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"King Azulan has responded! He said they are going to send Prince Calum over with his things. They want us to 'make sure we want him' hahaha! What a joker!" My mother exclaims as I am eating my breakfast. She seems so different now. If someone were to ask her how she felt about the war she would have cursed the very ground of Karow. But, now she talks about them like they're her best friend.
We had sent letters to the kingdom of Karow and they had responded two days later to us. Today is the day they are sending their son to stay with us and prepare for the wedding. Everyone in the castle is buzzing about the news of this and is on high alert for the Prince. I am heading now to get dressed in my best attire to greet him when he comes, which could be at any moment.
It is about midday when I get word of his arrival, just before dinner. I stand outside the castle door into the foyer for him to step out of his carriage. He is dressed in purple and gold from head to toe, his crown glinting from the sun as he walks flawlessly toward the door. He notices me take a step out to greet him and locks eyes with me. His steps never faltering, he leaves his gaze on me until he gets stopped by my mother. They talk for a bit and she guides him over to where I stand. "Y/N darling, please show him to your room."
"What?" I say, shocked. My room?
"He will need to know where everything is, of course, but you should be the one to show him to your room." She says.
I slowly nod and glance over to the prince next to her. He looks at me with blank eyes and a stoic face. Does he show any emotion?
I walk to my room, not bothering to check if he is still behind me, and stop when I get to my door. He stands next to me and waits for me to open the door for him.
"She didn't say go into my room, just go to it." I tell him. There is no way he is going to get comfortable in my room so fast. I may not know a lot of things, but I do know that my room is my safe place and I don't want anyone but me in it.
"Oh, I see." He says as he faces me. His right hand reaches into his coat pocket and takes out a small wooden box with intricate designs carved into it. "This is for you. It's small, but I hope you will accept it."
I carefully take the object from his hand and examine it. There is a small indention on it that looks to be a spot to place my finger in to open it. When the top opened, music started to play and a small bear started to rotate with the tune. The short melody is soothing and relaxing and makes me feel warm. A few seconds later another melody plays along with it to make it more beautiful until a harmony was placed at the end of the song. The last six notes were haunting and made me on edge. As soon as it stops, the song replays again and I shut the top to the box.
"This is beautiful, thank you." I tell him. His eyes must have been staring at something, perhaps the music box, the whole time because his eyes were dry when I looked up at him. He blinked a couple of times to gain moisture back into them and spoke. "I was going to place this by your bedside so that it may provide solace for you when you sleep. I wanted it to be a surprise, but at least I got to see you enjoy it for the first time."
I nod my head and thank him once more before I tell him to head back to the foyer where maids will be waiting for him. Once he leaves, I go into my room and place the small music box on my bedside table. It is more entrancing than before and I can't help but want to open it again to let the tiny bear dance again. My hand reaches for it and stops when someone knocks on my door. Yumi tells me that it is time for dinner and I am needed right now.
My mother is smiling on the opposite side of the dining table and watches me and Prince Calum eat together. The dinner goes by silently and I excuse myself from the table.
"Y/N dear, before you go, can you let Prince Calum show you where his room is? You may need to know this bit of information later." My mother tells me. I nod my head and wait by the door for Calum to show me the way.
He excuses himself from the table after eating his last bite of the meal and walks up to me. Opening the door for me to pass through first, he leads the way to his room upstairs. He walks slowly but he may not know the way by heart yet. He apologizes as he turns the wrong corner and heads back the way we came before making another wrong move.
"Do you know where we are going?" I ask him.
"To my room." He says.
This guy thinks I am an idiot if he assumes that I don't know we are heading to his room. "No, do you know the way there?" I ask again while trying to keep my frustration from showing.
"Actually," he stops walking and turns around to face me, "I do not."
"Why didn't you tell me from the beginning? I could have just gotten a maid to guide us there."
He stays silent and looks away from me. "No matter, let me just call one now." I face the hall and raise my voice so that someone can hear me. "Añyooo!"
We wait for about ten seconds before the sound of heels clicking on the ground a hall away from us is heard. Calum stares at the direction of the noise and seems to be in deep thought as we wait. Finally a girl with long black hair appears. She walks us down a couple halls before reaching his door and leaves us.
