The Accidental Princess

6. Black Night

    No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t fall asleep. Jacob’s pained expression was playing over and over in my mind. It felt wrong to have left him. I had laid in bed at a quarter to midnight. When I rolled over, feeling like giving up, it was a little after one. There was no other option. I had to get up and check on the prince.

    I pulled on a sweater and quietly crept back to Jacob’s room. A few feet away from his door, I could hear him groaning in agony. It stopped me in my tracks for a moment. I couldn’t imagine what kind of pain he was in. My shoulder was throbbing from my one lashing, so his pain must’ve been a hundred times worse than mine. I couldn’t take listening to him anymore, so I walked up and knocked quietly on his door.

    There was no sound for a long moment. In fact, it seemed like the prince was stifling his groans. Then, there came footsteps. They were slow and heavy like Jacob was dragging his feet. Then, the door opened, and he poked his head out. If he was surprised to see me, the prince didn’t show it. Instead, he just stared at me with lifeless brown eyes, combing a hand through his tangled hair.

    “Bri.” He whispered. “What is it?”

    “Are you okay?” I asked softly.

    I expected him to say what he’d been saying all night. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” But, instead, he just dropped his head and avoided my eyes. I could see his hand trembling on the door. Before I could think, I reached out and touched my hand to his arm. His eyes slowly rolled up to meet mine again. Then, he did the unexpected. Jacob stepped back and motioned for me to come in.

    I stepped into the room, and the prince closed the door behind me. The bedroom was dark like it had been before, save for a candle flickering on the nightstand. It smelled of honey, and I found it pleasant. Jacob walked past me and sat on the bed, tucking his long legs underneath him. Now that I was here, I had no idea what to say. The prince looked exhausted, but I could tell that sleep had been evading him as well.

    “Did you take some painkillers?” I asked quietly.

    Jacob forced a glare that he didn’t seem to have the energy to keep up. Even in the dark, I could tell his eyelids were heavy. “Of course, I did. This isn’t the first time this has happened, Bri.”

    I glared back. “I was just being nice. No need to be rude.”

    He sighed. “Right. Sorry.”

    I huffed. “Is it so hard to accept help?”

    Jacob rolled his eyes, then looked up to meet my eyes again. “Yes. I told you already. Royalty is supposed to be perfect at all times. This is how I was raised.”

    “Rules, regulations, and being cold to everyone and everything,” I replied bitterly. “Right?”

    He blinked at me for a moment. “I know that you don’t like me very much. The feeling is mutual, I assure you. But, we’re in this together now. So, we have to try to be civil.”

    I decided to let it go for tonight. There would be plenty of fights in our future, I was sure of it. I sighed, walking over to sit on the bed next to Jacob. I swung my bare feet back and forth, trying to find the words to say. The prince watched my feet swing, seeming content to say nothing at all. I wondered for the life of me what he could possibly be thinking. Jacob was so hard to read sometimes. Finally, I sighed.

    “Will we really have to get married?” I asked quietly.

    Jacob didn’t answer for a long moment. “I’m not sure. Perhaps there is a loophole, a way out. But, this kind of thing has never happened in my lifetime. So, I don’t know.”

    We stayed silent for a long moment once more. Some part of me always expected silence between us to be awkward, but it wasn’t. However, it wasn’t entirely comfortable either. I knew there was a possibility it would become comfortable, maybe sometime down the line. If we actually did end up getting married, it would have to be. Then, a strange thought plopped itself down in the front of my brain. It was something I’d never considered before, so I turned to face Jacob.

    “Jacob?” I asked.

    “Hm?” He didn’t even look at me when he responded.

    “Have you ever been in love?” I asked.

    The prince slowly turned to me. “Love?”

    I nodded. “Yeah.”

    He sounded confused when he had repeated the word back to me, but I couldn’t understand why. Love was a simple concept. Even children could understand it. So, why was a grown man looking at me like I was speaking a foreign language? The silence as I waited for Jacob to respond this time was definitely awkward. Finally, he cleared his throat and turned away.

    “No.” He finally answered. “I’ve never been in love. So why do you ask such a strange question?”

    I frowned. “It’s not a strange question. We might be getting married someday. So, it would be good if we… um… get to know each other better.”

    He didn’t answer. Instead, we both went back to staring at the wall. It had to be nearly two now. Jacob shifted next to me, pushed himself further back onto the bed. I looked at him over my shoulder. He looked so tired. Finally, he spoke up.

    “Lay with me tonight, Bri.” The prince whispered.

    My eyes widened. “Jacob…”

    He shook his head. “No, no. That’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “Jason and Jade used to lay with me whenever this happened. They’d tell me stories, talk, and read to me. It always made me feel better. So, lay with me, and let’s talk until we fall asleep.”

    I only needed to consider his request for a moment. Jacob needed comfort right now, and I was the only one around to give it. So, I climbed up onto the bed, putting my back against the headboard and tucking my feet under the blanket. Instead of crawling under the covers and laying next to me, the prince rolled onto his stomach and put his head in my lap. I couldn’t move for a long moment from the shock. His breath was warm on my thigh through the blanket. In fact, his entire body warmed mine instantly. How could someone so skinny make so much heat? I bet he didn’t even get cold in winter.

