Chapter 28

That day as Curtis watched his brother, Leo, leave the palace a slight smile slipped from his face. Some of the maids in the palace who saw him started whispering among themselves as they watched the young prince standing in front of the large window. Even the gardeners below in the palace yard could see him from the window.

A soft hum filled the air as he grasped his own hands behind his back. Turning to walk along the palace halls many of the guards and servants bowed and watched him as he passed them by.

"Humming"

"Tap" "Tap" "Tap"

His steps were smooth and graceful as he approached his room. Grasping the door handle he slowly opened the door to his room and entered it. The door slowly closing behind him. As he paused and stared as the door he could feel a presence in the room with him.

Like a mirror that has been dropped his face changed drastically. His once graceful and kind appearance blackened as his deep blue eyes turned to glance at the figure on his bed. His hand reaching up to ruffle his long hair as he tilted his head back with a heavy sigh as though he had been working extra hard all day.

"You're here?" He asked the figure from across the room.

Instead of waiting for a reply from the figure in the shadows of the room on his bed he slowly made his way over to his dresser and took out a bottle of wine and a glass he kept hidden. As a prince his father forbid liquor for private use and only allowed it during meals or gatherings. Curtis had the habit of hiding his own stash in his room since a young age. It was one of his guilty pleasures in his mind.

Sitting in a chair across the room from the figure he poured some of the wine into the glass and began to drink it slowly so that he could savor every bit of it as he drank. His eyes remained on the woman so that he could see if she moved even the slightest.

"You should watch drinking too heavily. Some might start to think you're an alcoholic if they catch you hiding that in here." She giggled slightly as she spoke to him.

"Oh? Should I care what they think of me?" Curtis pondered over that thought for a moment before a smile appeared on his face followed by a chuckle.

"You're right, but I guess pretending to be something you aren't is one of your specialties, Prince Curtis!"

Curtis could tell she was trying to get a rise out of him. Instead of getting a rise he simply smiled brightly and placed the glass down on the table. Crossing his legs as he placed his hands gently on his lap, he glared at her.

"You're right, but playing nice with others is something that works with most."

"I see..." She responded with a pause

"How else would I easily be able to help you come and go from the palace in the dark like this? If I opened my bedroom curtains would you not be killed on the spot when people realized you were here? I guess you could always say your ability to get around is amazing in its own way..." He applied a mocking tone to toy right back with the woman.

Though the room was filled with darkness making it hard to see her there was an obvious visual on how her body was shaking from the rage she was trying to hide. The sight of it made him smile with pride for making her rage at him. He knew she would not act on her rage with him as she needed him and he needed her. They both had their own reasons for working together at the moment and he knew he could easily toy with her because she would not be able to replace his position that easily.

"You... I swear!" She huffed out at him as the room suddenly started to get cold all around.

"If you're not careful they are going to notice you're in my room!" He reminded her as he glared daggers at her from across the room.

The woman breathed deeply as she tried to calm herself down. She was hiding in a very risky place right now and she knew getting caught would mean her death at the worst. At the easiest if she got caught it would mean being wounded before she could escape the palace.

"You really like to make things difficult for me. You're lucky you're useful to me or-" She found herself suddenly caught off by the motion of Curtis standing up to walk across the room towards her. He paused right in front of her and stared straight down into her eyes. Her long white hair was flowing down her body as she stared straight back at him.

"Or what?" He asked her.

"Nothing." She responded bluntly. Her beautiful figure twisted teasingly as she looked away to the side as if she was trying to draw his attention towards her.

"Do not toy with me, woman!" His voice almost hissed with rage at her. He knew what she was and that she enjoyed using men to her advantage.

"I'm not," she sighed and tilted her head as she looked up at him again from the corner of her eye. "You really are nothing like how you act in front of the others. I presume you got the job done correctly then?"

"Yes," Curtis closed his eyes and nodded in response. "My youngest brother has been taken care of. I kept my end of the deal now it's your turn."

"Great!" The woman smiled and took out a rolled up piece of paper from her storage bracelet and handed it to Curtis.

He took the paper and unrolled it to glance at it. The look on his face filled with excitement and pride at what he saw before him before he rolled it back up and stashed it away in his own storage bracelet so that nobody else would find it.

"Thank you for the trade, queen Lyra." Curtis smiled kindly as he slowly turned to leave the room and head out.

"You're leaving?"

"I got what I wanted from you for now!" He scoffed. "I have my own things to take care of. Find you're own way out of the palace when it gets dark tonight, because I have to head out and deal with this thing now."