The Ring

002

Steven's chest had risen and fallen when he looked to Chrissa, and then to the dead maid that was laid painfully onto the kitchen floor.

Her fingers shook and her eyes widened as she pointed to the blonde woman. "Y-you killed her." She choked out, her face dry with tears and her eyes suddenly glassy when she looked up at him. She didn't have time to ask why her fiancé was there, why he was armed with blades, or why he wasn't in the same panic that she was.

She quickly grabbed the butter knife from the wooden table, and placed it defensively in front of her chest, and glared at him. She felt crazy, she felt delirious. Her eyes had widened when she backed away from him slightly, and coughed. She had a ragged breath when she spoke, "stay the hell away from me." The princess seethed.

The man half smiled, as he took his hands away from his belt, where his other weapons where resting. He wore shiny black armor, with his palace emblem on the right breastplate.

His hair was combed neatly in a charming way, and his dark honey eyes had gazed into her own. His head was tilted slightly up. He placed his sword carefully onto the table, and put both of his hands in the air.

"Chrissa, it's me." He grinned, his eyes crinkled at the sides. "Darling..."

She shook her head slowly, as her hands shook around the metal knife. "You haven't answered my question. Why did you kill her?"

There was a beat of silence, as the question had burned into the air. Steven looked to the floor, and then back into Chrissa's dark eyes. Her hair had fallen out of its braids and rested in heavy curls against her bare shoulders and framed her face like stars around the moon.

"I really wish you weren't so beautiful," The man said to her, as he took a step closer. His hands had slowly retracted to the sides of his hips, "beautiful women like you shouldn't dream of being confined into castles. Locked away in decorated rooms to have children and spend your days tending to the garden and eating pastries, no." He chuckled for a moment, as the fire from the halls danced in the pupils of his eyes like a painting. Screaming coming from the distance, chaos erupting.

"You see, there's  a darkness in me, Chrissa." He spoke, as he got even closer to her. The heat of his body touched her own, and the butter knife was the only thing separating the two of them.

Her lips parted to speak, but his words had burned them. His chest was pressed against her breasts, and his hands were on her waist. She started, "but—"

"That's why I chose you. There's a wild spirit within you that's dying to come out. Your beauty hinders you from receiving this. It saves you." He whispered, his lips smiling. "I have a plan. A beautiful one. But you're going to have to do something for me. This won't disrupt our marriage, no. But i'm going to need the ring that protects the force field of the castle." His grip on her waist tightened, and suddenly his expression lacked emotion. "You'll get this ring for me. Right darling?"

The palace ring was hidden away in a secret room with all of the castles treasures. Only the royal family and few residents of the palace had access to the room, because inside existed some of the most magical devices in all of their land. The ring was carved from a magical crystal formed by faeries from long ago, before Chrissa was even alive. It created a force field for the palace and kept all evil out. It also worked as a strong shield when worn. It was sacred, and here he was asking for it.

With all of her force, Chrissa aggressively forced the butter knife into Steven's left hand, and pushed him away with extreme force. She herd him yelp out in pain and curse at her when he dropped to his knees and yanked the fabric of the table cloth to stop his blood from spilling over the skin of his ripped hand like water over rocks in a river.

He looked up at her sharply, and gritted his teeth. "You need me. You are my wife!" He shouted in childish anger.

Chrissa shook her head, her eyes burned of tears, as smoke from the halls filled the room. She seethed,"I was only going to marry you for money. That's all this ever was from the second we met when we were children."

She then left and slammed the kitchen door behind her in panic. She couldn't believe she said that to him. She couldn't believe that she stabbed his hand. She couldn't believe that she was going to marry him. Why was he trying to get the palace ring?

Many questions filled her mind as she ran through the dark, cold, palace halls, as she raced to the library. Her heavy white dress danced across the floors like waves of a sandy beach, and her corset was tied so tightly, that it made her short of breath frequently but she didn't stop running. She was too afraid.