The Wolf-Prince of Belfaire

Darkness and dark thoughts...

Royal Palace, Kingdom of Mari

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It was already two days since the Prince of Belfaire came to the palace as my father’s guest with the intention of getting married to me and yet, I had only seen the man once since he had arrived. He had spent two days in my father’s palace already and I kept dodging and avoiding him since our first meeting. I had my reasons, but I did not understand them.

The way he made me feel that day even with my Father and brother standing next to us, and the things he made me think about, I had not forgotten them yet and I could not stop myself from thinking about him. No man had ever affected me so much, we were to be married in few months and were meant to become friends or at the least acquaintances during this visit but had only locked eyes or spoken to each other just once in the two days he had slept in the guest rooms of the palace, and that was on the very first day when I stubbornly introduced myself to him in the royal court room. Since then we had remained strangers.

The Prince of Belfaire had been a guest in the royal palace for two days already and had only seen me on the day he arrived. Since then the decision to remain in my room and have my meals separately had surprised my father and everyone else in the palace.

My father must have thought I already hated the Prince too much to share a meal with him, my brother must have thought I just couldn’t stand the man because of the stories about him, the maids who were surprised by what I was doing also asked me the same questions. I was the only one who knew the truth and knew what was really going on. I needed to stay away from the man if I wanted to stop myself from doing anything wild and stupid.

I could not stop thinking about the long silver hair touching his shoulders or the blue eyes that seemed so calm and yet so dangerous, even the way his armor fit his body had looked different to how I had ever seen armor on any other Knight before. I had even had crazy dreams about the man since the day I met him. It was clear to me after the first day that staying as far away from the wolf-prince of Belfaire was the only way I could keep my thoughts under control, there was something about the man that I could not yet understand or explain.

I sat there late at night on the edge of my bed, unable to sleep and yet unable to put my thoughts together. I had been that way for hours and unsure of the reason why, but I was sure everyone else in the palace was asleep already, I couldn’t get myself to sleep yet, feeling too anxious and excited to go to bed which was very strange because I had been sleeping perfectly well up till that day when I saw those cold blue eyes. It was then, still lost in scattered thoughts that I heard a light knock on the door. It had to be my imagination, no one would come to my room so late at night, not even my father, it was against the rule to visit a single lady in Mari hours after dinner time when everywhere had become quiet and the city had gone dark.

I sat there listening and waiting to hear the knock again, but there was nothing. The laughter that came from me reflexively was a soft one as I realized my mind had been playing tricks on me ever since that day I met that terribly good-looking man who was to be my husband. I stopped laughing with a jolt of surprise when I heard the knock at the door again, this time much more clearly and twice in quick succession. Now there was no denying it, no confusions, there had to be someone at my door.

Getting off my bed was easy, walking to the door as quickly as my feet could carry me was also easy even as my breathing got deeper. I stood at the door and with one sharp breath, I turned the key and pulled the door open. I looked out half expecting to see my father and half expecting to see my future husband standing before me, but there was no one there. I was relieved but disappointed as well. A weak smile crossed my face as I closed the door behind me and turned the lock close again, it would be disastrous if I were to meet Prince Tristane now when I couldn’t control my own actions or thoughts due to the lack of sleep I had endured for days since his arrival. I made my way back to my bed slowly again when I heard the knock come again as clearly as before, this time however I noticed something weird.

The knock had not come from the room door but from the door leading to the balcony.

It was impossible because my room was in one of the palace’s tallest towers which made it impossible for anyone to reach the balcony from outside. They would have to climb up the tower to reach the balcony from outside and no one had ever done that. I rushed to the door and swung it open, I was not scared in that moment, just surprised and excited because I had a feeling I knew who the person at the door would be. I stood there looking into his blue eyes that glimmered in the moonlight shining down on us.

...

Why was Prince Tristane at my balcony door so late in the night and how had he gotten there?

Those were the questions on my mind as I stood there, eyes locked on the dashing man as my mind began wandering and thinking of all possible reasons why he had come to see me so late at night.

“Princess Raya, will you invite me inside? Standing at your balcony all night was not my plan.” He said with a slow smile that brought me out of my thoughts instantly.

“Please come in” I said stepping aside so he could come in. He strode into the room like he owned the place, with the same languid movement that showed he wasn’t bothered about being in my room this late even though we both knew he could be executed if anyone found out about this, there was something different about him that no other man I met seemed to have, I was yet to know what it was but I could sense it in everything he did and every word he spoke. I was happy to see him but my sense of reason had returned to me and I needed to know exactly what brought the man to my bed chamber so late in the night.

He stood there looking around the room with that aura of calmness and confidence he always oozed. He was not in armor this time but in a lavender shirt and black trousers that made him even more attractive and as he turned to face me, I could see that his silver hair was packed in a bun this time so it wouldn’t fall to his shoulders and yet I could not stop myself from standing there, staring at him while he looked around the room.

The man stood there admiring the regal nature of the room while I stood there admiring the obviously controlled wildness of the man.

“Your majesty, how did you get to my balcony? It is meant to be impossible for anyone to do that.” I asked abruptly as I snapped out of his charm and asked the first question that came to mind.

