(Unedited)

Posted on: 06/04/17

A/N: Firstly, I'd like to thank all the people who took their time out and reviewed the previous chapter. It really means a lot...:3

Secondly, please bear with my writing skills. I am well-acquainted with the naruto fandom. These are completely new characters and its hard to write them.

Enjoy this one and don't forget to drop a comment...:)

Chapter 4: Encounter

Although Prince Izana's face doesn't express much, he is extremely excited about this whole thing with the red-haired girl. He has been requested by that foolish prince of Tanbarun that she must be treated as a concubine, who is only supposed to serve his younger brother and speak to no other soul. She is a special present which he has gifted to become friends with Zen, and this actually means that Tanbarun is trying to gain their trust by gifting various expensive stuff. And this girl just happens to be a part of it because of what? Her exotic features? What else can she provide for Clarines other than herself? Well..it's not as if solidarity between his country and Tanbarun is something that can bother him. What he is more eager about, is the priceless reaction that his brother's face will have when he finally meets this presented, red-haired concubine and even more interesting will be the actions that his brother will take with respect to this girl. He knows that his little brother will not give into his male impulses to commit any stupid mistakes like initiating coitus with the girl. But he sure as hell will react in some irritated manner and that is exactly what Izana is waiting to witness.

The whipping noise of the harnesses impacting horses' skins reached her ears, awakening her from her nightmare full of constraints and red apples. She was not even given a chance to yawn or rub her eyes to push away the sleep clouding her vision. Immediately when the carriage came to a halt, she gasped as she was hauled-out of her comfortable perch and dragged inside the regal Wistal Castle by a few maids who were acting on the orders given to them by Izana, the throne prince of Clarines. She followed their directions like a meek lamb, anxiety beginning to gnaw at her skin.

Once inside what appeared to be some sort of work space, the maids began to help her out of her green cloak and the crumpled yellow gown. The actions that followed after, occurred in a blur before her sight and all that she can remember is being bathed in a variety of scented-oils and dressed-up in a shorter white attire, far more revealing than the previously worn off-shoulder gown. One of the many maids working on her, walked her to stand before a full-length mirror and she finally took in her appearance. There before her, stood a girl wearing a white, sleeveless corset and matching silk underwear. Numerous red laces entwined around the whole dress in intricate patterns, all of them joining up at the cleavage. Contrary to what she had expected, her face was not covered in any sort of make-up and her hair was simply brushed and let down, the long red locks falling over her bare shoulders and down her smooth back. Her stomach turned at the sight for she did not take fancy to her new form even a bit.

But before she could even begin insulting herself, she was pulled out of the room by a pair of guards and guided towards a huge room, which according to them belongs to the second prince of Clarines. They pushed her inside and she fell unceremoniously atop the plush mattresses of the king-sized bed. The guards snickered and eyed her suggestively. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, she found herself pinned against a wall and a guard holding her in position, her wrists held-up by him in a bruising grip. She cried in pain and tried shoving the guy off of herself, failing miserably.

"You really are pretty. I guess this is why you're a gift for our little prince, huh?" The guard teased, snickering some more.

His companion, who was already out of the room, whispered worriedly, "Hey! You want to get yourself killed or what?! The young prince will not let you get away with this. Just..leave her."

The guard smirked lecherously at her and then pulled away. Shirayuki was about to take a breath of relief but then she was thrown over the bed sheets again and this time, one of her wrists was shackled by a chain that was attached to the bedpost. The guard told her that this is only a safety measure that the first prince of Clarines has commanded him to take since she is very dangerous. His partner put aside every sharp object that could possibly assist her in her escape.

"Now wait here like a good woman and promise that you'll give our prince a good time." He winked at her from the doorway, before locking the room from the outside.

She slammed her free hand in anger and frustration and stared helplessly at the rattling chain that was constraining her to the bed. It was long enough, ranging her movements to all over the bed but no further than that. Tears welled-up in her eyes yet again and she began weeping. Why is this happening with her? Why is Fate being so unfair to her? Somewhere in the midst of shedding tears and drowning herself in her sorrows, she fell asleep on the bed in a dreamless, exhausted sleep...

.

.

When she awoke hours later, she realised that the sun has already set by the pitch black sky that she noticed when she craned her head in the direction of the big, glass doors that led to a balcony attached to the room. If it had been some other time and she hadn't been constrained by a chain, then she would've rushed towards the doors to push them open and enjoy the beautiful view that she assumes this balcony provides. But today..today is not that day. She giggled dryly as a lone tear slid down the nuance of her already tear-stained cheek. It's not like she'll ever get the opportunity to be free..to be her own person and bask in the beauty of this world. She will forever be tied down to this unknown country and she'll age serving a man that she has only heard about in words from strangers. She will die in a foreign land..on foreign soil..without even realising her dreams of becoming a renowned Herbalist. Heh! It's not as if she can fight her destiny. She cannot go against what is fated to happen in her life..She just..can't...With a weary expression on her face, she looked down at the shackle around her wrist and all of a sudden, her eyes gleamed. Fate...A thought came into her mind at the sight of that long chain and she smiled a smile that was void of any emotions. Ofcourse she can't battle what's bound to happen in her life. But she can undoubtedly try to bend the ways of fate a little. So what if she can't control her life like a free soul. All that she needs to do, is keep others from her. She will not allow any man to touch her skin ever again, especially if it's someone of the royal blood. Motioning her constrained wrist, she wound the long chain around her neck and began constricting her very own throat. She will die here..and in doing so, she will save herself the humiliation of being tainted by the hands of a conceited prince. Farewell..Prince Zen... She thought wryly and smirked as she felt the spasms of triumph already hitting her shallowly breathing form...

