Damon’s POV
I had been cursed with the ailment of longing.
Thousands of years accompanied by loneliness had truly driven me mad, yet I couldn’t stop. For the first time in a long time, I dreamt and yearned for someone to be by my side.
Was this maddening yearning the punishment I had received from the moon goddess?
Even while I departed from Ariana she still overtook my senses and I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Then there was the pulverizing anger that came over me anytime I remembered that ugly beta that had sent her into ruins with his actions. The beta she still had affection for.
All throughout yesterday she couldn’t leave my mind even while I worked.
I remembered not even paying attention to the black shadow when he called to inform of a job well done. All I wanted was to be close to her again and for her to smile at me once more.
I couldn’t stop thinking about our day tomorrow and the endless possibilities that came with it. Would she finally notice she was destined to me as I belonged solely to her? I shook my head, I was truly going insane.
Worst of all, here I was in her bedroom watching her sleep peacefully.
I leaned on the wall, watching as her chest rose up and down softly and the presence of worry on her tired face. I knew the cause of her worries and I was annoyed again. That greedy beta.
The lies he kept feeding to her, the manipulation and of course it worked. She was smart as she was naïve gravely so but it was understandable.
She was honest and straightforward and had no clue about the evil that existed in this world, I didn’t want her to know about it though yet here I was, trying to make her mine.
Which was why she saw no harm in breaking her bones, living with snide remarks from her peers and those above or below her, just so she could prove she was worthy enough to marry that fool. Yet even after he betrayed her senselessly, she was helping him and thought of his well-being.
I walked closer towards her, keeping my presence hidden and avoiding contact so as to not scare her.
“I am destined to you as you are to me.” The statement travelled silently with the night.
She didn’t hear me and didn’t move an inch. I smiled, knowing I could watch her like this for tonight, and hoped that a night would come when I would stare at her with no fear.
Soon…just soon, that day would come. This was the only thought ringing in my head as I disappeared from her bedroom.
****
Standing in the palace, I was slightly taken aback at how extravagant and full of light the whole place was which was a severe contrast to mine.
Well it was to be expected, as people of the Warwick Kingdom were known to have pride the size of a pregnant cow and were also known for being immensely boastful.
All prosperous kingdoms were like that but theirs was another thing entirely. It matched the personality of the king and his appearance.
If I were a lowly king from another kingdom and we met I’d be intimidated by him but I’d seen hundreds of empires like these. They always fell and were forgotten.
From a distance I could already smell her and suddenly it wasn’t so bad in here.
She walked towards me a nervous smile on her face and a slight limp on her left foot she was trying hard to ignore. I waited patiently till she stood in front of me.
“Hope I didn’t make you wait long?”
“Not at all.” I responded. She smelled fantastic.
“Did you rest well?” I asked. We had began leaving the palace premises.
“I did. Did you?”
“Yes.” I responded. “How was training today?”
She looked at me stunned, “No one’s ever asked me that. How did you even know?”
“All that strength wasn’t just going to build itself was it? Plus your biceps have a good definition.”
She smiled, warmth filling her cheeks. Swiftly she turned away not letting me see the redness in her cheeks.
“Thank you. It made me… happy.” She said, almost whispering. My dull heart was pumping wildly. “Did you have breakfast?”
“Yes, the bread here is really nice, especially the one at the palace.”
“I know, right?” She turned, her eyes brightening up.
I smiled instinctively. “I love the bread so much.”
I had reduced my pace to keep up with her, and for her to not realize I knew she had sprained her ankle. She probably didn’t want to let me know but it was getting more evident by the second and the pain she fought hard to conceal was slipping.
There was no way a princess should walk around her kingdom like that.
“Are you alright? You look tired.” I lied, wanting her to be comfortable enough to tell me she was hurt.
She gave a wry smile. “I’m perfectly fine.”
I stopped, turning towards her. “Forgive me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
Without warning, I hugged her, lifting her up from the ground, using the time to inspect her left foot. As expected, it was sprained and badly too, she shouldn’t even be walking.
Predictably, she panicked. “What are you doing? Put me down, right this instant!”
I didn’t listen. Instead I held her in my arms, my hands under her back and knee.
She tried pushing me and on discovering a fraction of my strength gave up, sighing. When I was convinced she was done struggling, I began walking.
“How did you even figure it out?” I didn’t respond, “Look, I didn’t want you to think I wouldn’t keep my end of the bargain. A respectable individual wouldn’t do that.”
“I would’ve stayed with you in the palace. I just wanted to talk to you.”
