Chapter 2: An Evil Surprise
I stared at him. What did he just say? "Excuse me, what was your name?" I asked once more. He stopped shaking my hand and tried smoothing his golden curls. "Well, my whole name is Prince Lukas Grisham, but you can just call me Luke." He replied. A whole new fear swept over me, causing me to be in a state of shock. Did he just want to save me so he could take me back to Ethan and kill me? I took a few steps back. "What's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Luke informed, looking quite worried. "Are you all right...? Well of course you wouldn't be all right! You were just about to be hanged! Come with me, I'll help you." He said quickly. His ocean blue eyes twinkled as he outstretched his hand.
He sounded so sincere that I actually accepted his hand. "Wait. How do I know I can trust you?" I asked suspiciously. He looked at me as if I were crazy. "I just saved your life." He pointed out. I accepted his hand cautiously. He led me through the crowd of people. They gave me looks of venom but they bowed down to Luke's feet. If Luke was royal, then Ethan Grisham must be royal, but it wouldn't make sense since Ethan's father was a woodcutter. this whole thing was very confusing. We passed a few streets full of people hustling and bustling about. I watched Luke carefully. He said 'Hi' to a few people every now and then but he didn't seem like a bad guy after all. He stopped at humble cottage. If I were to stay with this Luke, I must keep my eye on him and watch out for myself at all times just in case. He opened the door for me. I peered inside. Everything seemed normal, but I let him go inside first anyway.
He took a seat at a beautiful wooden dining table. "You must be famished! Would you like to eat now?" He asked, handing me my book back. I nodded. "Nathan?" He stated calmly. At once, I heard foot steps that rapidly came closer. "Yes, master?" A tall, thin grey-haired man approached the table. "Could you please go to the bakery across Litchen Street and fetch us two delicious pies and two dinner rolls? Oh, and go to Magden's and get a nice bowl of steamed rice, if you could?" He asked kindly.
"What kind of pies would you like Sir?" Nathan asked, his voice incredibly dull. Luke looked at me, his gold locks tumbling down, covering his eyes. He pushed them back swiftly. "What is your favorite type of pie?" He asked me. His eyes, full of warmth. I felt stupid for questioning him of trying to kill me. He seemed so kind, so gentle..and caring. Oh God. I was starting to fall for him. "Apple." I blushed. I stared down at my book, willing myself not to look at him. "Ah, apple pie. My favorite too. Buy two apple pies please." Luke handed him a bag, and he left without saying anything more.
Luke gazed at me. "Your really lucky I was in the village today. I don't get to have time away from my castle for relaxing. It's not easy to be a prince you know. The reason I came here was that I heard a beautiful maiden was going to be hanged for a stupid reason like witchcraft. Of course I didn't believe in witchcraft. Until Ms.Byerly handed me your book and told me that it was evidence of your being a witch. I read through it...and now I do believe in witchcraft. But I do believe your not a witch. In your book, I've seen pictures of witches. They look like old ugly hags. You are pretty. You aren't a witch," he explained, still staring.
"Your right about one thing. I'm not a witch. But I am certainly not pretty." I replied, my face turning crimson. "On the contrary, you are as pretty as the sea with it's blue majestic swirls mixed in with the green. You are as pretty as the sun rise with it's golden rays and warmth. Maybe even more." He rambled. I blushed. "Please stop telling me these things, I haven't seen my reflection in ten years! Let alone, I know your being nice because you have to be princely. I would know because my Mother read about it to me in books when I was younger." I replied, fiddling with my fingers. "Too bad your beauty wasn't as great as your smarts." He snarled, he stopped looking at me as he said this.
I decided to not make him angry anymore after that. After all, this was Lukas Grisham that I was talking to. Lukas Grisham who was sitting across from me. Luke Grisham, the Prince! But I wouldn't let him silence me. I decided to strike up a different topic. A topic that I was very interested in. A topic that would help me very much.
"Tell me about your family." I breathed. Would it work? Would he answer me? Would this plan work? I thought. Luke looked at me as if I were delusional. "You wouldn't be interested in hearing about them." He muttered. "Please?" I repeated this until he finally gave in. His features softened. Nathan trudged in and put the food on the table. "Thank you very much Nathan." Luke said as he patted him on the back. "Thank you, Nathan." I stated as I dug into the food. Nathan walked slowly off into a different room while Luke gave me a mug of water. "Well, it's a good thing we have food. Now I can tell you about my.. um. Family." He said quite slowly. As if he didn't want to talk about them.
