My Cursed Alpha Prince

CHAPTER 11

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The only sight which brought Caspian any relief was the trees finally ending, and the river flowing in front of him. Even though he didn’t show it, relief flooded through his veins and he made a mental note that on the way back, they would surely not be going through the forest. He would rather take the longer road around the forest, even though it would add an extra three days to their journey. To him, it was worth it as long as he wouldn’t have to worry about meeting that horrifying figure again.

“Water the horses,” he told his men. “We’re only stopping for a few moments.”

As he pulled his own horse away, he was well aware of the fact that Jurien was following closely behind him. He still wanted to talk about what happened at the campsite, but Caspian was not in the mood to talk about it. The creatures words were still in his mind, and he couldn’t forget everything it had told him. Even now, he couldn’t stop himself from imagining a world where all the vampires were dead, and their kingdom was claimed by Xania. It would be spectacular, and the world would be a much better place without them. Everything would be perfect, and he wouldn’t have to constantly worry that someone was lurking in the shadows and watching him. He wouldn’t live his life constantly looking over his shoulder, worried that Xania’s greatest enemies were trying to find a way to sneak into their kingdom.

But at what cost? If he agreed to the creature’s terms, there was no telling what exactly it wanted to do. Caspian wasn’t a man who would gamble everything to get what he wanted. What if it turned out that the magic of the crown was going to be used to e*****e his people completely? He couldn’t agree to this, no matter how tempting or appealing it might seem.

“Your Grace?” Jurien said behind him, and Caspian drew in a slow breath as he led his horse to the water. He waited until it started to drink before he turned around and face Jurien with a blank expression.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“We need to talk,” Jurien said. “Believe me, this isn’t pleasant for me as well. But I need to know that you’re alright. Please, just tell me what happened last night. I know you’re not someone who’s willing to talk about something he’s not interested in, but I’m your personal guard. And more than that, I’m also your friend. You’ve never kept secrets from me, and I refuse to believe that you’re going to start doing that now. If you wanted to keep secrets from me, you would have started doing that a long time ago. Just tell me what it is, so I’ll know that you’re not losing your mind.”

Caspian looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, and he asked quietly, “Are you suggesting perhaps that I have lost my mind?”

“I would never say that,” Jurien said. “But you’ve been acting strangely. I know this whole wedding is stressful for you, but you mustn’t let yourself get lost in the stress of it all you need to find a way to deal with the entire chaos, and find the silver lining which you haven’t found yet. I’m sure it will make things better.”

Caspian merely shrugged. If Jurien believed that he was acting this way because of the wedding, then he would let him believe that. It was easier than actually admitting what he had seen, because it would only make things much worse. He just needed to keep his mouth shut and forget it ever happened. He didn’t need to let anyone know what happened, and as long as he kept his mouth shut, then the truth would most likely die with him.

“I understand”, he said. “But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine, Jurien. Truth be told, I couldn’t care less about this whole wedding. I just what to get it over with and return to deal with the impending threat of Dalmatia.”

He turned to his horse once again, a clear sign that the conversation was over. Jurien had nothing else to add, so he turned around and walked away, leaving Caspian to his own thoughts. Once he was alone, he was free to think about it, and try to figure out what exactly it was. His first instinct was that it had been a spirit, most likely one of the malevolent ones who wanted nothing more than to hurt innocent people. But the figure had looked too real to be a spirit. His main suspicion was that it was some form of wood sprite, perhaps one of the deformed ones who were said to have tried to steal magic in the dawn of time. They were then cursed and banished by the gods, and they were cast down to the darkest parts of the earth. It would certainly make sense that the creature would be after a magical artefact. It made sense, and Caspian knew better than to make a deal with a wood sprite.

At least everything worked itself out. He hadn’t made any damning deal, and at least he wouldn’t have to see the creature again. He could be comfortable in knowing that he would never have to deal with it ever again.

Or rather, that was what he hoped for.

Once the horses were watered and everything was put in order, they set off for the final stretch of the their journey. Avarel was only a few miles away, and Caspian suddenly felt a sense of dread settling on him for absolutely no reason. All through the morning, he hadn’t bothered to think much about Diana, because his mind had been preoccupied by thoughts of the creature he had dealt with last night. But now that he was faced with the reality of meeting her in a few hours, he suddenly felt nervous.

“No matter,” he whispered to himself. “This will be over soon. And then, she’ll wish she never found herself in this marriage.”

