That Git

Anberine silently watched her friends as they gathered around the small cauldron; Morgana who had elected to have the spell's effect to land on her placed the last of the ingredients in under the careful supervision of her friends.

Eventually Morgana slipped in a shiny red apple into the simmering cauldron and waited for an hour before taking it out with a pair of tongs after placing gloves on for protection in case it splashed on her.

"It looks like a candy apple" Helga said with a wide smile as she marvelled at how the potion covered apple looked.

"But you're not eating it" Morgana said sternly earning her a playful look from Helga who stuck her tongue out, her eyes glinted with glee before moving away from the table.

Morgana meanwhile placed the apple on a place in order to let it set; soon she took the gloves off and sighed in relief.

"Thanks Anbery, if you weren't here I don't think I'd even think about making this type of potion" Morgana said with a weak smile as Anberine nodded, her mind was on the prince before she shook it off.

'It's for the best, I can't do this to him and this way... he'll leave me alone now' Anberine mused before getting up.

"It's getting late" Anberine said now feeling her bones creak in protest thanks to how long they had huddled themselves up in Morgana's room, seeing that it was getting late the group now started to disperse.

The girls minus Morgana now retired to their rooms while the boys left feeling more drained from nerves.

Perceval who remained behind looked at Morgana who now placed a glass lid on top of the plate, her eyes showed she was feeling happy that she had accomplished something that even was above her level of skill and it made him in truth happy.

"Good night Morgana" Perceval said before he could stop himself not that he wanted to anyways, hearing this she turned her head quickly causing her long green locks to move to her shoulder. A huge smile formed as she looked at him.

"Good night Perceval, wish me luck for tomorrow" Morgana said earning her a sly smirk from Perceval.

"Don't mess up this time" Perceval said bluntly causing her eyes to go wide in shock.

"H-Excuse me?!" Morgana cried out in shock but he was already gone, a huff left her lips before she shook her head. The annoyed girl's eyes rolled playfully knowing that he was in his own way trying to say she had his support. "That git" she muttered darkly before getting ready for bed herself.

~

Meanwhile Anberine trudged up the steps to her dorm room feeling more tired than ever, to her relief the prince had not been seen for the last two days which meant her mind could relax a bit more than ever.

Although as she kept walking, her mind went to the shadow man and how the prince reacted with a look of someone who was facing fear itself.

Baffled but tired Anberine shook her head as she reached the second floor that had her door two rows down the hallway.

As she closed the door behind her she dropped her bag on her table in a lethargic manner and used her magic to light up three candles that were on a candle holder that stood on one side of her table, her mind now on going to sleep and getting the next day over and done with.

As she was about to take her blue blouse off a knock on the door alerted her that someone was there, curious she released her blouse and walked towards the door.

Once Anberine opened it she was startled to see the prince looking slightly ghastly before seeing that she was there at the door.

"S-Sire? What are you doing here?" Anberine asked as he remained standing, uncaring that his appearance would look odd given that he would dress neat and tidily until now.

"Can I come in?" Prince Skye asked wearily as he soon looked side to side, curious Anberine looked outside the dorm room and eyed him oddly.

"Please?" his voice now pleading which caused the confused girl to become more suspicious of him.

"O...kay?" Anberine said sounding unsettled as she allowed him to enter the room; soon she closed the door behind her and watched as he stood beside her. His eyes almost vacant and full of unease leaving Anberine a bit worried.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I can't see you anymore... it's too dangerous" Prince Skye's words silenced Anberine who was now startled by his words, turning to face her despite the fact one of his eyes was looking at her. She immediately spotted fear in his eyes.

"You need to be on guard now, father will see you as a problem he has to erase" Anberine swallowed her bile heavily not believing her ears.

"But what did I do?" Anberine asked unsure of why the king would be after her, had he seen her slap the prince? A cold bitter chuckle left the prince's lips as he placed a hand to his face half covering it was a result.

"It's me, I showed weakness and now he's punishing me for it" Prince Skye said bitterly "if I stay away and behave he'll leave you alone, but I don't want to avoid you. It's the one thing I refuse to do" Prince Skye said as he looked at her.

His eyes showed he was trying to be brave and yet she saw some specks of protectiveness inside them, something that startled her deeply until she remembered that this was not real.

He didn't care for her really. He only hated her to the core and the more she thought of it, the more resentment filled her.

"Do what he says" Anberine said coldly startling him, her shoulders shrugged heavily as she refused to look at him.

"I will never be good enough, I'm not from an influential family nor am I important. Be a good boy like he wants you to be" she said before going silent as the prince without wasting time removed the space between them, lifted her chin up slightly and kissed her, his arms wrapped around her unresponsive form as she waited for him to stop.

Knowing that she was not reacting the prince sighed as he placed his forehead on hers.

"I'm not giving up on you" Prince Skye said, his voice above a whisper.

"Find someone better" Anberine said bluntly as she remained still, not allowing herself to be fooled.

"I have" he replied in a hushed voice.

"A girl who will benefit you, not someone who can provide you nothing" Anberine corrected him as she looked at him.

"You already have" the prince commented as he hugged her a bit more tightly to her chagrin

"Anberine, I'm not giving up, I love you and I will not lose another person important to me. No matter how many times you push me away, I'll always come back because that's how much you meant to me" her eyes now grew cold.

"I'll only bring ruin, you waste your time" Anberine said as she pushed him away slightly, feeling her push him away the prince only resisted as he stared at her. His eyes glowed under the light of the candle near the desk giving him an eerie look.

"Who says? My father?" the prince asked as he saw her reluctant expression. "He can say whatever he wants but I do not care, you are one of the only things precious to me and I'll be damned if I let you go" Skye said stiffly as she frowned at him.

"Language sire" Anberine said earning her a light huff from him.

"My name is Skye, when we're alone I want you to say it" the prince said as he kept his eyes on her guarded ones.

"Sire... this isn't proper, this is against the rules-"

"Skye, not Sire" Prince Skye corrected her with a stubborn tone that had her frowning.

"Prince-"