A Whole New World Chapter 4, a winx club fanfic

A Whole New World Chapter 4

While the princess and her friend were racing over to the dining area in hopes to stop plans to what could be the princess's forced marriage, the king was taking slow sips of his wine while refusing whatever dish the servants would bring him, requesting it be taken back. Right across from him, rising his glass as if to give a toast before sipping it, the prince smiled at the king, thinking everything was working out marvelously.

With that smile on his face, Edmund saw confident and that was something he wanted in someone to look after his little flower girl. But then saw smugness he was able to see, making him take back his thought of before and going over his problem again. The king could understand why Flora wouldn't like being paired up with a husband like him, aware of his reputation of being a terrible womanizer who liked using women for his own purpose, his coldness and arrogant confidence blinding him to anything else but himself, and there was also that little incident involving the prince forcing his tongue into Flora's mouth and ended up with a hard slap to the face for that. But on the other hand, he was also strong, able to give Flora everything she could possibly want with his enormous wealth, and will be able to provide for her.

Drumming his fingers on the table, Edmund frowned as he thought more about two choices he was dealing with. He knew his daughter would hate him forever if he were to forced something like this onto her, but also saw they're seemed to be no other choice. Flora didn't seem to like any of the princes and time was running out for her to find a husband. Although she and O'Neil were different from each other, there might be a chance they could learn to like one another over time.

"I don't know, Prince O'Neil, if my daughter would agree," The king said, taking another gulp of his wine and waited till a servant filled it up to the top before swallowing it down in one gulp. "No offense to you, but after the little stunt you pulled with her, she never wants to see your face anywhere in the kingdom."

"I can completely understand why she must feel so embarrassed since I did it in front of everyone," the prince said, continuing to smile his charming, suave smile. "However, I was simply trying to make a statement, your lordship. To give her something to remember me by." He smiled innocently, as if the whole thing and humiliation he put Flora through wasn't as horrible as everyone else made it to be. He snapped his fingers, calling for service, and waited till a maid came to refill his glass with water. He finished the drink in one gulp and wiped his mouth cleaned with one hand, flicking the water drops off his hand as he slightly flickered it.

Knowing how badly Flora was hurt by that stunt, the king would have never wanted the prince to show his face around here again. But he was also someone who was fair and believed in giving second chances to people, so he decided to give that to O'Neil.

"Your lordship, a thousand times my apologizes and I hope you and your daughter will find it in your hearts to forgive me. But here's the thing you must understand, your highness. The princess sooner or later has to choose a husband before her next birthday or else she loses the throne. And I'm seeking a perfect wife to be married to before my next birthday, too. As you know, I'm a very desirable bachelor wanted by many women. But it's your daughter I want as my bride. She'd be a fine wife to me and I'd be a good husband to her."

"My daughter is not fond of you." The king protested, unsure if he was starting to like or be worried about the cold smugness heard in the prince's voice.

"But that can all change, your highness," the prince smiled, his dazzling smile slowly turning smug ascoldness began to show. "If you simply demand the marriage."

The king frowned, looking at the prince coolly with his kind eyes suddenly going cold and narrowed into slits. "I think not. Young princesses often forced into marriages are miserable because they are unhappy and had no say in it. I will not do that to my own daughter."

Slowly O'Neil's smile began to dim bit by bit till it completely vanished, and his face darkened as a dark, tight scowl came. The prince was always used to getting whatever he wanted, whether it's a thing or person, and in the end he always gets them. He desired King Edmund's daughter but his highness was making his patience quickly ran out. He could see the king was going to need some encouragement.

Slipping out from his seat and dismissing the maid who wanted to refill his glass, the prince walked over to the king and placed a firm, tight-squeezing grip on his shoulder. Doing such a thing was considered treason, something that could easily have him banned from the realm or worse-put on the death. The king opened his mouth, prepared to call guards in to escort O'Neil out, but stopped mid-short as he looked into his eyes.