They ploughed forward, and after about an hour’s ride, they began to see the top minarets of the kingdom. Caspian was impressed by the sight of Avarel. He had never been, but he had seen drawings of the kingdom, building in the crevice of two mountains which were so close that they could almost be counted as one. He could just make out the palace at the top of the entire kingdom, a magnificent white structure where his bride was sitting right now and probably waiting anxiously for his arrival.

“f*****g b***h!” he growled under his breath, willing himself not to care about her at all. Diana was nothing. She would never replace the love he had lost, no matter what she tried. He would make sure that she realised this from the onset, to make sure that no one would hold him accountable when she did something stupid. Because he was sure that she would do something stupid. And when that happened, he would have to deal with her in the appropriate manner.

An idea suddenly struck him, and he decided to communicate it with Jurien to gauge his reaction. The latter was not so keen on the idea, but he could tell that Caspian was hellbent on doing it. So he agreed, and after a quick stop, the plan was put into place. It left the other men quite bewildered, but Caspian was feeling good about this. It would give him the opportunity to realise what his future bride was all about, and he would be able to know more about her and her people without the people’s scrutiny on him.

The plan was simple. He and Jurien would exchange places when they arrived at Avarel, and they would let everyone believe that Jurien was the prince, and Caspian was just another member of his escorts. He would pretend to the Princess that he was just another common servant, just to see what the truth of the situation was. They would exchange their clothes, and Caspian would do everything he could to make everyone believe that he wasn’t the prince.

When night fell, they camped on the sand dunes which surrounded the kingdom. Caspian sat alone and watched the palace which was still far away, and he found himself wondering what she was doing right now. He wondered if she had thought about him today, and what her opinion of him was.

Whatever she thought she knew, she was about to have her mind blown when everything played out.

“Are you sure it’s going to work?” Jurien said as he joined him, sitting on the sand dune as well. “Do you think we can pull it off?”

“I’m certain it will work,” Caspian said. “It has to. It won’t be for long. Just for the period of us staying in Avarel. And when we’re done, we can switch back and no one will ever know any better.”

“I’m just worried that someone will figure us out, and it’ll look like this marriage isn’t being taken seriously.”

“Humans only see what they want to see, Jurien,” he said. “They will never pause to think about it too much. Besides, no one knows what I’m supposed to look like. All you need to do is act with confidence, and pretend you’re a prince. That shouldn’t be too hard, since you’ve been watching me since we were kids.”

He was going to argue, but Caspian cut him off and said, “Tell me about Avarel’s military. How good are they?”

“Surprisingly mediocre,” Jurien said. “For a kingdom with over a million people, you would think that every inch is being patrolled. But their internal forces are very weak, as well as their soldiers. If they were attacked, then they would simply hide behind their walls and wait it out. But they wouldn’t dare to meet anyone in open combat.”

“And this union will grant them access to our military as well?” Caspian asked.

“Only when they need it,” he said. “We will not be deploying soldiers to patrol their streets and make sure no one commits an offence. We will simply strengthen our ties with them. And if the day should come where they would need us, we will respond immediately.”

Caspian was amused by that. He supposed Avarel would need the protection, but Xania would not be getting much in return. All they would be getting was the reassurance that their future king had married a human girl, and he had strengthened their ties with Avarel. When he thought about it careful, Xania would be the ones losing more than gaining anything.

Maybe he could take this opportunity to sneak into the city even before Jurien and the others arrived. He would need to see what their forces were like, and the only way to do that was to disguise as a common man. Instead of sitting here and waiting for the morning where he would get to enter the city with Jurien and the others, he could go ahead and sneak into the city before they got there.

“Fetch me a cloak,” he said. “And ready my horse.”

“What now?” Jurien asked.

Caspian turned to face him with a sharp gaze, as Jurien had never spoken to him that way before. The latter quickly apologised for his tone, and he hurried off to do what Caspian told him to do. Once he returned with the horse and the cloak, Caspian threw the cloak over himself and he climbed into his saddle.

“I’ll be waiting in the crowd when you arrive tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll be as close to the palace as I can manage. Keep an eye out, and you can inform the guards that I am one of your escorts who got hopelessly lost.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re not planning something drastic,” he said.

“It’s the exact opposite of that,” Caspian said. “I’m making my own observations about my future bride and the kingdom we will be uniting with. I would argue that this is the most important thing which no one bothered to do.”

He spurred the horse forward, and he took off in a cloud of sand. Avarel was within view, and he didn’t know when he held his breath as he got closer. Something about the kingdom felt magical, and he knew, deep down, that no matter what happened, he would never be the same when he left the kingdom soon.

And indeed, that would be the case.

But in more ways than one.

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