"A long time ago my mother, Celeste Smith met my father, Ethan Grisham." Luke started. I shivered as he said Ethan's name. "They fell in love, and you know, had me at a young age. Then my father, Ethan Grisham, started acting really weird. He formed these big groups of men and my mother grew very afraid of him. He became very abusive to my mother, though he never harmed me. My mother wanted to stay away from my father for each day she would grow more frightened of him. At night, he would disappear and at dawn he would come back to the house reeking of blood. Finally, my mother separated from him and took me with her. She met Prince Valium. They married and soon, Prince Valium became king, but he claims that a long while ago that he had been cursed by some type of faerie so that if he ever married would never have any children, leaving me to be the prince." He announced. "I visit my real father sometimes. It's not exactly my choice though. To be honest, my father really scares me at times. He visits me sometimes in this cottage. Usually when he knows that I will be in Khensu village." He added spitefully.
I sighed in relief. It was as if a huge burden had been lifted off my back. I could now finally relax. Luke wanted nothing to do with his father. He doesn't even look like his father at all. Maybe he would want to help me. Help me stay away from his morose father. "Tell me about your family?" He asked politely. "Oh. I guess I could, but it might pain you." I replied quickly, trying to search for a new topic to talk about.
"Please tell me? I told you," exclaimed, taking a long drink of his own water. I nodded solemnly. "Well, my family was brutally murdered when I was seven. I saw him kill my brother. I know he killed my parents and my baby sister. I ran and met a lady called Serena. She helped me and I came to this village which condemned me to the tower for ten years. On the tenth year I was to be hanged."
"Then I met you. Thank you for saving me." I explained quickly. He sat there, shaking his head. "Who would do such a thing? Who killed your family?" He wondered aloud.
"I did." A deep menacing voice said. I turned around and there standing behind me, was Ethan Grisham, sword in his hand.
I stared at him. What did he just say? "Excuse me, what was your name?" I asked once more. He stopped shaking my hand and tried smoothing his golden curls. "Well, my whole name is Prince Lukas Grisham, but you can just call me Luke." He replied. A whole new fear swept over me, causing me to be in a state of shock. Did he just want to save me so he could take me back to Ethan and kill me? I took a few steps back. "What's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Luke informed, looking quite worried. "Are you all right...? Well of course you wouldn't be all right! You were just about to be hanged! Come with me, I'll help you." He said quickly. His ocean blue eyes twinkled as he outstretched his hand.
He sounded so sincere that I actually accepted his hand. "Wait. How do I know I can trust you?" I asked suspiciously. He looked at me as if I were crazy. "I just saved your life." He pointed out. I accepted his hand cautiously. He led me through the crowd of people. They gave me looks of venom but they bowed down to Luke's feet. If Luke was royal, then Ethan Grisham must be royal, but it wouldn't make sense since Ethan's father was a woodcutter. this whole thing was very confusing. We passed a few streets full of people hustling and bustling about. I watched Luke carefully. He said 'Hi' to a few people every now and then but he didn't seem like a bad guy after all. He stopped at humble cottage. If I were to stay with this Luke, I must keep my eye on him and watch out for myself at all times just in case. He opened the door for me. I peered inside. Everything seemed normal, but I let him go inside first anyway.
He took a seat at a beautiful wooden dining table. "You must be famished! Would you like to eat now?" He asked, handing me my book back. I nodded. "Nathan?" He stated calmly. At once, I heard foot steps that rapidly came closer. "Yes, master?" A tall, thin grey-haired man approached the table. "Could you please go to the bakery across Litchen Street and fetch us two delicious pies and two dinner rolls? Oh, and go to Magden's and get a nice bowl of steamed rice, if you could?" He asked kindly.
