Harold felt anger rise within him again, but he took a deep breath to calm himself. Seeing how the colour of his eyes was changing at the slightest annoyance now, he couldn't afford to get angry and scare her. He was relieved that she was alive and she was awake now. That was what was most important to him.
"I'm here now. No one will hurt you again," Harold promised, but she refused to let go, so he sighed as he lay down beside her and cuddled her.
Harold was torn between going to get things ready to take her out of the palace for a while, and staying there with her.
She looked scared, and it made him worried. Ever since he knew her, he had never seen her like this. She had not even looked this scared the first time he met her in the mountains in his wolf form. She was always in control, always noisy and causing trouble. She didn't fear anyone. But looking at her now, she was different. She was broken. And it hurt him.
He had to move her out of here for a while. He could understand why she wanted to leave. She had been suffering here for the past few days.
'Get into Alvin's head,' his wolf suggested, making him remember he could actually do that.
So he held her close and sort after Alvin in his head. This time, it wasn't as strenuous as he had expected.
"Your highness?"
Alvin had been in the middle of informing Sir Rager about the change of plans in his meeting with Harold when he heard Harold's voice in his head, and Sir Rager looked at him questioningly, making him realize he had spoken out loud. Alvin wasn't sure he was ever going to get used to this.
He quickly excused himself from Sir Rager before giving Harold his full attention. 'Your Highness?'
Harold heard Alvin's questioning voice in his head.
'Get things ready immediately. We are stepping out of the palace for a while,' Harold instructed before freeing a confused Alvin.
"It's alright. I'm here. Alvin is going to get the horses ready," he assured her softly now, and she settled into his arms.
Alicia wasn't thinking clearly at the moment, so she didn't care to know how he had communicated that to Alvin when he didn't even leave the room or open his mouth. All she wanted was for Harold to not leave her side, and for them to put some distance between her and the palace. It was too difficult to breathe freely here.
Neither of them said a word as they lay on the bed, and just when Harold was beginning to think she had dozed off, she spoke.
"I... I had a bad dream." She whispered as though she was scared to speak.
"What dream?" Harold asked quietly.
"You... k-killed many people. I wanted to stop you. But... I could not do anything," she said, sounding more sad than angry or disappointed.
Harold's lips formed a thin line as he continued patting her on the back. Everyone he had killed deserved to be killed, and he doubted that he would have been able to stop his wolf had she tried to stop him. Well, how was he going to explain what he had done?
"And you... your eyes... they looked different. You looked different," Alicia said, and Harold stiffened, and even his hand that was giving her a comforting pat on her back stopped.
Saying she had dreamt that he killed so many people sounded like a normal dream, but saying she had dreamt that he killed many people while his eyes looked different didn't sound like a dream. It was exactly what happened. How had she 'dreamed' that when she wasn't there?
He would have understood it if she only dreamt about his eyes since she had seen them when he first picked her up from the execution ground, even though she seemed not to remember it, but he couldn't understand her dreaming of what he had done.
Thankfully, before either of them could say anything else, a knock sounded on the door and knowing it was Alvin, Harold permitted him to enter after he sat up and used the quilt to cover her up, including her head.
Alvin entered stealthily with a large tray in hand, and Harold's gaze moved to the tray, which contained some folded masculine clothes and two brocade boots. One was a lot larger than the other one.
Harold recognized the clothes. Those were the clothes they had worn the last time they left the palace for the marketplace.
Thinking about that memory now, Harold wondered if that was the point when he began to take an interest in Alicia. He had always been curious about her from the first day he set eyes on her, but he realized now that things had changed between them after that visit to the marketplace.
Harold sighed as his gaze shifted from the tray to Alvin, whose gaze was on Alicia.
Sensing Harold's gaze, Alvin cast a questioning glance at Harold, wanting to know if Alicia was fully conscious or had slept off again.
He had been avoiding Susan all day because the last two times he had run into her around the palace, once when he took food to her and her brother, and the second time when he was on his way to meet Sir Rager, she had hounded him, wanting to know how Princess Amber was doing and when she could see Princess Amber. And she kept asking him to help her talk to Prince Harold to let her see his bride. He couldn't understand what her obsession was with Princess Amber but he was thankful she was not asking about the cut he had given her earlier.
'Speak. She is awake' Harold spoke in Alvin's head, startling him. And Harold's eyes gleamed with amusement when he saw the shock on Alvin's face at suddenly hearing Harold's voice in his head even while they were together.
"Everything is set. I brought your outing clothing," Alvin said, as he tried not to glare at Harold.
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