Since I never remembered her coming back, I could only assume my exhausted body had plunged me back into a deep sleep. This time, however, waking up was much easier. I knew exactly where I was, but the pain and ache as my ribs and arm protested was far worse than it had been. That was the price that came with consciousness, I supposed as I grimaced. I've noticed that ever since I rescued Sapphire, I never heard the Werewolf come out of me again. Either he gave up on trying to taunt me...or I finally regain control over him. If that was true, then I can finally start treating Sapphire with the respect that she deserves. Sapphire thought of me differently now, with maybe a bit more kindness. I thought with something that might have been like happiness, she knew my name now. She was one step closer to thinking of me as a companion, maybe even as a friend.

It didn't surprise me too much that I genuinely wanted that. I wanted her to like me, I wanted her to truly see me for who; not what, I was. I had been judged for this form for far too long. She didn't know I was a prince; she didn't know what I was before all this. Now, if she was willing to give me a chance, perhaps I could finally be free from this body.

I turned to look at her, but was disappointed to see that the chair was empty. She was probably busy with something else, I didn't really expect her to be there everytime I woke up. Though the idea was a nice one to think about it. I was about to doze off again when a slight motion from the chair startled me, causing me to cringe at my own sudden movement.

"Nice to see you awake," I heard Brimley say, "Prince Sagittarius."

"Not particularly...wait a minute!" I quickly realized, "Did you say 'prince'? Why?"

"Because that's who you are, no matter you're in human skin or fur." Brimley answered, he then abruptly cleared his throat at the sound of scraping and approaching footsteps in the hallway. I was still so busy attempting to process what he had said that I wasn't terribly surprised when the door eased open and Sapphire peered in. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of me.

"Were-Sagittarius," Sapphire corrected herself, "you're awake."

"Just barely." I answered.

"Well, if your appetite's back," she said, "I made biscuits. Care for some?"

"I still don't have it back." I answered sadly.

"Brimley, do you want any?" She offered.

"I would," he said, "but I've been up since six in the morning. I'm going to rest a while."

"I'll take over here then." Sapphire said as she opened the door wider. I heard Brimley's footsteps leave the room and out the door. Sapphire came over and sat down in the chair. She sat the platter of biscuits and tea on the nightstand. The smell of warm food drifted over to me and I realized that I hadn't eaten since at least midday yesterday. I had no way of knowing what time it was now, but I did know that my body was confused by the fact that my stomach felt very hallow, but still revolted at the thought of warm food.

"Some tea, Sagittarius?"

"Hmm, sure." I answered, I knew I was going to make a fool out of myself one way or another, whether by spilling all over my front, or else being unable to keep it down. I sincerely hoped it was the formal way. Sapphire carefully poured me a slightly steaming mug as I tried to sit up on the bed. I heard Sapphire groan as her hidden hands wandered around the mug. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I...can't grab cups with my hands in my sleeves." She answered.

"You've been determined to hide your body from everyone," I told her, "but...you don't have to hide it from me."

"I'm not sure if I can." She sighed sadly, I can see the pain and sadness in her light blue eyes.

"I can see your pain in your eyes," I said, "let me cure you of that pain."

"Promise me this," she pushed, "never, EVER, yell or roar or anything else that's loud out of fear."

"I promise with my life." I told her. Sapphire looked down and stared at her sleeves. I watched her lift hidden hand reach out to pull the right sleeve off her right hand. That's when I saw the reason hiding she was hiding her body, I was speechless. Her hand was made of needles, sewing needles! I couldn't believe it! I watched her pull her left sleeve off her left hand. Both hands were made of sewing needles! Sapphire raise her hands and flipped them over and over to show me.

"Not at all what you were expecting, is it?" she asked.

"No, not at all." I answered as calmly as I could. "What happened to your hands?"

"Forget about it." She said as she gently grabbed the mug. "Here's your tea." She handed me the cup with her needle hands. I was almost afraid of taking it out of her hands because...I didn't want to knock her hands off her wrists, if it were possible, but I had to show Sapphire that she could trust me. I took the cup of tea of her hands; I felt the cold metal of the needles. I sipped carefully at the warm liquid, pausing after each swallow to see if it was staying put. "How is it?" she asked.

