Chapter 12 Going back to the palace
The warrior 's POV
Two days later we set out to the palace .
The Prince soon became busy with his official duties and I stood guard only during the night .During the day I was assigned to the Prince's Office quarters where the other Princes also worked dealing with complaints of the commoners and the nobles. The Prince had six brothers so there were a lot of work for the guards. The youngest ie the Sixth Prince was just fourteen years old and stayed with the mother who was the second wife of the King . The first four princes were the children of the first wife and the remaining two were the children of the second wife. There were concubines in the palaces but they did not have any children .They were not allowed to . I think even if they had children they would have been killed or taken away . The politics in the palace was dreadful . It was strange that the Prince did not have any concubines or wives . All the others had a few concubines though they were not married . The Queen was on a matchmaking spree for her sons beginning with my Prince . I thought of him as my Prince and I was scared that a day would come when he would get married or keep some concubines . If such a day arrived I would leave that bloody job of being a bodyguard and I would return to my world.
I would rather remain a spinster than be mistress to a married man even if he was the Prince or a King .
Then one day Princess Lin from the neighbouring kingdom arrived .She was beautiful graceful and the equivalent of a supermodel in the modern world.
I hated her and wished I could just assassinate her .
And I was assigned to protect her . I had to follow her everywhere and it was a torture for me especially when she was walking with my Prince . They had been childhood friends and she was in love with my man …I mean my Prince .
I glared at her as I walked behind them along with the other maids and guards..
The Prince had told me about it .He was not in love with her and he will not marry her .But they were friends and he had to go on this hunt and entertain her since they have known each other for a long time .
But I was very jealous.
The previous night I had slipped into his room and we had talked and we had travelled to our heaven of love .
I still felt scared about it .
What if he fell in love with her ?!!
Here I am in men's clothing and there she was in all her feminine clothes .They looked too heavy and seeing the layers and layers of clothes which women had to wear I was happy that I was wearing comfortable clothes in this weather..
They had walked for a long time and then suddenly she tripped .Without knowing how ,I knew that she was going to trip and I held her and then I was on the ground and she fell on top of me . Her lips were on mine and I held her around the waist.
For a moment time stopped . Everybody held their breath . The Prince helped her to get up and I stood dusting my backside which had grass and some dust clinging to the dress.
I was sure I was going to be punished by either the Prince or the Princess.
I dare not look at both of them .
I knelt down in front of the princess and bowed down .
My elbows had grazed and they were bleeding .I felt the pain but kept quiet .
The Princess said quietly " Please get up . Thank you for protecting me "
I looked at the Prince who quietly walked ahead .
As they all walked ahead pretending nobody saw anything I too resumed my position behind her . I could catch her sneaking glances at me .
Soon we reached the spacious area where tea was served in exquisite teacups and pastries were served . They did make my mouth water but we the guards and maids and servants could not eat all that , which was made specially for the nobles and their family and guests .
And then suddenly the Princess took a cake and offered it to me " Please eat this ."
This was not normal in this palace.
I knelt down and bowed my head.I did this a lot in this world .There was no need to say a word .Just kneel down and bow the head .I hated this world and all its stupid rules . But I could avoid trouble in this manner .
The Prince suddenly said to the maid " give one cake to everybody .Since the Princess wants you all to have some pastries everybody will eat .:"
and then the pastries and cakes were handed out to everybody and we all ate them as it was an order now .
Those pastries were incredible .The cook was equal to a chef in a five star hotel .I reminded myself to tell the Prince to get more such pastries for me when we meet again .
After having tea the two Princes left and then the Princess wanted to go to the garden pond to see the golden fishes .
As we reached the pond the princess walked toward the small bridge .She stood on the bridge and looked at the water which reflected the blue sky .The whole scene looked like a painting .The maids sat a little far as per her orders .
And then again I could feel this tingling feeling come into me .I knew she was going to fall even though there was no indication of anything like that . She just stood there looking down at the water and the fishes , smiling happily . The Princess was scared of water and we had been warned of that .
I ran towards the bridge and just then she fell into the water . I jumped in and in a fraction of a second I had grabbed her and raised her above the water .
I looked into her eyes and asked " Princess are you okay ?"
She was looking at me calmly and there was no sign of the fear which we were told about .
" I am fine . I know that if you are there I will be fine ." she replied with a dazzling smile.
If I had been a man I would have fallen in love with that smile
I was going crazy with all the happenings around.
I wished the princess would just go away.
She was too beautiful for my peace of mind .
I set her down and the maids took over the job of taking her to her room .It could technically be called a private villa .It was spacious and luxurious with many rooms .
I stood outside and sighed .The weather was very beautiful and the scenery around was awesome with those trees plants flowers and architecture of the villas.The rich lived in style .
Soon a maid came over to me and whispered in my ear " Her Highness wants to talk to you"
I did not want to talk to her but since it was an order I complied.
I went inside and bowed to her as I greeted her .
" Thank you very much for saving my life " She smiled gently
" It was my duty Your Highness" I replied .
"Call me Lin " she said .
I looked at her and waited .
" I am afraid I cannot do that "
Why not?"
" You are the Princess and I am the bodyguard"
"so?"
This Princess was going to be trouble for me .
"I want you to come with me when I go back to my kingdom"
" I am sorry Your Highness .I cannot do that ."
" I am not listening to you .I am going to ask the Prince to give you to me " she grinned mischievously.
I kept silent .what could I say .I wondered if the Prince would actually give me away .What if they made it a royal decree or something like that ?!!
I tried cajoling her " Princess I am just an ordinary bodyguard .My main job is to protect the First Prince with my life ."
" You just wait and see " she grinned and threatened me ." the Prince has never refused me anything "