"This must be your room. Please remember the way, for you will be walking here a lot." I tell him. I also try to familiarize myself with part of the castle so that I may know the way next time. "I haven't been to this side before. It's kind of interesting to be someplace new." I say aloud.
He looks at me with interest and takes in his atmosphere. "This is a very quaint castle for a small kingdom. You must get amazed pretty easily." He says with a bored expression.
I take offence to what he said to me and let my eyebrows wrinkle. "I'm sorry?"
His usual stoic face and icy blue eyes changes for a moment, as if he found the situation amusing. "You know, Princess, if you are waiting for me to open my door to see my room, you are sadly mistaken." He tells me, "For your mother only said to let me show you the way to my room, not in it."
Did he just throw my words back at me? His eyes are peering into mine, looking for a reaction from me.
"Last time I checked, this is my castle, freeloader." I spit at him, crossing my arms over my dress.
"And last time I checked, I am your betrothed. You will do well to treat me with respect." He leans in and has his face at my height a foot away, "Or perhaps you want me to spill your secret, hmm?"
I start to get angry and agitated at the same time. It's a mistake to marry him and it will only lead to a stressful life, but I must think about the good of the kingdom. Not wanting to spend a single second with him any longer, I quickly turn around and walk away from him. I storm back to my room and lock the door and change my clothes and plop onto my bed and wait until sleep overtakes me. An hour in while I'm tossing and turning, I look over to the window nearest me and gaze upon the stars. They seem to tell a haunting future, yet I cannot read them. My eyes travel down to the tiny music box next to me and I feel angst toward the guy that gave it to me. I grab it in my palm and want to throw it across the room, but stop and open it a second time today. The tune plays over and over as I set it back down on the table and close my eyes. In a few moments I fall asleep and don't wake up until morning, fully rested.
Chaos surrounds me as I step into the foyer to reach the dining room. Maids, butlers, chefs, Apprentices, council members, and anyone who I may have seen once in my life are running around trying to gather something or get someone. I reach out to a few people to give me answers to the commotion, but they would either say their busy or give me sad looks. I call it quits and head into the dining room for a coffee to wake me up. As I enter, I realize that there is nobody here to make it for me and decide to make it myself. This shouldn't be too hard!
I try to think about what ingredients I should add to make water taste sweet and look brown. I take a pan out and start boiling water, then add in coffee beans. It doesn't look right at all, the beans are floating at the top and its not getting the water even remotely close to what coffee looks like. I start over and decide to grind up the beans to make it dissolve better into the coffee. Adding it in with a new pot of water, it gets a nice black/dark brown color. I mentally cheer for my success and ladle out the liquid into a small cup. The texture doesn't seem right, as the ground up beans are clumping together and making the liquid look like old sour milk. I take a spoon and take out as much of the squishy solids as I can. I then add in some milk and sugar until it looks like the rich shade if brown I usually have. Finally finished, I stand in front of the left over coffee water and ladle out the brown liquid into a small cup. I try a sip from my first self made coffee, feeling accomplished that I did this without anyone's help.
OMFG THIS IS THE WORST COFFEE EVER MADE IN MAN KIND.
I keep one hand holding the cup as far as I can from me and the other on my mouth, forcing myself to swallow this abomination. I slightly whimper at my failed attempt and feel awful that I cant even do a simple task without my staff.
A hand is place on my shoulder and a short scoff is heard. I turn to look at Calum staring at my potted coffee. "What is this supposed to be? Stew?"
My face grows hot at his comment and I feel the need to defend myself. "If you must know, this is my coffee. It's the BEST in all kingdoms and you shouldn't judge a pot by its contents."
"Oh really? Then take a big gulp of that coffee you made." He tells me with an arrogant smirk on his face. This is the first time he has shown any actual emotion other than a stoic one, and I hate it.
I look down at my disaster child and immediately regret lying to him. I suck up my pride and take a huge gulp of the drink, trying not to think about the flavor- or lack there of.
Immediate regret.
I drop the cup, shattering it into hundreds of tiny shards and throw up in the sink next to the stove with the pot of coffee. I feel Calum's hand sweep across my neck and gather my hair before it fell in front if my face and get contaminated.
