The Exiled Prince and His Siren

Chapter 5

True to Arissa’s words, Violetta tossed and turned the entire night, shivering from the cold only she could feel. She would wake up every now and then, and through blurry eyes, she would see a figure covering her with another layer of blankets before she feels something damp dab at her face. She would fall into sleep right after every time.

And for a split second every time she wakes, she gets a slight awareness of the heaviness of her body. She can barely even hold her head up before it lolls back down and darkness takes over once again. She’s absolutely exhausted and her body is practically screaming it at her.

The next morning was a lot friendlier than the night before. She still had to peel her eyes open but her head didn’t feel as heavy anymore. Apparently she needed that rest more than anything. There was a weight on her and she looked down to see layers of blanket on top of her. She can feel the beginning of a sweat coming on and so she pulled herself up to sit on the bed, the blankets falling off of her in the process.

She scanned the room she was in. It was spacious and screamed luxury. Everything inside seemed to be worth a trunk of gold bars or more. There was a floor to ceiling curtain on the side of the room where she could see streams of light escaping from the where one curtain ended and the other began. She rummaged through her memories to remember how she came to be in this place, and the woman’s face from the forest comes to mind. She led her here after introducing herself. Arissa was her name, she remembers.

A knock came from the wooden double doors and the very person she was just thinking about walks in.  Arissa sauntered into room, almost gliding and gave her a smile. The sorceress took in her wide-eyed expression and sighed internally in understanding.

“Good, you’re awake. I brought clothes for you last night. They’re in the closet.  Why don’t you go ahead and bathe then come join us for breakfast.” She said.

Violetta replied with a small nod of her head before mindlessly getting off the bed. Arissa observed the girl and concluded she might still be a little disoriented from the night of fatigue. She kept her amusement to herself when the girl passed by her and walked into the bathroom. She let out an audible sigh and made her way out the room.

As she walked down the long hallway, she readied her mind for the explanation she will have to narrate to the two people that will need to hear it the most.

Violetta stood in the midst of a bathroom as wide as the room she was in. It was equally decadent and the smell wafting through appeased her senses like freshly baked bread. Her feet made contact with the plush carpet, making her almost want to roll down and lie in it. She pushed down the urge and continued to walk into the room.

The whole of the bathroom was illuminated by daylight streaming through the glass from the ceiling. Mirrors covered both walls on either side. The sight of her reflection making her feel slightly self-conscious. They would morph as she walked, causing a bit of apprehension to rise within her. Yet everything melted away when she saw the bathtub on the other side. The entirety of it was glass and gold that covered it from the sides and snaked into the middle to intertwine like vines. Violetta wasted no time in discarding the clothes she was wearing and submerged into the water.

Her eyes immediately closed in contentment, a small smile on her face. The water might have been her enemy as she got here, but it was definitely her friend today.

Violetta slipped out of the room after she got ready. She came face to a very long hallway with doors on either side. She realized the room she was in was the very last before the hall ended with a windowless wall. She doesn’t remember getting from the foyer to the room at all but she could very well deduce the sorceress must have did that herself.

Nerves crept up her stomach the more steps she took into the hallway. The dark carpet was plush beneath her feet and would collapse softly with every step. It felt like velvet. She came out of the hallway into a wide staircase. The same intricate design of gold she saw on the tub earlier on were also on the sides, only this time, a crest was in the middle where the vines would meet.

The steps seemed to go on forever, and she took one at a time to delay facing what she knows is waiting for her when she gets down – reality. She would rather like to continue getting lost in this dark yet decadent palace.

The floor was cold when she reached the final step. The change of atmosphere makes her want to run up the steps and never turn back. Although the room felt familiar to her. She reckons this must be where she sat with the sorceress before she lost consciousness. The room was all four corners with two double doors across from the steps.

The walls were the color of twilight and held a sheen from where the light would cross it. The ceiling was glass divided into four and it was the only source of light, highlighting the emptiness of the room despite the two black settees, separated by an asymmetrical glass table with the same gold intricacy, facing each other in the center of the room.

As her eyes were busy studying the room, the double doors suddenly opened and revealed a colossal of a man dressed like how the entire palace would look like had it been a person. Her gaze settled on him and studied him the same way she looked at the room. He didn’t move from where he stood in the threshold of the room, and like her, his eyes were fixed on nothing else but her.

She scanned his face and instantly she thought he was otherworldly beautiful. His face was sculpted with deep set eyes, a sharp jawline, a perfectly pointed nose, and chiseled cheekbones. His wide eyes were mahogany and curtained by thick, long lashes. Above it, sat equally thick and naturally formed brows that were furrowed slightly, she reckons, from curiosity. His hair fell over them in slight curls that reached the top of his ears but were short enough to reach his nape. The color was dark enough to resemble charcoal but she bets nothing less than velvet soft.

She was across from him but she could tell he would tower over her small frame. Broad shoulders and long legs added to his burly physicality, but that aside, his presence easily filled the room. There’s this sense of power oozing off of him that she can’t quite place. She’s felt it once.

They must be a comical sight standing on separate sides of the room just staring at each other shamelessly.

“Breakfast is ready. Follow me.” His deep voice broke through her train of thought. She must have been imagining it but it reverberated through the walls and floor to the point she could feel it beneath her feet.

He turned his back without waiting for her reply and paused a second more before continuing to walk out. Violetta quickly followed after him, crossing the room in rushed strides only to reach the door and see there were more steps in front of her.

The man was a few steps ahead of her but she maintained the distance between them for her own comfort. His broad shoulders were the only thing she could see in front of her. Despite the distance she could tell she’d only reach up to his chest. His height was gargantuan compared to hers.

They reached the bottom of the stairs quite quickly and she hurried to catch up to him when he made a right into another hallway, similar to the one she was in upstairs – dark and gold was the theme apparently.

Finally the man halted in his steps. Violetta peeked over the man’s shoulders to see they made it to another set of double doors. They opened to reveal a long table filled with food of different kinds. Violetta’s eyes stuck to them like glue as soon as it came to view. She was too engrossed at the sight of the food, she didn’t see the two figures standing next to the two windows.

Arissa and Callahan both looked at the girl, staring at the food like lost treasure, in amusement. Maximillian took the comfort of the wall right next to Violetta to lean against as he too had his eyes on the girl.

“Why don’t you take a seat and we’ll start.” Arissa’s voice reached Violetta’s ears and that’s when she took notice of both her and the man next to her.

Her eyes widened when she realized her own shamelessness, so she quickly took a seat to avoid the stares.

The rest too took their own respective seats afterwards. Violetta kept her focus on the awaiting food rather than the man whose presence is invading her safety bubble despite the distance between their seats, at the moment.

Then a prideful part of her mind settled comfortably in the thought that maybe her presence was doing the same to him too.

“Go ahead and help yourself first Violetta.” Arissa’s voice once again filled the room.

Violetta’s hand immediately reached for whatever dish she could despite the small hesitance in her mind at the fact that the sorceress just called her by her name despite the lack of remembrance on her part if she had told her herself or not.

Nevertheless, all thoughts quickly turned to dust at the first touch of taste on her tongue, and suddenly nothing else matters but the plate full of food in front of her.