~Daciana~ The annual moonlight ball party was fast approaching and everyone in the kingdom seemed to be looking forward to it except me. There were many reasons why I wasn’t excited about it. Everyone, from all the corners of Bedfordshire would be present, and I bet more than half of them have seen the disaster that happened on my birthday. As if this reason wasn’t enough, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance that I’d see Carl and Trisha at this party. I’m so sure about this because we three always attended. We were always so excited and never missed anyone.I bet Trisha would gladly come so she could rub it all in my face. I wouldn’t want to do anything rash, so it’s better I stay away. ‘But how is that possible?’ My Stepfather, the King, would want his children to be present at the ball party, and now, I’m his daughter and I have to be present. “Arrghhh!” I groaned, turning over on my bed again. I reminisced about what happened during dinner last night again and how my mother
~Daciana ~ We both dragged our boxes down the street, waiting for a taxi to show up. My parents refused to release any cars to us for our trip, they said walking and taking a bus would help us bond too. I still don’t know where they got all those ideas from. Prince Randall, on the other hand, has been successfully ignored by me after what happened with Carl. All he needed to do was mind his business, even though his actions kept Carl away, the way I wanted, I could have handled him on my own. “Where are the f**king taxis anyway? We have been walking for more than ten minutes.” Prince Randall muttered frustratingly and that was when I checked my wristwatch. He was right. We had been walking for almost fifteen minutes and no single taxi had passed. ‘They must be so busy because of the ball party preparation.’ I thought, adjusting my backpack. My mother and maids packed as many supplies as possible. At some point, I thought we’d never come back again. “Taxi!” I heard
~Daciana~ After plucking enough mangoes, we returned to our tents and rested a little before we checked the next thing on our list, and it happened to be swimming. ‘We really needed to have gotten this out.’ I thought as I turned to look at Prince Randall who also sat in front of his tent. “You don’t want to swim with me, do you?” I asked from outside my tent. “Nope, but it isn’t like I’ve got a choice…” “Actually, you’ve got a choice.” I butted in, and he looked at me. “You said no one is here watching us. So, we don’t have to do this particular one. We could just skip it and tick it out. Leaving one of them out isn’t so bad, right?” “Coming from someone who said we should pretend to bond and keep reminding me about my probation?” He asked, and I shrugged. “Well, we both don’t want to swim together, so one of us could dodge it. I saw a bookstore on our way down here, in town and I’d love to purchase one. So, it gives you time to do whatever you want, and when I’m back, we'll c
~Daciana~ “Prince Randall, can you hear me?” I fell to my knees next to him, fearfully watching him shiver. He looked so weak and unable to move. “I’ll go and grab a coat for you to wear, okay?” I uttered, standing up and running back to my tent. In haste, I searched for the biggest coat I could find in my luggage and ran back to where he lay. Getting there, I met him in the same position. He didn’t even move a finger and this scared me. He looked unconscious. I put the coat over him and knelt next to him again. “I’m going to try to raise you, okay??” I said, but I got nothing back from him. ‘That shouldn’t be bad, right? I’m just trying to help. I wouldn’t want to touch him when he’s completely naked and vulnerable.’ I reached for his two hands and when I touched them, they felt extremely cold. I grabbed them and tried to pull him up. It was surprising that with how vulnerable he looked, he was still pretty heavy. “You’ve got to help me here, Prince Randall,” I muttered, stru
~Prince Randall ~ I wasn’t expecting her to be so soft towards me, especially not after what she saw last night. But when she came up to me in the river, the way she looked at me, spoke to me, and even touched me would forever be a surprise to me. ‘I am not used to anyone being nice to me, and now she’s acting this way, I don’t know how to act around her. I need her to keep being harsh and mean to me. That’s the best way we can relate to each other.’ I fetched some wood from nearby trees to make firewood for the last activity on our list which was ‘make a campfire’. “We are supposed to fetch the woods together.” She said from behind me, smiling widely and waving her cutlass in the air. “I didn’t want to bother you about it. Also, I thought you’d prefer reading your novel.” I answered, striking the log of wood with my axe, splitting it into two. “The novel can wait, okay? I’ll just continue when we get back home.” She added, and I heaved a sigh. “Fine. You’d help in carrying the
~Daciana~ Swallowing hard, I headed toward the direction of the voice I heard. I could feel sweat dripping down my back, and I couldn’t fathom where the heat was coming from. Was it from what almost happened with Prince Randall?! ‘What the hell was I thinking?! Daciana, he’s your stepbrother for fu*k’s sake!!’ I shut my eyes tightly and shook my head, trying to erase the stupidity I had just portrayed to him. “Oh! There she is.” Riley’s voice made me raise my head, and when I saw him, I hastily let out a faint smile. “Hey there,” I uttered, as we closed the gap between us. He wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss just below my left ear. “You’re still here? I was passing by this road and I decided to check if you’d still be here. Honestly, I’m surprised that you’re still here. I thought you’d have left.” He uttered, and I shook my head. “I’m still here. It’s the last day of the camping anyway. So, I won’t be here tomorrow.” I added, burying my hands in my pocket anxious
~Prince Randall ~ As soon as I shut the door, I rested my back against it and threw my head backward. I breathed out with my mouth and opened my eyes. I hated how I was feeling. ‘What the hell is wrong with you, Randall? What has come upon you?’ I walked over to my mother’s portrait on my wall and stared at her face. I missed her so much. “If you were here, all these would never have happened. Father wouldn’t have married another woman, I wouldn’t have a step-sister, and I wouldn’t be beating myself up about wanting to kiss her badly!” I smacked, throwing a punch into the wall, next to her portrait. “Arghh.” I groaned as I stared at the hole I had created on my wall. My knuckles were bleeding but I ignored it. Maybe I could replace how I was feeling with pain. I sat on the bed and grabbed my hair. ‘I shouldn’t have let my guard down around her. I shouldn’t have turned. I shouldn’t have let her see that side of me.’ I closed my eyes tightly as these thoughts rushed t
~Daciana~ “Strip.” I heard him say to the lady and my jaw dropped. He was really going to sleep with her. I felt pain in my chest as I felt my heart shatter to pieces. I felt tears heat up my eyes rapidly, but I shut them, trying to push them back. I had no reason to cry. He’s not worth my tears. He intentionally did that to me to hurt me, but I wouldn’t let him get to me. He’s Prince Randall, my stepbrother and he can do whatever the hell he wants to do. I walked into my room and slammed the door shut. I slumped down my bed and let out a loud huff. Then, I remembered the book I had gotten and I sprang to my feet to get it. It was the best way to distract myself at the moment. I picked it up and opened it to page 120, where I stopped, and was about to continue reading when I recalled what Riley told me. I turned the book to the last page, and there I found his phone number. “There you are,” I uttered in a whisper as I reached for my phone. I dialed the number on