Slave to Destiny

“Say something,” Cole growled staring down at me. Perhaps staring at him speechless and wide-eyed was a mistake. What else was I supposed to do? There wasn’t a rule book that said ‘If you’re a princess pretending to be a slave and you fall in love with royalty, then he tells you he likes you, you should…’. It wasn’t fair. Life was just so complicated.

“I don’t know what to say,” I retorted glaring slightly. My emotions were completely and utterly mixed up beyond belief. As I stood there unsure of what to do, I watched Cole’s face twist a look of pain, before he turned on his heel and walked away. “Cole!” I could out crushed, “Come on we have to sort this out.”

My pleas were met by silence as I stood there completely alone surrounded by thick forest. If I no longer had emotional ties to the people in the castle, I could have ran for it. I could have found Troy and taken control of wolves, but as I stood there motionless in the forest the wind around me picked up. Leaves fluttered about. It was a strange wind as it circled around me again and again as if I was in the center of a vortex. The Night Mother was imposing her will on me, and I knew she was right. Leaving would be a mistake.

A big gaping hole could be felt in my chest where my heart had once belonged. My head was lowered in submission as I sauntered back towards the party. By the time I had arrived people were seated at the long dining rooms eating their freshly cooked meals. I quickly noted that King Edmund was not in his usual seat, and Cole had replaced Edmund with a slender blond known as Blaire. They were talking animatedly.

Deep down inside I knew they weren’t doing anything. I couldn’t explain how I knew it, but I felt that Cole wouldn’t be capable of switching off and on like that. Knowing this didn’t make me any less jealous and hurt. “He’s just frustrated,” someone explained behind me. I had been standing at the edge of the woods so it took me by surprise to hear someone behind me.

As I turned around I saw Daniel standing a mere five feet away. “What am I going to do Daniel? This entire situation has gotten out of control,” I muttered pathetically.

Slowly he stepped forward and wrapped an arm around my shoulders while looking out over the crowd of people. “I really hate these thing,” he changed the subject, “So many superficial thoughts all coming at me at once.” I felt sorry for him. Looking around at the noble ladies adorning beautiful dresses and loose lips and the men drinking the night away, I couldn’t help but pleased that I had innocently been saved from having to hear them.

“Don’t worry about it,” he muttered responding to my thoughts, “When things get to annoying I can just look for your thoughts. You always have something interesting on your mind. For example, you knew the wolf that was sacrificed.”

The mere mention of the sacrifice brought back the painful visions of this morning as I watched Maria be destroyed. I watched in horror as blood spilt from her neck onto the platform. Her normally golden blond fur was caked with scarlet red. My heart went out to Troy. I’d merely been hurt by Cole walking away, the love of Troy’s life had been ripped away from him. “Yeah I knew her,” I mumbled sadly.

“What do you think he is going to do?” Daniel questioned me. My thoughts were greatly concerning him to say the least.

I feared what would happen next. “I…I think…Troy is going to…attack…soon,” it was hard for me to form my words into a coherent sentence. I was terrified of the approaching clash. If I didn’t find a way to calm Troy down than there was going to a be a blood spill beyond my wildest dreams. Or should I call them nightmares.

Daniel didn’t respond. He understood that situation was delicate. My eyes couldn’t help but travel over to Cole and Blaire who were still seated at the head table laughing and eating. They looked happy, why wasn’t I? “He’s not happy,” Daniel contradicted my thoughts, “You know that. It’s an act. He’s still thinking about you. He’s going to figure it out soon.”

“I’m telling him at the masquerade ball,” I explained to him. I need the ball to come soon. I needed to get through this.

Hours later I found myself creeping quietly down the halls as I headed up towards the Royal Quarters. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to slave quarters. No comfort would meet me there. I would end up lying there for a majority of the night lost in my own troubled thoughts. I needed something to dampen the thoughts and give my mind some peace. The only thing I could come up was to sneak into his room. It was completely against the rules, but I couldn’t help myself.

As I pushed open the massive door and sauntered into the pitch black room. I could see Cole’s sleeping frame curled up under his thick comforter. Slowly I approached him attempting to remain as quiet as physically possible for me. After kicking off my shoes, I climbed into the bed right next to Cole. Was this considered creepy? Probably. Did I care at the current moment? Not in the least.

Instantly Cole’s eyes fluttered open and he stared at me. “Gabby,” he whispered in surprise.

“Go back to sleep Cole,” I told him snuggling into his cool body that contrasted so perfectly with my normal warmth. Cole obliged with ease as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I love you Gabby,” were the last words he uttered before passing out once again in his bed with his arm wrapped securely around my slender frame. I could feel it. It was an overwhelming sense of warm. It was electrifying. It was love.