Cold as ice and the color of frozen water, glowing brightly like some sort of white fire burning inside the heart of ice. They seemed to be churning slowly, as if they were coming to the rhythm to the tune of an eerie, slow music. The king tried to looked way from those eyes, feeling his mind was becoming blank and he was losing control of himself. But the longer he looked into those eyes; his expression was slowly turning blank and robotic as those luminous eyes continued churning.

The prince darkly smiled with satisfaction, seeing he had his highness's full attention. "Now listen to me very carefully, my lord," he said, his voice smooth and oddly soothing. "You want your daughter to marry me."

"I want my daughter to marry you." The king repeated.

Who knew controlling the mind to a king could be this easy, he smirked and continued "You will demand that she becomes my bride and give her till noon tomorrow to make her decision. If not, then you shall simply forced the marriage on her or banish her. Now repeat after me, King Edmund. Flora."

"Flora."

"I've made a decision."

"Since you are not capable of choosing a husband, I decided to step in and pick him out for you. And I've decided the lucky prince you will marry shall be the noble Prince O'Neil. My decision is final, so don't waste your time trying to change my mind. I will give you till noon tomorrow to make your decision. If you are truly my daughter and wish to be queen, then you shall marry the nobleman. If not, then you shall be kicked out from the castle and banished to the streets. Reduced from a high princess to a lowly homeless beggar."

This is going even more marvelous than I thought, Prince O'Neil smiled wickedly. He couldn't wait to see how his soon-to-be wife will react once she hears this.

He snapped his fingers, and the king was released from his trance, shaking his head while trying to process what happened to him. And the moment the king was released from the spell, the princess decided to make her appearance, bursting into the room with her dark-haired friend by her side.

"Father!" The moment the princess came over to the table, she leaned against the chair while Musa was leaning against Flora's shoulder for support. They were both breathless from all that running and took a few moments to catch their breaths.

"Daughter, at last you've come," he smiled and then frowned as he saw the outfit she was wearing, seeing she wasn't in the dress he told Musa to have her dressed in. "Explain yourself, young lady. Why are you not in your fine gown?"

Flora deliberately chose not to answer his question, but asked one of her own while pointing at the prince she refused to look at. "Why is he here?"

"It's rude to point, my dear. And the answer to that question is quite simple," the prince walked over to her with that vile smile on his face she wanted to wipe clean from his face, preferably wiping it clean with a good smack to his face. "I'm here so your father and I can talk about details to our magnificent wedding. If we want to have a wedding, then we need to start planning soon."

Hearing those words made Flora feel like fainting, but she was able to stand her ground although she was too shocked to say a word. Musa was shocked just as her friend was, but she was able to say what was going through Flora's head. "Arrogant, two-faced, jerk-off prince say what now?"

"I hope you aren't deaf as you are clueless, slave." Musa was ready to make him eat his words till Flora snapped out from her shock and was trying to hold her friend back while turning to her dad, hoping he'd offered an explanation but he was avoiding her eyes.

"Married?" she asked, feeling sick to her stomach as that word slipped out.

"Your highness, no offense but have you completely lost it?" Musa demanded.

Sighing, he finally turned to meet Flora's eyes and his heart nearly scattered into pieces, hating to see his precious daughter upset. He then quickly turned away and demanded everyone to leave the room immediately, waiting until everyone was out the door and the door was shut behind them before standing up from his chair and facing his daughter who was looking both betrayed and angry.

"So…" Her father licked his dry lips nervously, his eyes glancing around anywhere needed to be seen so he wouldn't be forced to see that hurt in Flora's eyes again. More than anything did he hate seeing his daughter upset. "Would you like some honey-coated biscuits for dessert? The chef made them for the occasion and I know much how you love biscuits. Or maybe some cake?"

Flora was silent as she stared at her father, unsure whether to laugh in disbelief till her sides hurt or scream in anger at the top of her lungs. Both seemed so good, she had a good mind to do both together as a way to let her emotions out. But she was a princess and was taught to keep her emotions under control, never wanting to let anyone see her in distress. Not even her own father.

