The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Alicia wanted to laugh at the awful dream she had found herself in, but she didn't have the energy to do so because, one, it wasn't funny, and secondly, her whole jaw ached for real, especially her head, which was pounding seriously, making it difficult for her to properly process everything.

Two days? Paulina said they had been here for two days. Why? What happened? Alicia wondered in confusion.

"T-Two... days?" She managed to ask.

"Why are we locked up here? What about my husband? Where is... Harold?" She asked, knowing that Harold would never allow something like this to happen to her.

The loud cries and groans of the other prisoners gave her goosebumps all over and made her very scared. Something had to be wrong somewhere. This had better be a dream.

Paulina cried as she shook her head, "I don't know where the Prince is. I don't know."

She looked at Paulina with concern. Paulina looked awful. And she looked like she was struggling to breathe as she cried and spoke.

Alicia touched her head when it began to bang. It was making it difficult for her to think. She touched her head as she thought about the most important question to ask since none of this was making any sense.

"Then do you at least know what happened? Why are we here? Where is everyone?" Alicia asked as she tried to stand up so she could take a look around, even though her knees felt weak and her head felt too heavy for her neck.

"I don't know. I was dragged away from my bed. But I heard them saying y-you... that you k--illed... someone." Paulina stuttered, and Alicia's eyes widened as she stumbled back in shock.

"K-Killed... s-someone?" She asked in disbelief.

Her heart began to beat very fast and she fell back to the dirty ground. She ignored the throbbing pain in her head and pondered that information. She had killed someone. She was locked here for two days, and Harold was nowhere in sight. By chance... was it... Harold?

"Please... tell me it... it wasn't..." She choked on her words, not sure how to ask that question. Her entire body began to shake, and tears suddenly poured out of her eyes.

"It was... B-Beth," Paulina said as she took her fragile self to hug Alicia. "They... also said... you hurt Princess Tyra and she isn't waking up."

She gasped as a feeling of dread and horror overwhelmed her. The gasps turned into a broken sob and then a full sob.

"No. I... didn't do it. I didn't," Alicia cried with a shake of her head while Paulina hugged her tightly.

"What happened on that night?" Paulina asked but Alicia could not think of anything. Even trying to think alone was making her head ache so much.

Was this by chance the same thing that had happened when she went to the market with Harold and how she had killed three men? But... how? What happened? Beth, of all people? And she had also hurt Tyra? How? Why would she?

Of all the offenses she had been expecting to hear, that was the least. Murder? That was impossible! There was no way she could have done that. And even if someone else had possessed her, what could have made the person murder Beth and hurt Tyra?

No. She didn't do it. She couldn't possibly have done it. Where was Harold? What was he doing? Did he believe that she had murdered Beth and hurt Tyra to the point where she was unconscious? She needed him to believe her that she didn't do it.

"Why... did they... think I did it? Why?" She asked in confusion as she broke free from the hug. This was not the time to cry. It was time to find answers. Why couldn't she remember anything? Her entire brain was blank.

"Blood. Your... clothes are stained," Paulina said, and for the first time, Alicia looked down at herself, and although the cell was dark, she could make out the stains on the white sleeping dress she was wearing.

"Blood?" Her brows pulled together in confusion. Why was she wearing a sleeping dress? Paulina said they had dragged her off her bed. That meant they had brought them there at night? She usually slept with Harold, so how could they have brought her here if Harold was with her?

What could have happened? How did it happen? She mused as she tried to recall the events of the last two nights, but try as she might, nothing came up.

She raised a hand to her head, which began to ache as she tried hard to recall what could have happened. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't remember anything. It felt like something was obstructing her from accessing her memories.

The more she tried, the more her head ached, and she felt faint, so she stopped. Perhaps it was best to go about it slowly. She could start by finding her last memory. What was the last thing she could remember aside from two nights ago? She closed her eyes as she tried to focus.

"Be mine."

She opened her eyes when she remembered those words from Harold. She could remember them both lying on her bed. She could remember him cuddling her to sleep. What happened after that? Was that the night they took her? She could remember that he had said those words that night after they welcomed the first guests and she prepared snacks.

She turned to Paulina, who was sobbing beside her, and something flashed in her head like a recent memory. She had talked to someone about Paulina recently. Who did she talk to? Was it in her dream? She wondered and shook her head.

That wasn't what was most important at the moment. Looking at Paulina, it seemed like crying was all she knew how to do when there was trouble. She couldn't afford to give in to despair right now like Paulina was doing.