The Princess Swap

13.

“Sit down.” He said in a calm voice. I could see a vein throb in his neck. His nails dug into his palms atop the table.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” I hissed. The guards around exchanged nervous looks. Beta Callan tried to say something with his eyes but I refused to listen.

How would – How could – Goddess, my thoughts scrambled. Zion had to be the most aggravating person I ever had the misfortune of meeting. How could a man be so self-centred? So selfish to think only of himself, to treat someone as sweet as Princess Ariana the way he did?

“Listen to me. You don’t want to do this. Not now and not with me. Sit. Down.” If a roar of thunder didn’t drown out his voice and make his words plain, maybe fear would have gripped me from the blood trickling down his clenched fist. If hatred and humiliation didn’t stir in my heart, his reddened eyes would have terrified me.

“No, Zion. You listen. I’ve listened and heard enough. Enough of your nagging. Your spite. Enough of looking at me like – like I’m nobody. For years, in fact, all my life, I’ve wanted someone to look at me and see me but you – “ I broke off. His eyes went back o their usual colour. Blood stopped dripping from his palm. I felt eyes watching from all corners.

I would rather not provide nosy people with drama or gossip. But I would hate to keep quiet at this point. I didn’t wish for this life. Not this one. How could a single man make my wish unworthy of my dreams?

“Are you mental now? What are you talking about?” He hissed, grabbing my hands planted on the table and trying to pull me down. I stood my ground. I had been pulled down enough for a lifetime. I wouldn’t pass up this chance to speak my mind.

“Don’t touch me.” The slap resounded as I swatted his hand away. “It’s your turn to listen. I suggest you listen well.” I ignored the gasp from our mounting audience. “You are an inconsiderate, arrogant jerk. You have no appreciation, no respect and dare I say it, no manners!”

Beta Callan stepped forward with his face set in determined lines. The guards drove away the wolves loitering about with their ears peeled for gossip while they pretending to go about their daily lives.

“Princess Ariana, maybe you should –“ We growled at the same time, the Prince and I, as the Beta’s hand rested on my shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” I snapped. I would feel sorry for treating such a good man like that, but not then. Then, all I cared about was putting this arrogant man in his place.

“Leave her, Beta. This may be the only intelligent thing that would ever come out of her mouth.“

He looked at me again, pleading with his eyes before nodding. “Maybe we should take this to the Palace. This is not – an ideal place.”

I shifted my glare from the Prince to him.

“I will speak and he will listen. This is the time I want to say this. Don’t shut me up, Beta.” My voice came out hard and as determined as I felt.

Okay, Selene. I had to be heard. I would make these people hear me. Especially this man who thought himself to be the highest and mightiest. Someone who openly defied the king, disregarded courtesy and glorified himself like the most important person in the world.

“Yes, Princess.” He shrunk away and I turned my attention back to the Prince. His anger had vanished, replaced by a cool, smug arrogance.

‘The airhead is about to throw a temper tantrum.’ He must be thinking. That made my blood spike higher.

“What do you want to say so badly? I’m listening, Princess.” I took a deep breath, unclenching my fist. It couldn’t allow him to drive me to insanity. I couldn’t allow him to make my heart speed and my vision blur with anger any more. He didn’t deserve to see me shaken up. Even if I was shaken because of anger.

“I wanted this life. I wished for it and I got it. I expected it to be rainbows and sunshine. Having no chores and being Princess should be a breeze but I didn’t expect you,” I said, voice breaking.

He jumped to interrupt me as I paused for a breath. “Of course, you wished for this. Rainbows and sunshine? We’re talking of an entire freaking kingdom and you’re talking of rainbow and sunshine. You –“

“Shut up.” Surprisingly, he did. “Shut up, Zion. You know nothing. You know nothing and it amazes me how you can be so arrogant and so dense at the same time. You are an awful person.” He shrugged as if to say, ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’

My teeth sunk into my bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood. It did. I tasted blood. For a second, his eyes flashed red and dipped to my lips before his face contorted and his fists started to clench again.

“I don’t want to ruin things. God knows it’s not my place to, else, I would have called off this whole thing this minute.” A guard gasped so loudly I whirled on him, startled by the sound. They had all faded away from my consciousness. Only Zion and I and a haze of anger and frustration wrapped around me then.

“If you’re talking of this unpleasant and unfortunate betrothal, then I give you leave to end it.” He threw up his hands. Then brought them down with a flourish, slamming them on the table and spilling water across the surface. “End it all and put me out of my misery. God knows my image has suffered enough. Let this one be on you, Princess. Take one for the time.” He gave an exaggerated wink.

