Thread: Winter's Kiss (Ursus Peregrinus & Candy_demon21)

The dreamless sleep that Odette had been yearning for had not come. Rather, nightmares of pale white hands reaching out from the darkness plagued her sleepless mind. Often time she would run from them, but yet they always seemed to stretch out and catch her in their chilling grasp. Her mind feared that she would become one of them, they who stood frozen in the courtyard of the mighty, foreboding keep that was the Prince's castle. This last nightmare was the same as the other had been. The prince stood in front of her, dressed in his dark garb, smiling at her with those white teeth, that wolf like grin she had already come to know twisting his features into that of a foul monster. Words whispered past his blue tinted lips, but yet no sound could be heard. In that moment, her very core told her to run, run from the monster who was colder than ice, to just run. And she did. Each time she would turn and flee from that grin and that dark, brooding figure, and each time she ran, her world grew darker. Her breath came out in large plumes of fog before her eyes, faster she ran, cold chilling her finger tips, her nose and lips. There would always be something standing still, a large figure she would press her back firmly to. She could hear her own heart beat frantically beneath her breast. 'Thump,thump, thump' , it cried out wildly, a loud plea to continue to run. And always on the third beat, those hands would come out from the darkness and wrap around her chest, one cold hand clasping firmly over her mouth in order to silence the scream that always wanted to erupt from her lungs. But it would be silenced. tag This time however, Odette had pulled her mouth free from the iron grasp. When the scream rang out, it woke her. She threw herself up, her heart frantically beating beneath her breast, her breath coming out in ragged gasps. She had worked herself beneath the heavy furs,and was now tangled in them. With a shaky hand, she pressed a hand to her forehead and felt the cool beads of sweat that had collected on her skin. This was the first time in what seemed like years she had had a nightmare, but she knew, felt it down in the very bowels of her being, that this was not going to be the last. Three days she told herself, this becoming her own silent mantra. Three days and she was free. Throwing back the furs, Odette made her way over to one of the windows and looked out at the rising sun. Childishly she prayed it would melt away the cold that grasped her and this castle, but something deeper told her that the cold would never leave this place, not while the prince still lived. Turning from the window, disappointed and tired of looking at the frost that crawled over the panes of glass. At least it was a few hours of sleep, she murmured to herself, looking down at her rumpled dress. How would she change, she had no clothes to change into and the ones that she wore felt as cold as death themselves. Yet they gave her comfort, she felt safe in her mother's gown. Returning to the bed, she pulled one of the furs off the bed and wrapped it about her shoulders, draping it over herself like a great cloak. When her emerald orbs shot towards the door, a shiver ran down the length of her spine. She didn't want to face him, even thoughts of him made her sick. Memory of last night had left a foul taste in her mouth. If she could sleep for the next two days, she would take that sweet substitute, but it was a naive wish she knew would not come true. With a shuttering sigh, she pulled the heavy door of her chamber open and stepped out into the bare hallway, her gaze flicking from one end of the hall down to the other. She knew she would see him this morning, knew that their paths would cross and the first words out of his mouth would be something foul and cold. That was all he knew of conversations it seemed, to insert his authority and add his cold touch to everything. But thoughts filled her head, what had the prince been like before was this sad remnant of his former self? Perhaps at one point he had been warm and affectionate, beautiful even. Perhaps he had been kind even. The history of his curse eluded her, what was the truth of this foul curse? Silently she padded down towards the great hall where just the night before, there had been a great fire burning. Now in the large hearth, smoldering embers remained. The heat would be welcomed, as would the silence and lack of company. When she had reached it, she sank down and pulled the fur tighter around her shivering body. With one hand she kept the fur tightly around her, the other stretched forth from beneath the makeshift cloak to feel the remaining warmth from the embers. A few days is all you will have to endure. Hold your tongue and do not speak to him, you will be fine.Her voice no more than a whisper, bounced off the high ceilings and empty walls and returned to her. This mantra was doing little for her nerves, in fact it was making the knot tighten each time she repeated it to herself.