The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride



"Where... is she? Alicia?" Harold asked, his voice almost sounding pleading.

"It's my body. Why are you looking for someone else?" Amber asked before her angry eyes moved away from Harold to look at the window.

He pushed himself away from the wall, as he could already feel his eyes closing on their own. His body had never experienced this kind of shutdown since he was born. He tried to approach Amber as she looked out the window at the sky.

"It's almost the Blood Moon. I'll be 20 soon." She muttered to herself. 

The tone she used to say it told Harold that whatever she was thinking inside her head was not good. 

Combining the tale he had heard from Sir Richard and what he had found with Alicia, the Blood Moon was a powerful time for witches. And if Anne had asked for Amber to be kept until she was 20, it meant there was something up right there. 

"You can't summon her and get rid of her as you please," Harold said weakly. 

She turned to face him, her eyes cold. It was devoid of any kind of emotion, not even hate. He wasn't used to this kind of look in her eyes. 

Her eyes were either sad, happy, mischievous, or naughty. They were never like this. 

"I want King Cedric." She said it in a cold voice. 

"Why?" He asked even though he already knew why. At this point, he didn't even know what to do with or for her. He just wanted Alicia here, but how could he force out a soul? He was frustrated, lost, scared, and, worst of all, in shock. 

"Why?" Amber asked as though she had just heard the strangest thing in her life. 

"Why?" She repeated it as she took a step closer to him. 

"Have you considered how you are going to handle this? Or how Alicia is going to handle this when she takes over? You cannot just show up and kill people and—"

"SHE WAS THE FIRST PERSON I EVER KILLED!" Amber yelled at him as tears welled up in her eyes. 

"I can't just show up and kill people? Do I look like a sadistic murderer like you lot?" She choked back a sob and used her hand to wipe away her tears, even as her face turned straight again. 

It was her first time killing a person? Then did that mean it hadn't really been her those times Alicia had been in danger? 

Was it truly a gift they had?

"My ancestors swore an oath. That they would never take the life of another. Now I understand why they had to take that oath."

She looked him dead in the eyes as she said, "Because when you kill once. You want to kill again. And again. And again."

"Fortunately, I didn't swear any oath."

"I... will help you have your revenge." He offered. He knew it was a big promise, but he didn't have a choice.

She looked at him for a long time before she let out a laugh. She laughed and laughed until tears began to flow from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. 

"It's funny you do not realize my desire to kill you."

"I know the Moon Kingdom wronged you—"

"IT CANNOT BE COMPARED TO YOU!" She cried loudly as she turned and drew down the collar of her dress to reveal a bite mark on her neck.

Harold's bite mark.

Harold looked at it with wide, confused eyes.

"I would have died in the river that day." She cried. "I would have forgotten about my desire for revenge and just died. I shouldn't have worried that Paulina would be made to pay for my crimes and JUST DIED!"

"I saw... I saw the memories of my mother. It was in my head as soon as I woke up. So I know she saw them herself. Even I... didn't get those visions. But she did... so how... how could she act like... like it was none of her business?"

"How... HOW COULD SHE USE MY BODY TO LOVE A MAN LIKE YOU?" She yelled in anger before picking up her dagger from where she had dropped it and began to speak slowly.

"I would never have done that if it had happened the opposite way. I would have fought for my kin no matter what."

"SO WHY WOULD SHE DO THIS TO ME?!" Harold was still staring in disbelief. 

"It was her body. The potion worked." Harold muttered to himself. 

"You fell for a stupid illusion." She let out a pained scoff and looked at him with a dark vengeance in her eyes.

Harold did not want to believe it. He was smart. He was always smart. There was no way he would have fallen for a trick. It had been her. Alicia. 

Why... was his mark on Amber's body? 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Something was wrong somewhere. 

His mark was in the body of someone who hated him with her life. It was in a body that was rejecting him. 

Was this why? 

He felt a sharp pain in his heart, more painful than anything he had ever felt before, and as he clutched his chest and tried his best not to double over in pain, he saw, through the corner of his eyes, Amber aiming her dagger at him. 

"This is for all of us." She said quietly as she approached him. 

She was about to strike when someone entered the room, and she directed the dagger in that direction. The person dodged the strike, and the dagger lodged itself in the open door. Without a second space to process who had entered, she threw a kick, and when the person dodged again, she reached for the dagger and pulled it out from the door, throwing herself at the person who grabbed the hand holding the dagger before it could pierce his neck. 

Her eyes widened when she came face-to-face with Harvey, and she instantly let go of the dagger, which fell to the floor at once. 

"Amber..." He breathed heavily.

With her eyes still round in shock, she whispered, "What... are you... doing here?"