The Prince's Mate

Control

"Please, listen," Cecelia held out one hand as she held on to her dress that barely clung on o her and stood on the bed. "I don't know what's happening, I don't understand what any of this means, you can always just let me go, send me away or something, if you're that uncomfortable with me being here, I'll figure this out on my own," She pleaded when she saw Lucas look at his sword in the corner as if he was been thinking about killing her.

"Sit down and relax," Lucas ordered her, and she felt a sudden calmness wash across her body and her legs lost most of their power causing her to fall to her knees, her hands too lost their power, but Lifa was at her side holding on to her dress in the blink of an eye. "We have already been bound by magic, there is no need to kill or attack you, or even imprison you again, you are already under my control, which means I can get whatever I want out of you." He said and then looked at the wizard beside him. "Flock, whatever happens now is between us in this room, so take care of the musician."

"Understood," Flock replied and raised his staff just as the woman who'd been missing suddenly ran out of hiding quickly trying to escape Flock, but when the staff hit the ground the woman spilt over and flipped several times before hitting the floor like a sack of rice, she wasn't dead, but at the same time her eyes rolled over and the started drooling, in a matter of seconds she'd been turned into a retard by Flock, and neither he nor Lucas looked back at the woman as the doors slammed shut with blinding speed while the guards who'd also been outside seeing everything fell over and lost their senses as well.

This made Cecelia immediately start looking at them differently, wondering if they were actually like the others after all, they'd turned people into idiots for merely knowing too much about her, and it made her unable to process what would happen if they decided they would force what they wanted to know out of her, it seemed that in the end the only person she'd have on her side was Lifa, and that was IF she was truly on her side.

Lifa picked up on her panic and distress and laid a calming hand on her bare back, but then Flock slammed his staff again with a now serious look on his face as he directed his attention to them. "Lifa, conceal her appearance, and do it well," he instructed her, and Cecelia felt Lifa's nervousness as she placed her shaking hand on her back, and it was the assurance she herself needed, Lifa would undoubtedly take her side, otherwise she'd be reduced to a vegetable like the others, so in a way, she'd been trapped with her, and if there's one thing she knew never changed about any species it had to be their will to preserve their life. "Quickly now!" Flock slammed the staff again and Lifa shut her eyes and winced as she thought she'd be reduced to an i***t on the spot but instead she felt Cecelia's hand slowly hold on to her, and she looked up to see Cecelia staring back at her with an assuring and confident glance, even if it was fake she needed this girl to work with her now.

Lifa still shook as her hand became warm on Cecelia's back, and she stared at her for that assurance as she spread her elven magic across her body, hiding the sparkling skin and replacing it with what she'd seen all along and then sighing and looking at the prince when she was done.

"Cecelia, are you a spy?" Lucas asked, though his eyes seemed darker, literally darker as if his brown had turned to black.

"No," she replied. "I thought I was human too, and I really did come from earth, where I was in fact human, but something changed me, so now I do not know who or what I am." She responded in monotone while Lifa began dressing her again on Flock's order.

Lucas looked at Flock and both of them gave her the same glance before he opened his mouth again. "Does earth have magic?" He asked.

"The only magic that exists on earth is witchcraft, though it is only speculated to actually exist I have always believed it to be real, otherwise there is only religion and technology," She replied like a robot once more and Lifa held her hand as she realized that she was also shaking, its because she did not want to speak, but she was being forced to because of the bond placed on her, and when she tried to fight it the magic caused pain in her abdomen mimicking birth convulsions, in short, it hurt like hell and it made her feel like her life had been swished around and handed to an insane person, from what she remembered it also made him aware of where she was too, it was basically magic being used for the same thing as house arrest, just far more dangerous and extremely painful.

"So you have no memories of this world before two days ago?" He asked her, and she looked at him pained as tears formed and slid down her cheeks, leaving golden spots on the sheets, but he held his gaze and didn't seem to care for her obvious pain. "Do you?" He asked again, and her lips shook as she let out a soft cry. "Answer the question woman, do you remember anything from Atla before you crashed in Prince Logan's wedding reception?" He raised his voice and the magic reacted to his displeasure and shook her entire body with pain causing her to cry out and fall forward. "Answer me!"

"I don't know, damnit I have no idea what's going on!" She screamed out, as the pain rocketed out of her core so hard she fell forward screaming out while veins popped up all over her body and her eyes rolled over.

"You're killing her!" Lifa grabbed on to Cecelia and hugged her as she began writhing on the bed in agony staining the sheets with even more glowing tears before she coughed up blood and started shaking. "Please!" The elf cried out as she too began crying. "Stop!"

