Cursed (1)

Ophelia didn't want to go anywhere with Sylas. He wasn't going to protect her if someone came to attack her so she could find her way back to her room alone.

She now didn't believe he was coming to move her from that horrible room or he planned to let her time in the castle be good as long as she stayed out of his way.

Sylas was out to get revenge and eventually, it might be him coming to her late in the night to kill her. 

"You do not need to pull on my arm to take me back there. I know how to get back to my room," Ophelia said, wanting to be free from his presence. "Let go of me."

Sylas ignored Ophelia's pleas and held onto her. Despite how much she had angered him, he still needed to walk with her so she made it back to her room without being harmed by others. 

Ophelia took deep breaths to calm herself. "I do not understand. You don't like him and you don't care for me so why go so far to marry me? Did you just want one of his daughters in your hands to feel better? Are you going to kill him and then let me know for the rest of my life?"

If that was Sylas's plan then he could save his time since Ophelia would celebrate Joel dying.

"Enough," Sylas replied, wanting her to be silent.

"I have the right to know why the man in this situation who could have stopped all of this because you hate Joel Porter went through with this-"

"You are going to talk yourself right into someone killing you," Sylas interjected.

"Then do it," Ophelia replied.

She couldn't bring herself to go that far so if someone else did it, they would be doing her a favour. Ophelia was trying to hold on for Alex but this life wasn't something she could keep up with. It was only a matter of time before she dealt with more cruelty than she faced at the Porter's home.

Sylas ignored what Ophelia wanted answers to and instead replied, "I will put guards outside your door so an incident like this cannot happen. If you aren't where you are meant to be and you find yourself in danger, then I cannot help you."

Ophelia laughed but it lacked any warmth. "It sounds like you are already placing blame on me for any future attacks I might face and as for your guards, they will let whoever is trying to kill me reach me so I don't need them. Don't act like you're being kind."

"Right," Sylas let go of Ophelia's hand. "You already placed me as a monster. I think you have a bad eye for recognising who is a monster. You have a father like Joel but I am the monster."

"No," Ophelia shook her head. "You're both monsters. You jumped into thinking I believed my father is innocent and you're punishing me for what he has done. Whoever he hurt that you cared for didn't deserve it. We who have nothing to do with your fights don't deserve to be caught in the middle but we always end up the ones hurt."

The proof of this was Ophelia being here while Joel was off somewhere enjoying that he was still alive. 

Ophelia looked down at the palm of her hand. It hurt that she couldn't tell the truth as then Alex would be killed. She was already suffering so Sylas didn't need to go out of his way to hurt her.

Ophelia walked ahead of Sylas to get away from him. He could do as he liked with the guards if it made him feel better but it was all pointless. If he wasn't going to punish the people who came to hurt her then what was the point of giving her guards?

'I need to block the door,' Ophelia thought. 

There was only one way into the room so if she could push something big against the door then she could help prevent another attack.

Ophelia fidgeted with her dress. How was she going to sleep now that she had to look out for attacks at night?

She couldn't.

'I need a knife,' Ophelia decided. At the next dinner, Ophelia needed to sneak away a knife no matter how small it might be.

Sylas stopped walking, watching as Ophelia silently walked back to the room. He still didn't know what to make of her. It was odd how she spoke of her father but he did get the feeling she wasn't fond of Joel.

Sylas didn't want to get to know Ophelia that well to find out about her relationship with Joel. He was busy trying to figure out if she was his mate or if it was Freya. 

How did he go from being told his curse would never allow him to have a bond with anyone to this? When he heard there was someone out there who was his mate, Sylas had to get ahold of her so she wouldn't slip from his hands if it was true. 

What Sylas didn't expect was for this woman to be amongst the Porters. There wasn't a connection though he marked her as others described with their mates. Either something was blocking that feeling or the witches had gotten it wrong for once and the moon goddess was so upset with him that she cursed him as his brothers used to say. 

Sylas turned around to go back to his room. "Not now," he muttered, resting his hand on a wall to keep himself balanced.

He immediately forgot about his troubles with Ophelia and thought about how his brothers used to say that he was cursed. They would laugh and say he was cursed for taking their mother's life. 

It was true that he was cursed. 

Sylas knew it. He felt it regularly with the way his body ached. 

For a long time, Sylas and everyone around him believed this curse forbade him from finding a mate. It was linked to every bad thing that happened in his life and to the way he felt like he was slowly dying day by day. 

Sylas was willing to bet that this curse, bad luck, or whatever it was had once again had its fun by selecting Ophelia to be his mate. This was another punishment for a reason he was yet to find.

Sylas changed course from his room to see the witches again. Rick rightfully doubted what they had found was wrong though they were never wrong but Sylas had to hear it again that they were certain his mate was among the Porters.