AGAINST ALL ODDS.

The nightmare begins.

The towering castles loomed ahead ,draped in golden light as the evening sun cast its rays upon the intricate spires.Liv's shoe tapped slightly against the marble floor as she followed the quiet footsteps of a servant woman, who appeared in her sixties. Her posture was straight,but the years had clearly taken a toll on her weathered arms. and solemn eyes.

"I'M Madra,"the woman finally spoke,her voice gravelly yet gentle."I've served the royal family since JW was a boy."

Liv nodded, struggling to keep up ,her eyes scanning the grandeur around her -gilded archways,velvet tapestries,walls lined with paintings with golden frames.Everything screamed of unimaginable wealth.

As they turned a corner,Liv caught a glimpse through an open window.Two other castles sat behind the grand one.Though smaller they were still majestic,with pointed towers and stained glasses that shimmered in the fading light.

"Those belong to the son of the kings,"Marda said noticing her gaze."The center castle is the Kings,the one with the dark ivy belongs to JW ...and the other to his brother."

Before liv could ask more Madra lowered her voice."Be careful here, girl.This place isn't what it seems.You are going to need more than luck."

Liv blinked,"What do you mean?"

But Marda only gave a rough half-shrug the lines around her mouth tightening."You'll see."

Liv expected to be shown some beautifully finished guest room -perhaps not royalty level but one befitting a guest.JW had personally brought in.Incase they took a narrow staircase down,spiraling into colder ,dimmer halls until they reached a cramped corridor with cracked stones and moldy ceilings.

"This way ,"Marda murmured,pushing open a heavy wooden door.The floor was bare stone, uneven and dusty.One leg of the bed had been replaced by a stack of chipped bricks. The mattress was thin sunken in the middle, with a lumpy pillow and a moldy grey blanket that smelled faintly or mildew.A cracked mirror hung crookedly above a rusty basin,the cobwebs veiled the corners like curtains of neglect.

She stared stunned.She wanted to ask if this was a mistake.But Marda handed her a bundle of folded fabric- a plain brown servant uniform.

"No question?"Marda asked ,almost surprised.

Liv swallowed,"No."

Marda sat down heavily on a stool and sighed,"JW was still little when he first got locked in this chambers.His father taught hardship will make him stronger ,but he ended up colder."

There was a long pause .

"I raised him more than his mother ever did.Fade him when he was punished,bandaged him when his father's rage got out of hand ."

Marda added ,"He is not a saint that boy,but he did not get cold for nothing."

Liv looked down at the uniform in her arms,then around the broken room.Somehow this made her heart ache more than the journey that brought her here.

She didn't say anything.She simply nodded quietly resolving to understand the man behind the cold eyes and maybe even heal.

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..JW's pov

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As Liv left,and her silhouette disappeared into the glided halls of the royal castle,JW stood still,his eyes narrowed to an unreliable line.The sun was nearly gone now ,and the shadows were beginning to creep along the stone walls of the court yard .

He didn't speak not until Murphy approached with a questioning glance.

"Take her to the room,"JW ordered,cold and distantly.

Murphy frowned,"The guest wing."

"No ,"JW cut in sharply ,not looking at him."Tell Marda to handle it.She'll no where."

Without waiting for a response,JW turned on his heel,hus coat sweeping behind him like a trailing shadow.He strode away from the main castle and towards the one wrapped in the dark ivy- the one that belonged to him.

As the thick doors of the castle shut behind him.Silence consumed him.The grand halls were hollow, echoing each footstep with unsettling emptiness.He made his way through corridors lined with ancient portraits and candled lit scones all flickering as if afraid of him.

He didn't bother turning on the lights.

He reached his private chamber and stood by the massive window.Overlooking the moonlight gardens.The wind rustled the trees like whispers in the dark."Two more years he murmured,"the words curling from his lips like smoke,"Just two more years....I turn 24,and all this ends."

His hands tightened around his window sill,veins raising beneath his skin. His jaw clenched.

"She has 2 stay,"he whispered.

"As long as she stays the curse will wait."

There was silence after that -dead and heavy.He did not clarify what curse. He never did.No one knew.Not even Murph or Marda,Or he thought.

And he liked it that way.

He didn't allow himself to think of Livs eyes when she looked at him with confusion.Or the trembele in her voice when she asked what he wanted.She wad just a means to an end,a twist in a game written by fate long before she was born.

But still.

There was something about her.Something he didn't understand.Something that burned beneath her skin and called to something burried deep within him something he was afraid to name.

He turned away from the window,his reflection in the glass twisted by the shadows .

"Stay alive little dove,"he muttered .As he disappeared into the darkness of his room."I need you to make it to the end"