenly closed the distance between us, and his electrifying eyes were ablaze as he gazed down at me. "I am not interested in giving you private lessons."
"Please, My Lord," I begged him. "If what you say is true, we could help thousands of injured soldiers during the war!"
"You don't know what you are talking about! You're brainwashed...you're property. You think how the King wants you to think." Prince Sebastian's laugh was full of wrath. "The four of you still believe that we are the good guys. You have no idea what your great King has planned for you. Trust me, you won't need to know how to heal a man."
"Maybe you're the one who's brainwashed. Possibly by your own powers," I retorted, matching his intensity. "I've heard about how dark you're becoming, because your power is so great."
"Is that the rumor?" The Prince laughed. "Probably one that my father has planted in your ears to make you hate me."
"No, I've heard about the men you've killed," I argued. "I can see the darkness in your eyes."
The Prince blinked, and for the first time, I saw hurt. "Maybe what you're really seeing is the pain that has been carefully hidden behind anger."
It was my turn to take a step back, shocked by his revelation. Was the Cold Prince truly cold, or was he misunderstood? No, he couldn't be misunderstood. Every ugly act committed against me resurfaced. No true gentlemen would've treated a lady they way he'd treated me. He was cruel, indeed.
"But...but the rumor is that the stronger the gift, the darker we become because of our powers."
"The powers don't make you dark, my lady, the King does." His words hit me like a thousand birds falling from a polluted sky. I didn't know what to believe, and so I continued to argue.
"But you've been so rude to me. You've been absolutely horrible. How?" I begged to know. "How could you treat me so harshly if you weren't truly cold?"
"Do you really want to know the truth?" His velvet voice released a cool breeze that engulfed me. "Because the moment I saw you, I knew you weren't fit to be the King's Slayer. You were too innocent...too good. I'd rather send you running home in fear of me than to fight for fear of him!"
"But Cora-"
"She is cut from a different cloth than you, Lady Anya. She was a thief in her tribe...a criminal. Titus? He killed a man two years ago in a drunken rage. They all have a history far worse than you know. You don't think my father took his time to do his research on the four of you? Who do you think he sent to spy? Me."
Prince Sebastian took a step toward me, causing me to take another step backward. My heart was pounding out of my chest as the truth to his words began to sink in.
"I watched you first. You lived a simple life, one near the border, along with your mother. You would always take a daily walk to your local market and buy strawberries. Then you'd take a book to your favorite tree and read for half of the day. Some days, you'd take a detour and stop at a graveyard and put flowers-"
"Don't!" I cried, taking another step back and turning away so that he couldn't see my tears. He knew my secret; he knew how I'd visit my father's grave almost daily. It was something personal to me that no one knew, but he did, the bastard. "You don't get to mention that!"
"But I do, because I am your Prince!" he reminded me. "Or have your forgotten your place in this castle? Because if you have, I'm sure my father would love to remind you...over and over again. And here, you think I'm the villain of this story," he added.
After he'd said that, everything became quiet. He retreated to his thoughts as I stood there, sobbing uncontrollably. I had been lied to. Everything that I thought was true was turning out to be fake. The man that I thought hated me seemed to know more about me than anyone. And the King! He was not as jolly as he appeared to be; he apparently was a wicked man. And my new friends...criminals? Could I believe the Cold Prince? How did I know that I wasn't being manipulated? I just didn't know...
"I didn't mean for you to kill the Firelander during the fight," he spoke up with a voice much softer than before. It sounded like he was trying to make peace, but I kept my face turned away. "I don't know what I was thinking by letting him loose. I just...I just wanted to scare you. I wanted you to leave this hell. I want to keep you safe from the very person who hurts me daily. My father."
I finally turned toward him, not caring if he saw my tears and bulging eyes. "If what you say is true, running won't save me. It'll only make it worse. I only have one option and that's to continue on as if I'm completely oblivious to the King's wickedness. But I must warn the others."
"No," the Prince said, almost too quickly. Hie brilliant eyes had darkened. "You say nothing. I'll figure out a way keep my father from abusing your powers. In the meantime, continue to train and together, become a force that my father cannot infiltrate. That's all you need to worry about and I'll handle the rest."
"I'm not sure that I trust you, especially after the cruelty you've shown to me, but you are my prince, and I must obey." I bowed and took his words as the end of our conversation. As I began to walk away, he called out to me.
"Lady Anya? I know that I've been very unkind to you. I'd...like to make up for it." I slowly turned toward him as he spoke. "I know there isn't much that I could do to undo what I've already done to you, but I can at least show you my remorse. If I give you private lessons, would you be sure not to tell anyone?" I beamed.
"It'll be our secret."