The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Harold was startled out of his dream with his heart racing so loudly that anyone outside would have heard it.

He looked around him, realizing he had drifted off to sleep in his bathtub, which was even stranger than the dream he had just now. In a moment of confusion, he stared blankly until something snapped in his head, and he immediately got out of the tub and went to get dressed. Falling asleep like this, he didn't like it, even though he knew that he needed to get some rest.

He wasn't even done looking properly dressed before he left his chamber. He noticed that it was almost time for dinner already. Had undoing his braids strained him so much that he had dozed off unguarded? He hurried his pace to go check her room. That dream could not leave his head. What if that happened one day and she suddenly disappeared while Amber returned. What was going to happen that day? He shook the thought out of his head. Judging from all Paulina said about her, Amber would make a better princess than Alicia. She was always calm and collected, spoke less, and obeyed rules, while Alicia was the exact opposite. She was talkative and always hyper. She doesn't break rules either, she scatters the rules like a rebellious vixen.

But he preferred her.

Alvin was watching her, and he knew if anything strange had happened in her chamber, he would have reported it immediately, but he could not help it. So as he pushed her door open, he was a lot relieved when he saw her sleeping on the bed with her hands and legs everywhere and her hair all over her face like a zombie. She looked like she was going to fall off the bed at any second.

He didn't even want to talk about her dress, which was riding up to her thighs, or how loudly she was snoring.

This was the strangest sight he had ever seen in his entire life.

'So... you prefer this... person?' His wolf, who had been resting the entire time, finally resurfaced to ask.

Harold had to ask himself the same thing as he looked down at her.

He walked closer to her and gently began to fix her up. He first drew her dress down before carrying her and placing her in the middle of the bed. Then he went to her hair, brushing it with his fingers all the way to the back. Next, he tucked her properly into a quilt. All the attention made her toss on the bed a couple of times before she found a comfortable spot and stopped snoring.

That comfortable spot was close to Harold, and she hugged his hand to her chest.

He tried to withdraw his hand, but it seemed she was still as strong as earlier when she hugged him. Just what was in that drink?

Defeated, he gave up leaving and just sat there, staring at her face.

He slowly reached for her cheek and brushed his thumb on it as he looked down at her with a guilty look. He had never apologized to anyone before, but at this time, he did just that.

"I'm... sorry, Alicia. But... I won't let you go," he said very quietly. He didn't have a say in his mother's case, so she had been taken away from him. But for this girl, he did have the biggest say.

"I will make you like staying here, I promise."

He felt his wolf roll his eyes. 'Cringe.'

'GET LOST!' Harold barked at him. Thankfully, he did just that and disappeared.

For years, Harold could not use the link to communicate with any member of the moon pack. Not like he would have wanted to, but the curse also stopped him from doing that. But since he could communicate with his wolf, he guessed he could do that and decided to try it out with Alvin. After several tries, he finally succeeded in entering Alvin's head, startling the poor guy who hadn't expected it.

"It's me," Harold said so he could stop trying to force out the strange presence in his head.

"Your... highness?" Alvin asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I won't be available for dinner," he informed Alvin and let go of the link before Alvin could ask him how he was able to get into his head without permission. Alvin had never heard of something like that happening before, so it had greatly shocked him.

Meanwhile, Harold had no idea what he had done and just kept talking to the sleeping Alicia until he also drifted off to sleep again with her in his arms. He was sure that at least she would be knocked out until noon or evening the next day.

**********

During dinner later that evening, everyone noticed that both Harold and his wife were absent, but nobody talked about it until the king and Damon joined them.

"Why are they not here yet?" Damon asked with displeasure. It was obvious that his dislike for Harold's bride was increasing with each passing day.

"Let it go. They won't be joining us for dinner," the king told Damon as he walked over to his seat. He had been surprised when Alvin informed him that Harold wouldn't be coming for dinner, and when Alvin couldn't say why upon further inquiry, he reasoned that it probably had to do with his bride and whatever happened between them in the garden earlier.

He noticed that Harold was spending more time with his wife, which was a welcome development and improvement.

Damon looked like he was going to argue with the king, but he knew better than that, so he let it go, and they all ate quietly, as they usually did when Alicia was not there to entertain them.

When they were done eating, the Queen ordered, "Williams, meet me at the royal garden after dinner," before leaving with her husband.

Williams exchanged a look with Susan, and she raised her right shoulder in a shrug. They both suspected that whatever she wanted to say to him involved Paulina, since if it were something else, she would likely have invited Susan to tag along. Not to mention the three of them had already spoken earlier.

Williams stood up immediately and went in search of the queen. He knew better than to keep the queen waiting. Although she had said he should meet her after dinner, he was aware that it was a polite way of saying he should abandon his meal and go with her immediately.

By the time he got to the brightly lit garden with fire torches almost everywhere, she was already seated there with a goblet of wine that a maid had just served.

"You called me, your majesty," he said politely as he stood beside her with his head bowed.

"Sit," she said, jerking her head to the seat opposite her as she watched him in a way that made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Williams sat down with his head bowed as he patiently waited for her to tell him the reason she called him.

The Queen didn't say a word for some time, and just when Williams began to lose his patience and looked up at her, she cleared her throat.

"How has your stay at the palace been?" The queen asked with a friendly smile.

"It has been very nice, your majesty. Thank you for having us," he said with a polite bow.

"Do you like the painting room? I never got the chance to ask you since I had them set it up to your taste. Do you have everything you need there?" She asked, and Williams adjusted in his seat, knowing that the queen was heading somewhere with her questions.

"Yes, your majesty. It is more than I hoped for," Williams said with a polite smile, even though he wished that she would go straight to the point and stop beating around the bush in this manner.

"I learned you talked with Prince Harold's servant some days ago. What was it about?" She asked with her harmless smile in place, and Williams's brows furrowed.

Servant? Alvin didn't seem like the type to be addressed that way. But that wasn't the most important thing now.

Was she watching him? Or perhaps it was Alvin she was keeping her eyes on? And why was she asking him this? Wasn't he supposed to talk to Alvin or Harold? He didn't want to be dragged into whatever problem was going on around the palace.

How was he supposed to answer her question? Tell her the truth or lie to her? "I approached him first. I offered to help them prepare medicine for Princess Amber when she was unconscious," Williams explained, deciding to go with a half-truth.

"You offered to make medicine to wake her up? You told Harold that?" The queen asked curiously.

"Yes, your majesty."

"And he let you?" She asked, and Williams shook his head.

The same way he knew that Harold had taken a huge risk in choosing to trust him to do it, he also knew that Harold wouldn't want the Queen to know that he had been desperate enough to accept his help.

"He refused. He sent Alvin to reject my offer," Williams lied, praying that whoever had seen him talking with Alvin hadn't heard anything concerning their discussion, else both the Queen and his father would be furious.

The Queen looked at him for a while, and then she gave him a nod. "And the maid? What is going on between you and Princess Amber's maid?"