Roxanne muttered the name silently.
She hoped she could calm down. She felt oddly drawn to that name and she felt satisfied with the outcome of the situation. It made her lips curve into a smile and she turned to leave.
Again she was suddenly grabbed and she felt her hand being roughly pulled. She felt so scared, thinking that it was one of those who had earlier held her captive. She turned to see who it was and she was momentarily relieved to see it was nobody else but Lord Alex.
Realization dawned on her and her heart palpitated.
She looked down, feeling scared, but for a totally different reason now. She wondered what Lord Alex would do to her now. How did he even find her in the first place?
"My lord, I...I can explain"
Lord Alex stopped dragging her and he turned to look at her. His golden-flecked eyes always managed to catch her by surprise and it was the most commanding part of him. Those eyes were glaring at her now.
"What can you possibly explain, Roxanne? You have messed everything up, and you have managed to tarnish my reputation in the process..."
The older man trailed off at that and he sighed. He let go of her hand.
He was angry, Roxanne couldn't bring herself to look at him. She had been expecting this, but she was not expecting it this soon, she thought it might happen, but not this soon.
Lord Alex was somone she would forever be grateful to. He had taken her in as his. Roxannne's mother had gotten pregnant for her father while he was a fugitive. She carried Roxanne in her womb while her lover went on the run from the authorities. When Roxanne was born, it was quite obvious whose daughter she was. Her hair color proved more than enough. Her mother was cast out of the town and while they were moving from town to town, she got pregnant with Roxanne's sister. For some reason, their mother abandoned them and fled with a new lover of hers, a duke.
Lord Alex took her off the streets when she was on the brink of death. Some men had violated her and somehow her six-year-old sister had been kidnapped. Roxanne was only ten then and even now that she was eighteen, she knew she would have died if not for Lord Alex.
She knew very well that he had always been a good person to her, she felt like she had broken his trust with her recent actions. It made her heartbroken.
She wished things didn't turn out the way they did. She would have been long gone by now if not for that.
"I'm sorry my Lord, I didn't mean to lie to you. I just wanted to find my sister."
Roxanne felt no shame begging Lord Alex. She knew fully well that Lord Alex had always been there for her, especially when no one was, he was there to help her overcome all her fears. She gulped at the slight thought of him leaving her in the streets, where men could easily take advantage of her and bandits could easily destroy her.
She hated feeling this helpless, but she didn't have any other choice but to accept the harsh reality. With a pained heart, she allowed the hot tears that freely paved their way down her cheeks to flow. She needed him to forgive her.
"I'm sorry Lord Alex. The only thing I can say is that I appreciate your efforts, the way you have always taken care of me when no one would is something i'll always be grateful for. I don't want to taint your image any further, you've been more than a blessing to me, and I can't ruin what you have spent so many years building, so I'll leave."
The words broke her heart as she said them, before she turned to leave, she noticed how he released his earlier clenched fist, his gaze had softened.
"Wait"
He actually stopped her from leaving.
Roxanne felt hope, she turned towards him with the belief that he would accept her back because if the truth was being told, she didn't even know where to turn to or who to run to.
Lord Alex looked like he was doing the hardest thing he had ever done.
"I'm sorry to let you go..." He pursed his lips and he removed a pouch of coins from his pocket. He handed them to her.
"I can't risk my reputation," he continued.
Roxanne felt hurt by his words, but she understood his intentions, she knew he had already helped her more than she could ever ask for, so the only option left was to take the money and leave. To go far from this place.
She wondered where she would go.
She was certain that she had traveled a great deal from her last village to this hell hole of a town. What was Lord Alex doing here anyways?
She wondered where she would go to that no one would recognize her as a traitor's daughter. Maybe she would start from where her sister had been abducted. It was the town Lord Alex found her in.
"Thank you very much for your help, Lord Alex, and for all your care. I'll be leaving now."
Roxanne wanted to cry but she had to withhold her tears. She used the opportunity to hug him tightly, feeling so many emotions churning within her.
She let go of him and then she turned to leave towards the less dense part of the forest. She would find a way out, she didn't trust that she wouldn't be killed if she stepped foot in the village again.
Lord Alex was silent for a while. He couldn't bring himself to utter a single word.