She tried hiding her face from me and I realized she did that when she was embarrassed.
“I don’t have anything to talk about. I’m not an interesting person even though I am a princess and princesses are supposed to be very exciting. All I do is train.”
“Then we would’ve said nothing, doesn’t matter.”
“We’re going to get a lot of attention.”
“I don’t care for attention.”
She stared at me for a long time while we walked.
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“Yes, we’re headed to the lake after the market square.”
“How? You’re not even familiar with the kingdom?”
I didn’t respond. She sighed, relaxing. As we walked by the market square, hundreds of eyes followed us and her face had reddened immensely. She buried her face in my shirt to hide and I had to refrain myself from doing a lot of things. She was just too cute.
After a while when the population reduced she stopped hiding looking around. “Wow, you really do know where you’re going.”
We had arrived at the lake. I carefully set her down on one of the benches, then sat next to her. Paddling away were a duck and her six children sailing behind her.
“What is it?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re worried about something. You’ve had that expression since the beginning of this journey. What is the problem?”
She really was an open book. She was hesitant but contemplating.
“The tournament is in two days and I’m so worried I won’t be prepared in time for it.”
“You will.”
She raised her eyebrow, “How?”
“I’ll help you.”
She didn’t look convinced. “How?”
“You just need to trust me. I give you my word.”
Surprisingly, she agreed without a moment’s pause. “Okay.”
“I have a condition.”
“You’re quite cunning.” She stared at me, a smile dancing on her lips.
“I am much worse than that, princess.”
She watched me for a while before speaking, “What do I have to do?”
Reaching into my coat, I took out a box, revealing a golden necklace with the initial ‘D’.
“Would you do me the honor of letting me wear this on you, with the promise of you not taking it off?”
She stared at the glistening jewel, completely taken aback.
“Do I have a choice in this?”
“That is for you to decide, princess. You wear it and I help you. 50-50 deal.”
She sighed. “You’re a very strange individual, merchant.” There was no sign of resentment in her voice this time when she spoke, and my chest soared.
“I can’t refute that, my princess. I can’t.”
Ariana’s POVUnlike Jasper, I didn’t feel the lingering shadow of doubt every time the merchant spoke and a part of me knew that was dangerous.Why?Truth called to me like the single red thread of fate, and I couldn’t ignore it, the same way I couldn’t ignore him.So while the necklace dangled in front of me, with the initial ‘D’ illuminating with the sun, catching my gaze, my thoughts wandered.Accepting the condition resembled taking one’s life by jumping from the top of a tower and the question here was, would he jump after me, accepting the fate that came with landing?No, I’d be the one watching as he fell, yet drawing me to follow him. What promises could a merchant fulfill and what confidence did he have that leaned me so close to believe in him without a doubt?Questions I’d dreamt of while I slept awakened, sent me in an existential fit.Why was I truly doing this? What was my true ambition? I tried to repeat it to myself.I’m Princess of Ariana, the warrior of the Warwick K
Ariana’s POVMy judgement day had finally arrived. What waited for me down that path? Heaven or Hell? What had the moon goddess decided for me?I held my breath, shutting my eyes briefly as I focused on calming myself.I’d been dreaming of this day for so long it being in front of me felt like a fever dream. It still didn’t feel real, but I knew it was.The heartbeat of beginning thrummed in my chest, letting me know this was the day the skies had chosen. I stood, amidst twenty others, as we were the ones who had made it to the finals.Everyone who came to watch or support were seated while we stood on the stage for their display. The commentator appeared, approaching the pulpit.“I welcome everyone to the most anticipated Royal Final!” The crowd cheered, “We come here every year to watch the geniuses in all the kingdoms far and wide compete to lift their kingdoms to greater heights.” He turned towards us, “Of course, every year we celebrate those who have worked hard to gather unbeli
Ariana’s POVI felt insulted… strangely so and it was causing me a nasty headache.For the first time in my life the concept of revenge made sense and I wanted him to eat his words. But right now I wanted him to shut up so I turned, giving him direct orders with my eyes. A simple order for him to fuck off.He said nothing, brushing his shoulders past Jasper as he left. I couldn’t help but think how childish it all was.“Such a child,” I muttered.Just then, two more of the contestants approached me. Immediately I noticed Ronan, giving him a slap on the shoulder.“Here for another defeat?” I joked, rubbing salt on an open wound.“Not this time, Ariana.” He smiled, opening his arms, “Come on, give me a hug.”I enthusiastically did, so relieved to see him. Ronan and I were good friends from such a long time and the first man to still want to remain cordial even though I always beat him in battle. It was so refreshing. Although, he was persistent on marrying me and claimed to love me, a l