"What kind of pies would you like Sir?" Nathan asked, his voice incredibly dull. Luke looked at me, his gold locks tumbling down, covering his eyes. He pushed them back swiftly. "What is your favorite type of pie?" He asked me. His eyes, full of warmth. I felt stupid for questioning him of trying to kill me. He seemed so kind, so gentle..and caring. Oh God. I was starting to fall for him. "Apple." I blushed. I stared down at my book, willing myself not to look at him. "Ah, apple pie. My favorite too. Buy two apple pies please." Luke handed him a bag, and he left without saying anything more.
Luke gazed at me. "Your really lucky I was in the village today. I don't get to have time away from my castle for relaxing. It's not easy to be a prince you know. The reason I came here was that I heard a beautiful maiden was going to be hanged for a stupid reason like witchcraft. Of course I didn't believe in witchcraft. Until Ms.Byerly handed me your book and told me that it was evidence of your being a witch. I read through it...and now I do believe in witchcraft. But I do believe your not a witch. In your book, I've seen pictures of witches. They look like old ugly hags. You are pretty. You aren't a witch," he explained, still staring.
"Your right about one thing. I'm not a witch. But I am certainly not pretty." I replied, my face turning crimson. "On the contrary, you are as pretty as the sea with it's blue majestic swirls mixed in with the green. You are as pretty as the sun rise with it's golden rays and warmth. Maybe even more." He rambled. I blushed. "Please stop telling me these things, I haven't seen my reflection in ten years! Let alone, I know your being nice because you have to be princely. I would know because my Mother read about it to me in books when I was younger." I replied, fiddling with my fingers. "Too bad your beauty wasn't as great as your smarts." He snarled, he stopped looking at me as he said this.
I decided to not make him angry anymore after that. After all, this was Lukas Grisham that I was talking to. Lukas Grisham who was sitting across from me. Luke Grisham, the Prince! But I wouldn't let him silence me. I decided to strike up a different topic. A topic that I was very interested in. A topic that would help me very much.
"Tell me about your family." I breathed. Would it work? Would he answer me? Would this plan work? I thought. Luke looked at me as if I were delusional. "You wouldn't be interested in hearing about them." He muttered. "Please?" I repeated this until he finally gave in. His features softened. Nathan trudged in and put the food on the table. "Thank you very much Nathan." Luke said as he patted him on the back. "Thank you, Nathan." I stated as I dug into the food. Nathan walked slowly off into a different room while Luke gave me a mug of water. "Well, it's a good thing we have food. Now I can tell you about my.. um. Family." He said quite slowly. As if he didn't want to talk about them.
"A long time ago my mother, Celeste Smith met my father, Ethan Grisham." Luke started. I shivered as he said Ethan's name. "They fell in love, and you know, had me at a young age. Then my father, Ethan Grisham, started acting really weird. He formed these big groups of men and my mother grew very afraid of him. He became very abusive to my mother, though he never harmed me. My mother wanted to stay away from my father for each day she would grow more frightened of him. At night, he would disappear and at dawn he would come back to the house reeking of blood. Finally, my mother separated from him and took me with her. She met Prince Valium. They married and soon, Prince Valium became king, but he claims that a long while ago that he had been cursed by some type of faerie so that if he ever married would never have any children, leaving me to be the prince." He announced. "I visit my real father sometimes. It's not exactly my choice though. To be honest, my father really scares me at times. He visits me sometimes in this cottage. Usually when he knows that I will be in Khensu village." He added spitefully.
I sighed in relief. It was as if a huge burden had been lifted off my back. I could now finally relax. Luke wanted nothing to do with his father. He doesn't even look like his father at all. Maybe he would want to help me. Help me stay away from his morose father. "Tell me about your family?" He asked politely. "Oh. I guess I could, but it might pain you." I replied quickly, trying to search for a new topic to talk about.
"Please tell me? I told you," exclaimed, taking a long drink of his own water. I nodded solemnly. "Well, my family was brutally murdered when I was seven. I saw him kill my brother. I know he killed my parents and my baby sister. I ran and met a lady called Serena. She helped me and I came to this village which condemned me to the tower for ten years. On the tenth year I was to be hanged."
"Then I met you. Thank you for saving me." I explained quickly. He sat there, shaking his head. "Who would do such a thing? Who killed your family?" He wondered aloud.
"I did." A deep menacing voice said. I turned around and there standing behind me, was Ethan Grisham, sword in his hand.