"Lucas." Flock placed his hand on the prince's shoulder to calm him down, and it seemed to work when Cecelia stopped screaming after passing out. "She has no memory of anything related to Atla, but that is definitely Atlan magic within her, whatever we need to know we will find out in time, but you have already put too much stress on her, any more of that and there is a chance she will lose her sanity, I have seen your brothers drive many undeserving maidens to states of insanity under the premise of discipline, I implore you young prince, do not become what they have."

"I don't plan on being anything like my brothers," Lucas reached toward Cecelia but drew back his hand shocked when Lifa hissed and held a hand toward him, it was so rare for elves to be violent that people often forgot that they were all assassin-classed warriors; despite their frail bodies they were able to become unmatched masters in combat with minimal training, this was coded onto their genes as a species and everyone knew better than to mess with an elf protecting something. "Allow me to take her back." He narrowed his eyes at Lifa and reached out for Cecelia again but the elf stood her ground as two copies of herself appeared on the bed and did the same as she was doing.

"Please do not touch her," Lifa maintained her respect even as she was clearly trying to hold on to an explosive amount of anger boiling just beneath the surface, even if he didn't intend to Lucas had behaved just as his younger and older brother, it made her immediately lose her respect for the prince and now she could only find resentment in her heart to hold on to because as her kind say; f they do it once, they're capable of doing it again. "I am more than capable of taking her back myself."

"Lifa, I understand that you want to keep her alive for your own sake, but this is the king's castle, to have you carry around someone would set a bad example and paint the wrong picture," Flock took Lucas's side and shook his head. "Let him carry her," He said in a tone that left no room for argument or refusal.

She knew she'd already crossed a line talking back to the prince, and she was on a thin thread already so she had to concede.

Moments later flock was gone, the three people he'd turned into retards had also been taken away, and Lucas was walking slowly through the halls with Cecelia held closely against himself, she wasn't conscious but as he'd been carrying her like a bride her arms were wrapped around him as she unconsciously held on to not fall, she'd been properly dressed and Lifa had made sure that no trace of her skin or tears were on her before they'd left, this made their walk back a silent one as they received gazes from the others, he could have simply kept her in his room until morning but he hadn't thought of that until he was halfway across the castle, and Lifa had made sure to keep him occupied enough to not think about it, because if Cecelia stayed in the prince's room then she would have not been allowed in while the prince slept, meaning her master would have been alone in there with the man who almost killed her.

Lucas stopped at the inside doors of the hall, not allowed to go any further, and had to wait there with Cecelia in his grasp as Lifa went and fetched Keya, who quickly came back and took Cecelia from him, and then Lucas was sent off, there was nowhere in the castle more guarded than the hall of concubines, every door had a guard on the outside and an assassin on the inside protecting one person, watching over them like an angel over their lamb, and Cecelia slept soundly as she was guarded by Lifa who stayed standing at her side on high alert the whole time while Keya was on even higher alert when she found out what had happened... Not the magic part, but rather the part where Lucas prod her for information and exposed her to pain so unbearable her organs ruptured and she vomited blood and passed out, to the woman who saw Cecelia as a saint this was most upsetting, and so she was on edge all night as well.

Cecelia woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and cakes of varying sizes and colours very close to her bed, and for a second she didn't remember what had happened the night before, but as it was Atla didn't like her and as soon as she stood at the edge of her bed she was hit with pain right across the base of her stomach that made her wince and sit back down, it was numbing how much it hurt, but at the same time it was designed to mimic baby pain so, of course, it was hell in a belly. "Good morning, Lady Cecelia," Lifa came gracing the room with the same supplies as the day before, it was also then that Cecelia realised she'd been undressed, probably cleaned by the way she felt, and then dressed for bed again. "I have prepared you breakfast and snacks specific to easing pain..." She trailed off when she saw the lost look on Cecelia's face, it was obvious from the way the woman had reacted to the pain that she hadn't felt it before, so she wondered how the boy was her son, and at the same time, she knew that Cecelia identified what had happened as torture, and had likely been traumatised as it was exactly what she was most afraid of.

"Lifa, why am I here, what wrong did I do to end up here?" Cecelia looked at Lifa as golden tears brimmed up at the corners of her eyes, and seeing this the elf quickly placed what she had on the tables closest to her and sat beside Cecelia, placing a hand on her back and another on her arm on her leg and sighed. "I have lived the philosophy of not hurting anything or anyone all my life, so why is this happening?" She asked, and the first drop spilt from her eyes as she slowly leaned over and rested her head in Lifa's lap. "I'm sorry," She cried, though she didn't know what for.

"Nothing is your fault lady Cecelia, and while I understand your pain, I have to ask you to not cry anymore, it seems bad things happen when you do, I also received a message from the princess earlier, and I promised to explain what happened and why her invitation to meet last night was ignored, she will be joining us shortly, so we have to get you dressed and ready."

"Thank you, Lifa."