"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'" The prince read out loud in a professional voice. Corla listened, though she was never a fan of doing such thing. She hadn't been read a book or anything for several years. Her father used to pick a small ten paged children's book to read but he wasn't with her anymore. She took a gentle breath as she watched the pages move just slightly with his finger tips. She even came close to smiling but decided against that.
"So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her." Corla paid close attention and then tilted her head.
"Why would there be a random white Rabbit?" Corla asked as she crossed her legs messily on top of the chair. "I mean, why did they have to point that out?"
The prince grinned as he looked up from the book. "You'll just have to listen and find out." He looked back down to the book with the same grin and continued. And as like the other paragraphs he already read, she listened and tried to figure out what was really happening. Eventually she rested her head on the back of the Navy blue chair and closed her eyes, picturing what was happening in the book. It wasn't long before the prince stopped reading and noticed what she was doing. "Are you falling asleep?"
Corla opened her eyes slowly and smiled tiredly, though she wasn't feeling tired at all. "No. I'm just listening."
Vincent smiled and closed the book gently and put it down next to his chair. "Let's take a break. Would you like tea or anything?" Corla simply shook her head and stayed where she was.
"We don't need to take a break," she said while watching him stand very slowly, but when she said that, he just sunk back into his chair with slight relief. "I like it so far. So Alex-"
"Alice," the prince corrected.
Corla felt conflicted as she both wanted to glare but laugh at that. Instead she offered the slightest smirk before she continued. "Alice is that girl who saw the white rabbit? And I can only understand the white rabbit's role later on?"
"If you read the book before, you'd already know." The prince grinned before picking up the book again. "Have you ever even read a book?"
Corla took a breath before answering. "A long time ago. My dad used to read to me when I was younger but then I got to old for it, I guess."
The prince almost frowned. "You're never too old to be read something. Sometimes I get Mace to read me some chapters of books."
Corla narrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head. "Mace?"
"He's my guard," the prince quickly answered. A shy grin quickly appeared on his face but it just as quickly vanished.
And then the prince was at it again with reading more chapters to the girl until it got to the point when she was actually falling asleep. She hadn't remembered ever getting so tired while being read to, but maybe it was the kind of environment. She yawned and adjusted herself in her chair before she noticed the prince starting to slur his words before the book fell out of his hands. She stifled a laugh and a yawn at the same time as she quietly got out of her chair. But the chair didn't seem to want to cooperate because a loud squeak came into her ears as she stood. She looked at the prince quickly just to find his eyes slightly open.
"Going so soon?" He asked with a yawn.
"No. I just want to see my ser-" Corla coughed to cover up her slip up. "My aunt. Sorry, my voice gets weird when I'm tired."
The prince nodded tiredly before he too shood up and stretched. "I'll take you to her. I just have to warn you that you may only have a few minutes to say what you need." The prince paused and yawned again. "Do you have a place to stay?"
Corla immediately thought of the castle she had been stuck in and was tempted to say yes, but she knew she couldn't go back there. The electric shocks still went through her body but it was shocking to feel it getting duller every step she took. Eventually, Corla shook her head and replied with a "No."
"Oh," the prince started and when a frown started curling on his lips, he quickly perked them up. "Well, you are welcome to stay the night. We have guest rooms all around. We may have one or two available." Corla nodded and smiled at the offer, accepting it in a silent way. Vincent nodded back. "Okay. Now, let's get you to your aunt, shall we?"
And though Corla wanted to be snazzy and say 'we shall,' she decided to keep it her style. "Yes."
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The Dying Rose
Fantasy**SLOW UPDATES** The Beast had always been just a made up story that villagers would share about for fun around fires. They didn't know what it even looked like, or who it really was. Corla had been taken away from her home when she was six years o...