Ariana’s POVWithout wasting any more time I got on my feet, surveying the area.All that contained for a vast period of time was grassland and emptiness. I debated on staying right here but knew it was a calling for instant defeat, I needed camouflage and this area didn’t provide any so I began walking. I knew I needed to provide myself a territory.One, to establish security and ward off predators. Two, to kill those predators. And I had to be prepared for when Damon arrived.I knew I didn’t hate him, nor did I dislike him but for some reason I found myself running, isolating myself. Truth was, I was scared, scared of myself and scared of his actions. Before, sincerity always attracted me like bees to a pollinated flower but now I was turning my back against it.When did I become this way?“Ariana, you have lost yourself.” I muttered, trudging along.It didn’t take until the threat of dusk that I found a forest. With my calculation I had been walking approximately six hours, non sto
Ariana’s POVRoman’s eyes widened seeing me, his hand clawing at me to let him breathe.“A…Ariana, please… let me go. I can’t breathe.” He gasped, struggling for air. His clawing at my hand had peeled off my skin.“What did you think you could achieve, Roman?”“I swear I didn’t know,” He held my hand, “I swear!”Tears had began forming from his eyes, “Please don’t let me die like this, I’m begging you.”He wouldn’t last long.“Please! I’d never betray you, you know that.”Jasper had said the same thing.I gritted my teeth, “Is there a way for me to find out?”“No.” He answered, weakly, as though he’d succumbed to his fate.I freed my grip on his throat and he fell to the ground, gasping for air.I turned without a second’s glance, walking away, “Follow me.”I heard him get up on his feet, hurriedly trying to catch up to me. “What trap was that?” He asked, still behind me.“Mud, the kind that sinks you to hell.” I responded.“Damn, you’re malicious.” I couldn’t help it, I smiled.“I’m
Ariana’s POV“Good morning, contestants! I hope you all rested well last night, those that are still alive I mean. Every morning, a crow will fly above the remaining contestants alive and deliver a note which will show you the contestants that remain. This will hinder the possibility of any contestant concealing themselves. You must also accumulate points while you try to stay alive, you can’t win alone with just making it to the last day. Each contestant is worth five points and killing them will grant you five points. If a contestant has killed four people they have accumulated twenty points and if you kill them, you have twenty points. Isn’t that exciting? Well I must now leave you contestants to begin hunting for the day. Good luck!”I stood, gripping my knife tightly as I heard the broadcast by the commentator. There was something truly sadistic about this although it was a competition but still. Roman was unfailingly right, this really was a dystopian shit show.They wanted us t
Damon’s POVI leaned on a tree nearby, eating an apple, watching the deceptive werewolf try to kill Ariana.Without interfering, I watched her push Ariana to the ground, a blade in her hand ready to strike and a victorious crooked smile on her chapped lips.I chewed on the apple with enthusiasm.Within a second, Ariana grabbed the woman’s hair, head-butting her with full force before swiftly grabbing the knife, wrapping her hands on her neck and pushing her to the ground.I smiled. Talk about a total one eighty.The werewolf, distraught, began shaking.“As your punishment you will die by your own blade.” Her eyes were glazing with fury. One of the hottest scenes I ever witnessed.Ariana raised the blade higher, aiming to strike.“Wait, wait, wait! I’m sorry, please don’t—” Before she could complete her sentence, Ariana had already punctured her chest with the blade.In seconds the werewolf disappeared. I chuckled, walking up to her. Startled she quickly stood, turning, her stance read
Damon’s POVWe’d been walking forward for a total of four hours.During that time Ariana chose not to speak to me, willfully ignoring me even though she’d turn around occasionally.Something was awfully wrong with me or else why did I find most of her behavior unbelievable cute? Thinking back to how I easily ruffled her feathers was causing me to laugh.“What’s funny?” She asked, a little spiteful.“You.” I answered.She stopped suddenly, turning towards me, her emotions high. “Can you not do that?” Her tone was raised.“Do what?”She pointed her fingers at my chest, “Whatever it is you’re doing and don’t play dumb now, you weak merchant.”“A weak man can’t even enjoy himself anymore?”She looked like she was about to take me out the competition.“You’re pathetic.” She spat, walking forward, stomping.She resembled a toddler that was refused ice cream. Now, she was muttering things to herself, rambling actually and again I found it extremely cute.“I cannot believe I thought he’d be g