CHANGE

Chapter 25

I walked silently in the gardens trying to follow her instructions on how to properly walk, the books on my head weighed my neck down as I wobbled underneath their weight to keep them up on my head.

I had the balance of a huntress, I could stand on my tiptoes to waltz in the forest making absolutely no sound on the crunchy leaves beneath me, but that was not the same as balancing an encyclopaedia on my head while trying to walk with a straight back and a raised chin.

I had a newly found respect for all the women who could do this perfectly. I wobbled until the books fell off of my head, leaving my instructor heaving in anger.

"You my dear are hopeless." She said, as she stomped away in the most ladylike manner. I sighed picking up the books, placing them on the top of my head, trying to walk again. The long dress on my body didn't exactly help the situation.

"You should really stop annoying her this way, you're hurting her feelings." I heard, I turned my vision to see Ash standing there in the garden with me smirking.

"How does she expect me to balance a ton of books on my head while walking?" I asked him, the idea was entirely outrageous, in which circumstance will I be walking with an object that weighs tons on my head while in an unreasonably long dress as a princess, I was out of my element.

"How about we do something you like?" He asked me, and I perked up at that.

* ○ *

Hunting was my safe haven, it was in my blood, a reminder of where I came from and who i am. Something that was instilled within me when it was a necessity for survival but is now an optional pastime.

I tread carefully, so as to make no noise. Grabbing some dirt off of the ground, the moist ground told me there was water near. Where there was water there were animals. That's when I spotted it, a clean white hare, having at the berries on the bush, completely oblivious of my presence. I pulled my arrow back, my eyes set.

Surprise was key, the hare needed to stay still so I could skewer it perfectly without getting blood everywhere.

I stilled my body, taking in the sounds as the hare might here them. I breathe once, letting go of the arrow watching it fly through the air and eventually as planned through the head ensuring its death.

I was always pleased after a kill, because it meant food, but this time, I grimaced, instant regret filling my veins.

Why did I do that? We didn't need it, I killed something for... for fun.

"Doesn't feel as good as you thought it would?" Ash asked from behind me. I turned around to meet his bright blue eyes and shook my head no.

We had these entirely different lives yet he seemed to understand my thoughts before i even made them known.

"The circumstances are different because you don't need it now." He told me. I stared into his eyes, they held so much understanding. I nodded my head again, almost mesmerised.

"You need something else." He says as he slowly comes closer. Ash and I had been able to relate over many things, especially my barbaric behaviour since I had come here. I'd always imagined the princes were honourable to one another, their relations of understanding, that's at least what they displayed.

Yet as he walked towards me, his eyes dark and full of intent, I couldn't see his honourability nor his understanding.

I watched him, analysing him carefully, stuck in place like prey to its predator. He looked domineering, unlike the playful boy I'd come to know. No this was an entirely different breed of man, for the first time I could see his similarities to his brother. His steely blue eyes stared me down, his eyes focused on me as mine ravaged him.

Taking him in, his large masculine physique, his rose tinted lips, and the most obvious feature in this moment, his passion. Every part of his being screamed desire and want, so much so that it made me falter.

Before I knew he got close to me, his eyes never leaving mine, staring down at me from his towering height. I'd thought his hands would be sure, as that of a carpenter's would be when he's had enough experience. But they merely wandered. Feeling the expanses of my body, the dips of my curves, making my breath falter. I was lost in the moment, though my gaze never left his.

With a hand on my waist, he pulled me in, our chests softly colliding. And there any doubt of his true emotions were made sure as I felt the pounding of his heart through his clothes.

"I know it because... I need it to." He whispered, his lips brushing my ear. My whole body leaned into the sensation, falling weak with a shudder as my knees gave way.

It was enchanting, entrapping, confusing.

I could see it, why he felt normal in the wild, because it was the only place where his animalistic desires made sense, the only place after the bedroom.

He leaned in tentatively, his nose slightly brushing mine as I felt his minty breath brush my lips in promise.

"How could I feel this way?" He whispered to himself, placing a hand on my cheek, his thumb tracing my lips.

He was unsure.

I stepped back in haste, wanting no problems that may arise with him. He was unsure, why wasn't I? How could he feel this way, how could I?

I was married, betrothed to another. How could he make me feel this way? Had I fallen prey to his games, his push and pull in pursuit of lust.

He was known for taking women's virtues, and I simply followed him into the forest alone under the guise that he understood me like no other. I suddenly felt ridiculously moronic.

"We should return." I staggering backwards to my horse, my head lost in thought.

It was true that he was a bachelor, and the ladies loved him, even when in wedlock, yet it never crossed my mind that his intentions were the same for even the wives of his brothers. Neither that I'd be so easily tricked by simple tactics.

Yet now that the thought had crossed my mind, I wondered who else he tried to have relations with and whether he succeeded.

I made an attempt to climb Damien's hunting stallion, but without Ash's help, I miserably failed.

He quickly came to my side and as I placed my foot in the foothold waiting for him to hoist me up with one leg on the floor.

He stood behind me, slowly grabbing my waist bringing his lips close to my ear.

"I would never do something you didn't want me to." He whispered into my ear, as if there was someone he didn't want hearing it.

I could only briefly glance at him before he grabbed my waist lifting me onto the stallion.

He moved and mounted his own, and rode of to the castle, leaving me with only the horse and my thoughts.