Freya's POV

The next morning I was quite surprised when I found myself in my room. I had know idea how I got here, but I suspected that a certain bear had something to do with it.

I felt well rested for the first time in three weeks and with this new energy that buzzed through my veins I got up and prepared for the day.

When I was all cleaned and dressed up, Moira came into my room. I gave her a big smile as my stumach growled.

"Someone is hungry." Moira said with a giggle.

"Always." I said with a sheepish grin, but my grin quickly fell when I noticed that Moira was empty handed.

"Where's the food?" I asked with dissapointment lacing my voice.

"Well, I've been thinking that since you are a guest it would be more proper to let you eat breakfast in the breakfast hall." Moira stated with a glint in her eyes. What could she possible be up to? I wondered.

"But-"

"No buts, you are eating in the breakfast hall and that is final." She said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door.

"And I was also thinking about letting you eat your dinner there too." She said as she led me through the castle.

When we arrived at the breakfast hall the doors were pulled open by two of the footmen. They gave me pitiful smiles as I mouthed the words 'help me'.

Once we entered she pulled up a chair and seated me at the table before I could even say a word. The table was nicely decorated and was aligned with different dishes. The cook certainly out did herself.

I also noticed that there was another plate set out and I wondered who was going to join me.

It didn't take long for me to find out, because moments later I heard Ronin's voice outside.

"Moira, what is the meaning of this?" I heard him ask.

"Just go in and have breakfast." I heard Moira say before the doors were pulled open and a confused looking Ronin trudged inside. He was about to say something, but Moira quickly shut the door before he could voice his thoughts.

"You too?" I asked.

Ronin let out a startled shout before he turned around to face me.

"Freya, you almost gave me a heartattack." He said before he walked over to the seat across from me.

"So why are we here?" Ronin asked.

"I don't know, Moira said something about guests that should eat at a table." I said with a shrug.

"She told me that she redecorated the breakfast hall and she needed my approval." He said.

"Well there is food so I'm not going to complain." I said as I started to place food on my plate. Ronin only let out a low grumbling as he laughed at my antics.

Conversation soon flowed between us and my happy mood only increased. It was quite nice having breakfast with Ronin. He told me all kinds of stories about when he was little. I was quite curious about him and his tales only piqued my interest about his curse. How did a boy who had such a fun childhood end up being cursed?

"This one time I refused to eat my peas. I hated it so much, but my mother told me that a growing boy needed to eat his peas. I didn't want to dissapoint her so I tried to eat it, but it took all of my willpower to swallow. That's when I felt something hairy by my legs and when I looked down I saw my father's dog was staring up at me. That's when I got the idea of feeding all my peas to the dog under the table.

By the time dinner was done my mother congratulated me on eating all my peas. I could only nod at her because I was too afraid I would burst out in laughter." I laughed at his tale, he was quite a naughty child.

"You little rascal." I teased between laughs.

Ronin shook his head before he joined my laughter.

Right at that moment Moira joined us.

"Are you done?" Moira asked.

"Yes, thank you." Ronin said and I nodded.

"Compliments to the chef." Ronin said with his usual grimace.

"I would be sure to tell her." Moira said with a smile before she started to clean the table.

I wanted to help her with the table, but she refused and shooed me out the door. I was about to head to the library when Ronin suddenly called me back.

"Come with me I want to show you something." He said and lead me into the opposite direction. We turned a few corners before we arrived at an old, rotten door.

Ronin quickly stood on his hind legs and pushed on the door. It gave way and we were greeted with sunlight. I could feel a light breeze blow against me and a giggle escaped my lips as I rushed out the door. I spun around a few times as I took in the fresh air. How I missed being outside! The sun shone brightly and the birds were chirping joyfully. My powers buzzed through my veins and I felt home at last.

Ronin just let out a low grumble before he joined me. When I was finished with my little dance I took in the sight before me.

