The True Tale of Thousandfurs

Twenty

"Come in." Alexander's voice boomed throughout the tower, rattling the door that Thousandfurs hid behind. But not for long. There would be no more hiding. She had to take these steps towards a new life and if that was with him, then so be it, and if not she would have to find a new safe place to call her home.

With an unsteady hand, she twisted the knob and entered the prince's chambers, balancing the tray on one of her small arms.

With her head down she approached the small dining table that was near his fireplace, placing the soup at the head seat where he usually sat. Swiftly she stepped away, trying to keep her eyes on the ground and not on the soup where she had slipped a secret inside.

Alexander watched her from his chair across the room, his one-foot balanced on the opposite knee. His eyes narrowed in on her facial features that were shadowed by her large hood but he knew the stunning eyes that lay beneath.

He pushed himself up and started towards the table. Each step he took forward, his little beast took one back, closer and closer to the door. As if she could escape him.

"Stop." He instructed, his voice carrying the evidence of his annoyance, "You will stay here. I have found one too many surprises in my suppers."

Painstakingly, she watched him pull out the chair and sit down, adjusting himself for his meal. Thousandfurs took in a sharp breath of air and closed her eyes. Her fingers were white from how tightly she was gripping the edges of her cloak, wanting to run back to her cubby.

This was a bad idea. A very very bad idea.

She felt so confident in the shoes of a princess but the clogs of a maid were not one to be taking risks in. She was nothing.

The prince glanced up at her with a smirk, which she couldn't see from her very fixed gaze on the hardwood floor.

Adorable, was the only word he could think to describe her at that moment. A radiance of innocence, parading around in the dark forest, waiting to be snatched up by the big bad wolf.

He would show her the big bad wolf.

"Beast, come here." He extended his arm out to her, a gesture of welcoming, but she felt far from a distinguished guest. His other hand stirred the soup playfully, each scrape against the porcelain making her heart flutter.

Obediently she moved to stand by his side, her lungs burning like acid, begging her to take a large gulp of air, but she refused to. Her mother taught her to always hold her head high, even when she was wrong because a princess always faces the consequences of her actions without fear.

Closing her eyes for a second, she thought of her beautiful mother and only if she were here now, none of this would have happened. Her life would be that of a playful child despite her growing age. No worries of life or death.

Bracing herself she opened her eyes and stared directly in front of her out the dark window, holding her chin high.

Alexander hummed in satisfaction as he ate a mouthful of the soup, nodding slowly, "How is it you came to be in my woods that day, beast?" He asked, taking another bite.

Thousandfurs opened her mouth to respond but no sound came out. Did she tell him the truth? She was too scared to admit the existence of the other person that lived inside of this cloak.

Would it be any easier?

He would see her like a beast and treat her as such, even if he did want to take her as his wife as King Theodore had so enthusiastically suggested. She was naive to believe he would take the hand of a girl who had failed to be obedient to even her own father.