Peace Offering To The Cursed Prince

Ellen opens the box as she held her urge to cry. Inside was the most beautiful piece of jewelry Ellen has ever seen. She gently ran her hands through it as she imagines how beautiful her mother would have looked wearing it.

She smiled closing the box and her eyes to shut back the tears that were trying to fall. She did not want to cry and look pitiful, sure she was sad but tears were never the solution. Besides, she did not want to irritate the prince sitting opposite her. As much as possible she wanted to stay invisible. The Prince watches her and felt happy she was not crying. He would hate to see her tear, the smile on her lips melts his heart. He would have loved to take revenge against the Queen for her, but he felt grateful to her.

In his mind, if the Queen did not treat her so badly she probably will not be sitting across him. "You should eat," the prince said pointed at the food on the stool between them.

Ellen's eyes followed his hand and she saw the different meals. She did not notice them earlier when she stepped in. It was a royal carriage so it was a bit spacious. Ellen nodded her head but did not attempt to touch the food before her.

The prince noticed and shut his eyes. The journey to Avalo was going to take at least two days because of how slow they were riding. He hated the idea. He would have loved for them to ride faster and get to Avalo as soon as possible, but he wanted Ellen to have a smooth journey. Besides, this also meant he gets to have her close, in a way he felt it was enough compensation for his time.

After riding for like two hours Ellen felt her stomach grumble. She was hungry since it has not eaten since the beginning of the day. She looked at the meal before her and glance at the prince. She noticed his eyes were closed and his breathing was stable.

Convince that he was napping, Ellen reach out for some nuts, even if there were fruits and an easy meal she could eat. After her experience with her wine earlier she was too scared to eat anything. At least she felt it was impossible to poison a nut still in its shell. Removing the shell from the nuts was a bit task for someone who always had it removed for her. Ellen tried to do it as quietly as possible, she was scared of waking up the prince.

The prince raised his head and notice her struggle, he wondered why she would go for the nuts if she could not remove the shell. Ellen sigh and dropped the but, after many failed attempts. She looked at the meat and bread and felt really tempted to reach out and eat them. The prince silently watches her and he soon realized why she was not going for anything else.

"You know if I wanted you dead, I will simply put a knife through your heart. It not like anyone will question me for your death," He said and watch Ellen stiff for a breath. He expected to hear her curse him under her breath, but she simply gave him a wry smile as she picked up the bread.

In Ellen's mind, the prince was right, he could kill her if he wanted to. After all her marriage to him is like leading a lamb to the slaughter. Queen Regina has spat more hateful words at her so how could the words of a stranger who was now her husband affect her, especially when he was saying the truth.

They journey late into the night. It became dark and it was difficult to see the part. The prince could continue the ride because he could see in the darkness, but his men could not. So they decided to camp in the forest till the next morning.

The prince's men gathered the woods and made the fire. While Ellen's maid helps her change into something more comfortable to sleep in. Before going to sleep the prince men search around to make sure no bandit was close by.

Ellen lay down on the space prepared for her by her maid and closed her eyes to sleep. For a princess who has a comfortable bed all her life, it was a bit difficult for her to fall asleep on the floor in the middle of the forest. Closing her eyes she tried to be still in other to sleep but after a long time, she still felt wide awake. Apart from the noise from the insect and bushes, she could hear the steady breathing around her. It seems everyone was asleep. She opened her eyes and notice the fire was still burning bright, so she sat up and looked around.

She was surprised to notice the white hair figure sitting close to the fire add Wood to it. Usually, it was the guards that kept watch while the prince sleeps, so Elle's shock was expected. Of course, the prince's mask only covered all his face and a part of his head. His hair was quite long so it was almost impossible to hide them in his mask.

The prince hearing movement turned to look in her direction. He kept the lookout whenever he was out in the forest. He did this because he could easily pick up sounds from afar, moreover, his night was something hunted by nightmares he did not want anyone to know about. He felt this side of him should be something, not even he trusted men should know. Ellen stiff seeing him looking at her. She did not expect him to turn and so fast too. It was too quick and so she did not have the time to lay back and pretend she was sleeping.

"Your highness... I mean my prince...ah! I am sorry I don't know how to address you. What is my prince's name?" she voiced before she could drop herself. she bit her tongue when she noticed the prince's stiff state. 'Ah! I must have said something wrong' Ellen scold herself. Like everyone else she has been curious about a lot of things, like why he wears a mask, and if he could really breathe fire. But just like everyone else, Ellen's fear won over her curiosity. Now that she finally asked one of the questions that have been on her mind she felt scared that the prince might hurt her. She scolded herself mentally for acting carelessly and possibly putting herself in danger again. "I should keep my mouth shut and avoid annoying him,' she warns herself.

The prince blinks his eyes surprised by her question. It has been so long the prince could not remember, if it was shortly after the war with the four great kings or during the war, that people stopped calling or asking about his name. He was always introduced as the crown prince cursed prince in his absence. He has gotten so used to this fact that he forgot he had an actual name. The one that was given to him, when he was born.

The name that he was called before he became an abomination. Ellen quickly composes herself and decides to apologize. She felt the prince must have been anger since he had said nothing for such a long time.

"I am sorry to bother your highness, please ignore..." Ellen was saying when the prince answered.

"Sebastian, my name is Sebastian."