The sight infront of me was not something I expected. We were in the backgarden of the castle. It was huge with leaves scatted all around the long grass, but the magnificence you would expect from a castle garden was not there. The sight made my heart clench and I felt my powers buzzing through me. The place looked abandoned and most of the plants were dead. And you could see no one was taking care of it.

"What happened?" I asked Ronin as I eyed the neglected garden.

"The curse caused the lands to be covered with a darkness; killing all living things in its wake. And because of the curse the servants can't leave the castle so there is no one to care for the garden." Ronin explained as he started to walk deeper into the garden.

There were large trees with old withered bushes. There were no bright colours at all, everything was dull. The sight was horrendous.

Ronin quickly called me out of my thoughts before he led me deeper into the garden. With every step I was more eager to return this garden to its former glory.

Ronin led me to the edge of the garden and I was quite surprised to notice a small door in the wall that was hidden behind a big bush. I opened the small door before I stepped inside. What lay behind the hidden door took my breath away.

There was a small pond that was filled with murky water and leaves. It was surrounded with four pillars on each side. On the opposite side there was a pavilion that was covered with shriveled leaves and I could only imagine how beautiful it would've been if the leaves were alive with flowers blossoming from it.

"What do you think?" Ronin asked from beside me.

"It's absolutely marvelous." I said with a smile before I walked over to the pavilion. Inside the pavilion was stone benches that was covered with leaves.

A silence fell between us as we took in the sights around us, but then I remembered what Ronin said about the servants not being able to leave the castle because of the curse and I wondered why.

"Ronin?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Why can't the servants leave the castle?" I asked curiously.

"Because if they leave they turn into animals completely just like me." He said.

"Oh." I simply replied.

Another silence fell between us and I enjoyed the peace and tranquility. The buzzing feeling still coarsed through my veins and an idea suddenly popped in my head.

"Ronin?"

"Hmm?" Ronin replied.

"May I rebuild the garden?" I asked.

He suddenly looked at me with a glint in his eyes that I couldn't decipher.

"You want to rebuild the garden?"

"Yes, why not?" I asked, "And besides my powers can help me alot."

"I guess you're right. We can start tomorrow morning bright and early." Ronin stated.

"We?" I asked.

"Yes we, you didn't think that I wasn't going to help you, did you?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Alright then." I said and after another few minutes of peacefulness I asked Ronin to show me the rest of the garden.

He immediately led me back to the main garden and gave me a tour. As we walked past the rotten plants, Ronin described how the garden once looked. He said it was the most magnificent place and it was the place he spent most of his time as a young child.

As he went on and on about the beauty the garden once had I could hear how special this place was to him. And somehow knowing that this place meant alot to him made me more eager to rebuild it for him.

After our tour of the garden we decided to eat our lunch outside and we quickly went to the kitchen to pack a picnic basket. On the way back outside I grabbed a blanket.

Once we were back outside again I spread the blanket across the ground under the shadow of a big tree. The cool wind blew against us as my curls danced around in the breeze.

We ate our lunch in silence as we  both enjoyed the quietness. When the food was finished I laid back on the blanket looking up at the sky.

It was a clear day with a few clouds scattered across the blue sky. I stared at each cloud as I tried to determine what it looked like.

"Ronin look there is a dragon." I said as I point to the cloud that resembled a dragon. Ronin joined me and we soon started to point out more clouds.

"Freya look, that one looks like a rose."

As soon as the word 'rose' left his lips a series of images started to flash before my eyes.

I saw a woman with moss green eyes giving me a smile before saying, "Your are beautiful."

Then the image changes to an old woman holding a book uttering the words, "you are powerful." The image changes once more and a blonde man stares at me with piercing blue eyes as he gives me a dashing smile. "You are mine." He whispers before he places a kiss on my head, "And I will always protect you."

Then the blonde hair man changes into a man with dark hair and eyes. He has pointed ears and gives me a scary grin as he says,"You will be my queen, your powers will be mine." He starts to laugh an evil laugh that resonates in my ears as everything turns dark.