The prince stood before me. The literal prince, the son of the king and queen. He stood with me in the cabin deep within the woods offering to rebandage my shoulder.
"It seems that those titles don't even leave me here at times." He smiled at me as he came over and I backed up. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I wouldn't hurt you right now." He watched me with a smile.
"Where am I?" I asked and he looked out the window.
"Where do you think you are?" He asked as he came over.
I looked back out the singular window. Then I looked back over at the prince. "We are in the forest." I murmured and the prince nodded.
"Yes, we are. You're at one of the cabins." The prince smiled as he looked around the room. "You are actually in my room. This is the main cabin we have." The prince smiled.
"We?" I asked.
He smiled. "Yes, we. I'm assuming you met Lyell. He was supposed to be in here, but it seems he's not." The prince looked back at me as he motioned for me to sit down on the bed. I sat down on the bed as the prince went over to where he had his own bathroom.
He came back out with a wooden box which he set down. "Can you remove your cloak?" He asked and I nodded as I moved it off and set it down next to me.
He moved my dress and took off the bandages and set it down. I glanced over and looked away right after.
On my collarbone sat a nasty bite mark. The wolf from last night had attacked me there leaving a bite. The entire imprint of its jaw sat there. "They aren't deep enough to require stitches if you're wondering." He said as he cleaned it off making me jolt away from him.
He grabbed my shoulders and brought me back over. Then he bandaged my shoulder with bandages from the wooden box. I sat there silently as he bandaged my shoulder.
"There, it's all bandaged." He said pulling back.
I looked up at him as he gave me a smile. "I don't have any clothes for girls, but I can let you wear some of mine until I get you some." He told me and I watched him.
"Why am I here?" I asked and he looked up.
"Do you not remember?" He asked.
"Remember what?" I asked.
"Last night. You were there. I mean I could understand if it were frightening and you don't want to remember. But you were one of the sacrifices last night. Why wouldn't you be here?" He asked.
"I'm supposed to be dead." I said.
"But you aren't. We don't like killing females." He said and I watched him unsure.
"We?" I asked.
"I keep forgetting that you guys from the village don't know." He said.
"You're from the village as well." I stated and he smiled.
"My family isn't like you," He started.
"The king and queen are here?" I asked.
"No Ruby, they aren't here. Those aren't my parents." He said with a small smile as he looked up at me.
"What?" I asked confused.
"The king won't talk about it much, but I'm not theirs. I'm adopted." He said with a smile. I stared at him put into silence by that.
"Lyell is my brother. The people here are my real family. It's a complicated story for another time. But right now, you should just rest." He backed off as I watched him.
"Why am I here?" I asked again.
"Ruby you were a sacrifice in case you forgot. We simply took it in a different way. Now lay down." I was surprised by his tone.
I stared at him as it slowly set into me. They were people who lived in the middle of the fucking woods and had the prince with them. He turned away as I watched him. It set in as he stood up and turned to me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He turned to me. "I'm the prince of course." He responded. I watched him. "But you probably weren't asking like that. You want to know what I am." He smiled once more.
Then he came over until he was right in front of me. I looked up at him as he lowered down onto my level. His amber eyes watched me as he smiled.
Then his pupils dilated as the amber slowly covered the rest of his eye. His eyes were heavily dilated with round black pupils much larger than before. I backed up on the bed before his eyes returned to normal.
He stood up. "You have a new life to adjust to Ruby, and you'll find out quickly what kind of life this is." He stated and I watched him.
"Now I have things to do. Xerxes will be here if you need anything. I should be back by dinner." The prince turned around as I watched him. He grabbed a coat from the wardrobe. The clothes in there were much different than the ones he had on when I saw him in the castle.
He turned to the door. "You never told me your name." I finally spoke and he stopped and turned around. His eyes met mine as I sat there under his gaze.
"It's Court. My name is Court." Court smiled at me before he turned around and left me in the room. All I could do was lay back at this point.
☾
All I could see were golden and amber eyes when I slept. And the two wolves from that night. Court didn't need to say anything for me to slowly piece it together. I was slow but I still managed to do it.
No one got views of the wolves in the woods. No one was stupid enough to get close enough them either. Most knew not to go out in the woods or even go close to them. My cottage had been dangerously close as well.