    As if he could read my mind, Jacob started speaking. “At least, if we do get married, I can keep you warm at night.” He looked up at me. “You’re shivering.”

    I laughed. “Maybe because your body heat is drastically different from the temperature of the room.” I rubbed my arms. “Also, I’m not used to the cold yet. Paelford is always warm.”

    Jacob chuckled, laying his head back down on my leg. For a moment, it was awkward between us. I had no idea what to do with my hands. Finally, I decided to take a chance and test if Jacob was opening up to me. I started running my right hand through his thick brown hair. He didn’t protest like I expected him to. Instead, he let out a soft sigh, and I watched his eyes close.

    “Can I ask you something?” I whispered. He nodded. “Who’s Jason?”

    Jacob sighed and was silent for a long time. “He’s my brother. He was my brother. We were triplets, you see. But, he died in battle two years ago.”

    “Oh.” I felt the air being sucked out of my lungs. “I’m so sorry, Jacob.” When he didn’t answer, I continued. “My brother died, too. It was about the same time and in battle.” Jacob shifted to look up at me as I wiped a rogue tear from my cheek. “That stupid war took too much from everybody.”

    “How strange. We have more in common than I thought.” He whispered, seeming far away. “I’m sorry for your loss, Bri.”

    He laid back down. We talked quietly back and forth for maybe another or so about our families and cultural differences. Paelford and Arvendon seemed similar in so many ways. No wonder our countries were the closest allies of the treaty. It was early in the morning when I whispered something and received no answer. I looked down and found that Jacob had fallen asleep. I smiled, leaning my head back against the headboard. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off.

    A knock on the door woke me up sometime later. When I opened my eyes, I found the sun had risen. How long had I been asleep? Another knock sounded, and it made Jacob stir. I watched his face for a moment, but he didn’t wake up. I pulled myself gently out from underneath him and started towards the door.

    Opening it, I found Jade standing there. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. Looking down, I discovered that my pajamas were less than appropriate. I had thrown a sweater on over my tank top and shorts, but you couldn’t tell that I was wearing anything underneath it at all. I let out a laugh, scratching my head.

    “It’s not what it looks like,” I whispered.

    Princess Jade laughed too. “If you say so.” Then, her smile faded. “Where’s my brother? It’s time for breakfast. You should come down, too.”

    She didn’t know what had happened, it seemed. I looked over my shoulder at the sleeping Jacob. He was still lying on his stomach, and I could tell he hadn’t even thought about waking up. I turned back to Jade. Her face had darkened. She knew something was wrong now, but not what.

    “Father has a press conference in a couple hours.” She whispered. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?” I didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. “Did they hurt him?”

    I stared at her for a moment, then nodded. She let out a heavy sigh, looking over my shoulder into the dark bedroom. Tears filled her eyes, but I didn’t know how to comfort her. Before I could say anything, she grabbed my hands.

    “Bri, I want to thank you for being with him.” She whispered. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon. It doesn’t matter right now. I’ll tell Tanner to bring breakfast up for you both. Continue taking care of him.”

    She planted kisses on both of my hands. The princess turned and ran off down the hall. I walked back into the room, closing the door behind me. Jacob was still asleep on the far side of the bed. I crawled into bed next to him, laying on top of the covers. That was when the prince decided to open his eyes. We locked eyes for a long moment before he sighed.

    “I’m hungry.” He whispered.

    I laughed. “Tanner will bring us some food soon.”

    He sat up. Now that it wasn’t dark, I could see the lashes all over his chest and back. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I didn’t. I knew it would hurt. In the low light of the morning, I could see more of the white scars that decorated his body. He was right. He would have more scars to show for this incident of ours. His eyes watched my face for a moment, then drifted further down to my shoulder.

    “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

    I smiled, sitting up. “Why are you sorry? You should see your chest.”

    He glanced down at himself, then returned his eyes to me. “Thank you for being here for me last night.”

   I nodded. “Of course.”

    There was a knock on the door once more. I got up to answer it. I heard Jacob get up and walk elsewhere in the room. I pulled the door open, finding Tanner. He beamed at me. Jacob’s steward was carrying a tray that had two plates of breakfast on them. I let him in, and he flicked on the main light of the bedroom. When I turned around, Jacob came back into the room and pulling on a button-up shirt. He left it undone, and I wondered why he pulled it on in the first place. I was sure Tanner had seen him shirtless before, and there was no way he was uncomfortable with me seeing him without a shirt.

    The prince motioned for his steward to leave the room. Tanner bowed to both of us and left quietly. Jacob started eating as soon as he sat down. I stared at him for a moment. He caught my stare almost immediately. He stopped eating, sitting straight up and clearing his throat.

    “What is it?” The prince asked. “Eat.”

    “I thought your family always prayed before eating,” I whispered, picking up my fork.

    He turned away, starting to eat once more. “I have no love for the church. I don’t care for religion. I pray with my family because I have to."

    “What is it?” The prince asked. “Eat.”

    “I thought your family always prayed before eating,” I whispered, picking up my fork.

    He turned away, starting to eat once more. “I have no love for the church. I don’t care for religion. I pray with my family because I have to.”

    I didn’t argue. It made sense. After all that the church had put him through last night and times before then that I didn’t know about, I could understand. So, I turned to my breakfast. We ate in silence.