The Badboy Prince is Completely Whipped

Chapter 11: Day 5

Annalise
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I could hardly see as I burst into Henry's room. Hazalen and Henry stood up from the bed in worry, still in their ball attire. They stared at me with wide eyes as I frantically began pacing the room while pulling at my hair as if it would help me form thoughts.

"Annalise... what happened?" Hazalen hesitantly approached me.

They knew about Damien's proposal and kiss at the ball, but they had no idea how bad it was. I didn't even know where to start.

"We need to leave. Now." I paused my pacing.

Henry was suddenly beside me. His gentle yet steady gaze grounded me as he led us the bed. Sometimes I felt as if Henry knew what I was feeling without having to speak- and I needed to process the events that unfolded.

Hazalen handed me a glass of water and I gulped it loudly. My throat and chest were still burning with emotion, and the the alcohol sobering in my system left me feeling nauseous. My pain felt physical, as if I had lost my mother all over again, yet Damien was still alive.

"I can't stand to be in this castle, not with Damien. I can't even recognize him anymore." I grabbed their hands.

"We can't leave yet, Princess. Not until we have answers."

"You don't understand- he wants to marry Amelia. There's no way I can tell him about my heritage because he doesn't care about me. He never did- it was all a game to him."

Hazalen squeezed my hand,"Do you really believe that?"

"He told me he never wanted to see me again!" I screamed at her, pulling my hand away. I watched as her eyes filled with hurt, yet my only thoughts were surrounded with an intense desire to leave the palace.

"He said there never was an 'us', and he-"

"He is under a spell, Annalise."

I could hear my own heartbeat as silence filled the room. I looked up at him through my lashes, paralyzed by his statement enough to not wipe away my tears. I knew by his serious gaze that this was not a figure of speech.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

Henry's desk was littered with papers, yet a specific letter was gleaming under a red light. I followed him over to the desk, watching as he placed gloves on his hands.

"Don't ever touch this paper." He held it up for me to read. Tarzla's royal seal laid on the top of the letter, though only wax, it seemed to glow a dark plum.

I brushed over the observation, hastily reading the correspondence. It was from King Jabbo, asking Eggar for their confirmed wedding date. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary since the words written were focused on wedding details. Yet reading the letter made me feel dizzy- as if the paper was warding me away, knowing I should not be reading it.

"The ink written on this paper is imbued with dark magic. I stole this from Eggar's office tonight, immediately analyzing it. If I hadn't worn these gloves, I would've been put under a dark spell. It is ancient magic that to my knowledge, is unbreakable."

I stared at the Tarzla royal seal, watching it pulse and glow under the red light. I couldn't completely process Henry's words but I knew that they were the truth.

"King Eggar is being controlled by Tarzla. It seems Damien has fallen under their spell as well, but I don't know the source of it yet. I wish I could identify what kind of magic this is..."

He grabbed a book that was already opened next to the letter, flipping through a few pages. Stopping at the history of Tarzla, he continued.

"Tarzla was formed thirty-thousand years ago after the disappearance of the gods. What other kingdoms started to form after they left?"