Frigid air crept through the cracked windowpanes as I paced around my chambers, treading on dead leaves, layers of dust, and the remnants of curtains and tapestries. My breath hissed out in frozen clouds as I growled under my breath, twisting to stare at the infernal white rose with every turn on my heel. Six petals now lay dead in a heap at the bottom of the bell jar, harmless now that the curse had faded, leaving them gray, pale and empty. The rose wasn't my enemy. The flower itself was just the hourglass. Time was my adversary, time, the Werewolf, and that girl.

All things considered, I shouldn't have let my mind wander off and let the Werewolf take control of me. Clumsy at courting though I was, I was reasonably certain that telling her to "grow a spine" was not a move to get me in her favor, it was a move on the Werewolf's part. With a swipe of my paw, the remains of a vase went flying, shattering into dozens of minute shards. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Did the Werewolf want her to hate me? Was I some masochistic freak who was determined to stay this creature for the rest of my life?

'There's no hope, you know. She's the one who's destroying your chance, not me.'

"No," I said out loud, "She has given me two chances and you come out and destroy them!"

'I'm destroying them so I can break her. Sapphire's hiding that body of hers; I know you want to know what's under that cloak of hers. Who knows what she's hiding under there?'

"It's her decision if she wants someone to know or not!" Admittedly, she wasn't helping, either. She was so stubborn. How was I supposed to get to know her if she wouldn't even show me who she really was? That hood made her face a mask; the cloak made her body a curtain, which much I knew, and it was just as effective as my fur. It was as if, though I was so desperate for her to see my humanity, she was determined not to let me see hers. She would rather be some sort of porcelain doll, perfect but without a face. I knew there was more depth to her. I had seen the cracks in the shell, and though she tried to cover it back up, I knew they were there, but I still wasn't entirely certain what it was that caused the cracks in the first place. It seemed like mentioning her family or her former life would set her off, but quite frankly, she baffled me. I was so used to women who wore their hearts and so much more on their sleeves, but she was a room that hasn't been open for a number of years. Of course, the contents of the room I might discern over time. Sapphire, I wasn't so sure.

'You're the one who has a title...Prince Sagittarius. You can force her into showing you what's she's hiding. You have a right to know what is going on inside your home.'

"It's more than just my home. All the servants here, they live here as well. Every single one of us may be different, but we have one thing in common...we're human."

'Except you, if it wasn't for that sorceress, you wouldn't be in this body, you wouldn't be in this predicament...and you wouldn't be working so hard for Sapphire's love.'

"It was an accident, you can't get angry over an accident, no matter how horrible it was. I don't care how you twist my thoughts and try to get me to act like you, you can't change who I am without help from me." I can already tell that the Werewolf was running out of ideas to get me upset. I heard him snarl, but it didn't come out of my mouth this time.

'You've tried to earn her friendship, but Sapphire has seen you for who you truly are. She has seen what you've had done to your servants and to her.'

"No, she hasn't. Sapphire has seen what you truly are and what you've done, but not me...and not 'Prince Sagittarius'." After that, the Werewolf left me alone. He didn't know what to say to that. I got him down for once, but I still couldn't stop thinking about Sapphire. Despite that she was so aggravating and utterly frustrating, I had to admit that there were things I admired about her. If I was being perfectly honest with myself, there were things I downright liked about her. Sapphire was brave, for one, refusing to back down even when faced with the monstrous Werewolf. Kaelyn would've thrown a chair at me, but she wouldn't dare face the Werewolf. I'd never had anyone scream at me like she did, as irritating as it was. I almost...liked the fact that I had to work so hard for her trust. It was humbling...in an odd way. It felt like...it I ever did manage to win her compassion, it would be worth so much more than the shallow affections I used to get from the court girls. But why...why was she so aggravating? What could've happened to her to be that way? Was it her mother's death? Living her uncle's family, who treated her like a servant?

I sighed and threw myself down onto my nest of blankets. Dealing with her was exhausting. I knew I should go and apologize for the umpteenth time, but I didn't want to face her, and the inevitable shouting match, just yet. It wore me out, and I wasn't certain my nerves could take another hit like that. I still continue to wonder about Sapphire...and why she was determined to hide from the world. Did something happened to her body that cause her hide everything? Including her face? Of all the things to hide...why would she hide her face? I lay my head on my paws and allowed my eyelids to droop. I tried to imagine what Sapphire looked without her black and white cloak. I wondered what hair color she had, how soft her hands might be, how full her lips might be...and wondered how it would be like to hold her cheek in my paw. I tried to picture what she would be like...long, beautiful flowing hair, peach-colored skin and...lovely full lips. The one thought about Sapphire that I was hoping that would happen...it would be letting me touch her face. That one thought alone...put a smile on my face, one that the Werewolf couldn't take away.