Chapter 9

“If that is what you wish,” Prince Caspian said. “Then so be it. I will make you barely cling to consciousness while I beat some sense into you. I won’t let you slip through my hands again…I will earn back my title and have you at the same time! Even if you loathe me, even if you resist me, you will love me!”

“You’re despicable!” Roselle said, before she drew her rapier and lunged towards Prince Caspian. However, before Roselle could lay a hand on Prince Caspian, the combat medic nurse used a train martial art technique that cut off sensation to her nerves. Roselle collapsed in a heap, gasping. Her rapier slippd out of her hand and she was face down on the ground, unable to move. Just what technique did Viola use on Roselle?

“You hurt her!” Cerise said, immediately gathering Roselle in her arms and glaring at Prince Caspian. “I will duel you in her place, Prince Caspian. You did something absolutely unforgivable; and I won’t let her fall in your hands to use her as an object! She’s a person of strong will, she is my love, an I won’t let you have her!”

“What can you do against me?” Prince Caspian said. “I can control the wind and seas. I have power beyond your imagining.What can a little girl like you do against me?”

“Do not underestimate a woman’s wrath, especially when her lover is concerned,” Cerise said coldly to the Prince. “And don’t hide behind your Viola, Prince Caspian. I want to duel you myself.”

“You’re not even worthy of such consideration,” Prince Caspian said. “Roselle is mine. Not yours. She was supposed to be mine. Yet you, Cerise de Vernase, are nothing but a little homewrecker that got involved in the affairs of royals. Someone with no status or money or of prestigious bloodline can hope to ascend beyond their station of life. Losers will be losers. ONly the strong rule the week, and only the strong and the people in position of power should make decisions for the little lambs that flock to their open palms.”

“Roselle…” Cerise said. “Would never think of something like that. She wanted to marry for love, and you have none to give to her. The only thing that you truly love, Prince Caspian, is yourself, and you view Roselle as an object and want her for your status and prestige instead of loving her for herself.

“How can you say that your love for Roselle is great than mine?” Prince Caspian said. “You wanted to marry Roselle because it was an order by your Queen. Otherwise you never would’ve agreed to it. And you wouldn’t have forced Roselle into such an awkward position, as well, if you haven’t meddled in a tournament.”

“I will defeat you,” Cerise said, her heart thumping in her throat. :”For Roselle’s sake. I can’t hand her over to the likes of you.”

—x—

Caspian wondered what that red haired peasant was saying. Did she honestly think that she stood a chance against him? That homely girl who had nothing to her name, no status, no power? Roselle was his, even though she didn’t know it yet. Having his dearest Roselle enamored with that peasant was unacceptable. Roselle deserved someone who was of high status, handsome, and nearly perfect in every regard. His mother always told him that he would be a great ruler of the Soreno Kingdom, and his sister often whispered how perfect he was. He was destined to be King. They told him as much. It was ordained by the Gods.

And now his plans for kingship were thwarted by a mere peasant girl, who claimed to love his beloved Roselle. Roselle of the sandy gold hair, of angelic blue eyes. What did that red haired peasant think that she could keep up with Roselle? He liked her feisty spirit, her never giveup attitude despite insurmountable odds. He knew that her mother told her that she should never lose to anyone, and she grew up fighting and dueling to become the best in the world. Caspian fell in love with Roselle when she first told him that a timid boy like himself could become a great ruler. Even Roselle herself said it. That he would be a great ruler, that he would be destined to be King.

So why? Why? Why did she reject him now? After how hard he worked, after all the blood and tears that he shed, and even giving up a precious title that was rightfully his to make her like him? Why didn’t he win her heart? Was it because she always thought that he was beneath her? AFter telling her the truth, however, Roselle shunned him even more. It was true that he could’ve defeated her that day. He held back, and now she hated him for it.

His voice didn’t tremble when he said, “If that is what you wish, then so be it. I will make you barely cling to consciousness while I beat some sense into you. I won’t let you slip through my hands again…I will earn back my title and have you at the same time! Even if you loathe me, even if you resist me, you will love me!”

