Rose of Deception

Chapter 3

I had to kill one of the old wolf who blackmailed me into telling my true identity to the prince.

“What happened here?” the prince asked, obviously confused.

“Visually the wolf is dead.” I tried to lighten up the tense atmosphere.

“I mean what he is doing here?”

“Promise you won’t tell anybody and help me clean up the mess.” He probably thought I was a crazy women. But he slightly nodded and agreed.

“He came to kill the prince.” Keres did not look amazed. Or he thought I was joking. Either ways he didn’t complain of the lame excuse I made up.

“Now what?”

“We distract the guards and dump his dead body in the back yard.” I tried hard not to laugh from the idea that the prince was going to help me cover up the incident and the expression that played across his face, I put my hand on the mouth. I meant how a person can look stunning while they are confused about the situation.

“Shit.” He cursed when a knock at the door was heard.

“Our prince also uses bad words.” I sounded more amused than I intended.

“Ms. Eloise, concentrate on the matter on hand.”

“Yes prince Keres.”

“Don’t call me that, okay. You make me sound like an old person.” He complained. He was worried that he sounded old but not about a huge bloody body that was on his chamber's floor.

“Keres, is that okay?”

“Yes, and since we are partners in crime at the moment there should be no formality,” He added.

Knowing that I knew his father too well it was kind of weird to hang around with the son of the man who was in love with my sister.

“Don’t let anyone in.” the prince demanded.

“Do me a favor too.”

“Can we concentrate on the matter on hand?” He spoke. The prince opened up his cupboard to pull out the sheet and spread it on the floor.

“Help with this.” I heard him saying.

After the dead animal was beautifully wrapped I wiped the blood from the floor and he washed it off from my dagger. As I let him do some work that had grace in it unlike me who was wiping the dirty blood off the floor? Once the package was out of the window for a later travel I felt him stare at my back.

“You owe me an explanation.” Keres said before he walked to the door and summoned it open. I sighed before walking behind him.

We were told that the king waited for us in the arena for the first practice session.

Arthur kind of looked annoyed to why we both were so late.

“I heard you were in the prince’s chamber.” The king spoke. “You must know it is not somewhere even the girls given the status of princess can go. The royals are to meet with the visitors outside their private life.”

“Yes, your highness.” I claimed. Keres handed me the sword, the same weapon I chose before while the trial with the king.

“Thank you.” I whispered lifting my gaze from the weapon to him, his eyes already watching me.

“Your welcome.” The prince stood for his position and eyed me what was the conversation about with the king but I nodded in a no.

“Put this on.” I gave him the black cloth.

“What for?” Keres asked confused.

“Cover your eyes.”

“What.”

“Believe me.” He didn’t ask any further instead he tied the cloth behind his head. It really brought out his ash blonde hair in contrast with the black clothing.

I did the same for me as I concentrated on the voices around me.

“It difficult to fight this way.” He excused.

“Just follow the routine.” I charged at him. “Concentrate.” I demanded. “Remember I don’t see who my opponent is, your brother lost to me.”

His blade deflected my strike.

He started the conversation with why was the wolf here.

“I told you.”

“You looked hesitant about your words so I thought you might want to tell me the truth.” I was left unarmed.

I opened my eyes to him as he took off the loop off his face.

I looked around and the king was no longer with us, he must have left the moment we started the battle.

“They were after me.”

“Why?” the word hung in the air like it weighed heavy. Why did his words mattered to me?

“Don’t lie to me ever again. I don’t forgive people who speak untruth.” I forgot to blink for a second or two. His words were so raw as if those words were meant to matter.

“I escaped from their prison.” I started. “They are after me.” It was truth, but it may have meant different to him since she was supposed to be the legend. Eloise who might have been captured at some point and then ran away. As for the real me it was the fact.

“You’ll be safe as long as you are here. With me.” His tone sounded so sincere. But the talk of the maids repeated in my head he was good to all, this was a formality he had to practice with his role as the prince. Whatever it was he had mastered that act. He made me believe that those words were supposed to matter to me.

