Astrid's P.O.V.

He's the prince, he can have you executed in the blink of an eye, don't touch him! I told myself, trying to avoid Hayden's touch as he straddled my legs, ran his hands over my body, and pressed his lips to different spots around my neck and throat. Don't touch him, don't talk to him, don't look at him, just bear it, you've been through worse! Suddenly his hand clasped on my breast before I tried to get away. No, I haven't! I screamed mentally.

"I wanna rip these barriers off you so bad," he hissed in my ear before my blood ran cold. My breathing picked up speed as he slowly grabbed my tunic and started pulling it over my head.

"No, no, please!" I shouted as I struggled to get out of his grip.

"Yes, yes," he panted in anticipation as he got it off me and threw his lips down on my chest. I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away but he grabbed my wrists and froze as he slowly looked at me. I tried and failed to keep my breathing steady. "Are these gonna get in the way tonight?" he asked softly. He then looked at the hand Heather stabbed before pausing. He released my other hand and I used my arm to cover my chest as he studied the one with the gash. He moved slowly as he trailed his hand along my arm and made my hand caressing his face. "What happened here?" he asked in a whisper as he stared at me and pressed my palm to his lips. I hissed in pain as he planted scattered kisses around my hand. "Ah, this hurts you, does it?" he chuckled lightly before putting his lips right on top of the gash. I yelped at the pain the pressure caused before snatching my hand away.

"Of course it hurts, stop it!" I snapped as tears edged my eyes. He looked at me with a small smirk, and a strange glint in his eye. He then grabbed my wrists and raised them above my head before tying them to the headboard.

"I'll stop when I wanna stop, my dear," he breathed as he kissed my cheek. I tried to shrink away from him before he paused. "And I'm far from ready to stop." He was about to throw his face between my breasts before his door flew open. A guy our age with black hair and blue eyes stormed in before I screamed as I tried to kick Hayden off me, making the guy pause as Hayden sat up. The prince quickly covered me with a blanket. "Don't move unless you want him to see you," he ordered.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you actually took my advice and got a whore to get laid," the guy said before Hayden rolled his eyes as he got up.

"She's not a whore, Snotlout," Hayden said as he stood up and walked toward the guy.

"Sure she is, only whores let you tie them down like that," Snotlout said as he looked at me.

"She's not a whore. What do you want?" Hayden asked.

"Well, I've never seen her at any meetings or gatherings, so if she's not a whore, there's only one other thing I can think of, you peasant lover," Snotlout said.

"Shut up with the peasant stuff already, you're not a lord yet. Now what do you want?" Hayden grumbled, his arms crossed.

"Well, Aunt Valka sent me to get your preferences on a few things for your gala next week," Snotlout said.

"Well, it's a week away, so why don't you get out, and come back when I'm not busy, there's still plenty of time to prepare," Hayden said as he pushed Snotlout toward the door.

"She just wants to know if you'd rather have punch or wine," Snotlout said.

"I don't care," he said.

"She says you should care," Snotlout told him. "We've had this gala every year and you've turned down every eligible-" Hayden snapped his hand across Snotlout's mouth.

"Shut up if you wanna keep your cock," he hissed, "You've had just as many galla's as me, why haven't you taken anyone?"

"Because, so far, they've all been ugos. Although, if your whore cares to show up to my next one, I wouldn't mind having her in my bed every night," Snotlout said before I shuttered. I think I'd prefer Hayden.

"She's not a whore, Snot. And if you say anything like that again, you will be loving your bride with a wooden cock. That is a promise," Hayden said.

"Please. You might be the king in a few months, but you're a cream puff," Snotlout scoffed. Hayden shoved him out the door.

"Tell my mother I'll talk to her later," he ordered before closing the door and turning back to me. I froze as he slowly walked back toward me and placed a hand on my foot. "So sorry about that," he said before ripping the blanket off me, making my legs bend at the knees in an attempt to curl into a protective ball. "No one will bother us now, I promise," he whispered as he draped his body on top of mine.

"I think I'd prefer if they bothered us," I tried and failed to keep my voice steady. He planted scattered kisses around my chest and abdomen before hooking his fingers on the waistband of my skirt and pants. He kissed just above them before resting his chin on my stomach as he looked at me.

