A Word With You

THIRD PERSON

''I can't believe it!'' The royal taskmaster screamed in anger, ''The one that serves me, now give me orders?''

''The sooner you accept that fact the better for you.''

''Nonsense.'' The royal taskmaster hissed. He grabbed a vase and flung it at the mirror hanging on the wall directly before him. Giving the mirror a cracked, thread-like pattern drawn on its surface.

''Calm the sorcery down, would you Aries? Breaking all the mirrors in the entire palace would not change anything.''

Aries, the royal taskmaster, growled. He is finding it hard to accept that someone as low as a servant could become king one day. And at a very rare opportunity; he married the Crown Princess.

He fisted his palms on both sides at that thought. Who would have known that that uncultured beast of a boy was rooting for something bigger? Something beyond their imagination and expectation. No wonder he is so cocky and full of himself. He managed to gain the Crown Princess's heart.

Or...was it the other way around?

He shook his head. No, it can't be.

''If you are done glaring and growling at the wind, I'll be in my chambers waiting for you to talk.''

Aries frowned. To talk? About what?

''What made you think that I would ever want to talk with you? We barely even greet each other. And why are you even in my room, to start with?''

The White Wizard smiled. A sinister one.

''If you desire to dethrone your enemy,'' He rose to his feet with his monstrous staff, ''I'll be in my chambers. Good evening,'' And he walked out leaving Aries stunned. What did he mean by that?

.

.

.

NOWEL

''Really?'' I asked her one more time, just to be clear. ''He did that?''

Caroline nodded. I and Caroline have known each other for a long time now. Though, she is just my royal maid but feels more like a friend. The only female and person I could also talk to and have some quality time with apart from my little sister.

''The villagers accused him of summoning negative spirits with the use of black magic and they hung him to his death and burned him to ashes.'' I gasped. That is not fair.

''His ashes were submerged in water and after that, no one spoke of him ever again.''

Okay, that is some horror story. That is also one thing I like about Caroline. She is very creative in making up stories and they are very good to listen to. She has been my storyteller for so long now, and I can also see in her eyes that she enjoys telling people stories, especially me. I sometimes imagine her to be a famous storyteller one day or a writer. That would be great.

''Is that the end?'' I hope not. Please let there be more.

''No, Your Highness. That can't be the end of the black magic. There would be consequences.''

Great.

''Tell me more, what happened next?''

She cleared her throat and moved closer to let me hear the ending of this horrific story of hers.

''So, after the--"

''Your Highness!''

I cursed inwardly at the interruption. What now?! I almost cried. Not when I am about to hear the ending of this story.

''What?!''

''T-there is a message for you from His Majesty.''

His Majesty?

Oh please don't tell me what he wants now! I groaned.

''He wants to see you, Your Highness.''

I rolled my eyes. Why does he want to see me? He had all day to see me. But he is that cruel to want to see me at my relaxing hour. I apologized to Caroline and promised to continue with her later, and I made my way over to Michael.

My brain exploded when I got to the place where His Majesty wanted to see me. It turned out to be the royal stable.

I cleared my throat to make my presence known. I met him in a state of deep thinking and I wondered why the depressing mood.

''What took you so long?'' Was his greeting.

''Good evening to you too, Your Majesty. And, no. Your sudden call for a meeting in a weird environment is very charming of you.''

''Quit the sarcasm. I am here to discuss something very important with you. Take it seriously.''

I scoffed. ''What could be more important than me relaxing with a good bedtime story?'' I mumbled.

''What was that?''

''Nothing. Why do you want to see me? And at the royal stable of all the decent places in the Palace?''

''Would you have preferred us to have our little meeting in Hell instead? Would that be more decent to you, Your Highness?''

My jaw reached the ground. ''What is wrong with you?'' I began, ''You take things too seriously.''

And that shut his trap, causing a deep frown to form on his face. I let out a short breath of exhaustion. We are always arguing and biting at each other's throats. Which to me is not healthy.

"Michael, what is it you want to talk to me about?" I interrupted the silence between us, trying my best not to sound angry. But he refused to talk.

"Michael, is this about us being married and not being husband and wife?"

"I thought I made myself clear concerning that the other night- "

"No! No, you did not. Because I don't understand why you are under that illusion that we were not married when we got married."

He went still once more. His scrutinizing blue-red eyes stayed on me. Maybe wondering why I am finding it so hard to understand what seems impossible to comprehend.

"Princess," the gentleness behind that word didn't hide the fact that he still refuses to accept me as a queen. Is it because I don't look like it or act like one? Or was our marriage simulated?

"What?" I croaked.

"Tell me, how do you define marriage?"

My lips quivered as that question knocked me off-guard cold. I know. I know where he is driving and I won't encourage him.

"I don't...know." I lied.

A lone tear fell from my eyes the moment he ate up the distance between us. His freezing palms cup both sides of my cheeks and held me close to being tortured by his piercing looks. His colorful eyes were fixed on my dull ones. And for a second, I saw pity in his eyes.

"I understand why you are finding it hard to accept this. And I am sure this is not how or who you dreamed of ending up with. The princesses that I know want a prince, a charming knight, a noble lord, or...a fine human to be their partner. Princess, I am none of those and I can never be."

I closed my eyes at the painful truth. My heart pounding hard in my chest.

"I am a demon. And there is a reason why I agreed to that god-forsaken wedding ceremony. Once I have satisfied that reason, I am going to disappear from your life for good. Trust me, princess, the last thing on my mind is to be tied down to a person for the rest of my life and I am sure you also desire to be with the person you truly care about."

"But I..." truly, truly care about you. I have never shown so much kindness to anyone like that before in my life. I couldn't bring myself to finish that throat-itching confession.

"No, you don't." He said that like he heard my thoughts. The familiar harshness of his tone resonated in me and I forced my eyes open. The feel of his hands on my face was gone, the strange softness in his eyes was replaced with a known hard look.

"Maybe you are the one under the strong influence of illusion." These were his final words before he left me all alone at the stable to recover from my delusional state of mind.

Words could not describe how hurt I felt when he left.