Untouchable Fruit

Interests and Amusement

Artemis' POV

   I glance around throughout the gardens, my head constantly on a swivel as I slowly make my way towards the stables with Damien. The tall man has a dark aura to him, but one that's calm and alluring rather than scary and dangerous.

I look him over, his demeanor confident and sure, his strides making it clear that this man isn't used to not getting his way.

"So tell me, Princess, what is with the darkness I feel through this castle?" He asks me candidly, and I turn to him in shock, narrowing my eyes suspiciously though the gesture only makes him laugh. "I can sense the aura and negative energy of things around me." He explains though vaguely.

   "You must be a Daemon." I conclude after staring at his features for a moment, his dark hair ruling out Vampire straight away. We continue on the path toward the stables, the warm breeze rummaging through the sky whipping the skirt of my dress around me as Damien answers.

    "Only time can tell." He replies and I frown going to turn towards him, but before I can, he moves on. "The last time I was at this palace I was still a teenager. I remember how in awe I was of how beautiful everything here seemed." He reminisces, his face keeping its cool expression, the thoughts fluttering behind his eyes unreadable.

     "Did we ever meet?" I ask him, curiosity coercing through me at the prospect of this strange man. 

   Damien turns towards me, his eyes twinkling as he recalls a meme pry. "You we're too busy being coddled by your mother to notice me. I did manage to meet your brother." He tells me and I'm struck both by the prospect of Mother coddling me as well as the sweet expression that crosses Damien's face as he recalls meeting my brother.

   I feel my life curl on it's on accord as I interject. "You met my brother but you're smiling like you let someone you actually enjoyed. Jaspers probably not who you remember. You just have hot your head." I encourage him, patting him on the arm and his laugh is big, throwing his head back in amusement.

   His majestic eyes turn towards me, his gemstones shining as they peer into my own as he recounts his meetings with a young Jasper.

   "He was the sweetest brat I ever met. He laughed and thrived under the constant attention of the Court. They all fussed over him and he loved it. He was polite up until the point he didn't get what he wanted and even then he could have you falling into his plan without even trying. I was in charge of babysitting him on the evening of a party. I don't think I ever laughed as hard as I did that day." Damien tells me as we reach the stables.

  There's some talking inside but we ignore it was we slowly make our way to the building.

"You must have suffered a concussion at the event." I assure him, though I can't help but feel curious about this side to my brother I never met before. "He's always been grumpy , spoiled and rotten." I correct him and we both laugh at the description as we walk through the sliding bath doors of the stables.

When we walk inside, we find Jasper speaking against one of the stalls trying to sweet talk his way into the new stable boy's pants.

I roll my eyes and turn my head to give Damien a big fat I told you so, but when I look, his face is both open and stormy, the emotions flickering so fast across his face I almost kiss them. Confused on what surprised him enough to drop the perfect mask he's seems to have perfected, I look back towards Jasper only to see him no longer talking to the young man.

Instead he's just standing there, his mouth parted open slightly as he takes in the man I've brought with me.

As I go back and forth watching the two, one very obvious thing dawns on me that makes my face light up. "You were biased! That's why you thought this brat was nice." I conclude finally, all of it making sense as I realize that the two standing before me are Knots.

"I remember you." Damien says, his voice both soft and stern, the underlying dominance that he seems to naturally wield pouring out of his voice in the most subtle of ways, and I raise my brows in amusement as I look at my brother.

And I find exactly what I expect.

With furrowed brows and the 'piss off' attitude I've come to associate with my brother, Jasper pushes himself off from leaning on the wall to turn and walk out towards the other doors. "Fuck you." Is all he says, retreating away from us, and I see Damien's eyes flash at the words.

Who would have thought the man coming to audition to court me would end up being my brothers Knot and the next Prince of the Faerie Kingdom?

I ask myself, and I can't help but rejoice from the idea that I can get out of going on further outings with this man under the pretense of dating without having to come up with a shopping list of excuses.

But leave it to my family to try and make it work in their favor, the twisted trees.

I shutter at the horrid thoughts that cross my mind but shake it off as I place a hand on Damien's arm, more confident that I can put a little faith and trust into him now.

"If what you say is the truth, the Jasper you knew it not the one that the court and kingdom have grown to know and accept. Go after him, because I promise he won't come back to you." I encourage him but he frowns and looks at me.

"What about our walk? There won't be repercussions for you will there?" He asks me and I smile at his worry, though I can tell he's itching to go after my brother before he looses him. I wave his worry away and give him a slight push.

"I have other things to worry about and other things I need to do. They can go ride a waterfall." I mutter the last part but if Damien hears it, I can't tell. As soon as he's sure I don't need him, he's off, his strides long and true, confidence emanating from his very walk.

As I turn on my heel and race towards the garage myself, I can't help but laugh in amusement over the tricky situation the two have found themselves in.

Once I reach the garage, I head towards a locked panel and open it using my handprint to get a hooded robe. I take off my crown and hide it in the folds of my robe before heading towards one of the unmarked cars. I hop inside and check inside the dashboard, pressing my hand against the top go find the fake ID I have hidden there for emergencies.

Getting through the two gates is easy, having used this emergency plan for more than a mere emergencies over the years.

I speed the whole way to the pack lands, holding that everything went smoothly once they left the palace. My heart hammers in my chest as anxiety spills over me over thoughts of Bri getting caught or worse.

With a lump in my throat, I make it to Alex's house and almost collapse from relief when I see the red cat sitting on the curb of my lifelong friend's house.

I turn the car off and get out, shutting the door behind me. Before I can reach the front door, it's thrown open and out comes Bri racing towards me, tears streaming down her face, the worry flying away as she nears me. Seeing her in a wreck because she was worried about me does things to me, making butterflies appear, my cheeks warming from the thought.

I open my arms and brace myself just as Briana throws herself into them, the smell of sunflowers filling my nose, my arms tightening around her in prayer, thankful she's okay.

I hear her speaking lowly as she slaps my chest and when I focus I hear the mantra she's saying. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you." She tells me, and I don't correct her, holding her, knowing that all Ove done is make her worry all day after not caring about anyone but her brother and his family for years. She clings into me when I try to tuck her under my arm. Instead of gather her in my arms and carry her princess style towards the front door, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she copes with emotions she's forgotten to feel.

"I'm okay, little butterfly." I assure her against her forehead, and the words seem to soothe her, allowing her to snuggle into my chest making my cheeks warm as I take her inside.

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Book bitches! Three chapters finished in under an hour and a half. I've very proud of myself. What do you guys think of this story?

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