"Nice and warm." I answered.

"I'm glad to hear that." Sapphire said, sounding pleased. "I didn't know if I was still a good cook after I left my mother's home." I can sense the pain Sapphire was in, it was the same pain I was in. We were both under a curse, I have to make her comfortable.

"I'll make you a deal, Sapphire."

"What kind of deal?" She asked.

"If you tell me about your 'cursed' cloak...I'll tell you about my cursed body." I offered, I saw her eyes widen.

"You're under a spell, too?" She asked.

"Yes," I answered sadly, "I have been in this form for almost twelve years. When I was nineteen, I was cursed by an enchantress by accident."

"How did that happen?" Sapphire asked, I looked away from her eyes.

"There was...a woman that wanted me to be her husband, I didn't want anything to do with her because she...destroyed the bond I had with my little cousin. She came to my castle again when she wasn't suppose to, the enchantress got between me and her before...she attacked me. When the enchantress chanted her spell, she shot a beam of magic at the girl, but the girl dodged it and was heading towards Brimley. I...I...I pushed him out of the way...and the shot of magic hit me and the spell affect me. The enchantress did whatever she could, but she couldn't remove it."

"You were a human at one time?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes," I answered, "though apparently, not human enough. The Werewolf, who's been living inside of me, has been trying to control all my decisions. He's the one who threw you in the dungeon and he's the one who told you those horrible things. If...I had been in control of myself, I wouldn't have forced you to stay in this prison. I don't deserve to be human."

"Yes, you do." She said, "You were a human at one time."

"If I am human...it wasn't enough." I said as I looked back at her. I saw Sapphire touch her heart with her needle hand. I could tell she was surprised. As I watched her, I realized that it was if the mask, that I had been so painfully aware of since I'd first met her, had cracked.

"I may be a human," Sapphire said, "but I don't look anything like a 'normal' human."

"What do you mean a 'normal' human?" I asked her; she looked straight into my face.

"Normal humans are supposed to have human hands and feet!" She pushed, I could tell by her voice that she was starting to cry. "They are also supposed to have clear beautiful skin." I had to ask her. She managed to show me her hands, I have to try to get her to show her face.

"Show me your face...please, Sapphire." I begged her; I heard Sapphire take a deep breath. She grabbed the sides of her hood and pulled it off her head. Her face was revealed to me, no wonder she didn't want to show it to anyone. There were black markings of her face, all originating from her blue eyes, but besides the black markings on her face, Sapphire had white skin everywhere else. I also saw that she had hair as red as cherries. "You don't look that bad." I said, giving her a small smile. I didn't want to scare her with my fangs.

"Don't try to sugarcoat it, Sagittarius." Sapphire said with a frown.

"I'm serious, Sapphire." I pushed. "Those markings on your face don't mean anything else about you." I had to say something to make her feel better because she hid her soft kind face because of those markings. "You know, I always thought you were a red head."

"Red head?" she asked.

"You have red hair."

"Yes, I do." She said, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," I quickly said, "it was a complement."

"Oh...sorry." Sapphire said sadly, "I...haven't been complemented in a very long time, not since the day I moved in with my uncle as his family."

"You told me that you hated your cousin, Lucinda, and your aunt, Olivia."

"My uncle, James, and my other cousin, Stephanie, saw me as a family member." Sapphire said, "My aunt and Lucinda saw a servant to wait on them hand and foot."

"Didn't your uncle do anything about it?" I asked her.

"Nope, my aunt and Lucinda threaten me that they would kill me if I did tell my uncle. There was nothing I could do. Stephanie tried to stick up for me, both of us got punished for it. I had to take of everyone. I had to sleep in the barn and had to eat when they said I could."

"So...you're a lot more skinny than I first thought."

