(I'm going camping and then going to be going to a friends party so i'm not sure when i'll be getting back on. Just wanted to let you know.)

Arctic heart just seemed to stop as he listened to her talk and watched her walk around. He pulled the cover over his head as he curled more into a ball. He hid his tears that started to fall. "n-No..." he said in a small voice. He was going to just ignore it, maybe it wasn't permanent. Maybe she would come back to him. "My...she..." he couldn't find the words.

"You can go....go see a friend or something...I have the nurse to take care of me today." he finally said as he weakly sat up in the bed. His eyes were puffy and he had water marks still on his cheeks. He stood up from the bed and used his night stand to get to the wall. He slowly started to walk towards the bathroom. "Can you go call Siya. I-I would like to take a bath..." he said out of breath when he'd finally gotten to the bathroom. He had some sweat falling down his bear chest where the rap didn't cover his shoulder.

He sat down on a stool and just waited for Siya to come. She was an older women that had been taking care of Arctic since he was a young child and he told her everything since she didn't tell anyone else like the other slaves who passed their times gossiping. He needed to talk to her before his heart ripped into two.

Alex stomached turned at the Prince's state of distress. Alex should go to him, should stand by his side and cradle his head and care for him. But then, Alex wasn't here - bodyguard Jacques was. "Thank you for giving me leave your Highness. I will post Bodyguard Ferreto at you door, and summon Siya to your side at once." Alex turned in a tight circle and made her way to the door, pausing at the door she added softly, "rest well."

Pushing through her discomfort Alex left the room and made the long journey from the royal medical bay to the servants quarters of the palace. Ignoring the handful of people who attempted to greet her in the hall, she arrived at Siya's door in good time. Alex knocked trice on the door, tapping her foot impatiently while waiting. She desperately wanted this horrible day to be over.

Siya answered the door after just a moment, clearly she had been preparing for her day. "Alex dear, it's so nice to see you I wa-" The woman started, opening the door merrily to welcome Alex inside.

"The Prince requires you. You will find him in room 3 in the medical bay. My regards." Alex said coldly before turning from Siya to walk briskly down the hall, toward her own small room. Once inside her own room Alex collapsed onto her bed, trying not to review the horrifying events of the day.

Her weariness soon overcame her, and only one tear was able to escape her guard before she finally slipped into a fitful sleep; the Prince's face constantly disturbing her throughout the night.

Arctic was crying when Siya walked in. "What's wrong hun?" she asked as she walked quickly to his side. She wrapped her arms around him and he just cried into her stomach. "Its okay. Shhhhh." she said softly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Lets get you bathed and back in bed where you can rest." she told him as she filled the tub with warm water and then washed him down as he cried and half held onto her skirt.

After a half hour bath his tears had finally stopped but he still wouldn't tell her what was making him this upset. He sniffled a few times and got out and dried himself off and she helped him with the stiches and dressing. "Is it about the way Alex was acting?" she finally asked after he'd gotten back into bed and she only got a nod. "Its okay. She's trying to do this to protect you. She doesn't know how much you care for her after she saved your life. You have to tell her. Now, i'm not telling you you have to do this or this is right but I'm just telling you if that's what you want then go for it. You are the soon to be king of the kingdom and everyone loves Alex so very much. No one in the kingdom would be angry except maybe some of the girls." she said with a soft giggle as he laid his head down on her lap.

"I-But I don't know if she feels the same..." he said finally after thinking about it.

"Just do it prince. The worst is she couldn't. But she also could. And I feel its better to know." she said as she kissed his forehead softly.

Alex's alarm rang out loudly at exactly 6:15 am. The bodyguard roused herself immediately from her restless sleep and rose to mechanically go through her training exercises. Eating breakfast, bathing, dressing, walking down the servants hallway toward the palace infirmary. She could name all of the actions but she couldn't feel them, she felt hollow inside. All of her movements were served a purpose, she didn't entertain herself anymore. When she reached the door to the Prince's chamber she stopped and stared at the wooden barrier for a few moments. She didn't want to report in, didn't want to see him. It set her insides burning, he pushed against the empty parts.

But then, she didn't want him making her whole again.

That decided it, she needed to go in, report in and come back out. She need to prove to him and herself that she could do this on her own. Three knocks and then she swung the door open. The room looked pale and sad, the same as the Prince who lay worn and depressed looking on the bed. "Jacques reporting in for duty. I'll be on shift from 8am to 8pm today Prince Fox." She said blandly to her shoes, not lifting her head. "Do you need anything, sir?" She asked. This was required of her but she hoped desperately that Arctic would dismiss her immediately.

Arctic looked up slowly as he started to wake up. He slowly sat up in the bed, feeling a bit better. He fought with himself to find out how she felt about him but in the end he couldn't do it. "No..." he said as he slipped one leg over the side of his large bed. He slowly stood up, swaying slightly before catching himself on the table next to him. "You don't need to stay if you have other things to do..." he said softly, his voice cracking every so often. He'd cried to much last night and it had affected his voice. He slowly walked over to one of the windows in the room and opened the curtain letting warm light fill the room slowly. He felt the warmth running across his skin and he shivered slightly at the contrast between the warmth of the sun and the coldness of the room. He ran his fingers through his bed head and looked back at her, a few tears spilling uncontrollably down his cheeks. "I-I'll see you later." he said softly before he turned back around to just try to keep his composure, even though it was failing.

