Not My Sins

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 Rain had a small frown as she crossed the lonely hallways. Lily was planning to gift her flowers to the crowned prince.

 Since it was the Prince's nineteenth birthday, the hallway had been emptied and people were in the large hall of the school in celebration.

 She didn't want to be in the way, nor did she want to be a cause of the Prince's bad mood. So she didn't bother to attend it, but she didn't tell Lily she wouldn't be attending either.

After all, she was nothing but a half peasant.

She curved in a small ball, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them tightly on the window sill of the library. Outside the window, a little boy was playing with a dog in the distance.

 He would throw a small ball off in the distance and the dog while happily wagging its tail would run in search of the ball and bring it back to its owner just to do it again.

Rain's mind returned to that night nine years ago.

They were not dogs.

They were wolves.

Both she and Doni had been attacked by wolves. A whole pack of them.

Rain had been very frightened as she believed Doni would abandon her and make a run for it since she was injured and he wouldn't be able to escape while carrying her.

But he did quite the opposite.

He fought the wolves with a blunt stick, he displayed superhuman prowess that scared and surprised Rain.

She was quite knowledgeable in war and politics, from the books she had been reading she knew even a skilled royal guard couldn't take on a pack of wolves by himself.

And Royal guards take the most intense training.

Doni was twelve at the time and he didn't even suffer a scratch from the attack.

"Impressive, right?" she asked the bird that came to settle in her skirt from the opened window.

Rain had been scared out of her wits right then and there, she realized Doni had enough power to hurt her if he wanted to but he had just chosen not to even though they were alone.

In fear, she ran home despite her sprained ankle.

Doni climbed up her bedroom window later at midnight, he was desperate to get the princess to keep her mouth shut no matter what it took.

He didn't mind if he even had to kill her.

"I won't tell anybody," she promised silently with tears in her eyes. "I promise..."

Doni said nothing but gazed into the depths of her watery green eyes, he wanted to believe her. So he climbed back to the window sill and glanced at her once more before climbing down.

"Why do all of them treat me like that?" Rain whispered as she petted the little sunbird that had now befriended her. "Why do they all look at me like that?"

Tears well in her eyes.

"I can't even be comfortable in the house, not even in the estate, not even in the school," she sobbed lightly. "It's almost as if I don't have a place in here."

She fumbled through her pocket, there were a few grains. Some of the snacks she would have in the carriage.

"Hey..." She muttered again as she stretched her hands containing the grains to the bird. Noticing the food the bird rushed. "Do you think I should run away?"

She had no idea what she was saying, the pressure was probably coming back to get her.

Now, she was even talking to a bird.

Everyone hates her, not to mention the one time he tried to kill her.

She gasped in fear as she recalled the incident. Her breath came out in labored pants, it was a trauma she hadn't overcome.

She had just had her evening bath and was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair.

She wanted to read some more, so she took out an extra candle.

But as she was about to go light it up, she heard footsteps in the room.

"Hello..." She called sharply. Her eyes danced vividly in the direction where she heard sounds from. "Is someone there?"

Silence...

What the...

Rain bravely arched towards the window only for her neck to be seized by a string. She grabbed the string tightly with her hands trying her best to create some small space in between.

"Ah.." She squeaked as she was pushed to the ground the string tightening against both her fingers and neck. Rain tried to scream but nothing would come out. She had been paralyzed from fear and pain.

She kicked and her assailant's hands slipped, hurriedly she crawled away from him. Before she could scream he grabbed her, covering her mouth with his hands. She was pushed up against the bed and she hit her head against the headboard.

"Please..." her voice was caught off in her throat when he got on top of her and took to strangling her with his hands.

 Rain held onto the hands of her assailant, she used whatever little strength she had to try to push him away.

He was covered in dark clothes. She couldn't see anything, not even his eyes.

But from the way he held her, she knew.

"Please don't kill me." She begged again and just then her air supply was cut off.

"I don't know..." She muttered back to the bird, the tears in her eyes had fallen to her cheeks. "Why would he want to kill me?"

Not like the bird could talk or understand what she was saying but she persisted in trying to speak to it.

"After all these years I'm still unable to forget that night." She sobbed. "I don't even know why he didn't kill me."

She had kept the windows to her room locked so that he would sneak up on her again.

But she had also waited for him for all those nights.

She wanted to ask him why... but she didn't want to go to him first, not once in those nine years had he come to see her.

"Such a jerk..." She squeaked finally letting her sadness out into the thick layer of her skirt.

"Here I was wondering where the other daughters of the Duke were." She gasped when she heard someone's voice from behind her. "Why is the princess of Elderslot crying?"

"Uh..." She staggered up, the sunbird flew away from her skirt. "Your Highness."

Rain wiped her tears away from her face and bowed her head quickly, making Prince Aryan's blue eyes narrow when he noticed she was crying.

"Who made the princess cry?" he teased getting closer to her and he pulled strands of her red hair away from her face.

Aryan's eyes narrowed immediately, he noticed she had grown some inches taller maybe because she had grown into a lady.

Instead of her tears, his thumb rubbed away the lip tint on her lips.

Rain tried to move back in surprise, but the Prince held her still.

She had gotten even more prettier than he remembered when did she grow this much?

"Your Highness, please let me go." She muttered but instead of listening to the lady's discomfort, he seized her jaw tightly.

"Ah..." She squealed, her troubled eyes met his in surprise.

Aryan had decided that he wanted her, the Duke's offer didn't seem so bad now that he was standing in front of the mature lady.

"Shh... don't move." He kept massaging her lips with his thumb, trying his hardest to control his lust.

He can't do that yet.

She wasn't of age.

But in a few weeks, she would be, then he could have her.

Fresh tears welled in Rain's eyes, she was shocked to the marrow but unable to move underneath the Prince's lustful gaze.

She knew what he meant, her green eyes darted to the other side of the room.

There was no one in sight, not even the bookkeeper. No one would help her.

She whimpered when he suddenly pulled her in even closer. This time he held her by the waist.

"What are you doing, Your Highness?" she muttered paralyzed with fear.

Is this what Merida always talked about?

She had always told Rain that when she came of age, there would be men who wanted her.

Some of them would be kind while others will not, some will listen to her pleas and excuses while others will take it by force.

"Please stop." She tried to push him away in panic, it was as though the Prince had grown bigger and he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, swallowing her small frame with his form.

His hands roamed about her body, as though he was in search of something.

Her body was soft and rounded, she smelled good.

"Ugh.." Rain cried. "Prince Aryan... please."

"I'll stop," he told her calmly as he inhaled the refreshing scent of her hair. "Just stay still for some minutes."

In fear, Rain forced her body to still, the prince didn't do anything other than hug her and inhale her scent until he was satisfied.

"You won't be able to resist me for long," he tells her soothingly in her eyes. "Either way, you're bound to give yourself to me."

"I-I don't understand," she tried to disengage but he gripped her hair. "You hurt me, Your Highness."

"Is there any boy you like?" he asked and Rain became silent. "There is..."

He guessed but she didn't refute his statement making it true.

 I suggest you cut off your feelings for whoever you have them for."

Rain shivered slightly.

"No one is allowed to touch you." He growled in her face. "All of you, every single piece of flesh and limb belongs to me."

He squeezed her jaws tightly and brought his face even closer to her.

"If I ever find out there is someone you like, I would kill them."

She gasped as the Prince roughly threw her against the wall.

Why...

Just why was he angry?

"Join us in the hall." He ordered before leaving.

Rain tried to get up. She was confused and scared.

What is wrong with everyone?