Chapter 6

Hattie's POV

By the time he left my hand, it already had red marks on it. I was appalled. How was it even possible? I watched in fright as he walked away from me. Who was this man? How was he able to burn me with his hands? All these questions kept going to and fro in my mind.

I didn't wait for even a second. I ran as fast as I could. I didn't want another of Xavier's brothers to probably turn me into a pack of ice. At that point, I was confused and scared as well, but I didn't stop running until I got to my room.

The moment I got to my room, I sat on my bed lost in thoughts. I kept staring at my wrist. The marks were still there, very visible but it still felt unreal.

Suddenly the door opened and Javier barged in with fury in his eyes.

Javier's POV

When I saw Andrew follow her outside, my heart stopped. It was obvious he was going after her and it couldn't be for a good motive. I tried to get up to follow him, but my father, the king, stopped me.

"Did you send the guard to the kingdom borders like I said" 

"Yes I did"

"How many?" 

"300" I kept looking at the door occasionally. I needed to leave before Andrew did what I knew for him; chaos.

"Ok," he said with a nod and I immediately stood up from where I was seated and rushed out. By the time I got to the hallway, I couldn't find both Hattie or Andrew. My blood boiled. If he had laid a single finger on her, I was going to rip his head off his body.

I went to her room and opened the door. With the way she flinched, it was certain Andrew did something. The fear in her eyes was noticeable even though she tried to hide it.

"Javier" she called out, surprised, but I said nothing, carefully observing her body from top to bottom. She kept trying to hide her wrist, but I grabbed it from her back and looked at it. As soon as I saw the red marks on her hand, my rage doubled. I was about to leave, when she held me by the hand, stopping me.

"Where are you going?" Her faint voice was heard. "It's nothing. I closed the door against my hand". She tried to explain, but I could see the lies in her eyes.

"Sit" I ordered her. She was taken aback but did as I asked. "Don't get up until I get back"

"But"

"No buts Hattie" I groaned in frustration. "Do as I say"

She hesitated, but finally parted her lips to speak. "Okay," she mouthed, looking down.

I walked away. The first place I went to was Andrew's room. In my eyes, he was a dead man. I didn't knock. Instead I barged into his room and rushed towards him. Without giving him any warning, I flung him to the wall in anger and pinned him with all my might.

He didn't try to struggle. Instead, he gave off a mocking snicker which only doubled my anger.

"Why did you touch her?"

"Relax. I was just checking if she is strong enough to handle you. You can do way worse and you know it"

"You have no right" I banged his head on the wall. "No right!" I screamed in his face. But no matter what I did, he wasn't affected a bit. "I'm warning you, Andrew, don't you ever touch her or else..."

"Or else what?;" This time he didn't have a grin on his face, but a hard glare. "You suddenly think you are special. You think you are the normal one now. Look in the mirror Javier, we are the same. If I am a monster, you are 10 times worse than me. If I am a snake, you are 100 hundred times worse than me"

The grip I had on his neck loosened as the words sunk in. He was right. If he could hurt Hattie, I could do way worse.

"We are the same, Javier. We think alike, we act alike. The voices in our heads are the same". He said, but that only made me angrier.

"I am not like you," I snarled, but it was as if I was trying to convince myself of the sincerity of that statement more than I was trying to convince Andrew.

I pointed my index finger at Andrew "I don't want you anywhere near her" I spoke in a deadly whisper and stormed out.

****

Hattie's POV

"Prince Carlos, Hardy, and Andrew are queen Monica's sons" Lauretta, my maid explained as she braided my hair. "While Prince Kingsley,  Jaime, and Javier are queen Elena's sons" she paused, parting my hair from the middle.   "Carlos is the first, your husband is the first, Andrew is the third, Jaime is the fourth, Hardy the fifth, and Kingsley is the sixth"

"Carlos is the heir to the throne," I said to myself and she nodded. If he was like this while still a prince, he would certainly be uncontrollable as the king. I turned to look at her with interest. "Tell me about Queen Elena. She doesn't look alright to me"

"She has always been like that. The king tried out so many physicians but to no avail. I can't tell how she got that way." 

"What about Andrew? What is he like?"

"Quiet, reserved, handsome, but also scary"

Yes, he was scary, I agreed to myself, but that couldn't be all. There had to be more to him. "Is that all?" 

"Yes Milady" 

I raised my sleeve and stretched out my right hand for her to see the burnt marks on them."He did this to me with just his hands" 

Her hands slipped off my hair as she sighed. "I don't know about this," she said truthfully. "I've not heard of something like this before" 

"Are you sure?" I turned to look at her to see if she was lying or not. I had a gift of discerning when a person is lying or not and I could tell she was being truthful. I returned to my initial position.

"Yes Milady"

"He has never done anything extraordinary before?"  I asked to be sure

"Not that I know of "

That was strange. I was certain of what happened to me the previous day. And I was sure Javier knew exactly what happened, but he didn't tell me before storming out of my room. I hadn't seen him since he left. The only best option was to avoid Andrew as much as I could.

*****

"How could you let him get married?" I heard Queen Monica's angry voice from a closed door in the hallway. Lauretta had just finished braiding my hair and I was going to the garden where Javier sent for me. 

I wasn't supposed to be nosey, but I found myself, going closer to the door, and with time, my ear was placed on the door. I just couldn't help it.

"What do you suppose I do?" king Audrie roared in anger.

"Stop the marriage, the feast everything, and send her back to her God-forsaken community"

"And what will happen to Javier after that?"

"Nothing will. It will be better if we send her back before he starts acting up again and smothers her in her sleep"

"He hasn't acted up in ages" 

"That doesn't make him a sane person. He is dangerous and you know it"

 

"Oh please, you are just concerned about your son. You want Carlos to get married before him"

"Am I not supposed to be concerned? Your son doesn't deserve love, Audrey"

"Watch your mouth woman" he barked at her.

"If my mother gets you, she will gouge your eyes off your sockets". That voice belonged to neither king nor the queen. It was someone behind me who said it. I jumped in fright, turning to look at the person.

As I had suspected, it was Andrew. I felt chills instantly. I remembered what he was capable of doing and my heart couldn't stop beating.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I was Uhm." I tried to think of an excuse "I  wanted to speak to the king"

"Oh really" he smirked. "Shall we?" He tried to open the door, but I stopped him.

"No, don't do that!" I begged.

"I thought you wanted to speak to the king"

"No, I uh" bit my lips nervously. "Fine I was eavesdropping, but you don't expect me not to after hearing them say Javier shouldn't have gotten married to me"

"And what do you think about that?"

"I think it's a lie." I lied to both Andrew and myself. I knew deep down it wasn't a lie.

He chuckled mildly. "You are naive"

"I am not"

"Don't you see the picture?"

"What picture?"

"Haven't you heard of the rumors of your so-called husband"

"As you said, they are just rumors" I stood my ground.

"But you seem to forget darling. To every rumor, there is always one truth. Even if it is the slightest"

"Why should I believe you?"

"You don't need to," he smiled. "You just have to see it for yourself. Seeing is believing Hattie" He said and walked past me.

The words he earlier said to me began to ring in my head."With time you will know why the mad prince is called the mad prince"