To her utter horror, the door to the room slammed open at that same moment and she sucked in a breath of fright...

He slammed the door to his room open and once inside, kicked it shut. Inhaling a deep breath, he released it slowly in order to calm his agitated nerves. This is the only method that he can utilise to keep himself from murdering some of this court's officials. But oh well! He knows that one of these coming days, he will draw his sword and impale someone. Seriously, he behaved like a good boy and followed with the idea of his brother's stupid punishment of stabilising Raxd's condition in a month. He suffered in that cold weather for a complete month and a day. And what did he receive in return? More paperwork! More Reprimands from the court officials! More comparisons between him and his ideal brother! They must spare him the lectures atleast once in a while. He is literally bleeding right now. Well, he was also bleeding a few minutes ago in the Court Meeting Room when all of those officials were busy chiding him about how he could've done more, blatantly refusing to notice the battered state that he was in.

Sighing haggardly, he removed his heavy, woollen overcoat and threw it in some corner of the room. At this moment, only a soaking in his personal baths can ease him. All the wounds that he is harbouring at present are a result of the gruelling yet exercising battle that he had had just a few hours ago outside the fortress in Raxd. Those bandits proved to be really good duellers.

As he unbuttoned the top few buttons of his navy blue shirt to allow more air to his sweating chest, he felt a noise. More specifically, a noise like that of someone trying to suck in a breath and keep shut. Suspiciously, he walked back towards the door and pulled out the torch hanging at it's side from a hoop. Using the flame from the torch, he lighted the six lanterns that were positioned in different parts of the room to add better lighting to his dimly-lit room. And just as the lanterns began shining, his narrowed irises landed on a moving figure that lay atop his bed and a frown settled upon his face. He smacked his palm over his forehead and snorted. Brother... The only legit reasoning behind a girl sitting in his bedroom can be his elder brother Izana. This must be one of those extremely sick jokes of his. He exhaled a breath to calm himselves. Afterall, this unknown girl doesn't deserve his wrath. His anger will only be unleashed on the court officials and no one other than that.

He took another glance at her and his serene blue irises narrowed again when he noticed a chain wrapped tightly around the girl's throat. And not just any chain; It was the very chain that was attached to her shackled wrist. Why exactly has she been constrained is a mystery that hardly matters. He must help her out of the chain first. With that sole thought in mind, he nodded to himself and moved towards the girl. She shrieked and began quivering, her whole form expressing how scared she was. Scared of what though? Him? He sighed and reached his hand out for her constrained wrist but she flinched away in even more fear. Hissing in annoyance, he jumped on the bed to reach the chain much easily. However, the girl kept fidgeting away from him. After a few minutes of her determined struggle, he finally managed to remove the chain from around her neck and instantly, held her wrists above her head, pinning her beneath his very own body as he straddled her legs.

"Stop moving!" He ordered in annoyance.

His words seemed to have scared her even more than she already was as she yelped and closed her eyes tightly shut, awaiting whatever was to come next. When nothing happened within the next few moments, she blinked her eyes open and looked anxiously at him. And it was in that moment that his sapphire pools met her emerald orbs and they stared into each-other's eyes for a good minute. She was wearing a white night gown that was accentuating all her curves but at the same time, it appeared to be kinda risqué. His eyes also took note of the shocking yet beautiful red tresses, spread all over the pillows in a disarray, matching the red laces decorating her dress.

"Beautiful.." He muttered, staring dreamily at her clashing pair of red hair and emerald irises. This is something he has never seen in his life. Can a being this pretty even exist? What a rare specimen she is? But wait..what exactly is this exotic nymph doing inside his bedroom? Why exactly is her wrist shackled? And..why only one wrist? None of this is adding-up in his brain.

The girl, confused by this stranger's choice of words, stared questioningly at him. Who is he? Then, she mentally slapped herself for being stupid when she realised that the only person who can enter this room is it's very owner. Great! Here she is, hands pinned above her head by a second man today and that too by a man who happens to be a prince. And to think that just a few minutes ago she had pledged to keep her skin away from a royal blood's touch! She can only hope that he won't try to touch her somewhere else like her friends at the brothel used to tell her.

With hesitant motioning of her lips, she squeaked-out, "P..Pr-Prince Zen?"

The man nodded in response to his name being called-out and wondered how this girl, who is completely unknown to him, knows his name. He searched her eyes for an answer but only felt himself getting more and more mesmerised by her emeralds. It was a dripping sound that finally pulled him out of his trance-like state and he heard her gasp. When he looked at her face, he found that a big drop of blood was splattered on her cheek— his blood! He realised that he was still lying atop her and immediately pulled away.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" He yelled in embarrassment, raising his hands at his sides.