"How can you do this to me?" she asked in a low voice, feeling tears sting in her eyes but willed them not to fall.

He turned around to finally face her, but his eyes quickly darted over her head. He figured looking at her forehead was much better than making eye-contact with her. Anything was better for him than looking her in the eye and seeing the pained hurt in them. "Flora, I'm so sorry you had to find about this thing this way. I wanted to tell you-"

"How can you do this to me?" she nearly yelled, and her dad flinched by the sound. The stinging sensation in her eyes was starting to badly burn, the tears impatient and begging to fall, but she still resisted and tried to keep them in.

He tried offering her a soothing smile, which she thought looked a bit forced and unconvincing, as he placed his large hands on her small shoulders, giving them a slight comforting squeeze but only made her more tense. "I know you might not like this, but with time I'm sure you can see things my way. I'm simply trying to do what I think is best for you."

"WHAT'S BEST FOR ME!" Whenever Flora was upset, she'd go to her inner peace, which was a beautiful meadow in the middle of the woods with beautiful flowers surrounding her, falling back on the fresh grass, and feeling the sun on her face. Thinking about that image always made her feel so peaceful, but this time the image couldn't help her. She tried to hold onto it for as long as she could, but finally she couldn't hold in any longer and exploded.

At first the king stared at his daughter in shock, stunned by her explosion. His Flora was usually soft-spoken and quiet, so seeing her explode like that was just shocking to him. But soon his shock quickly turned into irritation by her behavior.

He thought he and Flora's nannies raised her to be a proper lady of elegance and grace, not a whiny brat who complains when she doesn't get what she wants.

"Young lady, I don't appreciate the way you are talking to me," he warned. "And I don't like the way you are talking to me. I know you're not fond of the prince, but he is the best and I know you-"

"No!" Flora cut off. "No, I won't. Because you're not doing what's best for me, you're doing what's best for you!"

"FLORA THAT IS ENOUGH!" Wide-eyed Flora slowly cowered away from her father barely recognizing him from his explosive rage. But the king wasn't finished speaking yet, he was just getting started. "I've given you chances to find a husband and arranged for you to meet hundreds of princes, but still nothing. So, since you cannot pick out a husband, it seems I will have to do that for her. And I decided the lucky man shall be Prince O'Neil. He's strong, very well in the social ladder, and will be able to provide for you well."

"But father-" She protested, and then got cut off by the ice-cold look in his eyes.

"I don't want to hear another word from you! Do you understand me?" he barked right in her front, ignoring the tears he could see filling in her eyes. He wasn't acting like her father anymore; more like someone who was under the will of a spell. "Prince O'Neil is the man I pick to be your husband, and I will give you till noon tomorrow to make your decision. If you are a queen willing to do anything for her kingdom, then you will marry him. If you refuse, then you are no longer my daughter and you'll be kicked out from the kingdom. Banished to streets and live the rest of your life as a beggar."

"But father-" Painfully searing, bright red stars danced across her vision and a hollow ringing was echoing inside her head as his hand made contact with her face and her head was whipped to the other side. She could feel blood rushing to that spot where he hit her, quickly forming into a searing bruise, and she tenderly held her cheek.

She stared at the man angrily panting standing in front of her in disbelief, barely recognizing him and couldn't believe what just happened.

Her father, her own daddy who read her stories to bed and played tea parties with her, who was kind and always there for her, actually hit her. And as shocking as that was, what made it ten times more horrible was the reason she got smacked by him. He hit her because she protested against the idea of being married to the arrogant prince and did it out of anger.

"I don't what to hear another word about this, young lady. Are we clear?" he demanded, not even noticing or even caring the way she was shaking and how she looked like she was seconds away from losing control of the emotions she was trying to keep under control.

Nodding her head slowly and crossing her arms against her chest, Flora lifted her head up and really looked deeply into her father's eyes, trying to see anything. What she saw was absolutely nothing, no kindness, no sympathy, nor any kind of emotion to show his reaction to what he just done. It was as if he honestly couldn't have cared less.

