The Arsenic Widow #Wattys2015 (mxm)

Chapter Twelve

I had been planning on making my chapters longer but then University started up for me so I didn't have a chance ;-; I hope you don't mind my short chapters considering I'm uploading every week! :3

I stared at him in astonishment, "Prince Acorn? What are you talking about?"

He ran a hand through his hair and grabbed a handful, tugging roughly, "That... No. I was mistaken." He straightened up and let go of his hair. I could see the redness at the roots and winced, knowing he must have been giving it a hard pull.

"So you think it was a coincidence?" I narrowed my eyes and watched his face for any signs of deception.

Acorn shrugged and averted his eyes. I knew immediately he was lying, but said nothing. I'm sure his mother would 'set him straight' if she heard about this.

"Okay," I nodded, looking him straight in the eye to show him I was being honest. "If you say so. But I think we need to get out of this room at least."

Acorn looked relived and nodded. He grabbed a book from the table and followed me out, while I grabbed my sword, holding it protectively to my side. We went down the hallways and Acorn murmured to one of the guards who looked ready to piss himself in fear. His eyes went wide and he barked out a command to the other guards and they rushed into the library.

I watched them, a small smile on my face. I knew that soon enough guards would be everywhere, including the library, and my task would be almost impossible. I don't know why I was smiling at that.

"So what were you really doing with my lovely mother?" Acorn asked, his face looking bitter at the mention of the Queen.

My face went red immediately and I shrugged, trying to look casual, "Ah, you know. Talking. Like I said before."

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at me, "And your friend?" His eyes took in the flushed quality to my face and I felt the colour deepen. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"She made you have sex with her."

I choked on the air in front of me, "No! I didn't!"

Acorn tilted his head to the side, "Then you had sex with that creepy servant of hers. What's her name...?" he bit his lip in thought.

"Scarlet," I mumbled. "And no, I didn't sleep with her either."

"That leaves..." he looked at me, a question written on his face.

"What's that?" I pointed at the book in his hands. He seemed to shake himself out of his intense focus about what I was doing and looked at it as well.

"Ah, well, I saw that you couldn't read, or at least struggled to, so I thought I'd teach you."

I looked at him incredulously, "What? No. I can't be taught by you!"

He frowned, "Why not? I could be a tutor if I wanted to be. I do know how to read after all."

Shaking my head, I let out a soft chuckled, "No, I mean that I can't be taught by a Prince. I'm just a hunter after all. We don't really deserve to know these things." And, I added in my mind, if you teach me every time I pick up a book I will think of you and about what I had to do.

"Nonsense," he guided me into a room filled with couches and a crackling fireplace. I had to look twice to see if the fire was real. Was someone constantly stoking it in case someone wanted to come in here? As if on cue, an elderly man waddled in and began poking at the fire. He had dark brown robes on, as if he were a religious man, and an intelligent look to his eyes. "Walter," Acorn murmured, "I can take it from here."

Walter looked up, his eyes slightly watery from being too close to the hot flames. His face broke into a smile and he handed the metal poker over to the Prince, "Good to see you in here," he rasped.

Acorn chuckled, "I know, I'm sorry. I keep promising that I'll be back but you know how much I love the library."

"Then bring the books in here," he admonished, "or else I'm looking after the fire for nothing." I was taken aback by how he spoke to the Prince, but I also understood that the two must enjoy each other's company a lot.

As if sensing my gaze, Walter looked over at me, "And who's this? Not some kid that will get dirt all over my couches like you once did I hope."

Acorn laughed, "This is Incent. He's going to be living here for a while so I'm teaching him to read."

The man's face softened and he nodded, "I'll let you do that. Call out if you need anything. To your guards of course, not me. I'll pretend not to hear you." He shuffled out, leaving as alone in the room.

Acorn pointed to the couch and I sat down, amazed by how soft the pillows were. He opened the book and put it on my lap. I stared down at it in disdain, the words too difficult to understand.

The man pointed to one letter individually, "What's this? I know your kingdom shares the same spelling as us."

I shook my head, "I don't know."

He nodded slowly, "Well, this is the letter A. It makes an 'ah' sound as you probably already know. You can tell it's an A because it looks like a little tent with a line in the middle."

My eyes scanned the letter, trying to commit it to memory. A little tent, that should help me.

"How do you write A's?" he asked softly.

Using my finger, I traced the letter. Instead of looking like an A, it was just one line with a curve at the top (like an upside down J that I found in the book to show him). He commented that it was unusual and I told him it was just how hunters wrote to one another. We had our own universal language that the demons couldn't understand.

While he taught me the letter I, which he mentioned was tall and stoic like me, I thought about how he had reacted to the demons voice. It was evident that the demon was mimicking his brother, but how? Humans couldn't become a demon, but what if Acorn's brother was already half? Maybe his mother had lain with a demon just as easily as she had lain with others.

I frowned and kept trying to concentrate on the letters but found myself wondering about Acorn and his brother.

Aaaand thank you for reading!! :D Please leave a review for me!! If you don't know what to write tell me this: Do you feel that Incent is more confident when he's alone? And if so, why do you think that?

Hope to see you next chapter :3