She Belongs To The Devil

When Prince Nigel had started the journey to Aberdeen, he was having great difficulty. Every once in a while, he stopped the carriage and stepped out of it to vomit. He was getting motion sickness a little too often, which had prolonged the long journey by some more time.

He was accompanied by six of the Royal guards, but they were riding horses. And Prince Nigel was sitting alone inside the carriage. Nigel was someone who constantly needed someone to speak to, he did not like the solitude. But he had no other choice than to sit there all alone.

After they crossed the villages of Wyverndale, Nigel was allowed to open the curtain of his carriage and see outside. He would open the curtain, and peek outside but all he could see was vast land and nothing else. The journey was making him feel bored out of his mind.

They would travel for 3-4 hours straight and then stop in some safe location to rest for some time, drink and eat some light snacks, and answer the nature calls. And then they would resume the journey again.

The last time Nigel had visited Aberdeen, he remembered getting back pains and a sore body. He would be exhausted by the time he reached Aberdeen. It had already been 12 hours since they had started their journey. But this time, Nigel was not feeling body pains. The pesky vomiting had also stopped after traveling for 4-5 hours, he was used to the ride by then.

Nigel tried moving his hands and bending his back, and mumbled to himself, "Hmm… I don't have a sore back yet? In fact, I feel as fresh as I would be in the morning. What is this monstrosity? Is this one of the perks of being a werewolf?"

He chuckled to himself and was proud of his new body, "I could get used to this. No pain… no nothing… feels really nice."

After traveling for two more hours, the guards made the final stop for today because it was already dark. One of the guards knocked on the Prince's door and said, "Your Highness, we are going to stop here for the night."

Nigel opened the door and then stepped outside of the carriage. He breathed the air in and his sensitive nose was able to tell the difference in one instant. He could smell the moss, the trees, the animals, basically the whole wet and fresh rain forest. So he asked the guard who was standing in front of him, "Are we already near Aberdeen?"

"Yes, Your Highness. We are around the border of Wyverndale and Aberdeen." The guard pointed at a small house and said, "There is only one guest house here. So I hope you will be able to manage for one night." The guard sounded apologetic to the Prince.

Nigel looked at the humble hut and smiled, "I love this little inn. You don't have to be so sorry." Nigel waited for the guard to go in first and prepare the accommodation for all of them.

Nigel had spent the night in this inn a few times before when he had traveled with his mother to his maternal uncle's place. And he loved it here because, even though it was just for a night, it gave him a feeling of being a commoner.

The guards arranged the nicest room for the Prince and took the remaining rooms for themselves. They asked the innkeeper to clean the Prince's room and prepare hot food for all of them.

Nigel was occupied by looking at the night scenery of that surrounding. To his left, the land was mostly filled with crops or just grasses. While on his far-right, he could see the tall trees. It was like the plants and vegetation were the natural boundaries.

Of course, only Nigel was able to see that far in the night and compare the vegetation of the two countries. He was enjoying his body's newfound capabilities and was smiling like a fool.

When the innkeeper was done cleaning the room, the guard came to the Prince and informed him, "Your Highness, your room is ready."

Nigel smiled at the guard and said, "Let's go in then."

The guard led the Prince to his room while Nigel enthusiastically followed the guard towards his humble room.

After a while, they were served hot dinner by the wife of the innkeeper. The innkeeper served the food to Nigel in his own room.

"Where are all the people that came with me?" Nigel asked the innkeeper.

"They are outside of the inn, Prince Nigel. I have set a table for them." The innkeeper replied politely. He knew who exactly Nigel was, not just because he was followed by Royal Guards, but because Nigel was a special guest who had stayed in his inn multiple times before.

Prince Nigel nodded his head and then said to the innkeeper, "Set my dinner alongside them. I also want to eat outside."

"As you wish, Your Highness." The innkeeper politely bowed to the Prince and took the dinner plate outside.

The guards and the coachman were in the middle of eating their food but when they saw the Prince, they got up abruptly from their seats. They were shocked to see that the Prince had come to join them for the dinner.

"Relax, everyone! Take your seats please." Nigel said while pulling a chair and sitting down at the table.

But one of the guards bowed to the Prince and said, "Your Highness, how can we sit at the same table with you. We are far beneath you."

Nigel took a deep breath in and puckered his lips. Then he said in a sad tone, "I came here to join you because I was feeling lonely. But I see that none of you are interested to eat together with me."

The emotional blackmail worked and the guard immediately apologized to the Prince, "I didn't mean it that way, Your Highness. We will eat with you." Then he gestured everyone else to sit down as well.

Nigel smiled and said, "Just treat me like you would treat your friends alright? No need to be so uptight all the time."

"Yes, Your Highness." One of the guards replied.

The guards were also happy that their Prince was not an arrogant one. Slowly, all of them began to open up to the Prince. All of them enjoyed the food as well as each other's company.

After having a warm and nice dinner, all of them went to their respective room to rest for the night. They were planning to head towards Aberdeen early in the morning.

Nigel's room was much smaller than his room back at the Palace. There was a small bed by the side of a window, and there was a small table in the room and nothing else. But Nigel liked it anyway.

He laid down on the bed. Even though he was not that tired, there was nothing else to do other than sleeping. So he closed his eyes to get some sleep, and in no time, he was lost deep in his dreamland.

But his dreamland crumbled apart sometime later, in the middle of the night. Nigel gasped and flung his eyes open because his sharp ears picked up a sound by his window. He felt as though there was something lurking outside.. He heard something snarling.