The birds chirped as the morning sun rose. The palace seemed quiet and still for a while until the uneasy king stormed down the compounds with his guards anxiously following after him.
"Where is my daughter?"…..he yelled at the Commander who suddenly approached him.
"your highness"….he bowed on one knee as he continued.
"while we searched for her in the forest, we found her travel box. My men are still looking everywhere for her while Gangi has gone to the priest in search of spiritual help"….
The king could not believe his ears. All of the military's effort in finding his daughter seemed of no use to him if they couldn't find her. Regrets and fear ran through his veins as he fought his tears back.
"Have you searched the villages?"…..he asked in a rather calmed voice.
"No sir, but we are currently on it."…..
"make sure you search this kingdom and beyond. Bring me back my daughter!"…..
"yes your majesty."….Ish replied before quickly exiting the king's presence.
As the Commander made his way through the palace yards of the maiden chamber, he stopped at the incoming presence of Amia. An approach that immediately made him Nervous, shy and uneasy altogether. He had long been in love with her even though he knew how wicked and devious she could be. Her being aware of his feelings, allowed her manipulate him easily into doing whatever she wanted and as always she was about to persuade something out of him again.
"Princess Amia"….he bowed briefly.
"it's been a while since we last spoke. I see you are very busy with the case of missing Jemima"…. A soft seductive smile grew on her lips.
"Do not be so worried my princess, I'll do whatever it takes to find her—-"….
"That's exactly what I do not want you to do"….she shortened his words with a slow pat on his shoulders. She signaled to the maids behind her to leave them alone and immediately they left, she made her move on him.
She slowly ran her fingers through the edges of his hair and side burns. With a mighty gulp, he managed to pull himself together and blurt out the words,
"Wh….wha…what do you mean?"….
"you know how much Jemima was a nuisance to our relationship. Now that she's away let's enjoy this time together. Why waste it looking for her?"...she continued to play with his hair which made him more uneasy.
"I thought you were in love with the prince of China and wanted to marry him ever since his last visit to Mono"... he asked nervously.
His words irritated her instantly. It was as though her spell was slowly losing its hold on him. She immediately left his hair with a darkened mood on her face.
"What are you implying?"…..she scoffed.
it was as though he snapped out of the trance and summoned up courage to confront her.
"I know you do not love me. I also know you are trying to take advantage of both this situation and I to get your revenge on the crown princess but I'd appreciate if you stopped all this nonsense and grew up. I know I still have stubborn feeling for you that just won't get lost but if you continue to do this, I'll have you reported to the king"…..
"What?!"…..she scoffed loudly as she watched him walk out on her.
Meanwhile, Yan had already woken up and gotten ready to travel to the Samali village at the outskirts of Mono, where the price of meat drastically increased.
As he prepared his knifes and sack bags full of cow meat, Vernon came out of the cottage, still looking a bit sleepy.
"Yan"…..he called out to him.
With a quick turn and smile, Yan replied to him,
"Good morning Father. Hope you slept well?"..,..
"Where are you off to this early in the morning?"...the princess interrupted their conversation.
"I have to go to Samali as soon as possible. Their animals have caught a disease, so the price of uninfected imported meat is three times the normal price."....Yan quickly explained as he buckled his shoes.
"Yan, I was thinking you'd stay back and watch over the princess while I went to Samali"...Vernon whispered to him.
"She chose to stay here. I still have to do my duties so we can feed while she's gone and we are back in our usual struggling"…..
"But——-"...
"Father No buts"....
"It's fine I'll just stay here!"…..:the princess raised her tone, once again interrupting their conversation.
"Will you be fine on your own?"...Vernon turned to her.
his question left her a bit confused.
"Are you going with him?"...she asked.
Yan narrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as well at Vernon's question.
"Where are you going ?"….. he asked.
"What do you mean 'where am I going?', Of course I'm going with you to the Market "…..
"you know what?, Never mind. It's no use arguing with you."…..Yan didn't bother refusing.
"don't you feel like going back to the palace now?"….,.he turned to Jemima.
"I'll be fine here. Don't worry about me, you both can go do your business"...she gave a fake smile.
"You can come if you want——"....
"Thanks but I'll be fine"....she insisted as she watched them slowly leave the compound.
Though he refused to admit it, Yan worried a bit about leaving the princess all alone in the house. He glanced quickly back at her and then at Vernon before continuing on his Journey.
After a tiresome journey down the straight hill, The two men decided to rest and take a drink at the stream in the middle of the road.
Yan dropped his sack beside some rocks and rushed into the water, shirtless. Vernon sat on a big rock, watching Yan play around in the water.
"Don't you think it was foolish of us to leave the crown princess in the house like some unimportant Visitor?".....He finally spoke.
"Who is us?, you left her alone".....he spat out the water aggressively.
"I don't know, it just seems so unwelcoming and———"...Vernon paused at the sight of a distracted Yan. Yan stared suspiciously at a sudden male figure that bent over at the other side of the stream to drink water. It looked to him like someone he had seen before. He stared deeply at the man in a black swordsmen uniform until the remembrance of the bandit after the princess struck him. He gasped to himself in shock as he nervously watched the man escape his sight.
"Yan what is it?"...Vernon asked, watching his fixed gaze on the Visitor at the stream.
"Father, I'll be back. I forgot something at home and I desperately need to get it"…..::he rushed his words as he hurried out of the water and threw his shirt on.
"Wait What!, what are you doing——-"…..
"Father take the meat and continue, I'll be with u soon I promise".....
"But——"....
Yan rushed off without listening to another word that came out of Vernon's mouth. Vernon scoffed in surprise at Yan's sudden actions, trying hard to believe this was not just one of his many tricks to escape the hard work and journey ahead of them.
Yan followed the Suspected Bandit from afar, hoping he wasn't after the princess. They moved further into the village until they approached the village market square. He continued to spy on him through the crowds with no intention of losing sight of him. As soon as they left the market, The bandit disappeared from sight. It was as though he noticed the unwanted stalker following him and immediately sought a way to escape his trail.
"What!, where did he go?"…Yan said to himself.
With nothing else on his mind except the princess' safety, he rushed straight to the house to check on her. At the sight of a maiden dressed in the attire of a princess, standing in front of the villagers well, his heart sank to his stomach. He turned in shock to see that the bandit had followed him to where he hid the princess and was about to capture her. An evil smirk grew on the lips of the Assassin as he raced Yan for this maiden. Yan grabbed unto her arm and was about to take off when something heavy hit the back of his head and he immediately lost consciousness. The last thing he believed he saw, was the princess being captured by the Bandit.