Wayward (Prince Arthur x Oc)

Chapter 12: In which there's hugs

Harriet looked through her window at the night sky, or more exactly at it's many many stars that shone bright in it. She lifted her finger to aimlessly count them, to follow the lines of the Big Dipper over and over again. It looked like a pan, or like a carriage without any horses, she wondered what it was that pulled it if it didn't have any horses, or bulls? Wasn't there a star-sign for a bull? If there was, she could not find it. Maybe there was an entirely unknown creature that pulled the carriage, but then where was it going?

In the middle of her pondering her eyes caught the sight of what she had actually gone to the window to look for, a shooting star.

Harriet excitedly climbed up on the windowsill, closed her eyes and made a wish.

"I wish... that I could shoot fire out my fingers!" She thought as loud as she could, she wasn't supposed to say wishes out loud, but the star had to be able to hear it somehow.

She sat like that for a few seconds, waiting for... Well the story her nanny had told her never really specified what it was supposed to feel like when a wish was granted, but she thought, considering her wish, that her fingers would at least get warm.

The warmth never came.

She opened her eyes, and she was no longer on her windowsill, but on a pile of pillows. Surrounded by ladies in fancy dresses ogling her with curious and cautious looks in their eyes. One of them leaned over to whispered something to the woman besides her, and the two of them barely stifled laughter.

Harriet tried to scoot away from the women, maybe hide in the pillows, but as she moved two cold hands came from behind her and took a hold of her face. Or more precisely, her cheeks. Harshly pinching them as a voice behind her giggled.

"My cute little baby sister~" the voice cooed in a sickly sweet tone. The fingers digging into her flesh, threatening to break her skin.

So cold.

Harriet started trashing around in pain, trying to pull the hands away from her, and screaming at the top of her lungs.

The voice only giggled more.

"Well aren't we fuzzy today?" The hands moved to clamp her mouth shut.

There was a small chorus of mumbles coming from the ladies watching her.

"Oh, don't judge her to hard." The voice said, as the hands pushed her back towards the women. "My poor baby sister just doesn't understand this sort of thing. Or well, she doesn't understand most things, outside of her silly fantasies."

The women broke out into giggles along with the voice. Harriet could barely made out singular words as they started to chatter loudly.

"Child" "Simpleminded" "Stupid"

She felt as if she was freezing, her hands shaking and goosebumps forming on her arms.

"But, that's fine!" The voice continued. "I'll happily lead her to what's right, she is after all my cute and sweet little sister!"

Harriet wanted to curl into a ball. But she couldn't as the cold hands pulled her up to stand straight and one of them grabbed her by the jaw to look at the chattering women.

"Now, I told my friends how well your singing lessons have been going and they are so excited to hear you preform to them."

"Yes!" One of the ladies shouted harshly. "Sing for us song-bird!"

The other women giggled once again as they stared at her, their eyes seeming to grow to overtake their faces.

"Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing!"