"Thank you sir. I don't have anything else to attend to. I will be standing by your door if you require anything." She replied curtly, turning in a tight circle to exit the door she had just entered. She paused for a moment before turning back around and posting herself on the interior of the door. She stood next to the door, but on the inside, in the room that the Prince occupied. "The Prince seems disturbed" she remarked as she leaned further into the wall, "it would be more appropriate for me to remain here." She said firmly, meanwhile she was already regretting this statement. This seemed safe enough, but was she really so weak as to break down on her resolve only a few days after it was minted?

Arctic looked up to see that she was just standing there. He sighed and brushed away tears as he turned and Siya walked in smiling at the two. "Morning to both of you. Prince lets get you dressed. I'm sure you have some duties to attend to today. Alex, i'm sure, will be able to help you with things today. Oh, and you should finish the plans for the ball thats going to be held next week. I beleive you said it was a masked ball." she said as she made quick work of the rest of the blinds, the bed, and set out a pair of cloths for him. The woman was fast for her old age.

"Yeah." he said not truthfully caring about it in anyway. He walked over to the bed and took of his shirt, showing his black and blue marks around the cut. He winced slightly when it pulled on the skin around the cut but he hid it well. He dressed and sighed softly. "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do." he said to Alex before looking at Siya. "Thank you." he said as he took a few steps and almost tripped over himself. He was still a bit weak but he didn't want to make anyone worry anymore.

((Az! How are you? I have finally got all of my school stuff under control so if you wanted to we could try to RP again? Hit me back :heart: Sorry for the ridiculously long hiatus.))

(Yay~!!!!!!!! Im glad~! I'd love to start rping with you again~! It was ur post and i'm sorry about not being on. I was attacked with another freaking cold. Stupid weather~!)

((Do you still want to keep up with where they are right now? I was thinking that they're kind of stuck in a rut. Like, she's not going to stop being cold to him and he's not going to stop being upset about it. I think it'd be cool to timeskip to somewhere in their future timeline, as if what we'd done so far was like a ... prelude? Thoughts?))

(Yeah, like the father is dead and he is the king now. He's helped the slaves making them all servants who get paid and a good way of life. His advisers set up a masked ball because they want him to get married. He's declined three other women who they thought would work. They want him to have children or something like that.)

((oooh time phasing to like 6 months later when he's king could be really cool. HMMM... But how would she come in?))

(Um, well I was thinking that she was put as the captain of the Army since he couldn't stop being so upset from the way she'd changed and at the ball, which would be happening that night, and she would walk in and he would stand up and smile trying to hide that he was still upset about it. He would ask her to join in the thing and the maid that's really good friends with Arctic would surprise her by dressing her up beautifully and entering her in the contest that would win her a day with the prince, just the two of them. Not even Arctic would know about it since the advisers set it up. They knew he would have said no. And she wins or something like that. That would be adorable~!)

((That sounds a little.. convoluted? I just don't want them meeting back up to be overly contrived. I think having it be a mascaraed is a good idea though.))

(~shrug~ I just want to do a ball thing. They don't need to do the contest thing or she doesn't even need to be in it. They just want him to get married cause they don't want something bad to happen to him and then they have to fight over who is the next king. What we could do is just have her be invited to the ball, she could go or not, and he's being forced to go but I might switch it so he has his friend takes his place cause he wants to have a good time or something. ~thinks about it~)

((No no, I think the masqurade ball is a good idea, it gives them the chance to be acquainted without the constraints of their relative position, I just think that a contest would put it over the top. I'm down for a ball though.))

(Okay. Would it be okay that I put a fake prince in so that he could walk around and have fun at his party?)

((Yeah, that would be fine. Maybe he could be a buddy that he switches mask with? Like everyone thinks the prince is up on the platform but he switched with someone and is just out on the floor having fun? Was that kind of the idea?))

(Yep~! That's it~! ~smiles happily~ It sounds like so much fun)

((Well - where are we going with this? Like, once they re-meet that will be great but... I kind of wrote myself into a corner last time with her so maybe they could stay like that for awhile? As in not knowing who they really are?))

(yeah, I figured through the entire party they wouldn't know who was behind the masks and they would just have a good time. After words they wouldn't know who they were talking to and maybe someone made a death threat on Arctic's life or something forcing them to talk to each other again. Or maybe they're country is in risk of getting attacked. Something happen making the two have to speak to each other again.)

((Hm... I don't know. Maybe it'd be good if they just went out and then got kidnapped?))

(okay. That's okay. ^.^)

((HMM - any other ideas???)

(well maybe after the party the prince could be attacked and she could walk in and be dragged along?)