1ST PERSON’S POV:
“I… I can’t… I know you’re mad—”
“VERY FRUSTRATED.” He cut me off before looking away and exhaled deeply through his nose. He’s sulking… Like a child… I tried to control my facial expressions to avoid pissing him off. Though my heart felt warm with this new side I’m witnessing.
I wanted to explain myself, but words refused to come out and my mouth ended up awkwardly ajar. Silence became louder as we stayed still in our spot. He sat there with his arms crossed while I stood in front of him with a dripping cloth in my hand.
My eyes locked on a certain spot before zoning out. Everything felt surreal. I survived a riot without killing someone (hopefully), and two attacks!
“A-a… o…” I stopped zoning out when I heard sounds coming out of his mouth that I cannot understand. He’s barfing the words that want to be puked out. I watched him squirm on his sit as he struggled to form a coherent sentence.
“Is there… hurt...” he cleared his throat between words while he continued to avoid my gaze. I didn’t move and waited patiently for him to spit out his thoughts. The longer I waited, his brows dove deeper until he scrunched his face up in frustration. He rolled his eyes and bent his neck down before he let out a heavy sigh with eyes closed tightly.
I stumbled backwards when he suddenly opened his eyes and stared directly in mine. It felt like he almost saw right through me. However, what he said next surprised me a bit.
“A-are you alright?” even if he stuttered, passionate determination filled his eyes. That’s how I saw it, though it could mean anything. I don’t even know why he’s so determined, but that’s just the vibe I got from his look.
Why am I even explaining my thoughts?
I only nodded and awkwardly shook the damp cloth in front of him. He paused for a while before nodding softly. As I continued to clean off the grime on his face, he carefully held my other arm and inspected it. I glanced at him for a while before going back to my own business.
Now that everything is slightly calm, my body finally recognizes all the stinging pain and aches I gained throughout the day. I only noticed now that I have a lot of scratches on my arms and legs, and some paper cut like pain on some parts of my face.
Comfortable silence filled the air even after I finished cleaning and dressing up his wounds. There’s no need for words, since it’s obvious that we both care for each other in our own little ways.
I was about to leave when he pulled me down to sit on his spot and cleaned my wounds wordlessly. I could only give him a small smile because I don’t know how to accept small acts of kindness.
While he cleaned my injuries, I felt stiff and awkward. I don’t know where to look! He blocked most of my view as he invaded my personal bubble, but not in the weird and creepy way. He had to hold my shoulder down so that I would stop squirming under his gaze.
We packed up and walked to our room. The idea of finally sleeping made my tensed muscles relaxed. However, two guards appeared and before we could even act, someone hit me on the back of my head before I lost consciousness.
3RD PERSON’S POV:
It enraged Vaughn when he saw one guard hurt Maisie. He was about to defend her when two of the guards held him back and the one who attacked Maisie walked in front of him.
“Getting braver, are we?” The guard then punched him in the gut, which made Vaughn kneel on the ground. While the guards laughed at him, they took this opportunity to kick him while he was down.
They left and dragged Maisie with them when Vaughn barely moved. He wanted to stand up and follow them, but simply breathing became a challenge for him. Every intake of air brought a stabbing pain into his lungs. He wiped the side of his mouth when he felt something wet dripping.
“They just waisted the midget’s efforts…” he mumbled to himself before he forced himself to sit up. The world spun, but that didn’t stop him from standing up and move. While he held his stomach, he walked with weak steps and used the walls for support as he tried to follow them.
Meanwhile, Maisie was thrown into a dungeon, and the guards locked her wrists on the leather straps hanging on the wall. They left her with her upper body hanging awkwardly. The other people locked in a jail beside her were noisy as the guards passed by, but that didn’t wake Maisie up.
However, one person passing by the cells made the prisoners noisier. They shouted profanities or begged, but it only went unheard as the sight of Maisie caught this person’s attention. The person stopped to stare at Maisie’s condition before sighing in disapproval and left while whistling that made all the prisoners to be quiet.
On the other side of the kingdom, Prince Jayden was seething on his throne. All the servants became a victim of his wrath as he threw everything he can grab and shouted to whoever tried to talk to him.
“HOW DARE HE PUNCH ME?!” A whole day passed after the accident, but he still couldn’t let go of Maisie punching him. He went on it the whole day that it made the servants and guards hate Maisie too, since they had to endure the prince’s tantrums.
When the guards who captured Maisie saw the prince’s current state, it frightened them to walk near the prince. Even if they know fully that the prince doesn’t hurt people unjustly, they still wouldn’t want to risk it.
 In the end, the guard who hit Maisie informed the prince of her whereabouts. It scared the servants and guards when he went still for a moment. It frightened them more when he suddenly composed himself and fixed his uniform; an action that he never does, even with an important event.
Prince Jayden’s calmness and sudden composition unnerved everyone in the room. The prince went to the dungeons and walked towards Maisie’s cell with an eerily quiet atmosphere. Only the sound of his and his follower’s footsteps were heard in the dungeon. Upon reaching her cell, he observed her current condition. His face and body language did not indicate his thoughts and feelings. His face was blank as he signaled for the guard beside him to wake Maisie up.
The guard fetch a bucket of water and threw it at Maisie. It startled Maisie for a moment. Her eyes were droopy when she tried to open them to look at the culprit. However, she only made a disgusted look before rolling her eyes subtly. The overall fatigue she got for the day was stronger as she went back to sleep. On top of that, she hasn’t eaten all day. Her lack of energy to wake-up irked the prince.
Other than the irritation the prince felt, it confused him how Maisie can go back to sleep after being wet and with that awkward position.
The guards noticed the prince’s darkened mood and panicked when Maisie refused to wake up. They went inside her cell and slapped her face repeatedly with increasing force.
The first five slaps already woke Maisie up, but she still acted asleep. She tolerated the slaps, hoping that they’ll give up soon. A part of her is too tired to deal with the upcoming ‘bullshit’ they’ll give, and another part of her is just scared of this ‘bullshit’ she’s about to receive.
“Stop. Tie her to the field,” the prince said before he left seething. The guards dragged Maisie away and followed the prince’s order.
Vaughn weakly tried his best to follow Maisie to the dungeon until he saw the guards dragging Maisie out of the castle. It only took a second for Vaughn to realize Jayden’s plan as he changed his route and followed them.
Meanwhile, Prince Riain carelessly jumped from tree to tree in the forest. This is a child’s play for the prince since he grew up playing and climbing on trees. Bored out of his wits, he decided to go to Maisie, but Prince Jayden’s guards saved his time and energy when they finally arrived at the field.
The unconscious Maisie being dragged by the guards intrigued Prince Riain. He jumped to a nearer tree to observe the situation. That’s when he saw the guards setting up the pole and immediately knew that Maisie is doomed.