“No.”

It physically pricked me to say but I knew my place. Being called Princess Ariana didn’t make me the Princess. I wouldn’t ruin her engagement. I didn’t assume she loved him any longer, considering how he treated her like an uninteresting plaything he couldn’t toss out as they were presents from a beloved relative.

“So why’d I have to listen to you? You never have anything sensible to say but I felt sure for the first time that you were about to do something reasonable.” He sighed, leaning back into his seat while rubbing his eyes like an insect flew into it. “ None of us want this. You’re too big a burden to be laden with for the rest of my life. You don’t seem to like me anymore. Why won’t you let me go?”

If I could, I would let him go. The Princess deserved better. Heck, lowly Selene of Southern Moon deserved better.

“You just managed to ruin my image with this unnecessary outburst. I haven’t killed any pups so why am I being punished with a bride like you!?” He exclaimed, his hands raking his hair away from his forehead. He dragged his hands across his face while I stared at him, open-mouthed.

I never met anyone who could play the victim better than this man.

Ruined his image? Me? What image did he have in the first place? His reputation would be impressive for a warrior wolf but not for the king. Thinking of such a ruthless man on the throne made the kingdom uneasy. Thinking of such a ruthless, selfish and arrogant man as king made me want to flee from Karriel. Disaster awaited us during his reign, for sure.

“You had no image, to begin with. Oh, don’t growl!” I laughed at the sound rumbling from him. He planted knuckles into the table, continuing to glare at me. “You should hear what the people say about you. You’ve ruined your image yourself and you’ve continued to do so for years without any help.”

The laughter in his eyes vanished. I hit a nerve. I could see it from the gritting of his teeth. I hit a nerve and it made me want to raise my head and scream for joy. Now he knew how it felt to be talked down at.

“Shut up, Ariana. You’re starting to get on my nerves.” Unlike him, I didn’t shut up. He would listen and I would speak. Whether I got on his nerves or not was his business.

“You don’t need help with that, Zion. You should be glad that there’s something you’re good at, at least. Being an asshole and making people worry about being under your rule.” He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. I was on a roll and I would not stop until I got at least half the things on my chest off.

“If you want this engagement to end so badly, then call it off yourself. Forget your image. You don’t have a good one anyway. But know that I am not calling it off.“ And I wouldn’t because it wasn’t mine to call off in the first place, no matter how much I wanted to. How much I wished to. “Oh wait, you can’t call it off, can you? You’re twenty-seven and without a mate. How will you become Alpha? Who will make you king? Maybe you’ve convinced yourself you are the ultimate prize, but you’re not. This engagement is for you. If anyone is getting the short end of the stick here, it’s me.” The more I spoke, the darker the red of his eyes got. The colder the air became. The more the guards paced.

“You’re too full of yourself for someone that needs me to get to the throne. Yes, Zion. I said it. You need me. I don’t need you. Heck, I don’t even want you. You need to stop behaving like you have the world in your hands when your throne isn’t even certain!”

He flew up at that. He gripped the edges of the table with quivering hands and in a blink of an eye, he hefted it off the ground and flung it against a wall. I flinched, feeling my bravado drain.

“And that is why you need me. To repair your image that’s as broken as that table you just hauled.”

“Shut. Up.” I swallowed, taking a step away. The only barrier between us lay splinted behind me. I felt bare. “How dare you speak to me like that? Do you know –“

“Do I know what? Who you are? What you can do? Are you going to whip me Zion, is that it?” I felt my anger return.

Do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do? And Xavier’s personal favourite, Do you know how fast I can ruin your life?

I swallowed down bile. One learns to ignore pain but it doesn’t mean it goes away. I hated being whipped. I had gotten used to seeing my Alpha draw his belt, gotten used to the feel of the leather on my bare back. I had mastered the art of leaving my body for the torture while my mind drifted on another plane but the pain remained hours after that.

“W – whip you?” His mouth feel open and I realized my mistake. Who would whip the Princess? “What –“

“Forget it, Zion. If you hate me enough, forget your image and let me out of this unjust engagement.” I scoffed as he tried to speak again. “One last thing. Not only are you an awful person. You’re no doubt going to be the worst king Karriel will ever see.” I stepped away when he reached for me.

Because I felt particularly mean and hurt, I flung his words back in his face. For some reason, I couldn’t feel satisfying watching his face fall at them. “You disgust me.”

I flounced away, Callan assigning me guards in the spot as I felt.

The Queen stood at the entrance of the castle waiting for me.