"Fine. But how about three?" she said calmly, using a voice that was soft and low but loud with anger and hurt. "I hate you!"

King Edmund's eyes widened in shock and his mouth agape, the first signs of reaction he shown since they had this conversation. In his phase of shock, she saw genuine hurt in his eyes. Seeing that hurt in his eyes had a huge effect on her, making her feel so horrible inside.

Never, before that moment, has she ever felt that way or even said those words to her father. He drove her crazy most of the times, doing what most dads do, but she never actually hated him. But then again, he never gave a reason to.

Although Flora felt horrible about she said and wanted to apologize, she still stood her ground and reminded herself the reasons why she said those words in the first place. Her father didn't seem to care her feelings or her happiness if he was forcing her into a marriage to a person he knew she could never marry. He didn't even show any emotion or reaction except for impatient anger when he hit her.

The dreadful, cursed tears she had been trying to hold in were getting stronger with each moment. Growing too strong for her to hold in any longer and she could feel they were a second away from falling.

She quickly ran out from the room before the tears could fall, leaving her stunned father behind in the room and the tears already streaming down her face. But the moment she was out the door, she was suddenly being pulled by the arm, spun around, and was being tightly pinned to the wall by Prince O'Neil who was smirking at her stunned expression and tears.

He sighed as he caressed the left side of her face, not even noticing how she was shuddering and flinching by his touch. "Such heartbreak when a beautiful rose suddenly becomes a weeping willow."

"Let go of me!" she demanded.

"I don't think so, pretty." Before the Linphean princess could blink, he crushed his lips against hers in a desperate, passionate kiss. She tried whipping her head back and forth in resistance, unable to move since he had her in a tight position.

She could feel his lips smirking beneath hers, so she knew he was enjoying what he was doing to her, proving just how arrogant and sick he really was. He pressed his lips more firmly against hers and forced his tongue into her mouth, making the kiss wetter and sickly un-enjoyable.

This is rape! She screamed in her mind as he grabbed hold of her top and tore it open with his bare hands, staring hungrily at bra-clad chests before burying his head into her cleavage. She tried pushing him away from her, but O'Neil was too strong for her. She tried thinking of a spell to help her, but her mind was too paralyzed by what was happening to think of something.

"Someone, please help!" she managed to yelp out, just before O'Neil forced his lips onto hers again in another hot kiss that was more terrible and sick than the last. She could feel his hands on her thighs, creeping under her skirt and trying to tug down on her panties.

He's going to rape me, she cried, tears running down her face in constant streaks. She was unable to move, O'Neil had the upper hand, no one could hear her scream, and she was about to raped by the man her father was forcing her to marry.

Suddenly, as just as his hand was about to enter inside her, the prince was pulled away from Flora and she was freed. Gasping slightly under her breath, she sank down to the ground and held herself tightly, trying to hold herself together and willing herself not to cry anymore. She looked up and saw the dark-haired servant and Musa were standing protectively in front of her, and looked up just in time to see the servant give the Prince a hard punch to the jaw that knocked him down to the ground.

While Helia was looking down at the fallen prince with hatred in his eyes, Musa rushed over to Flora and scooped her friend in her arms into a tight, comforting hug. She allowed the princess to cry on her shoulder, and she gently rocked her back and forth while trying to use some magic to get her clothes back together and fix her up.

Hatred and anger were the only things Helia felt at the moment, which were boiling hotly inside him. Looking down at the fallen prince only made that anger and hatred grow stronger, and he was barely able to resist the urge to kick him repeatedly in the stomach till the prince was coughing out gallons of blood.

Growing up mostly on the streets, Helia needed to learn the skills of fighting in order to defend himself. He learned a few easy defense moves from various people, but mostly learned everything about fighting from Saladin. Although he was told he was a good fighter and would fear into his opponent, Helia believed there was no point of it unless it was required for an emergency.