Those words, I had died to hear those. Nobody had ever promised me that I would be kept safe. All that had been done was hurt by my family and people who walked through my life and literally over me like I was some rage to be thrown in to the dustbin.

“By the way you lost.” He smiled.

“That was deception of your tongue. We shall start again.” I put back the blindfold.

This times our blades clanged against each other. He was better at detecting my moves but not fast enough. I drew back from my positon because I sensed there was no more space behind him.

I remembered that the dead body of the wolf was still outside the window to the prince’s room. I aimed to end the practice sooner than I would normally do.

I kicked the back of his knees bringing him to the ground as he barked in pain.

“Don’t use your legs, Eloise.” His blindfold no longer darkening the view. he saw Cora and I turned to share the view.

I knew the look on the princess face. Cora could not believe the prince called me by my name, well the one I told them. Short stay here I knew Keres never called Cora but with the status that joined her with being his fiancée, the status of princess first which represented formality between the livings.

I eyed the prince and I knew he understood what I meant. Passing through the king and Cora I rushed out in the gardens where the window opened of his room. Before I entered I made sure the guards were on rotation around the place. And the king wasn’t here to suspect me.

Reaching there I found no trace of the wrapped body. Worry flooded in me as I went back to him in the arena.

But they seemed to have other plans for me.

“I asked the king for your leave from the princely matters for today and he accepted to our trip to the ice ground.” Cora looped her arm through his as she moved along with her speech and I felt disgusted with that lady. But I had to catch his attention to tell him it was gone. But all he did was gaze behind Cora at the wall since he was longer.

“I still miss my visit here when we were kids and your parents used to take us over there.” Her high pitched voice was so irritating and maybe I forgot to mention before that it pinched worse than a honeybee.

“Prince Keres.” I decided to interject because I could no longer bear the siren of her voice.

And his head turned to me. With the expression of my eyes I told him it was gone and he turned back to Cora. “Ok, we are going.” He said. “I must go and change.” Keres got rid of her arms around his and rushed outside the arena. Me running behind him I stopped when I saw King Arthur leaving his room.

Keres turned around just about the corner. “What? Aren’t you coming?

“Your brother. I must not be seen in this section of the castle.” I said. And with a sealed lip smile he left.

In frustration I went to the ball room and out in the garden for some fresh air, a reminder I was free no longer captured.

“Shh.” I turned to the voice and behind the tree Levi stood in his camouflage clothing.

“I told you to leave.” I said in a hushed voice.

“I was tracking down that old breathen and then I lost him, I came here to tell you and then I saw him dead outside the prince’s window draped in white and I dunked it there on the very spot.”

“You literally buried him just outside the prince’s chamber.”

“Yeah. The ground there you see.” He pointed where he had dug the soil.”

Honestly I could not hold back the laugh. “Good.” I told him and he seemed to be proud of himself.

But what was I supposed to tell the prince about the disappearance of the body of a grown-up wolven body. Levi excused himself from there as I turned around to see Prince Keres.

Wow, what a timing. His expression kind of looked unsettled but he obviously decided not to ask rather he added some other news.

“I and Cora are going for the ice skating near the golden forest and since my sister in law can’t go with us I am taking Blaze with me but he doesn’t want to be a third wheel between us and you are the only person I talk to beside him so I want you to go with us.” He explained.

“My prince you could have said so and your wishes are my command.” I said.

“Your work is not to accompany me to the rides.” He added.

“But maybe my objective is to protect you in your visit.” There was a flicker in his expression as soon as I added the idea.

“It will be cold there.” With that he left me there with the thought that how will I go there without calling for the disaster. My aura might have dimmed away from the years of me not visualizing the full moon but it still provoked the wolven my father appointed to chase me down.

It was weird how this was one land but still here was a warm season and the elves on the other side managed to create an ice land with their nature enchantment.

After Ambra was put to slumber by her children which were the five blood lines humans, elves, snakes and wolven. Humans and elves were at peace so they have been ruling alongside each other for the past century or so.

They laid no divider between their people. While for the other two, snakes were cursed by the Ambra and wolven gifted by their bounded animal by birth.

I headed back to my room for a bath because I still stink of the blood on my body.