Still feeling nauseous, I raise my head and happen to look over to the side where the brown liquid practically laughs at me and I throw up again into the sink. Calum must have noticed this because he took the pot off the stove and moved it somewhere else while still holding onto my hair. Feeling slightly better now, I take a deep breath and rinse my mouth out and dry my face.
I don't turn around to face Calum. He probably has that smirk on again knowing that he won. He lets go of my hair now that I'm done and stays silent for a second.
"How about I make you coffee? Everyone here seems to be busy, so I was going to make myself some before I saw you in here. Go take a shower or get ready for the day. I'll handle everything in here." He says.
He is being kind? This is weird. I turn to face him but step on the glass from the cup.
"Don't worry about it." He tells me with a reassuring smile. His eyes are a deep shimmering blue as he smiles and I can swear that there was a hint of orange glistening off them. I stare at him for a moment before nodding and leave the room. What's up with him?
After I take a shower and put my hair up in a sleek bun, I place my golden crown on my hair and head down to the kitchen where Calum must be waiting for me. Entering the dining room, a small cup of coffee rests on the neat table cloth by the end chair. Calum sits next to it sipping his own cup. He realizes my presence when I get near the chair and sit down and stares at me. I glance down at the cup before me and ponder if I should drink this. He could have poisoned it, or perhaps put some kind of drug or magic spell on it to make me sick.
"Princess, please drink it. If you are wondering if I did anything to it, I wouldn't dream of harming you." He says to me while looking at his cup. His attitude is very distant again. "Or perhaps you want me to try it first?" His eyes lit up again with that orange glint again.
"No this is fine." I say while taking a sip. The flavor surrounds my mouth and delights my taste buds. It's warm, rich, smooth, and all around a perfect coffee bean caffeinated drink. "mmm this is delicious! How did you make this?" I ask with wide eyes.
"Magic and skill, Princess." He says, finishing his cup.
"Magic, huh? Come to think of it, your kingdom is the only one who wields magic. It's the reason why my father is sick." I tell him. A while ago my father became deathly ill from a magic attack from a Karowian warrior and his health is declining at a slow pace. Only magic from a Karowian person can heal him. "Oh! Calum, can you heal my father!?" I blurt out. Of course! Now that Calum is here he can save him!
"No." He says as he puts his cup down on the table.
"What? What do you mean 'No'?" I ask with irritation.
"If I healed your father, that would mean that he and your mother will once again rule over your kingdom and you will no longer be pushed to marry. Plus-" He says honestly.
"And? Isn't that perfect though? I wouldn't have to marry-" He cuts me off and finishes my sentence.
"Me. Yes." My heart melts away with discouragement. "You must marry me first before I can help your father. This way I can guarantee-"
"Do you only care about taking the throne!?" I yell what has been in my mind for a while now.
"-this way I can guarantee our marriage and peace between your kingdom and mine. Princess, if we didn't wed, you and I will no longer be on good terms- worse in fact. Many more people will die because of you."
"Then what if I agree to still marry you even after he is healed?" I try to bargain.
"I can't take my chances. Also if this wasn't in the way, he is already-" He responds, his head turning away from me.
I quickly get out if my chair and head toward the door. I don't want to be in the same room as him anymore. How arrogant can he get, not wanting to save my father because he still wants marriage? What the heck is he trying to gain from all this? Perhaps it will be better to expose myself and accept the punishment than let him take over my kingdom.
"Princess." He says from behind me. I turn around and become dazzled at the sight of him using his magic. This is the first time I have ever seen magic and I am completely wordless.
He leans on one hand, his elbow supporting his weight as his other hand is controlling some kind of blue orb. Surrounding the orb is blue flames of various colors dancing around it. He lets me watch it for a couple seconds and then it disappears.
"You will also be able to do magic soon. Once we wed, you will be able to channel my energy through you and be a powerful mage." He says with distant eyes. Is he trying to convince me with power to marry him? My mother was right, those Karowian people are horrible.
"But you still won't help my father with that power?" I ask once more, hoping that he will change his mind.
He glances at me before responding. "There is no need."
I get angry again and storm out of the room. With such power can come great good! He's wasting his talent because of a power hunger for the throne.
I wander throughout the castle for a while, trying to find out what all the commotion is about. My mother appears from a group of nobles and runs up to me. "Oh dear, your father has died! The Kingdom is in complete panic!"