Being a pacifist, he took a vow never to engage in any sort of violence. But seeing what Prince O'Neil was about to do to Flora-his Flora-made that vow seem so unimportant at the moment and he had to react.

By punching him hard in the face, nearly bursting his jaw out with that one swing.

Slowly Helia peeled his eyes away from the prince and looked over his shoulder. The fury that was exploding inside his body, close to erupting like a volcano, quickly cooled down into nothingness as he looked at the princess.

His highness had her face buried in Musa's shoulder, her body shaking from her sobs and sounding so miserable. Her clothes were tore, her hair looked anything but marvelous, and even from where he was standing he could tell her face was streaked with tears.

But even so, she was still the most radiant creature he ever seen.

Now's not the time to admire, Helia, he reminded himself. Now's a time to get serious.

Turning his back completely on O'Neil, the noble servant kneeled down in front of the girls. He slowly placed his hand on his shoulder, tapped it lightly, and waited till she slowly lifted her face and turned to him. "Are you alright, my lady?"

She nodded her head slowly while sniffing, her eyes sad but her face showing traces of a faint smile. "Thank you." She mouthed.

"Just who do you slaves think you are?" Prince O'Neil demanded once he got himself off the ground and towered over them, darkly scowling.

Helia got up from the ground, and Musa got helped Flora onto her feet before gently pushing her behind them.

Ignoring Flora completely, as if she wasn't even there, Prince O'Neil shot daggers at Musa and Helia with his ice-cold eyes. If looks could kill, then they'd be on the ground, dead, with thousands of stabbings and bullets all over their bodies.

"Assaulting a prince and butting in when he's taking care of business," he warned. "I could easily have your heads and jobs in a second as soon as his majesty hears about this."

Arms crossed against her chest and her navy eyes narrowed into cold slits, Musa had not even a slight fear in her as she walked in front of Prince O'Neil and actually had enough attitude to smile sweetly at his angry face. "Listen here, prince-boy, and I hope you listen good because this is a warning I'm only going to tell you once. I don't care if you're some high-class prince or universal king. No one messes with my best friend. Mess with Flora, you mess with me. You mess with me, you're fucking history."

Flora stared at Musa in a mixture of envy and a bit of envy. If there was one of the many things she envied about her friend, it was the courage she had inside her. While she was always timid and extremely shy, unable to mostly speak up for herself, Musa was completely brave and fierce. She was the kind of person who was a fairy version of a fierce tiger, who can look fear in the eye and never back down.

Helia calmly pushed both girls behind him, having a strong feeling Musa was going to try something that would get them all in trouble, and stepped forward to the prince. Like Musa, he easily looked into the prince's cold eyes with fear and smiled with ease, acting like her knight in shining armor. "I, for one, would love to see you try that. I will admit the offense was bold and inexcusable, but I highly doubt it will make the king faze."

"And why is that?" the prince demanded.

"Simple," Helia smirked. "When the king finds out you tired to rape his daughter, the only thing he'll be thinking of is the perfect way to kill a rapist like yourself. I know I would if I were him."

The Prince looked baffled for a moment, but then looked into fear shown in Flora's eyes and started to slowly smile till a wide, cold grin spread across his face. Slowly peeling his away from her, he turned his attention back to the meddling servant and said "Except you're forgetting one thing, you oaf. The princess is my soon to be bride. Thus, making her mine and giving me authority to do with the little whore however I please."

He made a grab for Flora again and she nearly screamed, fearing he was going to try finishing where he left off. But Helia, reacting quickly, caught his wrist and swatted the prince's hand away before his hand could come close to her. The swat seemed careless and light, as if he was shooing away a fly, but it seemed strong enough to make the prince nearly stumble.

"You will not lay a finger on her, you mongrel," he said in a dangerously low voice, his face calm and expressionless while his eyes were cold and deadly. Much colder and more deadly than the vile prince could even muster on his good days. "Because if you do, believe me you'll only live to regret it. I will make sure of it."