I sat in the warm water a reminder of the fresh blood that had ever tainted my hands and splashed on my face. The screams of innocent that had rattled in my ears all a reminder that I was no good person. Even what my father did to me did those people deserved that end.

The scars from my past ached in my flesh, again a reminder that I did not deserve that too in the name of what my sister did.

The knock on the door startled me and I wanted to shout at the person for interrupting.

“Lady Eloise. They all are waiting for you out side.” The maid which came in earlier for the changing of the sheets.

I stepped out of the tub water dripping from my wet body as I made my way to where my clothes were and this was not what I selected for the day.

“What did you do to my clothes?” I nearly shouted.

“Lady Eloise it is cold there so you must not wear those thin clothes.” I front slapped my face to how was I supposed to make her understand that due to my f*****g thick skin I don’t really feel hot or extremely cold.

Either ways I had no excuse to build up so I silently wore the attire since I did not want to walk nude in front of the maid and scare her with the scars that embedded my back and my thigh and the sole of my feet.

It was something else that I loved to wear my backless dresses and how exposed I felt but the dragon tattoo that almost crawled my whole back looked stunning. I didn’t remember craving in to my flesh but maybe it was before I was put in to the torture room so I didn’t clearly remember who I was before. Beside the fact that I only remember that I had a sister who was killed by my father and a mother who kind of died during the war of the blood valley.

I stood in front of the life size mirror and examined my visual. “This is not what I like to wear, I feel like Cora.” I looked disgusting and the maid seemed to adore the coral pink frock that lengthen down my knees a little and white ribbon that came around the waist.

“Who sent this?” I asked the maid.

“Princess Cora.” She said, hesitant.

“Ok.” I needed no more to speak, and what did she think she was. But the fact that she was not the problem here but the fact that if I walk in to the Iceland without the thick clothing they will suspect me and that would ruin the plan. So I let the issue with Cora slide and asked the maid to tie the ribbon from behind and once I asked her to leave I took it off.

Because how could I stand that very girly color that destroys my image to rest upon my body, or I did not have the problem with the color but the stile that was really not mine but instead I looked like I was trying to copy the person I adore.

I did not think more what others will say and instead I fished out the dress I selected before from the cupboard and pulled it upon my body.

Now I looked like myself. I braded my long strands and coiled it on my nape as I fixed in my sharp pins that looked like swords and honestly most of the suitors I killed were the victims of these short blades.

I opened the door and the maid stood there, she did not speak but it looked like she wanted to ask a lot. She guided me to the stables where Keres and Cora stood by the horse.

The prince stroked the mane of his horse while the princess was forever idle.

I was about to step down when a person bumped in to me from behind. He must be in more hurry than I was.

“Watch…”he wanted to help but I did not take his hand and steadied myself by holding the stone railing.

Black hairs and a stand of blonde fell over his forehead, what was this trend to have one color tainted your hair. But I would be lying if I said it did not suit him.

“Are you alright?” There was a sparkle in his heavy blue eyes were storm settling.

“Not that if you would have bumped in to me.” I lamed. “I am fine.”

His hand went to his hair to scratch his nape which I assumed most people did when caught in an awkward situation. “Blaze.” He told me reaching out his hand.

So he was the one Keres told me about, he did not want to become a third wheeler. Good. She liked it.

“Eloise Indra.”

“Oh, you need no introduction.” But it looked like he could tell I led but then he went back to the person he was, don’t care. And it got me sad, the real me did need an introduction I thought. Was there anyone who would look through me and ask me who I really was?

“Of course you do?” I put my hand in his and his hold was firm. Not like the others he shook it the one gesture I really wanted even the prince had gone for a kiss on the back of my hand.

Warmth flooded in as I gazed in to his deep eyes. His aura was old, very old I felt. Maybe I was wrong.

“We should get going we are already late.”

I nodded and we both walked to where the royal family stood.

Keres gaze locked with mine for a second or less before it traced back to Blaze standing behind me.

I left them be as I went to my horse preparing her for the ride. The two of them seemed to talk about me since both of them turned to look at me and back and Cora looked kind of annoyed.