The Prince and the Count's Daughter

Chapter 13 - All Glittering Gold

Content Warning: profanity, violence, injury, threats

I'm not really sure what happened next, it all happened so fast. I was pushed to the floor with a hard slap across my face. My eyes welled with tears as my face began to sting. I looked up to see Will standing over me, his face contorted with rage.

"You slut! How dare you?" he spat.

Wha-what? I opened my mouth to ask but no words came out.

Cyrus dragged him back away from me. Suddenly golden light surrounded me and I felt it's warm euphoric sensation envelop me again. For a second I forgot where I was or what was happening as the warm light lifted me into the air. As I floated back onto my feet I hoped it would never let me go.

"What the fuck, bitch?!" Will continued, snapping me back to reality. "You think you can be a prude with me for months then throw yourself on the next guy that walks in!"

Will lurched towards me but suddenly dropped to the floor unconscious as though his bones had turned to jelly. What the fuck was that? I backed far away from him, grabbing onto Cyrus' arm.

I looked up and realised everyone was staring at us in silence. Cyrus gently took my hands in his and faced me. Realising for the first time that I was truly crying now, I tried to turn my face away but he wouldn't let me.

"Come with me." he said softly, so that only I would hear. I let my gaze stay on his hands holding mine. I finally met his eyes to see pain there. I wordlessly nodded my head and allowed him to lead me away.

I wasn't sure where he had taken me, having distractedly watched my hand in his as we made our way out of the ballroom. When I looked up we were standing in a room I didn't recognise.

The walls were adorned with renaissance paintings and furniture covered over with dusty white sheets filled the tiled floor. I took a second to examine the room, searching for some distant memory of it but nothing came to mind.

I was utterly baffled. I had been required to attend all important events since birth, I should have remembered a room this grand.

Clearly my confusion was written on my face. "I used to go to extravagant meals here. Clearly there aren't many of them anymore." He explained with the tips of his mouth curled upward. "Not entirely a bad thing I suppose, the food only looked good." He selected some chairs and pulled the covering from them. "You should sit down." he said with his tone laced with concern.

I started to move and found my legs unsteady. He gently took my arm and guided me to the chair and then sat across from me.

"You must think I'm pathetic, crying like this." I whispered looking at my hands, feeling a mixture of shame, embarrassment and the raw sting of my cheek.

"No, of course not." he assured me as he reached to hold my hand in his again.

"He was right of course. I shouldn't have danced with you before I'd properly ended it with him."

He looked pained and the need to explain myself came over me. "I dated him for a while but I never really wanted to be with him."

"If he always acts like that I'm not surprised." he attempted to lighten the mood. I couldn't resist a smile, he does always kind of act like that.

"He's never hit me before but I was dancing with someone else before I'd told him it was over. Even if me kicking him out of my quarters felt kind of final."

I reached up to touch my face and realised I had finally stopped crying. "Does it hurt?" he asked. I nodded my head without looking him in the eye. Without warning he reached out and put his hand to my face.

I flinched with surprise and then melted into his touch. He brought my other hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. I lifted my head so that our eyes met and warth spread across my face where he kept his hand.

Although in bliss, for a moment I was confused. As I saw the golden glow out of the corner of my eye I realised that I was the euphoric feeling of his magic again.

"How does it feel?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to enjoy it. Everyone's magic feels different and sometimes even different depending on who feels it or how the person making the magic feels. My fathers magic was always ice cold." he explained with a glimmer of sadness in his expression

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling. I was truly content and at peace. When I opened my eyes his expression had changed.

He slowly inched forward, gazing at me. When our lips met I melted into his touch as hy heart seemed to miss a beat. I lost track of time as we became needier, claiming each other as our own.

Suddenly a horrid thought crossed my mind. I was alone with him in a room as a ball was going on. This is how Hazel died.

I pushed him away from me and jumped to my feet. My heart was racing. I have to get out of here!

"I'm sorry... I have to go! I choked out and began to race for the door. As I reached it and turned to check if he would go after me.

He was just standing there. Looking utterly heartbroken.