"Before we go further, answer me this: Will you be at the galla next week?" he asked.

"Prince Hayden, I really didn't mean to-" he cut me off by bringing his body up and pressing his lips to mine, making me go rigid. I brought my knee up and pressed it against his cock as hard as I could, not able to bring speed into the equation to make it more effective.

"Oooh," he purred as I felt a firm lump form, taking his lips from mine. "You just wanna get to playin', huh?" I tried to hit my knee against him harder and quicker, but he just let out a chuckling moan with each thump. "Calm down, M'Lady, I know you're excited, but you have to answer my question first," he rumbled seductively as it got harder.

"Ugh! You're disgusting!" I shouted as I tried to kick him away.

"Disgusting and horny," he said as he pressed his hips against mine. I tried harder to get away but he just pushed me back into the mattress.

"Get yourself a whore!" I snapped. That made him pause, a thoughtful look clouding his eyes slightly.

"How bout this," he started, shifting so he was pressed against my cunt, "You do this with me, and I'll make you rich beyond your wildest dreams."

"That's a lot of money for one night," I muttered.

"Yeah, so what do you say? Even an hour will get you anything you could ever ask for," he said.

"Knowing you only mean in terms of money, it's worth nothing to me," I hissed.

"Hmm...too bad your hands are tied, huh?" he said before lifting his body off mine to pull my pants down. I saw something glisten in the light and kicked him away before using my foot to flick the dagger off his belt as he fell off the foot of the bed. The dagger landed in my hand and I quickly cut my hands free before jumping out of the bed and facing him as he got to his feet. "Well," he said as he stretched soreness from his body, "that wasn't very ladylike of you." I quickly put my shirt back on, careful not to take my eyes off him, or get in a position that I couldn't defend myself in.

"When have you ever known me to be ladylike?" I asked as I got in a defense stance. He smirked as he walked toward me.

"Come on, Astrid, you know you want this," he hissed, gesturing toward his cock. "And you know you want the money that comes with it."

"What good is money when one has nothing to spend it on?" I snapped.

"You could buy a new house for your family, you'll never have to work again-" I cut him off.

"I like working! It gives me a sense of purpose! It gives me something to do!"

"I'll give you another sense of purpose," he said as he got closer. I lunged forward to stab him, but he grabbed my wrist, spun me around, and held me against his chest, holding my wrist so the knife was to my throat. "You may want to consider all the possibilities before you turn me down," he whispered in my ear.

"You might want to consider my abilities before trying to turn me on," I countered before kicking between his legs and having him release me to double over in pain. I threw the dagger at his foot to  tack it to the floor. He let out a pained cry as I ran to the window and let out a whistle for Stormfly. I heard her whinny before she ran over to the balcony from the stables. I tore a curtain from the window and wrapped it around a support beam as I climbed onto the railing. I looked back into the room as I heard the door burst open, guards and soldiers rushing in and toward the balcony.

"No, wait!" Hayden's voice shouted but no one stopped. The guards ran toward me and I jumped off the edge, using the curtain to slide down the castle wall. A few feet from the ground, I pushed off the wall and jumped into a cart of hay. I threw myself onto Stormfly's back before kicking her side and having her race out of the castle walls.

She went straight for the forest, almost out of instinct. Good thinking, I thought as I heard the cavalry chasing after us, A large group like them won't be able to follow us as easily as a smaller number.  My grip tightened on the reins as she entered the trees, swerving around branches and jumping over logs and streams. I could hear the guards chasing us, shouting orders at one another and yelling at us to stop in the name of the king. Stormfly was keeping pretty good distance and speed. But then again, she was bred for hunting, so she was better at running through the forest than the war horses the guards used. I straightened from my hunched over position and looked over my shoulder to see if they were any closer. Stormfly let out a small snort, then I felt a sting in the back of my head, followed by my breath being chased from my lungs as I landed in a group of bushes. A high pitched ringing filled my ears as the world got blurry and started spinning. I saw the patrol pass, their shouts muffled, then everything went black...