Reign of Wrath

Chapter 3 (Preview)

Anticipation washed over her as she watched the fast movement of her weapon. She waited for the monster to wail for the last time, to fall off dead.

But it did not come.

Her arrow met another arrow, halfway on her target. She did not saw where it came from but she knows it is close based on its speed.

The two weapons fell broken on the ground and the monster heard the crackling sound.

It growled loudly and turned its attention on her. Its rumbling was getting louder and louder as if preparing himself for the attack but before it could even make a move, a sudden burst of water pushed it away. The huge amount had the monster moved farther from her until it was out of her sight.

"That's a shame."

Eleana turned her head to the right and saw Alec leaning by a tree—staring at her. His hair was long enough to block his eyes but he never thought of cutting it, he told her the last time.

Alec is the second son of the King of Rikkah. He was sent to Castille when he was merely seven years old because of an agreement made by their parents.

Before, with her all but little knowledge of things, she was clueless why she had to go to his room every morning to greet him. Something that she does only to her parents long before he came. And why she had to be partnered with him on every event, why she had to sit beside him, and the list goes on.

Her parents never told her, never cleared things out. It was when she was reading some materials given to her by her father that she finally understood what is going on. Upon reading topics about the ancestry of every ruling family and finding out that some marriages are arranged, did she come to realize that Nathaniel Alec Zenobia—Prince of Rikkah—is to be her husband.

"What are you doing here?" She grabbed her dagger and started to stab the hardened saliva trapping her.

"A thank you would suffice," he said, moving away from the tree. "You know, for saving your life."

"I don't need any help," she said, angrily.

"It looks like you need one to me," he said finally beside her and upon looking at her frustration, he nudged her shoulder. "Come on. Don't take it to heart."

He helped her remove the trap which took long because Alec could not remove it using his power.

"I wanted it, Alec," she nagged which she never does often, just when she is with him—only with him. "You know all my struggles and planning to hunt it."

"I know but it was too much a risk. You wanted to kill it with just a bow and arrow? That's impossible, Eleana. If I weren't here, you could have died."

"I was fine—"

"You were trapped. That is not fine at all. Your movements are limited and that monster is humungous. You cannot compete against it with just using your upper body."

"I do not need your opinion."

When she was finally free, she immediately stood up.

Alec looked up at her in pity.

"Do not look at me like that," she hissed.

"You look awful, Eleana."

She knows she is. She can feel the sticky feeling on her skin, the stench of the days being unclean. And because of him being here, she is starting to become conscious of herself when she hasn't been minding about hygiene for days.

"That's what six days of staying in the forest does, Alec." She grabbed her things.

"Do you really have to do this for your father's favor?"