The Red Cloak Girls

Nine: Crimson Ashland

Nine

Crimson Ashland

            It was still early morning when the door to Prince Raoul’s room opened. He had been gone for hours but showed no signs of having been tired. He saw the porridge spilled on the floor and looked up at me. “What happened?” he asked.

            “I refused to eat,” I said, “it was my moment of protest.”

            “Ah,” he said, “Renia can’t have been too happy about that.”

            “I don’t know, and I don’t care. She ran away.” I scowled at him. “Is this the moment where you drag me to your bed?”

            He shook his head. “I am a wolf, not a monster. I won’t ever force you to do something that you don’t want to do. Besides, when I take you, it will be because you are begging for it.” He smirked, and I found myself blushing despite not wanting to. He was royal, and effortlessly charming, and I hated him for it. I wanted to stay filled with rage. Rage at him not respecting my wishes, and rage at him for existing. “I’m not going to hurt you, Crimson. All I want to do is love you.”

            “If that were true, you wouldn’t have forced me here,” I said.

            He stepped forward, and I stepped back, not knowing what he was going to do. I knew he had said that he wouldn’t hurt me. But he was a werewolf. All I knew about the wolves was that they took girls. I had every reason to fear him. “You’re right,” he said, “I shouldn’t have forced you here.”

            I blinked. “What?”

            “I’ve wanted you since the first day that I saw that you in the village. I was so frustrated when I learned that you were younger than me. I had to do the right thing, I had to wait until you were eighteen, but you were only fifteen. All I wanted to do the first moment that I saw you was to take you there, in the village square but I couldn’t.”

            I blushed. “You…. you were attracted to me, even then? But you…. you saw me coughing. You saw the blood.”

            “I didn’t care about any of that,” he told me, “all I saw was my mate in front of me, in pain. You were beautiful, you were hurt, and I wanted to love you and make you feel better. I wanted to do that as soon as I possibly could which was why I wanted you right away when I saw you today. I didn’t handle things as well as I should have.”

            I crossed my arms over my chest and jutted my chin out. “No. You didn’t handle things as well as you should have.”

            He cleared his throat. “As an apology, I would like to take you back to the village. I would like to court you from your home, on your own terms.”

            I tilted my head to the side. “Are you…are you serious?” I asked. “Because I thought that The Mating Season had to take place here, in Castle Lupine. I don’t recall a girl ever being courted in her own home.”

            “It’s not common, but it has happened,” said Raoul, “I should very much like to court you from Castle Lupine. But I understand that your situation is difficult. I will do whatever you ask of me, Crimson. I am yours.”

            I coughed. Blood came up, and it went all over my dress. He walked over, and he took a handkerchief from within the folds of his cloak.

            “Might I?” he asked.

            I nodded, and he started wiping away the blood from my dress. His fingers grazed my breasts. It was the first time that a man had even come close to touching me intimately. I shivered at his touch. “Crimson,” he growled, and I watched as his eyes flashed purple. His wolf was showing. He jerked away, as if he knew what had happened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Forgive me, the wolf….”

            “The wolf what?” I asked.

            “The wolf likes the smell of your blood,” he told me, “and I do to.” His grey eyes flashed purple again, his wolf awakening with desire, in a way that left me tingling between my thighs as he stood there towering over me.

            I reached out, and I stroked his face. “No one has ever looked at me like that when I cough. Usually, they look away.”

            “I would never look away,” he told me, “I want to see every, single, part of you. Even the parts that might seem hard.”

            I thought about his offer, to return to the village, and let him court me from there. But if he could appreciate the worst of me, I could appreciate the worst of him. “I want a compromise,” I said.

            “A comprise?” his face perked up.

            “One day a month, you will let me return to the village. That way, I can get the medicine that my Grandmother makes me for my illness. You will come for me at the end of the day. Then, once The Mating Season is over, if I choose you…. you will continue to let me do the same, so that I can take care of myself.”

            He said nothing for a while, before he finally nodded. “One day in the village. I accept.”

            I pulled my hand away from his face, and he stared hard at me. “Are you alright?” I asked.

            He took a breath. “To be completely honest, I am fighting the urge to kiss you at this very moment.”

            “I am not ready for kissing,” I said, “but keep on trying. You never know when I might be ready.”

            “I will,” he murmured, “would you like to see the castle?”

            “I would love to see the castle,” I replied.

            “Then, follow me, Princess,” he reached out to take my hand, and led me from the room, into his world.