She Belongs To The Devil

"Wh–" Zach pressed his lips together and gave a betrayed look to Ariel. He slammed his fist on Ariel's thigh as a punishment for giving such a stupid dare. And he folded his arms and rested his back on the cushion behind him.

"Sorry," Ariel giggled and lovingly pinched Zach's cheek. And she further teased him, "I am just sparing us from your irritating voice."

Zach pushed Ariel's hand away from him and shifted closer to Kenneth.

Kenneth chuckled and asked, "Okay, who wants to go next?"

Niylah excitedly raised her arm and said, "Me. I choose dare."

Zach puffed his cheeks and controlled himself from giving a task to Niylah.

The others thought for a while and finally, Ariel asked her, "Why don't you howl as loudly as you can?"

"Challenge accepted." Niylah smiled and didn't waste any time in doing the dare.

She took a deep breath in and looked up. And she howled as if she was in her wolf form at the moment. She almost startled the horses and people outside because the howl was too loud.

Ariel and Kenneth were affected the most because of their sensitive hearing.

"Whoa! Never ask that again, Ariel!" Kenneth glanced at Ariel and said while covering his ears.

"I already regret it," Ariel replied in a loud voice because her ears were ringing loudly.

Ramon, Niylah, and Zach were laughing when they saw those two looking disoriented. Zach was chuckling the most.

After the ringing in their ears calmed down to some extent, Kenneth glanced at Ramon and Ariel since they were the only ones left.

"Dare," Ramon spoke next.

Zach cried without opening his mouth and punched his fist on his palm because he had a perfect dare for Ramon. But he wasn't allowed to speak and it was taking every shred of his willpower to keep his mouth shut.

However, as if Ariel had read his mind, she asked Ramon, "Turn into a wolf."

Zach clapped his hands and hugged Ariel. He was giggling uncontrollably and was almost in tears. And Ariel also laughed along with Zach.

Niylah and Kenneth, on the other hand, stared out of their respective windows because they didn't want to get on the bad side of Ramon.

Ramon glared at Ariel and Zach, and mumbled in his angry voice, "Bad play, Ariel. Bad play."

Ramon wanted to take his revenge on Ariel. He scowled at her and asked her while emitting an intense aura, "Truth or dare, Ariel."

Ariel knew that whatever she chose, she was doomed. She had touched Ramon's Achilles heel.

Ariel cleared her throat and said in a low voice, "Truth."

She didn't know what he would ask her if she chose 'dare'. She was sure he would make her do some impossible task. So she wanted to be safe by choosing the 'truth' option.

Ramon gave an evil smile and asked Ariel, "How much do you miss Damien?"

The whole carriage went silent when Ramon asked that question. The atmosphere suddenly turned from merry to gloomy.

Kenneth gave a silent glare to Ramon for bringing up Damien.

And Ramon glared back at him as if he was ready to take it outside and fight.

Ariel began fidgeting her fingers and looked down. After a while of silence, she answered in a voice so sad that she sounded as though she was forcing herself to speak, "You all know that I used to miss him a lot. I missed him to the point where I felt like I would die if I didn't see him."

She felt a lump in her throat when she further said, "But nowadays, it isn't that bad. I obviously miss him. And I still treasure the friendship between us. But… I think I am ready to move on."

Ramon didn't like what Ariel said. He was glad that she had gradually gotten used to not having Damien around. However, he didn't like it when she said that she was ready to move on.

He didn't like it especially because he felt that Kenneth would take Damien's place. And he did not want that to happen.

They all spent the next one hour in silence. And when Zach's punishment time was over, things finally started to turn normal again because he kept on blabbering and keeping everyone entertained.

After hours of traveling, the carriages stopped to rest for the night.

As Kenneth had said before setting off for the journey, they were stopping in the middle of nowhere. There were no villages around, and thankfully no forest. All they could see was an open field under the clear sky.

The Princes and Princesses strolled around while the others were preparing the tents, food, and everything else.

Niylah spread her arms and looked up at the sky. Though it wasn't a full moon night, the night looked bright and surreal.

She breathed the fresh air in and said, "Ah! I feel like taking a run."

"Don't. It's too dangerous," Ramon was quick enough to stop her thought.

Niylah smiled at her protective younger brother and said, "I know. Just saying."

She leaned forward and took a glance at Kenneth who was walking at the far end. And she asked him, "Kenneth, do you like to turn into a werewolf when it's a full moon? Or you avoid it?"

Kenneth glanced at the moon in the sky and answered, "I'm a coward really. I don't like breaking my bones on purpose."

He glanced at Ariel who was walking by his side and joked, "Unless the person breaking my bones is Ariel."

Ariel gave a corner-eyed look to Kenneth and asked bluntly, "Do you want me to break your bones? I can do that right now if you like it that much."

Ramon had a disgusted look on his face when he heard that cheesy line from Kenneth. "Ugh! I think I will walk ahead." He then started to move faster so that he could spare his ears from listening to Kenneth's voice.

"Wait for me!" Niylah also immediately ran after her brother.

Zach cleared his throat and then leaned a little closer to Ariel's ear. And he whispered to her, "I will give a chance to Kenneth to treat you well. Enjoy!"

"Hey–"

He winked at Ariel and immediately ran to catch up with the twins.

Ariel's face turned all red when she realized that Zach had been listening to her and Kenneth's conversation all along.

"That little rascal was just pretending to be asleep," she mumbled in frustration.

Kenneth had a wide smile on his face. And he asked Ariel, "Well, isn't it great? We now got to spend some time together."

Ariel's heart suddenly started to beat faster. She nervously touched her neck and looked away from Kenneth.

Kenneth kept smiling like a fool when he heard Ariel's escalating heartbeat. He then spoke as if he was giving a compliment, "I like the sound of your heartbeat. I will take the liberty to think that it's picking up the pace for me."

Ariel scoffed and said, "It's picking up the pace because I am walking."

"Sure, whatever makes you comfortable." Kenneth smiled and glanced at Ariel.

She was turning the other way but even then, he could see her beauty. And he said to her, "I think I have told this to you a few times already. But…"

Ariel turned to look at Kenneth's tall figure. Her amber eyes were shining like precious stones. Her silver and black hair were reflecting the moonlight. And her face looked as beautiful as ever.

Kenneth's heart also skipped a beat. He took a deep breath in and finished what he was going to say, "But I feel like repeating it. You look really beautiful. And even more so under this moonlight."

Kenneth was half expecting Ariel to punch or kick him like always.

But Ariel surprised him with a soft smile.

Their eyes were fixated on each other. The pace of their walk slowed down and they finally stopped walking altogether.

Kenneth stepped closer to Ariel and reached out his hand towards her. He slowly tucked her hair behind her ear.

Ariel didn't protest. Rather, he could hear her breathing getting irregular.

He didn't want to let Ariel's compliance go to waste. He rested his palm on her neck and lightly caressed her jawline.

Kenneth's eyes shifted from Ariel's eyes to her slightly parted lips.

Everything was perfect – the mood, the surroundings, and them.

Kenneth leaned forward to daringly kiss Ariel.

Ariel also gazed at his eager lips and waited in anticipation.

However, suddenly, they were distracted when they heard something exploding behind them.