"What!? And nobody told me this morning about this!?" I gape.
"He was only deathly ill this morning and had only moments to live. We were trying to get him back to a stable condition and hoped for the best."
My head starts to spin at her words. I feel betrayed by everyone and tears burn my eyes. I ignore the pleads to stay in the foyer and run into my room. Why must my world fall apart so recklessly?
A knock in my door is heard alongside a knob handle turning. I don't want to listen to anyone right now.
"Princess Y/N, are you alright? Do you wish to speak with me?" Yumi asks me cautiously. I look at her with a tear stained face and shake my head no. She stays in the doorway a bit longer before coming in.
"Yumi I don't want you here." I say with a lack of authority.
"But you need me here." She says back to me. "Your father was a most gracious king and wouldn't want you acting like this."
"He wouldn't have died if it weren't for those selfish Karow people cursing him!" I yell into my pillow.
"Princess don't say that. You are marrying a Karowian prince!" She exclaims.
I want to tell her that he is blackmailing me into marrying him. Would it be worth it? Can I trust her with this major secret and seek after her advice? As I am lost in my thoughts another knock reverberates in my room. Yumi goes to the door and opens it to reveal Calum standing at the entrance. Yumi excuses herself and leaves to do her daily chores and leaves me alone until lunch. The silver-headed prince walks in without permission and looks around my room before looking at my pathetic form. He doesn't say anything, but walks up to my bed and looks down at me.
We don't say anything to each other for a while. It is so uncomfortable having him next to me as I have my face half buried in a pillow with my eyes shut tight to try to get him to disappear. "You cannot ignore me." he says with a bored voice. I can't see him, but I can imagine him with his eyebrow raised and arms crossed. Even though no matter how hard I clench my eyes shut he still won't get the hint to leave, he still stays. I hear a sigh coming from above me. "If you are hoping to sleep, may I remind you that you had coffee earlier."
I sit up an look up to him. He smirks down at me as if he won a game he was playing with me. "Why are you bothering me in my room? Leave now!" I yell at him. He shouldn't be here in the first place and there is nothing to speak to me about.
He tilts his head to the side, his long silver hair brushing off his shoulder and his smirk widens. "Such attitude. I only came to answer some of your questions you may have and... What's the word? 'Comfort' you."
HE is trying to comfort ME? "Oh? I didn't know a Karowian had compassion."
He puts his hands on his hips and his smirk slightly fades. "We don't."
"Then stop pretending to be kind and tell me what it is you really want. What is your end goal here?" I don't understand why he had orchestrated this whole ensemble here. It is just an entire mess.
He stares into my eyes for a moment before his expression hardens. "You."
Me? I don't understand what he is talking about. The wedding is all he wants? Surely his brain isn't that small..
"Princess, perhaps this isn't the best time to chat. Get some rest to clear your mind and I will get your maid to wake you up before dinner." He says while taking the covers on my bed and lightly placing them over me.
"I don't want to sleep, I need to find out what they are going to do with my father and think about what I'm going to do about the funeral and what you said and-" He stops me from talking by placing his finger on my lips and lays me on my bed. My face starts to grow red as his eyes pierce mine and darts over to my desk.
He reaches for something on my bedside as I try to tell him that I need to get up and see my mother. His hands grasp around the music box he gave me and opens it. "Calum, I am not tired, and you said so yourself that the coffee won't let me sleep anyways, so I'll just end up tossing and turning." He ignores me and lets the tune from the music box fill the air. I start to feel sleepy after the first run of the song and my eyelids start to shut. Suddenly, my body starts to shut down as I relax into the bed. After the third time the music plays, I close my eyes and my breathing becomes slow. I hear the music box being turned off and placed back down on my side table. A few moments after, the door to my room is shut and my world becomes dark.
Something isn't right. Even though I feel peaceful, there is no way I could fall asleep so easily. Something is off in my room, did Calum cast some sleeping spell on me when I wasn't looking? Whatever it is, I won't be able to find out until after I wake up.
One thought is left lingering in my mind as I fall into a dark abys. How did Calum find his way into my room? He said he doesn't know his way around the castle and has gotten lost multiple times already. Had he been following me this whole time or was he pretending to be lost? What is he planning...?