Shirayuki however, didn't react to his action. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and touched the liquid on her cheek. Red. It really was blood. She reached out to trace her fingers gently over the cut on the left side of his forehead and gasped again.

"You're bleeding!" In a state of panic, she began rummaging her hands all over the bed in search of some kind of thing with which she could stop his blood from flowing any further but to her dismay, found nothing...

"Don't worry about me." He unsheathed the sword from the scabbard that was attached in his pants' belt and with his other hand stretched her chain. In one swift swing of his hand, the sword cut the chain restricting her motion to the bed.

"Okay..now you stay here while I'll go take a bath. We'll talk about your presence here later on." He ordered without any strictness in his tone.

For a moment, Shirayuki stared at him in confusion. This man, the second prince of Clarines..he..he actually freed her of the chains that had been binding her... Why?! She felt like repaying this man for his small act of kindness towards her. She hadn't expected anything like this from the prince of an entirely unknown country whilst travelling unwillingly in that carriage. This is the first time that a man- no..a person..this is the first time that a person has done something for her without even asking for anything in return and she can't help herself from wondering why. Why is it that even after being a man of royal blood this guy is behaving so humbly towards her? From all of her past experiences with the royalties, she can only recall herself getting reprimanded or beaten. No person of higher status ever allowed her to speak her mind or make her own choices and yet here, this man who is supposed to use her any way he likes, chose to set her free. Why?!

As he staggered towards the door that probably leads towards the bath, Shirayuki tugged at his shirt's hem from behind. The young man turned his head sideways, his beautiful silvery-white locks shimmering in the lighting of the lanterns. He glanced questioningly at her.

"Pardon my presumptuous behaviour, your highness." She spoke, her head lowered down, "..I...I can treat your wounds."

The young prince turned around completely to face her. "What?"

"I..I am an herbalist." She informed meekly.

"And care to explain what an herbalist is doing inside my bedroom?" He asked with narrowed eyes, his demeanour completely changed. "You can't just expect me to believe every word you say. From the looks of it, you aren't even someone from my country. What if you are just trying to lure me into a trap so you can poison me and escape, huh?!" He pried her hand off of his shirt and added, "I wasn't born yesterday!"

Shirayuki could only nod at the man eyeing her suspiciously. He has a valid point. Even she wouldn't trust someone she just met but..she can't..she can't let herself stay indebted to this man that she doesn't even know. She must return the favour in some form and the best that she can do right now is helping him with his wounds. Squaring her shoulders, she yanked-out a long hairpin from her red locks and before the prince could even comprehend her next move, she slit a long cut along her own wrist.

The next instant, the hairpin was slapped away from her grasp and it went clattering in one corner of the room. "Are you out of your mind?!" The prince shook her by the shoulders, glaring directly into her eyes.

Shirayuki didn't understand. One minute this guy is questioning her loyalty whilst the other, he is concerned about her. Just what exactly is wrong with him? Aren't all princes supposed to be rude and conceited? Why is he treating her like an equal with himself?

"I...your highness..." She took hold of his wrists that were still around her shoulders and the shackle on her right hand scraped the skin of his hand lightly. "Whether I am out of my mind or not, hardly matters. My arm is wounded and it's bleeding profusely. Please your highness, grant me the permission to treat my injury."

Zen stared at her in what can only be called a mixture of shock and awe. In that one moment, he realised that this strange girl is just as stubborn as he is. No person has ever talked to him with this amount of confidence and he is feeling really impressed by this girl's bravery. Even though she knows that she is conversing with a prince, she is so..normal. He couldn't help himself from breaking out into a fit of delighted laughter.

He removed his palms from her shoulders and laughed harder, bending on his knees to catch his breath. "God!" He exclaimed amusedly.

After inhaling huge quantities of air, he released a heavy sigh and tilted his head-up, smiling genuinely at her, "I am Zen Wistaria, the second prince of Clarines."

Well..she already knew this but still decided to play along with his act of formal introductions and replied, "I am Shirayuki, an ordinary herbalist from Tanbarun."

"Well then Shirayuki, there's an infirmary inside this castle and you can borrow some medicines from their to treat your wounds." He turned in between and grabbed the dirty overcoat that he had taken-off just a few minutes ago, putting it back on.

As soon as he stepped out of his room, he turned around and brought his hand out before her. With an amiable smile on his face, he asked, "Shirayuki?"

The girl blushed and hesitated for she has never been treated with such nobility ever in her life. She glanced at him uneasily and then herself walked out of the room.

"I'll guide you to the infirmary." Prince Zen spoke in a promising tone and gestured his palm at her once more.

Although shakily, she placed her fingers into his awaiting palm, accepting his offer and felt a spark hit her skin the minute it made contact with his...

A/N: So..they finally met! :3

What do you guys think?

Did you like their first encounter?

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Well..more Zenyuki coming in the next chapter. So, wait patiently...:)

Until Next Time...

~Manika