War of the Ocean

Chapter 18

She was back in the ballroom one more, dancing with the green-eyed prince. He was gazing down at her lovingly as they moved between the other dancers, keeping time with the music. Although she knew the other dancers were there, neither of them could see them; they were too wrapped up in their own perfect world. But then the music stopped abruptly and Kaiser was pushing her away, looking like a kicked puppy.

As much as she wanted to go back to him, for him to wrap his arms around her again, she found herself unable to. Instead she was doing the opposite, she was moving away from him. With every step she took backwards, the more sorrowful his eyes grew. The mere sight of it was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Perhaps she truly was a monster for doing this to him. The ballroom and Kaiser began to fade away into a new location. The garden.

Standing beneath the younger prince's tree, she found herself face to face with his older brother. Reidan stared down at her, his eyes gleaming with wicked glee. She tried stepping away form him but the prince's hands shot out to hold her still. 'Where are you going?' His voice sent shivers down her spine. 'You can't run, not now that I know your secret.'

Arelena jolted awake, Reidan's words still echoing in her ear. I know your secret... It had been said in a dream, but was it possible that the words were true? Did he know who she really was, what he was doing here? No, he couldn't. There was no way that he possibly could, not even Tristien could contact him while on land. She was safe, for now at least. The creak of the door as it opened brought her out of her thoughts. Her maid slunk into the room, glaring at her.

'I know I shouldn't say anything but you really shouldn't have rejected the young prince last night,' she scorned, speaking to the princess for the first time. But she said no more, instead leaving Arelena to sit there, stunned, while she prepared her day clothes. No one had ever spoken to her in that way before, so hearing something like that surprised her a great deal. No matter how rude or disrespectful that comment was, the maid was right. She should never have rejected Kaiser like that, especially not so publicly even if she had a mission and a kingdom relying on her. She may have the weight of the world on her shoulders but she should have never been so cruel as to completely shut down the younger prince, he had been nothing but kind to her since her arrival. As the maid returned with a simple navy gown, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and allowed the maid to dress her.

Once her hair was twisted up into a low bun and the maid had left the room, Arelena sat on the edge of her bed, preparing to spend the day moping about her bedroom. Her plans were ruined when a second knock came at the door. At first, her spirits lifted, hope welling up inside of her as the door opened. Kaiser had come! She was crushed when she saw that the man on the other side of the doorway wasn't Kaiser, instead it was his older brother. Her mind raced, what was Reidan doing here? Had her dream been true, did he know her secret? She had to restrain from trembling as he stepped into the room, brown eyes watching her carefully.

'Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that you should be curtsying to me,' he said. She blinked, brain slowly processing his words. Curtsying? Then it clicked and she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her skirts and dropping into a low curtsy, almost toppling over in the process. She immediately cringed, seeing in her mind just how clumsily she had been just then, and how stupid she had been for forgetting. After counting to five in her head, she lifted her gaze to meet his, eyes asking to be allowed to rise. He nodded once rather than speaking before making his way across the room, almost brushing past her as he did. Standing, she trailed him over to the window and peered over his shoulder as he looked outside.

'It is a fine day today,' he began. 'Would you like to accompany me for a walk in the gardens?' Knowing that there was no way she could possibly refuse without offending him, Arelena nodded and took his arm when he offered it, letting him lead her out of the palace. With every step she took, she grew more and more nervous of what would happen. From what she had gathered of Prince Reidan so far, he was a self-serving, arrogant young man who didn't do anything without a purpose, that purpose being beneficial to only him. So what was his purpose now?

There walked through the gardens for a good twenty minutes before Reidan spoke again. They were passing through rows of hedges when he asked her about the ball. 'I saw you dancing last night, you looked very graceful,' he commented. 'But I couldn't help but notice that you left early. Was there a reason for that? There were people who said something happened between you and my baby brother, it that true? I did see him alone towards the end of the night.' She breathed slowly as he spoke, trying to keep her heart rate as close to normal as possible. His prying wasn't helping to soothe her nerves, in fact it was doing the opposite, making her more suspicious. So far, she could tell that he knew something but couldn't yet tell what it was.

'You know, it would be much easier if you were able to speak,' the prince sighed. 'Then you could tell me why you're really here.' His words made her look up at him sharply, ceasing to walk as she did. She found that he was staring down at her in a way that suggested he was analysing her every move. Looking just past him, she could see that they were standing beneath Kasier's tree, just as they had in her dream. Eyes widening, she pulled her arms from his and began to step backwards but the prince's hands locked around her wrists, leaning in to whisper in her ear. 'Where are you going?' As he spoke, her body froze in terror. Her dream was becoming true, she knew that even before he said the next part. 'You can't run, not now that I know your secret.' He knew what she was and there was no way to deny it. Out the corners of her eyes she could see guards running towards her but they seemed to be moving in slow motion. Arelena was left paralysed by the shock, even though she had known what was coming. She could vaguely feel herself being dragged away but it was as though she was no longer in her own body. She was merely observing, no longer in control of herself. The last thing she saw before she was dragged around the corner was the malicious smile on Reidan's face and in that moment, she knew that she was to going to be in for hell. The worse thing was that there was nothing she could do about it.