-Raven POV-

She opened her eyes, the room so bright that she felt blinded by its shining lights. Raven tried to sit up, but she struggled, covered in three thick blankets and comforters. The room was even nicer than Jayden’s apartment, adorned with jewels everywhere and beautiful gold furniture. It seemed borderline gaudy, but also well arranged and neat.

So yesterday wasn't a dream; she was in the royal palace, in Olom’s capital city: Nyam. She’d done something so stupid, and now she was going to be paying the price.

“You’re finally awake,” the prince laughed,”I thought you died. To be honest, I really did hope you lived, though.”

Raven’s eyes widened in shock at his nonchalant attitude. Hadn’t he almost died yesterday?

“I wish I had let you die,” The words came out of her mouth as she quickly put her hands on her mouth. The prince just laughed again,

“To tell you the truth, I wish I had died there too.”

Raven stared at him, was he insane?

“My bad,” She deadpanned, “Anyway, I’m all healed so you can die in peace now. Can I go back home now, your royal majesty?”

The prince stared at her as if she was the crazy one,

“Why would you want to go back to that shithole?”

Raven blinked twice,

“Because it’s my home and everything and everyone I know is there?”

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Julia would soon be gone, and she would be all alone, but that seemed better than whatever the prince and his equally insane family seemed to have planned for her.

“Well, I sincerely doubt that you will be going back there anytime soon, factory girl,” The prince scoffed.

Raven rolled her eyes, laughing at him,

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“My name isn’t ‘factory girl’, royal brat, it’s Raven. Raven Alo.”

The prince glanced at her,

“Alright, Raven,” He seemed to spit out her name as though it was a disgusting curse, “You can call me Rowan. I think we’re going to be seeing each other quite a lot these days and I believe that it would be much easier for you to call me by my first name rather than my official title whenever we speak.”

Raven scoffed, please, he was so annoying,

“You think that we’ll be talking that much? I wouldn’t have called you by that ridiculous name anyway, royal brat.”

He stood up, laughing at her bitterly,

“I have no idea what I could have done to insult you so much, to make you hate me the way you do, Raven, but just know that I don’t regret it. You are one of the biggest asses that I have ever met. I am trying to make peace with you, but you continue to attack. I don’t know what to say.”

Raven stood up, getting off of the bed, leaning into him, his back against the wall. He blushed but Raven didn’t notice at all.

“Oh don’t worry, royal brat, I know exactly what to say. You should really get out more if I’m the biggest ass you’ve ever met-”

The prince pointed at her face, his face still flushed pink,

“Raven, you’re bleeding from your left ear.”

Raven laughed, not moving away from him,

“Please, do you really think that I would believe you?”

The prince shook his head,

“Genuinely, you are. It’s what happens if you use your powers way too much for some people. It’s interesting how you have some however. Commoners aren’t supposed to be able to do the things you did. Not even royals have such a power; the family of healers supposedly died out long before either of us were born. So either you are one of them or something very strange is happening. Either way, factory girl, you should probably not use your powers for a while.”

Raven’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief as she only stepped away from him, saying nothing, touching the bloody side as she sat back down on the giant bed.

“You know I’m right,” He started again, “So, you can hate me. We can be enemies, but let’s help each other out. If you help me die painlessly, I’ll make sure that you can escape and live the rest of your days in luxury.”

Raven stared at him as he slowly walked towards her,

“And how will you make sure that I get my end of the deal, royal brat? Why don’t I just stab you right here and now?”

Rowan laughed, leaning against her, now pushing her against the bedframe,

“You’ll just have to take a chance, factory girl. Besides, you can’t just kill me like that. They’ll have your head if you try any funny business. Even if it’s not your fault, I’ll make sure that you die too, if I die of anything besides my sickness.”

He gave a wide grin at her, as she scowled. He thought he was so funny and charismatic, didn't he.

“Fine. I agree, but then how should I kill you?”

He tilted his head from side to side, almost like contemplating this,

“You have to heal me until my nineteenth birthday. That is when I am destined to die, so about ten months from now. That means you have to keep me out of pain for that long. After that I will die of natural causes.”

Raven laughed,

“Fine, royal brat. I’ll do it.”