Roxane held her wrath in as best she could. All throughout the wedding reception she kept wavering between wanting to flip the tables over and wanting to lunge herself at the prince and tear him limb to limb.
Prince Xavier kept rearing his head back in laughter, a golden goblet in his hand and in the other he held onto Diana's hand. The wine in his goblet slushed to and fro, spilling everywhere and yet the prince didn't pay it any mind.
More than once, she was afraid she would grip her glass too tightly and that it would shatter in her hands. She couldn't help herself, watching and unable to do anything, as the prince did whatever he wanted. He paraded Diana around the banquet hall, and under the candlelight, he forced her to dance around and around the center of the hall.
She was sure the prince would never care for Diana if the way he dragged her along was anything to go by.
Night had now fallen over the temple, and the music had become even louder, but even the music couldn't drown out the obnoxious laughter of the prince. She glared at him as he belted out another laugh, loud enough to make Diana beside him wince.
"If you keep staring at him like that then you just might kill him with your glare alone." She was a bit startled by the sudden appearance of the man next to her even though she didn't show it.
Roxane turned her face to the side and was met with a pair of violet eyes. She ignored the sensation of her tingling fingertips as she stared at the wizard who reached behind her to grab a treat from one of the plates on the banquet table. "You can relax. I've put a spell around us so no one can actually hear what our conversation is really about." She quickly wondered what their conversation would sound like in the ears of the other attendees.
"I doubt even you would be so calm as to watch your friend be treated like that." She dipped her head slightly, in the direction of the prince and Diana.
"I'm surprised you care for her so much. It really seems like you'll go so far as to seriously injure him." At that, she eyed him, not sure if she should be offended or not.
"Why are you so surprised?" She asked warily. "We've been friends for many years now. I was the one who brought her to this temple." If she had only known then that the temple would sell Diana off to the royal family, she would have never brought her here.
"You two seem like night and day to me. That is why I found it so hard to believe in your friendship, especially since you had tried to snatch away her husband." The expression on his face still hadn't changed even once during their conversation, but even so, she found it hard to take her eyes off of him. The silver earring on his ear flashed light from the chandelier and her eyes instantly went to it.
It took her a while to finally peel away her golden eyes from the shiny earing. Her eyes went back to rest on the wizard's face. She realized then that the man hadn't taken his eyes off of her, he was still waiting on her response.
"Funny you should say that. I thought the same of you and the prince's cousin." She said with a smile as she was embarrassed from having stared at him for so long as he waited patiently.
"True. We are vastly different people, and at first, I too never thought we would be working together like this." He said while shaking his head. "But he proved me wrong. He is much more terrifying than the royal family gives him credit for. Soon, they will have to realize their blunder in disregarding him just because of his commoner blood."
"Are we talking about the same man?" She said, skeptical that the smiling brown-haired man was such a terrifying opponent. "He looks nothing like the cunning sort."
"I thought the same of you not too long ago." Her golden eyes immediately narrowed as she looked at him.
"What do you mean by that?"
He slightly shrugged, taking a glass of drink in his head, and turned his face to look straight out. He lifted his glass to his lips after he spoke.
"I thought you were nothing but a pretty face." While other women would have left it at that, content with hearing a man call them pretty, Roxane was different. She felt the words leave her mouth before she could stop them.
"You're not being honest about your initial assessment of me then. I am not just a pretty face. Everyone and their mothers would say I am gorgeous."
Roxane saw it then. She saw the tiniest smile curve the corner of the wizard's lips upward. Her heart fluttered as her eyes widened.
"Looks like the prince isn't happy." She snapped out of it, her eyes now focusing on the prince as he glared daggers towards them, a displeased expression plastered over his face. Now that he realized he held Roxane's attention, he bent down to whisper something into Diana's ear. Her face paled and she hurriedly threw a glance at Roxane. She truly appeared frightened as the prince began to make his way out of the banquet, practically dragging Diana along with him.
Roxane felt her heart drop into her stomach. The couple leaving their own wedding reception could only mean one thing. They were heading to the prearranged bedroom to spend their wedding night together.
The wizard, Kian, must have thought the same thing, for his violet eyes hardened.
"Time to go." She said, pulling away from the banquet table. Kian grabbed her arm, stopping her for only a moment.
"Don't forget, as long as the prince wears the ring on his hand, we'll be able to reach your side." She nodded at him. "Be careful." With that, he released her arm.
Roxane did her best not to break into a run, as she swiftly left the banquet hall, heading in the direction where she was sure the prince and Diana had just been. She could feel her rapidly beating heart thump against her chest as she rushed through the hallways of the temple. Her feet could not keep up with the pace of her heavy breathing.
Only when she spotted the two, in front of the doors of the specially prepared bedchambers, did she stop running. While she approached them, she fluidly turned her face distraught.
"Your Highness!" She exclaimed and ran over to the prince's side. Prince Xavier turned around at her voice, true surprise written on his wretched face. It seemed like she had cut into their conversation.
"What are you doing here?" He said harshly as his hand still gripped tightly around Diana's wrist. Her heart sank as she realized the ring was nowhere to be seen.
"I," she licked her lips nervously, "I can't let you enter the room with her." She finally said. Roxane had to still carry on with the plan. She only hoped that Kian and Thatcher would be able to reach them in time. If not, she would be forced to do something drastic.
"Whatever you do Roxane," she remembered Thatcher's words, "do not kill the prince. It would be like cutting off a hydra's head. Three new heads would instantly sprout from its body. Believe me when I say his brothers are no different from him."
"And?" The prince's face twisted into a hideous smile. He grabs onto Diana's waist and pulls her into his side. "Why am I not allowed to enjoy my own wedding night?"
"Because," she lowered herself onto the floor, "because I can't bear to let you go."
The prince raised one of his dark eyebrows.
"Oh? Here I thought you were latching on to the miserable oaf of a wizard." He smiled, amused with himself for thinking up of such an insult. "But I see now that you were trying to make me jealous."
Roxane didn't care for indulging in his fantasies, so she simply nodded her head along.
"Your Highness, if I may be so bold…" She rose up from the ground, placing one of her beautiful hands on top of her chest. "I want to give myself to you tonight." At this, the guards that were standing outside moved as if uncomfortable. They quickly straightened out their expressions when the prince gave out a short laugh.
"Why not? There's no decree that states a wedding night should be spent with just the bride." Diana's eyes widened in shock. She began to shake her head.
"No, no, no."
"Shut up!" The prince roughly shook Diana, gripping tighter around her wrist. "Damn woman." He muttered underneath his breath as Roxane tightened her hands into fists by her side, drawing blood in the process.
"Let's quickly enter the room your Highness. I, for one, am eager to please you." Roxane said as she willed her face to match her sultry words. Her smile seemed a little off though, as her smile seemed more like a predator's than that of a young woman's.