“Are you worried about me doing something risky that puts me in danger, or are you just curious about how I got there?” he said. He responded to my question with another question which did not really surprise me, he looked like the type to have witty replies to everything. That smirk on his face as I shook my head at him made it very clear.

“I just want to know how you managed to do it.” I said feigning disinterest, it was a lie but he didn’t know that.

“Firstly, I want to be able to call you by your name Raya because I really like it, so please call me Tristane, we will be married soon so I think we can drop the formalities.” He said with a shrug of his wide shoulders. “Secondly, to answer your question, I just climbed up the tower to get to your balcony because I wanted to see you without anyone finding out, it was a dangerous thing to do, but now that I am here I have no regrets. This was the only way to do it. Lastly, I hope I didn’t frighten you?” he asked while looking into my eyes. It felt like he could stare into my soul with those bright eyes he had.

“I was not frightened and neither was I worried, I am just curious about how you got there.” I said trying to sound convincing.

“So you are not curious about my reason for being here?” he asked taking a step towards me and stopping to get my reply.

“I have a feeling you are going to tell me why you came here to see me, so there’s no need for me to be curious about that.” I said taking a step towards him and stopping as well. He was to be my future husband and yet this was going to be our very first private conversation ever even after being in the palace for days.

“One last question before I tell what I came here to do.” He said without breaking our eye contact. “Why have you been avoiding me since we met for the very first time in the court room?” he asked directly while still looking at me to see my reaction.

Immediately he asked the question, I lost all my will to resist the man. I no longer wanted to avoid him, I wanted to do the opposite and find out what exactly was going on with me since I saw him, the only way to do that was to be as direct and as confident as the man himself. So I was going to do just that.....

I thought about his question for a few seconds and decided to give him the most honest answer that I had.

I walked towards him quickly so my mind and body had no time to interrupt me. I closed the distance between us and stood right in front of him looking up into his eyes as he towered above me. It didn’t matter to me, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I was going to do it right there and in that very moment.

I got on the tip of my toes while placing my hands around his strong shoulders for support, I leaned in without thinking about what I was about to do and placed my lips quickly against his.

His lips opened up to mine immediately they made contact and he took over from that moment as though he had been waiting for me to kiss him from the very first second our eyes locked some days ago. He kissed me deeply, letting his tongue explore as wildly and as passionately as I felt, going on and on till we both ran out of breath and he broke off the connection so we could both breathe. It was all the confirmation I needed from him, I knew then that he wanted me as well. It was a scary feeling and one I had never experienced before, but I was not prepared to stop there.

“Why did you just kiss me?” he asked clearly stunned by my bold move, I suddenly felt the blood rush to my cheeks as the gravity of what I had just done finally dawned on me, but it was too late for me to back down now so I leaned in again and this time placed a gentle peck on his cheek. I stepped back from him and let my hands fall to the side while still looking straight into his eyes with my head held high. I was a Princess and I was not going to get shy or embarrassed by something I had no control over, I was going to be direct.

“You asked me why I had been avoiding you. That kiss was my answer. I have not been able to stop thinking about you or dreaming about you or wanting to touch you from the first moment I saw you up till now. Keeping my distance from you was the only way I could control myself and now you came to my room in the middle of the night. Why are you here? Why are you making it so difficult to not do something wrong Tristane?” I asked being as honest and direct as I felt.

I stood there watching him, he stood there looking at me but saying absolutely nothing.

Then he let out a strange sound that sounded like a growl and the blue in his eyes seemed to shine now even more brightly than the dim candles on the far side of the room. His voice was now a low and hoarse growl when he spoke, it was almost inaudible but I heard his words.

“If you wanted to kiss me from the very beginning, you should have done that. I have wanted you in my arms from that very moment. I haven’t been able to sleep Raya, I will be leaving for my Kingdom tomorrow, but there is something I have to be sure of before I go, if you let me kiss you again then I won’t be able to stop and I won’t be able to wait to take you home with me.” He said while taking a single step forward and closing the distance between us again. “I want you, I have wanted you badly from the moment I smelled the scent of roses from you in the courtroom.” He said placing his hand on the side of my face as his fingers caressed my neck and moved through my hair. “What do you want me to do now?” he asked letting out another low growl and as I looked into his eyes now he had a hunger in his eyes. Like that of a wild animal struggling to keep control and not go wild.

There was something extraordinary about the man that should have made me scared, but all I cared about was the way he looked at me like I was everything he wanted in the world. I let go of all sensible reasoning and gave him an answer that I never expected would ever leave my lips. “Tristane, if u want me,” I paused to place my palms flat against his chest.

I got on my toes again and leaned into him so my lips were close to his ear, then I whispered my honest answer to him. “If you want me, then you can take me.”

......

Now that I stood there remembering every perfect detail of what had happened between us from the very first moment we met, I was sure now that he had planned it all from the beginning...

he had planned to use me and betray me from the very first moment he saw me standing next to my father that day.

I still felt the fear from earlier when I heard that howl and still had that chill running down my spine, but I knew I had to take another step forward....

I had to see his betrayal with my own eyes, so I made up my mind and took a step forward. After the first step, I remembered how to walk and kept moving forward as quickly as I could.