He was overwhelmed by emotions and he felt the need to go back to Roxanne and stop her from leaving. He knew very well that Roxanne had tried her best to see that he became better and that his business flourished. He knew that her leaving was wrong, at least not this way and in this manner, but yet if she was to live with him, it would only cause the downfall of all his various businesses, because no one would buy from him. He had too much to lose for him to be sentimental.
With a sigh, he turned to leave, only to hear the voice of Annabelle, his daughter. He noticed she was sobbing. Lord Alex immediately went to her and engulfed her in a tight hug, making her sob even louder. He hated this feeling.
He was selfish in thinking about him and his family. But how would his family cope without anything to sustain them? That was what would happen if he let Roxanne back in.
"How could you have just let her go, dad? You know she has been more than a friend, she's family. Her marketing ideas managed to grow your business and you let her go, just like that dad, you know what you did is not fair. It's not", Annabelle cried.
She was almost yelling at her father. She felt enraged by the sudden emotional pain. How could he just let her go? Lord Alex clenched his hand into a tight fist in hopes of suppressing the guilt he was feeling, but he couldn't help it.
He was sad about the turn of events.
He remembered the times they had spent together and how he treated her as even more than a daughter.
But she wouldn't stop looking for her sister and he couldn't endanger his family because of that.
Roxanne didn't need to search much to find the house Lord Alex lived in. He always had his green and gold carriage parked in the yard.
She drew in a deep breath before she walked towards the door and she slid inside the room that she once shared with Annabelle when they came to this town.
She already knew that since Lord Alex was here, he would be staying at his small house in this town. The Lord had a lot of thriving businesses. She also knew that Annabelle would have probably carried both their bags on her way here.
Annabelle had to be the sweetest person alive. She had encouraged Roxanne to go look for her sister. They had known this would happen.
Roxanne knew it was not the time to be emotional, it was the time to leave, so with trembling hands, she searched for her bag and when she saw it, she picked it up.
She was about to leave, only to see Annabelle standing beside the door. She was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Please don't go." she cried. Tears slid out of Roxanne's eyes in full force and she embraced Annabelle in a hug.
"I have to, I'm the traitor's daughter. You won't be safe if i'm around."
Roxanne tried to swallow the lump in her throat but it was hard.
"No, you are not."
Lord Alex's voice cut Roxanne's next words off and she looked at the older man to see him smiling softly at them.
When Roxanne noticed Lord Alex and heard his words, she felt overwhelmed with emotions. She wanted to throw her hands around him and gave him another tight hug, but she knew she had to withhold herself. She smiled with the tears still dripping out of her eyes and then she knelt on the ground. "I know I'm not worthy of your forgiveness, Lord Alex, but I'd want you to forgive me and give me a chance to prove myself worthy" she begged. Her voice was hoarse and her throat felt dry. The older man only smiled at her and he extended a hand to her. "Stand up Roxanne, I've come to realize that I was a bit selfish. I was thinking about my family, about how they would survive if my business was not moving forward, but you are also family, and family sticks together. I'd appreciate it if you stayed with us and didn't leave. " His words made Roxanne's eyes well up with tears, she was a bit emotional, she couldn't help the dreadful feeling when she had noticed the blazing anger in his eyes and
Ariel's wolf howled in his head from late that night till early the next morning. He felt like he was going crazy. For once in his life, he felt sorry for actually wishing his wolf came back. Now that it had come back it seemed determined to drive him mad with howling. "Will you shut up!" The birds that perched on the window sill of his castle fluttered away in a flap of wings. Pigeons. They were part of the reason the castle was so filthy anyways. Ariel scrunched his face under the mask he wore as he looked around. This was the first time he was granted a reprieve in decades and his castle was filthy, his room was a mess, and his wolf didn't see the need to stop howling. He truly was cursed. He let out a crazed laugh at that thought. Like he hadn't been made aware of that fact for the past two hundred years now. He had to live and watch everyone he knew die. All the lords that were in attendance the day the curse was cast were killed off, He had killed them himself. The
The sun hit Roxanne directly on the face and for the first time in a long time, she had a smile on that face. "Hey, sit still, will you?" Roxanne giggled as she sat down more firmly into the chair. It had already been a few days since she had the encounter with the cursed prince and she was already trying to cast the incident out of her mind. He had simply helped her out. Nothing more. It didn't really matter that he had given her his name and it didn't matter that she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way his mask had given him an aura of mystery and danger might be the reason she couldn't stop. That was probably it. Roxanne sighed looked in the waters of the clear stream she had her feet submerged in. She would have to go into it almost totally later on but that was something she would think of when the time came. Annabelle had insisted that they come out here to dye her hair. She said Roxanne could put herself halfway into the small river and she would sit on the ri