"Yes, I barely have any fat or muscle on the the bones I have." Sapphire started to cry, "I couldn't stand living like that anymore. That's why I ran away. Four days later, I found this place. All I have is Snowflake, he's my only friend."

"Do...you consider me as a...a...?"

"A friend? Yes, I do, Sagittarius." Sapphire replied, "You're the first 'person' that's ever heard me out. We may have gotten on the wrong foot with each other, but I'm glad to know you."

"And...I'm...glad to know about you." I told her as I reached out and touched her needle had. Sapphire smiled back at me, but I had to ask her about her hands. "Care to explain about your hands? You said your cloak is cursed." I said; Sapphire sighed.

"That's because it is. Long ago, my three-times great grandmother made this cloak for her daughter, my two-times great grandmother. She was a seamstress; she made so many beautiful fabrics for clothes that, even the royalty wanted her clothes. Everyone in her home village called her 'Needle hands' because of her remarkable work. Before my three-times great grandmother left her store, a woman came in. She didn't know that the woman was a witch. The witch wanted this cloak, but my ancestor wasn't going to give it up. My ancestor made this cloak as a birthday gift for her daughter's birthday. When the witch heard that my ancestor wouldn't give her the cloak...she was so enraged that...the witch...killed my ancestor and stole the cloak."

"What happened next?" I asked her.

"My three-times great grandmother was found dead in her store, her face, neck, chest, hands, arms, legs and feet were all cut up. Because of the way my ancestor was cut up, everyone knew that it was the witch. The witch had cut up other people, my ancestor was the only one that she killed. The people in the village stormed the witch's house and found everything that she stole...including this cloak. The items that were stolen were placed in the pile as people tied the witch to a stake. As the fire licked her garments, the witch yelled that my family was going to be sorry and she chanted her last spell. When the witch turned to ashes, my ancestor's cloak rose out of the pile of stolen items, flew towards my two-times great grandmother and wrapped itself around her. The family curse went into affect and my ancestor's nickname came true. She got black markings originating from her eyes in areas where her mother was cut up. The bones in her hands and feet were transformed into needles, no skin, no blood vessels and no nerves. My family tried to break the spell, but no one knows how to break it."

"Sapphire," I said softly, "I'm sorry that this had to happen to you.

"The curse only affected women." Sapphire continued, "Because of the curse, the first born child was always a girl so the curse would lift off the mother and onto the child and end up inheriting the cloak."

"How long have you been this way?" I asked her.

"Twelve long years." She answered, "You're the only person who knows. No one else knows, except Rizal." I recognized that name.

"Rizal? The man who shot me? How do you know him?"

"He saw me getting kicked out of my uncle's house because I didn't clean the dishes." Sapphire answered, "He saw my hands and face and helped me get up on my feet. That's how I met him. He didn't care how I looked, but he was a year younger than me and didn't have 'those' feelings for me, nor did I feel the same towards him. I'm...still sorry that he shot you."

"He was trying to protect you from me." I said, "Don't worry about it."

"Thank you." She said.

"For...forgiving your friend?" I asked.

"No, for listening to me." Sapphire answered, "I've never had someone that would listen and talk to me. I hope Snowflake won't get jealous."

"He's got Midnight down there with the other donkeys."

"Is Midnight...the donkey you were talking to when we first went to the stables?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, she used to be a beautiful black horse." I said, "She's now a donkey, like my other horses, because of the spell I'm under."

"Everyone's under it, aren't they?" She asked.

"Yes," I answered, "and I'm the only one who can set everyone free, including me."

"Hmm, don't worry," Sapphire assured me, "you'll be free. I know it." Her words made me feel something that I've never felt in a very long time. I wasn't sure what it was, but it felt...warm. I didn't want to release Sapphire's hands, even thought they were made of needles and she could cut me accidentally. "Sagittarius, may I ask to leave? I would like to give Snowflake his food as well." I smiled at her.

"Go ahead." I answered as I released her needle hand. She covered her hands up with her sleeves and pulled her hood over her face. I watched her go out the door, with her cloak dragging behind.