The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Tyra was the first to wake up the next morning, and she roused both Alicia and Susan from sleep so that they could return to their chambers before everyone started moving around. She had no idea how the king or queen would react if they were to find out that they had all spent the night together.

"It is morning already?" Alicia asked as she stretched out on the bed.

"Yes. You should be in your chamber before Princess Luciana gets there. We don't want her to know you spent the night in my chamber," Tyra explained.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Tyra asked in confusion.

"Why shouldn't she know? Why don't you like her?" Alicia asked curiously.

"I do not hate her," Tyra said defensively.

"But you do not like her either," Susan, who had finally woken up, pointed out as she sat up.

"She reports everything to her husband, and he reports to our mother. It is hard to be friends with someone who does that. You don't do that, do you?" Tyra asked Alicia.

"Don't worry, all your dirty secrets are safe with me," Alicia assured her playfully.

"I don't have any dirty secrets," Tyra said with a slight frown.

"Good for you then. The moment Princess Luciana sets foot in my chamber, she is going to find out that I didn't sleep in my chamber. But you have nothing to worry about. I'll explain to the King and Queen if they get angry," Alicia assured Tyra as she got off the bed.

She had a long day ahead of her, and the first thing on her To-do list was to go and see hellion. She needed to find a way to reach an agreement with Harold so that he would help her.

"Thank you for letting me sleep here. I enjoyed the sleepover, and I hope we can do this again tonight. With snacks, hopefully," Alicia said with a hopeful smile since she knew that there was no way her wet bed was going to get dry anytime soon.

"Again?" Tyra asked, not sure that was a good plan.

Alicia bobbed her head, and Susan clapped excitedly, "Yes! Let's do it again tonight. I'll find a way to get us snacks," Susan offered.

Seeing how excited they both seemed, Tyra smiled, "Okay then. You both win. Let's do so again," Tyra offered, and Alicia quickly embraced both girls before heading for the door.

"See you girls later," she called with a wave as she left.

Susan smiled at Tyra happily. This was the most fun she had had since she was living here, and what made it even more fun for her was because it was like they were breaking the law by doing it. "I love Princess Amber! And I love you too, my darling cousin," Susan said as she embraced a surprised Tyra, before leaving.

Once they left, Tyra picked up a book to read while she waited for the maids to prepare her for the morning. Thankfully it was the seventh day of the week, and as usual, there was no general breakfast, so she had the morning to herself.

Some moment later, after she had her bath and was ready to leave her chamber, she walked down the hallway, heading for the tree shade where she usually sat to read outside the building, when she saw Harold walking alone.

She ran up to him and called excitedly, "Brother!" Harold's steps faltered as he turned to look at her. Why she continued to call him that even when they both knew that both Ivan and the queen hated it was something he couldn't understand.

She smiled at him as she stopped in front of him and bowed slightly as she greeted,"Good morning, brother,"

Harold was in a foul mood, and as far as he was concerned, there was nothing good about the morning. His whole body ached, and he was feeling very tired.

"Do you want something?" He asked, hoping that they could keep the conversation short. He needed to return to his chamber to sleep. The only reason he was outside by this time was because something had dropped from his pocket last night in his haste to leave the palace, and now that he had found it, he needed to sleep.

Tyra's face fell at his question, "I was hoping we could talk like we used to do. Or maybe you could watch me practice how to hit my target. We haven't been able to do that since you got married," she pointed out sadly, making Harold sigh.

That was true. Although he liked being alone, Tyra was the only member of the family that he let come close to him, and he sometimes tried to teach her how to use weapons to protect herself, even though she was bad at it and the training sessions left him feeling frustrated. But since he got married to that stubborn witch, he had barely had enough time to spare on anything else. To think he had even considered getting rid of his half-sister because of her made him shake his head.

"I..."

"There you are," Alicia called from behind them excitedly before Harold could say a word, and he scowled in displeasure when he turned to see her.

"Good morning, my lord," Alicia said with a polite bow.

"I will excuse you both to talk," Tyra said with a small smile and a bow at Harold before continuing on her way and leaving the couple alone.

Once Tyra left, Harold resumed walking, and Alicia followed him. She was relieved to see that he was fine and the wolf guards did not hurt him.

"How are you?" She asked when she took a closer look at him and saw that he looked pale and tired.

His curt reply came almost immediately saying, "I'm fine."

"You don't look well," Alicia said, making Harold want to scoff.

Whose fault was it that he didn't look well? If she had done what he wanted her to do, he probably would have had a good night's sleep. Instead, she had made him run out of the palace like a mad man because he didn't want to shift within the palace walls.

"I'm fine," Harold repeated stiffly.

"I'm glad you're fine," Alicia said with a small smile as she continued to follow him.

Harold stopped walking abruptly and turned to look at her before asking, "What do you want?"

"It's morning. We are supposed to go and see Hellion, remember?" She asked, flashing him a sweet smile.

"I'm not going."

"Why not?" Alicia asked with a slight frown.

"I'm tired. I need to sleep," Harold said, and she raised a brow.

"Didn't you spend the whole night sleeping? Why do you need to sleep again? Are you ill?" She asked with concern as she moved closer to him and raised a hand to his forehead to feel his temperature, but Harold was quick to slap her hand away.

"Why do you always touch me without my permission?" He asked with an unpleasant look on his face.

Alicia almost rolled her eyes at the question.

"It's nothing sexual. I was just trying to see if you have a fever," she explained, and Harold frowned at her again.

"Sexual?"

"I mean, I don't want to sleep with you…." was that it? Was that what people called sex in this era? Or was it like the Biblical times when they said 'Know' when referring to sex? I don't want to know you? Alicia laughed to herself at how ridiculous it sounded while Harold just stared at her, wondering what was amusing.

"Anyway, since you're not ill, I don't see why you want to sleep in. Let's go and see hellion. It won't take long, I'm sure. You can go in and have your beauty sleep once we are done," Alicia said with a sweet smile.

"Have you come up with a good deal for me yet?" Harold asked with a slightly raised brow, reminding her that he wasn't going to help her unless she offered him something first.

She had been thinking about it all morning, but she had no idea what to offer him. Perhaps she should ask him what he wanted, and that would give her an idea of what was in his head?

"Okay, tell me. What do you want?" She asked, and Harold narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

Was she asking just so that she would turn him down again, or was she going to do whatever he wanted?

"You know what I want already," Harold said flatly and resumed walking again.

"Can't you just stand still and talk? Do you always have to walk?" She complained as she followed him, but he said nothing as he kept walking until they got to his chamber and he opened the door.

"So, what is it that you want?" She asked as she walked inside with him.

Harold raised a brow, and she looked at him before looking at the chamber. This was it? For her to sleep with him? She frowned.

"You want me to sleep with you?" She asked incredulously.

"It's not what you're thinking. I just want you to sleep here. Nothing is going to happen between us," he assured her since he didn't want anything to happen between them either.

Alicia continued to look at him suspiciously. By chance, was he involved in the 'flood' incident?