Panic filled her as she saw the people walking towards them. It was the same group of men that had tried to rape her that day, and they were coming for her. Roxanne's stomach roiled as she realised she wasn't alone this time. The men were coming for them! She whipped her head around, frantically searching for Annabelle with but Annabelle was nowhere to be found. She had either fled or vanished into thin air. Roxanne would be satisfied with anyone of the two. As long as her friend was out of danger. Panic filled Roxanne as she contemplated her current options. "Oh shit." She was in the river. She hadn't bothered to put on anything except a simple white frock, and it was one that would definitely cling to her body now that it was wet. That would be like giving the men more motivation to come get her. They would take one look at her dress clinging to all her curves, and they would run crazed with lust. Why did they have to appear at this time? Roxanne felt frustrated. The
The water in her lungs was the first thing that urged Roxanne to go above the surface of the water.The water here was ice cold, almost like the forest itself. There was something about the chill that had settled over her that she didn't find natural.Maybe it was the water or maybe it was the fact that she was almost drowning. Roxanne didn't know.She cried out as her leg hit a sharp rock and her toe sent a flare of pain up her body. Dry land was just a few paces away from her. Roxanne could hear the water and smell the flora of the forest. The trees were thick and the sun had retreated into the clouds. Everything looked darker.Roxanne pushed herself to maneuver her way to dry land. The shore was just a few paces away. If she could just use her last remaining bit of strength to get there.Something hit Roxanne on the head again and the sound of laughter was the only thing she heard before the world blacked out.Roxanne dreamed.She was on the beach now. The sun is shining warm on h
Roxanne only looked at her friend as she said those words. She blinked.Ariel had saved her again?Why?"Why would he do that?"Annabelle simply shrugged her shoulders and walked off.Roxanne felt even more confused with Annabelle's reaction.But why did Ariel save her? And what was that nonsense the men had said about her being a witch that had cursed their crops?Roxanne tried to sit up but the headache that lashed at her made it impossible for her to even raise her head up. She didn't feel any cut on her head but she could tell that she had been injured somewhere.Her head ached like someone had hit it with a hammer and that hammer was still lodged in her head.People just loved being cruel and wicked. Why did they all want to kill her?"Are you okay Rox?"Roxanne felt a sensation of relief wash over her as she heard Lord Alex's voice. His tone dripped with concern and his face made it clear that he was definitely worried.He sat down by the side of the couch and touched her head w
The villagers were indeed approaching Lord Alex's house. The only problem though was the fact that they weren't the mob that the stable hand had reported .Roxane couldn't tell if that was a problem or not. It confused her though, it confused her a lot to be honest.They were running actually, approaching Lord Alex's house with a speed that just walking couldn't grant. And according to what she was currently seeing, they probably didn't go up to five in number.Could five people be considered a mob?"I think the stable hand might have misinformed us."Lord Alex only shook his head and looked at the approaching figures. They were running, a few more paces and they would be at the door to his house. He didn't think the stable hand had misinformed them though.The people of this town had managed to convince him of the fact that they weren't inherently good people. They were insecure, cowardly and at the very least, untrustworthy, so there was every possibility that there was a mob coming,
Ariel couldn't understand what was happening to him.He screamed in pain as the shift threatened to force itself on his body again. The pain had become a permanent friend over the past three days."Arghhh!"The sound of a bone cracking sliced through the air and Ariel's pained scream cut through the silence of the castle. The bodies of four men lay on the stone floor, in different positions, intestines leaking out and stomachs torn, the look of pure pain and anguish on their faces still present.They all had their mouths in the shape of half formed screams.Ariel looked at them and he felt a different sort of pain rip through him.He screamed.He could feel his heart ripping apart to let forth the monster. The same monster that had been restless for the past few days now.Ariel felt himself being thrown into the cage at the back of his mind again. He couldn't do anything to fight it. It felt like every part of his body had knives protruding from them.Dangerous and sharp weapons ema