This cabin however is submerged in the woods. My grandmother had been the only one crazy enough to do it. But here were others out in the woods.
They had to be wolves themselves. I didn't know how they did it nor did I want to. I spent the day in Court's bed sleeping. At some time during the day someone had comes in and set down a bowl with meat in it floating in broth with some vegetables.
Court told me a man names Xerxes would be there if I needed anything. I assumed he is the one who brought the stew and left it next to me. It was around noon when I woke up to the stew. The room in the cabin was cold and I had no way of starting a fire.
Instead I just dragged the furs. It felt like such a privilege to have a legitimate fur blanket wrapped around me. The furs were so warm around me.
I grabbed the stew and moved back on the bed and began eating it. Even if it lacked in flavor, I'd have eaten it at this point.
My stomach grumbled in desire for food. I had eaten since dinner last night. Or what I believed to be last night. Who knew how long I had been asleep? I ate up the stew before setting it back down as I grabbed the fur blankets and pulled them over me.
I had very few things to do. Back at the cabin I'd typically be out feeding the chickens and playing with them. Mother let me play with the laying hens as we wouldn't ever kill those ones or use them in a sacrifice.
My mom has specific hens she uses for laying. They laid eggs every day for us to eat. Eggs tended to be a main part of our diet. Mom tried her best to have as much food made by us as possible since dad made little money.
I looked back at the empty bowl. I doubted that they had any chickens here, at least alive ones. And you couldn't have eggs without chickens to lay them.
Soon I ended up drifting back to sleep as my body begged for as much rest as it could get. Something inside me told me to get as much as I would need it. So, with no hesitation I let sleep take me once more.
☾
I didn't wake up myself next time. This time I felt someone gently shaking me awake as I jolted up as pain rushed through me right after I got up.
"Easy or you're going to hurt your wounds even more." I looked up as I blinked a few times.
Court stood before me as he held my shoulder and looked over at the bandage. Not much blood had appeared on it leaving me able to not have to change it. "You've been asleep most of the day I assume?" Court asked as he pulled back.
I looked up. "That's good. You need some rest. I brought you dinner. It's rabbit with a sauce made of berries and other herbs." Court set down a plate in front of me where a big piece of golden meat sat on a plate covered in a dark blue tinted sauce.
Court sat down in a chair with a plate of his own. He had the same meat but more of the berry sauce covering his. He mixed the rabbit meat and sauce together before he began to eat.
I looked at the plate before grabbing it. I had one of the fur blankets wrapped around me as I began eating the rabbit after dipping it in the thick berry sauce.
Court looked up and smiled upon seeing me eating the rabbit.
"Xerxes has been prepping that rabbit and trying to cook it right for days. He finally got it down and now we have rabbit to eat." Court smiled.
"I made the berry sauce myself." Court stated as he swirled a piece of rabbit in the sauce.
He was fishing for a complement. I didn't want to irritate him, so I gave him what he wanted, "It's good." Court smiled as I spoke.
"Sauce or rabbit?" Court asked watching me.
"Both are good." I murmured as I covered the piece of rabbit in the berry sauce which gave it more flavor. Court smiled at me as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair. I continued eating the rabbit until the plate was empty.
Court took the plate before he left the room for a moment and then came back. Court went over to the wardrobe and took out a simple cotton shirt before tossing it over to me.
"You'll want to get changed. I can have your dirty clothes cleaned as well." Court told me and I nodded before moving into his bathroom and undressing myself. I needed a bath as soon as possible, but baby steps.
Court's shirt went just above my knees. But I had blankets which could cover me. Once dressed I walked out as Court glanced over at me as I got into the bed.
I got into the bed and covered myself with the blankets as Court approached over.
"Are you sleeping here?" I asked.
"It is my bed." Court stated as he moved some of the blankets aside and got in. "Anyways, the king doesn't check on me when I sleep. I'll be back there before any of them notice I'm gone." Court looked over at me.
I had no idea how he led a double life like that, but it seems like I was going to find out.
Court turned around and blew out one of the candles as I turned over. "Get some rest Ruby, you are going to need it for the morning."
1934. And Court has been revealed. Feel free to leave any theories. I'm excited at how this is going. I still have space left before I bring in something big. Next chapter we'll cover more of what is going on. ***