He wouldn’t have to raise his hand against her if she only cooperated and admitted her love for him. Caspian was her childhood friend, he supported her when no one else would. He was there for her before she became the Grand Duelist, saw the scars that she received for the price of attaining greatness. Why didn’t she love him the same way? They were destined to be together, the perfect match, they said. The beautiful Princess Roselle and the handsome Prince Caspian. It was a match made in heaven, as ordained by the goddess that governed the stars in the sky. Prince Caspian, who was of the wind and seas, while Roselle came from an earthen kingdom that strived to reach for the heavens.

He picked up Roselle from the ground, holding her tenderly like a lover. HE wanted to kiss her; though he restrained himself. She would kiss him willingly tonight after he was through with her. Once her so called beloved Cerise was dead.He will kill her, and then the title will go back to him and he could have Roselle back. It was everything that he could’ve wished for.

“Don’t touch her!” the redhaired harlot screamed. “Get your filthy hands off of her, Prince Caspian!”

“I love her more than you ever could, wench,” Caspian said. “Go back to the hole where you crawled out from. If you wish to win Roselle back, then we will have a duel to the death. It was Roselle who claimed that was how the match would be done. And it’s obvious that I will kill you. Yet still, why do you risk your life for her? You didn’t love her as long as I had.”

“What you have for Roselle isn’t love,” Cerise pointed out. “It’s possession. And quite frankly, that sickens me. You’re a monster, and you showed your true colors when you told Roselle that you will beat her unconscious for the Grand Duelist title and her.”

“Viola,” Caspian said with a nod towards his combat medic nurse.

She disappeared in a blur and reappeared behind the red haired harlot, striking her in the back of the neck and causing her to crumple to the ground. He will have Roselle watch, as her precious Cerise was sold off to the slave market for the dark pleasures of the underworld. Caspian will whisper in her ear that he was the only one for her, and that she will bear his children for him.

The green-haired prince stroke Roselle’s hair tenderly. Lovingly.

I love you, Roselle. And I won’t let anyone else have you. Absolutely no one. Because you belong to me alone, and you will willingly let me claim you.

—x—

Princess Nautilus was in her chambers, calmly sipping some tea. Prince Caspian came to her chamber, settling next beside her and calmly sipping some tea as well. There was some trepidation on Caspian’s face. She knew that her brother wondered if he went too far. Though this was a precipice that they both struggled to stand upon, and there was only the freefall down to the churning waters below of the ocean. This political marriag had to happen, even if they had to force and subdue some innocents out of it.

“Sister,” Prince Caspian said. “Are you sure we should go through with this? Rosellle’s heart isn’t set upon me.”

“It must happen,” Princess Nautilus said. “For the good sake of our kingdom. Roselle comes from a bloodline of goddesses, Caspian. Even if she can’t use magic herself, she will still pass down that goddess bloodline through heirs. In order to have goddess blood in our lines, we can create a lineage that won’t be defeated by anyone else.”

Prince Caspian looked troubled. “I love Roselle, I truly do. I don’t want to see her as simple breeding stock for heirs.”

“Oh please,” Princess Nautilus said. “You’ve followed her around like a lost little puppy. Do you think that she forgot the promise that she made to you?”

“I don’t know,” Caspian said. “She said if she earned the title Grand Duelist, that she would marry me. That’s why I lost to her.”

“So you’re just going to coop Princess Roselle up in your chambers moping and pining for her little Cerise, are you?”

“I really don’t wish to duel her Cerise,” Prince Caspian said uneasily. “Cerise somehow formed a stronger bond with Roselle than I ever would or could. Despite all my boyhood pining after Roselle, following after her,vowing to become stronger to protect her…that’s all for naught. Instead, I became the villain, and it’s the role I must play in order for her to be safe.”

“Why don’t you tell Roselle the truth?” Princess Nautilus said, before Caspian shook his head, his long tresses of green hair whipping back and forth.

“ I can’t,” Prince Caspian said.

Princess Nautilus sighed.

“She might like you more.”

“But is that really in her best interest?” Prince Caspian said, before Princess Nautilous went silent.

“It’s your choice, in the end,” Princess Nautilus said regretfully. “Whatever decision you make, I will support you behind it. Like I always have.”