Lady Bella...
"Your should fear nothing."
His words rang through my head as I followed him into the darkness, jumping slightly as his hand found my elbow in order to guide me gently through the corridors. He glanced downward at my hesitation.
"You should fear nothing." He repeated firmly as I stared now at the cold stone beneath my dusty toes. I was afraid, not at what would happen with him beside me, but of what would happen once he was gone. The 'Beast'—the nomadic second son of the king of Ridgeland who had left the palace in a rage over his father's policies following the brutal murders of his wife and son, who had fought as a foot soldier and a pirate in order to garner more wealth than the whole mound of gold in his own country's store. He was a rich man—feared, respected, and…well, there was something else about him that troubled me. He seemed almost…oh, I don't know. I should fear nothing, huh?
"Shouldn't I though?" I murmured to myself, realizing that he had heard me when his grip tightened audibly on my elbow. And yet, here was the feared second son of a king returning home, betrothed, and about to enter back into society in order to fight another war. It was all just too daunting.
"For a girl who was so very willing to bite off the head of any man who approached her with the sharpness of her words, you sure have grown quiet. Have you lost your resolve, sprite?" He asked me in a deep tone that rumbled as he spoke. He was a crass man, his language sometimes rough, but I assumed those were due to his pirate years. I had not lost my resolve despite my fear. With or without him, I would rather die than return to the palace as Lord Horton's girl to whip. And so I shook my head, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth as I did. I would not lie and say I had no fear. I looked up at him.
"I was always taught that without fear, you are careless and therefore weak. I am afraid, sire, but I feed off the fear and allow it to make me stronger." I stated softly, listening with a small hidden smile as he laughed softly, the slight vibration running up the back of my arm as he did. It was a nice sound. And he was a handsome man. Fiercely handsome. That was obvious in the way the maids in the palace stumbled as they passed by him. He didn't seem to notice.
I heard the footsteps then and my skin crawled. I knew the sound of those boots, and I lowered my head slightly without realizing it only to raise it quickly when the prince lifted up my chin almost roughly.
"You will bow to no one but the royal family. That's an order." He commanded as I nodded quickly, staring ahead now as Lord Horton and his daughter materialized out of the darkness into the anteroom we had just entered. The Lord's mouth tightened when he saw me and his daughter gasped at the sight of the prince's hand resting in a gentlemanly fashion upon my elbow. I was, after all, a breed and deserved no respect.
"What's the meaning of this?" Lord Horton asked in a choked tone as the prince merely raised a brow questioningly before leaning casually against the stone wall now behind us, still holding onto my elbow as he did. His casual stance seemed to diminish his size slightly, but he still dwarfed everyone present in the room. I could see Gabriella getting ready to fan herself at the sight of the slight expanse of muscle visible above the slight opening of the prince's shirt. Mercy, the girl was ridiculous. He was, after all, just a man.
"I should ask you the same question, Lord." Connor retorted quietly in the low, dangerous tone I had heard him use on the guards earlier. It had its desired effect as Lord Horton wiped his brow suddenly with the back of his hand before gazing between the prince and I in agitation. The prince was the kind of man who demanded respect just by being present in a room.
"She is a half-breed slave, your highness. Nothing to concern yourself with. We have highly anticipated your visit, your majesty, and look forward to arranging the forthcoming nuptials between my daughter and yourself." Lord Horton mumbled as he bowed quickly, motioning to his awe-struck daughter to do the same. She curtsied instanty, stooping low enough that we were all rewarded with an eye-full of ill-conceived cleavage. Bile rose up in the back of my throat, but the prince grinned as if pretending interest. Or maybe the sight had interested him. How should I know. Pirates were supposed to be lascivious right? Something about long voyages at sea without a female present.
"You know the law, Lord Horton. There is to be no continuous torture of a slave and yet I come here to find that you have been using a mere slip of a girl as a whipping post. We relieved all whipping boys of their duties years ago when one was accidentally killed. I want no excuses, nobleman, only explanations." The prince demanded dangerously as Lord Horton actually cowered. Oh, how I hated the man! But I had never seen him weak before, the fire always burning in his wicked eyes as he held the whip that flogged me regularly. I almost felt the need to look away from his sudden cowardly nature. And as for the prince calling me a mere slip of a girl...! Uggghhhh!
"She's a half-breed, sire. The law does not pertain to the breeds." The man remarked weakly as I shuddered. He was right. They didn't pertain to people like me. The prince's hand tightened again. And then something happened.
The prince shocked the entire room.
"I have decided to cease my engagement to your daughter." The prince stated suddenly in a spitting tone that bespoke of the disgust he felt for the man. I gasped along with Gabriella as the busy nature of the people inside the fortress suddenly stopped. Silence permeated the stone walls as Lord Horton's eyes filled with fire. Gabriella looked over at me accusingly. This couldn't bode well. What was the oaf doing?
"We have an agreement, sire. It is impossible for you to renege on it now." Horton demanded, incensed at the way he was now being treated in front of his own servants. The prince only smiled, his casual stance straightening ever so slightly so that he stood even taller. I saw several men and women gulp, each sex doing so for entirely different reasons. I was just plain vexed at becoming the middle man in this argument...or woman if we are being technical. Two years in slavery and one day, just one day, had suddenly freed me and then catapulted me into a political mess. The prince glanced over at me quietly and I knew by his expression that something big was about to happen. Something that I would not like in the least.
"I never signed a contract, Lord Horton. It was only a verbal agreement between my father and yourself years ago after I fled the kingdom. It has no value now that I am back—none whatsoever." The prince explained suddenly before looking up and gazing at the room quietly.
Shock number two was released onto the masses.
"And it is impossible to hold up now that I am engaged to another." He admitted firmly as everyone in the room gasped collectively. What? Oh, no no no no no no! He wouldn't!
"Betrothed!" The Lord roared all of a sudden, his fist clenching at his side audibly. "To whom?" The man demanded as the prince grinned in feral glory, allowing the silence to create a build up of energy around us before speaking once more.
"Why, to Lady Bella of course." The prince confirmed as my entire body grew numb. What had he just done? I didn't even know the man, and I had specifically told him that I did not want to trade slavery for slavery. Marriage was slavery with a wedding band as a chain to tie a woman to her husband's demands. I would not become another slave! Around me the castle roared with protests and disbelief, but I tuned them out as I stared over at the prince. How could he? By the gads, he was insane! A prince married to a breed? It was not only lunacy, it was murder to suggest such a thing! I couldn't think. I could only stand there rigidly as the fortress seemed to fall apart around us. I was angrier now than I had been before. And this time my captor was bigger, more intimidating, and captivating all at the same time. What was I going to do?