"Who do you think you are?" the prince sneered, baring his teeth. "A worthless servant without a penny to his name making threats to a noble, high prince?"

Flora was still scared and shocked by what happened, but she couldn't stand quiet anymore. Feeling the fierceness of courage from Musa going into her, the princess calmly pushed her aside and stood up to the prince. He raised his eyebrow questioningly at her, but she still was able to stand tall. "A servant he may be, but know this, Prince O'Neil. Although he may be poor, he's nobler and has more honor than a pity, sorry excuse for a prince can ever dream."

The Prince snorted rudely as he rolled his eyes, looking at the dark-haired scum standing behind his fiancée and arching his eyebrow coolly at the princess as he faced her again. "A poor slave having more honor than a prince? Is nobler than a soon-to-be king?" He crackled under his breath, the sound brittle and horrible like broken glass. "That's funny, my beloved. Absolutely priceless."

"I am not your beloved!" Flora retorted, scowling. "Nor your bride, fiancée, or even want to considered your friend. You're absolutely nothing to me. In fact, you're just about dead to me."

"Oh really?" O'Neil challenged, an evil glint in his eyes that she found bone-chilling. "You want might to watch your mouth, beloved, and learn how to keep it shut. You're already a pretty face, which is just what I want for a wife. But if there's one thing about woman I absolutely cannot stand, it's when a woman thinks she's so mighty to talk back. Thinking she's so high and mighty when really she's meant to be delicate and quiet." Leaning close to Flora, against her discomfort and invading her personal space, he examined her closely and nodded as if he was pleased. "Such a pretty, pretty girl who'll make a fine trophy wife indeed. But it's the attitude we can easily solve with proper etiquette classes, which will teach you the proper ways of being a perfect, pleasantly silent wife. After all, as my soon to be wife, your only requirement and concern is giving me pleasure in every way possible."

Flora felt all the fear in her body heat up into blazed fury as she observed the cutting glint in his eyes grow darker, crueler as he finished his sentence, his thin, red lips curving up into his infamous cruel smile. It was the same smile he wore proudly on his face when he kissed her the first time they met. It was also the same one he wore when he had her pinned against the wall and nearly raped her.

Slowly taking in a deep breath before letting it out, she acted calmly and normally while looking him straight in those cold eyes of his, seeing nothing but evil coldness and nothingness like how she predicted she'd see. Then slowly she lifted up her left hand and swiftly slapped him right across the face, putting all her body and anger into that smack.

The slap was so hard; his head whipped entirely to the left and nearly turned around. The force itself, which was fueled by all the anger she held in, knocked him hard to the ground and left a bright red hand-print on his cheek that was still throbbing.

Cursing loudly while slowly lifting himself off the ground, dusting off the dirt from his expensive white suit, he angrily glared at the princess. "You little-"

"I will never be yours, Prince O'Neil," Flora said, making a clear statement and leaving no room for argument. "I'd rather face the destruction of my own realm than marry a sorry excuse for a man like yourself."

She spat at his direction with those annoying tears already ready to fall again and quickly stormed off before they could fall again, not caring where she was going as long as she was going to a place where she could be alone and no would see her cry.

After looking down at him and giving him frosted stares, Helia and Musa left the prince alone in the halls. He barely noticed their stares or them leaving, for he was too busy staring at the direction where the princess stormed off to and was in deep thought on how to deal with her.

He thought spelling her father would give her enough persuasive to fall into his arms and get married, but he could use it was apparently going to take more that than.

Looking past her beauty and her seemingly innocent and gentle appearance, he saw head-headed stubbornness that was going to be challenging to get through but knew it was going to be worth it in the end. He remembered how so…innocently stunning she was in her bra and knew with every challenge a fantastic prize always awaits in the end.

If it's going to take destruction on your realm and the endangerment of your people, dear princess, thought the prince. Then this is going to going to be interesting.

"Let the games begin." He smirked and threw his head back, releasing a wicked and sick laugh before walking off.