May Death Do Us Part

Chapter 12: Chapter 12 : Intertwined

Nathan leaned back on his chair and cupped his forehead, the information that Ella had just told him was very alarming. He never imagined that their lives would be intertwined like this.

“Ella..” prince Nathan’s breathing was heavy, this was definitely quite the discovery.

“What’s the matter?” The redhead said in a panic, “are you suddenly feeling unwell? Do you need some water?”

“No, please don’t worry yourself.”

Nathan straightened his posture and clamped his hands together, his mind deep in though.

“I’m now convinced that you and I were destined to meet Ella.”

The blue eyed girl looked at Nathan with questioning eyes.

.....

“Your accident with the wagon, do you remember that?”

Ella slowly nodded her head. “Yes, that’s how I died, in my life as Aria.”

“In the small town of wintersend...”

Ella’s eyes went round at the prince’s words. “I didn’t tell you the name of the town, how could you possibly....”

Prince Nathan focused his gaze on the girl in front of him. “That day, in the small town of wintersend, my father came home very devastated. He told us that as he was pulling his cart up the hilly road and it slipped out of his grasp causing the accidental death of a young woman.”

Ella was barely breathing at this point.

“What?” The girl’s voice was but a squeak.

“A few days later, I fell gravely ill, together with the rest of my family.” Nathan continued. “Somehow we had succumbed to food poisoning. My siblings and parents recovered but I-”

Nathan swallowed hard.. “I died.”

Ella could see that Nathan was holding back tears, she felt sorry for him. He must have loved his family and his simple life at the time.

Nathan took a deep breath and continued speaking. “Later I was reborn as the second youngest son of the lord of a town called Mirine.”

“That’s...” Ella felt her chest tighten.

Of all the lives she had lived, her life in Mirine was her most painful memory. During her life there she had all but forgotten about her curse, she had parents she loved dearly, a simple and free life, and... she had Jillian. Oh how she missed him so much.

It had been many excruciating years but the wounds in her heart never completely healed. If only she hadn’t gone back that day, if only she didn’t try playing hero, maybe, just maybe Jillian wouldn’t have died. They would have built a new life together somewhere far away, gotten married and had many beautiful children.

Ella was snapped out of her trans when she felt a hand grab hers.

“Ella are you alright?” Nathan questioned the girl.

She cleared her throat and nodded. “I’m fine your grace.”

“But Ella, you’re crying.”

The girl touched her cheek and felt the stream of tears that had escaped her eyes.

Nathan handed her a handkerchief which she used to pat her cheeks dry.

“I’m sorry,” Ella sniffled. “Mirine has a lot of memories for me.”

“I’m so sorry, and believe me I do understand your pain.”

Nathan really did understand her pain, he didn’t need an explanation to know that her life in Mirine revolved around people she had grown to love dearly. He silently hoped that when they would be able to break the curse, he would be able to give her a full and happy life.

Ella dabbed the last of her tears and put on a brave face. “Please continue.”

“Right.” Nathan cleared his throat and continued his talk. “Like I said, my father was the lord of that town and I had heard talks of a beautiful red headed young woman with ocean blue eyes. I’m assuming that was you.”

Ella nodded.

“I sent word out to meet you, honestly I was smitten by you just by the descriptions I’d heard alone, I was determined to meet you and make you mine.” Nathan chuckled nervously. “But you declined my offer every time, I was told you were already involved with someone else.”

“I was..” Ella responded, the tightness in her chest returning once again.

“Well that didn’t stop me.” Nathan responded. “I was adamant on making you mine so I got onto my horse and rode towards your house, with many gifts in hand. But unfortunately, I was ambushed by bandits who wanted to rob me, I tried putting up a fight but ended up getting killed.”

Ella’s head was spinning, did this mean that if any one of them died, the other would suffer the same fate? So even if Ella had done things differently that night, as long as Nathan lost his life, she would have died as well.

“Did you die as well?” The prince questioned the girl, trying to read what she was thinking.

“I did.” Ella responded in a whisper.

“I see, was it an accident or..?”

“I slit my own throat.”

The prince instinctively grabbed his throat and swallowed hard, he didn’t want to probe any further to find out why she had done so. He could see from her eyes that she had gone through a lot of pain, it must have been too much to bare.

“You know what I find most infuriating about this curse?” Nathan spoke, his a little more calmer and soothing

Ella shook her head, “what?”

“The fact that in every lifetime, I grow up, become a man and finally conquer a woman in bed, and then I die and wake up a bloody virgin again!”

Ella’s mouth curved up into a little smile. “That’s what you find most infuriating?” Ella asked him sarcastically. “Losing your track record?”

She knew that he was simply trying to lighten the mood and she appreciated it, prince Nathan Aldos wasn’t as terrible as she had first thought him to be.

“Surely you have some complaints too about the matter.” Nathan continued his complaint.

Ella’s cheeks flushed red, she shifted uncomfortably in her chair and turned her face away from Nathan.

“I... I’ve never been intimate with a man.”

Nathan almost jumped out of his seat. “What?! You lie!”

Nathan had assumed that such a beautiful lady like Ella would have been raking the men in. He pictured queues of degenerate thirsty males pumped with testosterone waiting to have a taste of the mystery blue eyed beauty.

He of course would be first in line given the chance.

“Are you lying to me Ella?”

“Why would I lie?!” Ella snapped

“But you’re so..” the prince swallowed his words, carefully selecting them so he wouldn’t offend the girl. “You’re so beautiful Ella how could any sane man resist you?”

“Can we talk about something else please?!”

Nathan could tell from her expression that she was being serious. Oh this was interesting.

The prince took Ella’s hand and smiled broadly at her.

“If you ever feel ready..” His words left his lips like sweet solemn melodies off a harp. “It would be my absolute honor to give you your first experience.”

Ella’s face flushed red, she was conflicted on whether to slap Nathan across the face or to melt in his arms. This scammy prince really had a way with words.

The temperature in the room was escalating and Ella’s heart had all but leapt out of her chest. She looked at Nathan’s expectant face, waiting for an answer.

“umm...”

KNOCK KNOCK

[oh thank goodness]

“Your majesty.” The butler’s voice was heard from outside the door. “Your lunch with lady Ella has been served in the garden.”

“Thank you Theodore, we’ll be right out.”

Ella took the opportunity to swipe her hand away from Nathan, she abruptly stood up and turned away from him to face the door.

“We should go eat, I’m starving.” She spoke in a jittery tone.

Nathan sized the girl from head to toe, taking in all her beautiful curves and features. Her long red hair, the warm tone of her skin, her feminine shoulders and all her beautiful defined contours.

“Of course.” Nathan spoke with a grin. “After you lady Ella.”

The two exited the room and walked through the castle to the garden. The maids and butlers who were looking at them began whispering and smiling among themselves.

“Oh do you think they’ve done the deed?”

“Look at the blush on my lady’s face, of course they have.”

“Back in my day, we had to wait till after the wedding to churn the butter.”

“Back in your day there was no butter.”

The whispers only made Ella’s face flash even more, why had she agreed to go in the prince’s room in the first place? Now everyone thought they’d ‘churned the butter’ gross!

Behind her, prince Nathan was smiling like a maniac, he knew that noting had happened between them, but the gossip did a lot to pump up his ego. Besides, it wasn’t a problem considering that he would one day make Ella his wife, and they could churn the butter as much as they wanted.

The thought made Nathan’s smile grow wider, oh how he couldn’t wait.

.....

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I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank @doomfanger and @etestman for the power stones. They mean a lot thank you.

Ya’ll are the real MVPs