Ariel woke up to the feeling of bandages on his body.He looked down at his lower chest and saw that someone had taken the time to put strips of cloth on the wounds he had there.He had been too preoccupied with the spike in his chest and passing out from the pain to notice that anyone had been near him.Okay, maybe he had noticed one person near him.And speaking of the spike in his chest, it wasn't there anymore.Someone had pulled it out.But who?The scent of cinnamon and fresh oats wafted into Ariel's nose and he scrunched his face up in confusion.Who could be in his castle?He could feel the presence of someone else nearby, like warmth on the tip of his tongue, or the smell of sunlight on a dreary day.The only problem was that he couldn't actually see this person at the moment.Ariel hissed as pain shot through him. He had shifted slightly and one of the bandages on his side had moved making the wound there open again.It hurt like hell.It always hurt like hell.Every tear,
"Do you know how hard it was to get you into those bandages?!"Ariel was having a problem."Do you think it's easy for me to clean up this place?!"A very big problem."Do you think I want to live here?!""Then leave!!" he screamed back."No! I won't be leaving."This girl was going to run him mad.Half of the villagers already believed he was mad but this girl was going to run him mad for real.Where was the curse when you needed it?Roxanne looked at the male in front of her and smirked inwardly.He thought he could shout at her and run her out of his castle so easily? She would make him think twice about that.So far so good, they hadn't ripped each other to shreds, or rather he hadn't ripped her to shreds, because he could actually do that if he wanted to, but he hadn't, so they were clearly making progress.She had managed to get him into a chair, but only after he had staggered down the rest of the stairs and almost collapsed at the foot of it.Ariel was stubborn, and she had ev
Ariel had locked her out.Roxanne sighed as she sat down on the stone steps that led to the main castle's double doors.He might not want her here but she didn't have anywhere else to go.No one would bully her here and she could take care of him when he hurt himself.But apparently he didn't want that because he had locked her out of the freaking castle."Son of a bitch."Roxanne muttered those words as she picked up one of the stones on the floor and aimed it at the statue that stood in the middle of the fountain.The fountain was dirty. It didn't bring out clean water anymore. Roxanne sighed.It barely brought out any water at all.It would have made this whole cleaning up thing a lot easier.Roxanne let her eyes drift to the bodies that were littered all around the...... courtyard? She really didn't know much about castles or the homes of the mentally deranged.Only a mentally deranged person would refuse her help.She wasn't going to be touching any dead bodies though. The pri
Lord Alex left and Roxanne had to sleep outside for the night.Ariel didn't let her in even though she begged. People were much more enchanting when they saved you from bad people.The mystery that surrounded the cursed prince in her head had been shattered now. She didn't like him so much anymore.But she couldn't leave.Roxanne dozed off with thoughts of Anabelle and Lord Alex in her head. The news of Annabelle's disappearance was all she had been able to think of ever since Lord Alex told her.She hoped Annabelle was safe and alright.The cold hard floor wasn't the best condition for comfort but sleeping here made Roxanne nostalgic as well as it made her afraid.She woke up on the floor, but this time she was inside the castle and in the presence of someone else.Ariel stared at the body of the woman that slept on the floor.She couldn't be past the age of eighteen, twenty at most.Twenty measly years of age and yet so annoying.She was also beautiful. So beautiful that it felt lik
"Can I know more about your curse Ariel?"Roxanne knew she had asked the wrong question the minute the words left her mouth. She could feel Ariel's glare burning into her back the minute she said it.It was just a question wasn't it?What was so bad about asking questions?It had been like this all week.She would ask a question and he would simply glare at her. Like she was committing the gravest offense.Speaking to him made her breathless and made her heart pound, but that wasn't her fault. Anyone would be breathless if they were talking to the cursed prince. She felt brave for even being able to speak to him. She could do what a whole village couldn't, but being around him also made her have a lot of questions, and she needed answers to all of them.For instance, what exactly did his curse do to him, and in what way did that make him a threat to her?There was always a leeway to curses. She had read many in a lot of books, and she knew that the best way to beat a curse was to s
Over the course of the next few days, Roxanne and the prince argued over the smallest things. He couldn't clean up after himself and the castle looked like it hadn't seen a broom in a hundred years. It probably hadn't and Roxanne grimaced as she thought of that. She probably should stop asking that question. Food wasn't that hard to get. Ariel helped her secure what to cook and he sometimes went into the woods to look for wood so she could cook with it. She was glad he was eating actual food, but he was always gloomy. It cast a sad aura around him and it made her feel sad too. She didn't want to see him sad. She always tried to bring up topics for them to talk about. She figured he was a prince right, so he would probably be concerned about the kingdom and some of its recent policies. She had heard of a few that really worried her and she had brought them up at opportune times, usually when they were eating and the castle was quiet. His responses always annoyed her. "I don't
"What is wrong with you? Are you daft?" Roxanne frowned as displeasure rippled through her. Why was he calling her daft? "I didn't choke intentionally, y'know. It was an unexpected action." "An unexpected action borne from what? What reason could you possibly have to spill food all over my body?" Ariel sounded annoyed and Roxanne tried not to let her temper get the best of her. She could feel her emotions rising and cresting like a tidal wave and she could feel annoyance like an itch at her back. "You aren't very nice y'know?" The prince only smirked at her and nodded his head. "Monsters aren't meant to be nice." Roxanne rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. She could still feel some of the food in her, in places food wasn't naturally meant to be and she felt sorry for herself. Choking and giving herself away at the same time. That was two strikes against her composure and intelligence, and unfortunately for her, the cursed prince was also intelligent because so far he ha
Roxanne refused to say anything. She started packing her things instead. She didn't come with much anyways, but the little she came with seemed to be scattered all around the castle now and she had to look for each one of them. Coming here was a mistake. Coming to this darned town alone had been a huge mistake. She had to go. '"I'm still waiting for my answer Roxanne. You won't leave this castle unless you tell me what I want to know." Roxanne raised her head to look at the prince and she gave him a bored look. "You'll kill me if i don't won't you?" Ariel seemed miffed by that and Roxanne tried her best not to feel amused at how he opened his mouth and closed it again. She failed miserably. "I'm not joking Roxanne. I mean it. I could end your life and forget I even did it." Roxanne ignored the prince and picked up the comb she was looking for. That was the last of her belongings. "I'll be leaving now Prince Ariel." Ariel blocked her path and Roxanne glared at the masked p