THIRTEEN..

REGAN'S POV.

I woke up with a start. Slowly,I sat up in the couch. I don't even know why I spent the night in a couch when there are more than 20 rooms in this palace.

I saw her again, my mystery woman. Only in a different way this time. She had on the same blue dress. We were in the garden, near the river.

It was the same dream I've been having since I hit puberty. Only this time round,I saw her face. I saw the face behind those beautiful strands of red and black hair. I saw the lips that made that adorable sound of her laughter which made my heart do hundred leaps at a go.

There was another thing. This time round I didn't loose her behind the thick trees.

I had eyes for only her and just as she was about to slip and fall into that hole,I caught her by the arm.

That was when i actually saw her face and it was the same face lying asleep in my bed now.

Closing my eyes tightly,I tried to clear my head. I told myself it wasn't possible.

it couldn't be her all this time. I had imagined it. After last night,her face was permanently carved into my head. There was no way I wouldn't carry it to my dreams.

As much as I wished this was true,I also knew it wasn't real.

After washing down,I stepped into my closet and pulled out some dress shirt and trousers.

There, among my shirts, hanged a blue silky dress I had made sometime ago. I had seen this dress too many times to have gotten it wrong. She was always in the blue dress in my dreams. I had it printed in my thoughts vividly that I could swear it was her exact size.

I wasn't surprise that it didn't fit Silvia after she found it in my closet and begged me to atleast let her try it on.

In the end I gave in and asked her to try it on but she couldn't even zip it up. It couldn't get around her muscled arms and chest.

Yes, Silvia was in so many ways like a man. She wasn't a warrior for nothing.

Looking at the dress now was like looking at one person and as hard as I tried to push her face away, it kept showing.

I decided to lay the dress out for her. She was in the bathroom when I went into the bedroom so I asked one of her maids to stay by and make sure she was ready for breakfast.

I was beginning to feel nervous. Breakfast with the family always end up in war. I mean where ever Edward and his mother were, I was to throw a tantrum. He was always doing his best to prove me undeserving of the royal blood.

And such hatred his mother had for me!

She wouldn't breath in the same air as me if she had her way. I still don't know what I ever did to them.

Queen Verma and her daughters were a different story. She neither hated me nor liked me. She was more afraid of me than she hated me.

She was always avoiding me. Lucy and Suzzy were actually close to me when we were young.

Until Edward killed Suzzy's cat one day and framed me.

Except my father, the entire family saw me as a plague. I was an abomination. I didn't blame them though.

In fact,I didn't care anymore. I have long accepted their hatred and actually looked forward to it now.

But Iris, how would she take it? I didn't need to be accepted by anyone. I am OK on my own. But women care about acceptance and reception. How is she going to take it. I'm very much aware that they were going to carry out their hatred on her.

What can I do to protect her? What if something went wrong at breakfast and she saw the beast I truly was? What if I got provoked and did something outrageous in front of her. I didn't want to scare her away. She just got here!

"The Princess will be out in a minute my Prince..."

The maid I sent to get Iris announced.

Waving her off, I turned to the door, my back to the entrance of the bedroom, my hands fixed in my trouser pockets.

"Ready to go..." Her tiny voice came from behind me. I turned around and I couldn't believe my eyes!

My eyes were playing a trick on me. It cant be. It was like her measurement was taken for the making of the dress. It fits so perfect!

It was like I was still in my dreams. I shook my head to clear my head yet when I opened my eyes and looked,she was still in front of me.

Her hair, a blazing red at the tips of a black rooted hair. Just like I had seen last night.

"Your hair......" I

whispered,taking a step forward.

"I know I know....please don't judge me like your sisters did yesterday. It isn't dyed. That's my natural hair color. "

I took two huge steps and stood directly in front of her. So close that I could hear her heartbeat. Reaching out, I pulled a strand between my fingers. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't another dream.

"Its real.....she's real....."

A confused look crossed her face as I smoothed her unbealivably red and black hair with my palm but she didn't move or say anything.

"I wish I wasn't so different...."

She started to say.

"What do you mean?"

I shifted my gaze to her face.

"People always looked at me differently because of my hair.."

"I love it...it's beautiful..."

I rushed out. She smiled and her hand came up to her hair. But instead of touching her hair,it met my hand.

For a moment everything stopped. Even the air in the room became still. It was just the two of us.

"The dress looks so good on you...."

OK that wasn't what I wanted to say...I wanted to tell her how gorgeous she was but I wasn't the type to appreciate a woman's beauty.

It sounded just not like me.

"Thank you..."

She hid her smile.. I toword over her so she had to raise her head to see my face.

"Breakfast is running cold."

I said,taking a step back.

She straightened and followed me to the door I held open for her.

This is it, I can only pray my emotions doesn't get out of hand out there. I wouldn't want my brother to see how much effect this girl has on me least he uses her against me. I couldn't show any sign of weakness.

IRIS'S POV.

"I was beginning to suspect that the two of you had ditched me."

King Francis laughed as Regan pulled out a chair for me.

I smiled at him before sitting down but he didn't smile back. His face was contorted into a frown, almost like he was angry. Did I do something?

From the time I walked in, the women at the table kept gawking at me. Princess Paula had even choked on her water the moment her eyes fell on me.

And Prince Edward, he seemed to be shooting dargers with his eyes towards Regan. Shrugging,I began to inspect the table.

I didn't have much to eat the previous day so I was starving. I could eat an entire pot of food!

"I must say, you look lovely this morning Princess.."

The king said, bringing me out of my little self conflict on what to eat.

"Thank you..your highness..."

Edward cleared his throat and looking directly at Regan said,

"Its a shame some of us doesn't know how to appreciate beautiful things. I'm very sure your husband has not even glanced your way this morning let alone pass a comment. But don't worry. You'll get used to his clumsy moods soon. You're not the luckiest girl on earth you know.....what a waste of beauty..."

He whispered the last part so lowly that if I hadn't been looking at him,I'd have missed it. What was his problem?

"Actually, my husband picked out this dress for me. He said the blue would blend well with my skin."

I sudenly grew defensive and decided to lie at the later part hoping it'll shut Edward up. How dare him try to embarrass his younger brother before me.

Queen Eunice's eyes almost fell out their sockets and the twins stared open mouthed. These people are strange.

"He did a good job then. The dress is a unique design. Did you have this made as her wedding gift Rey?"

King Francis asked and i looked up at Regan expectantly. I didn't think of the dress that much. But now that the king mentioned it, why did he put this dress out there for me? How exactly did he know it would fit this perfectly?...