The Defender

-Karen-

The prince set me down in front of the doors and glanced at where the soldiers were, only to find them gone. The atmosphere between us had shifted entirely. He shook his head, snickering once more as he put his hands on his hips. "You're quite the fiery girl! I'm rather impressed by your fighting spirit. I've never been attacked so many times by one woman in my life!" He exclaimed with a hint of awe in his voice. Wait-what?

 

"As soon as I saw you around the corner, you looked very interesting. Then I saw you hiding in that tiny space—I saw my chance and knew I just had to take it. My goodness! I haven't been disappointed. Are you a warrior?" He asked curiously.

I was taken aback by his sudden change in attitude. A warrior? "No. I'm just a servant of the palace," I replied wearily. Why do you care? I mean, you're a warrior, aren't you?"

He nodded as he appraised me once more. "I am indeed! One of the top warriors in the Zargan Empire," he replied with a smirk. He gently tugged at my robes and took my left hand. I wanted to punch him for touching my robes but held back. "You should be a warrior instead of a servant. You'd only need to learn to handle weapons and work on your stamina to fight longer. I'd bet you would give many men a run for their honor and glory!" He commented with a chuckle. "Tell me your name, girl. I want to address you properly."

I gave him an irritated look as he continued to smirk. He circled me, examining my clothing. "My name is not important," I murmured. The prince was making me nervous as he stepped closer to me. I'm not a showpiece, so stop looking.

"Of course it is. I should be allowed to call you by your name," he replied curtly. I felt annoyance bubbling up at his insistence. Part of me wanted to push him down the stairs and run for it into the palace. However, the exhaustion from the recent scuffle was taking its toll on me. Wincing from the pain and fatigue, I looked down at my feet, clutching my stomach. I need to eat something soon. I don't have much energy left.

"Later then. We need to be somewhere now," he commanded, opening the right door and pulling me into the foyer. There is no 'we'—you need to drop dead. That's what you need to do! The prince left the door ajar as he scanned the large foyer connected to the main corridor and stairs. "Which way to the Throne Room, servant?" He wrapped his left arm around my waist, and I pointed to the corridor on the right. "Perfect. Tell me when we get there." A grin played on his lips as he moved more slowly down the vast hall than when we were climbing the stairs outside.

I felt uncomfortable being this close to him because he towered over me more than I had realized. How can I take down this barbarian? Although, he was making it easier to devise a plan of attack. It will have to be with magic since there's no way I can overpower him physically.

We walked silently past several doors I recognized as drawing rooms, dining rooms, offices, and secondary corridors leading to the central laundry and storage rooms for some of the larger palace spaces. We continued until I stopped him halfway down the main front corridor. We stood before a set of ornately decorated double doors. "This is it," I said, pointing to the silvery-black doors. Why do we have to be here, I wonder?

"Excellent. Now, listen to me carefully—my father is in there right now, and if you value your pitiful life at all, you'll need to be as docile as possible." He turned towards me, looking down with a note of seriousness etched into his brows. He felt even taller now that we were near these towering doors. The corridor had better lighting, and I could see he was very muscular, with his dark gray tunic snugly fitting him. He wore black cargo pants and scuffed black boots. He could incapacitate me with a single punch. The prince had a rectangular face with dark brown tousled hair. His gray eyes were dark enough to appear black.

 

"He loves confrontations of all sorts, and if you show any defiance, I won't be able to help you. So, what we are going to do is stage this to make it believable that you are meek and feeble and not, you know, a violent brute of a woman."

I crossed my arms over my chest, my face flushing with anger. "Who are you calling a brute?" I hissed, narrowing my eyes. I wanted to punch him all over again for the insult.

"Well—what would you call yourself?" he asked, cocking his left eyebrow. His gray eyes held an amused glint as he eagerly awaited my response.

"A defender! Defending against savage barbarians- Like you," I snapped angrily, raising my chin as I glared at him.

He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Okay, well, we can hash that out later, defending brute." He moved a few inches away from me and pounded loudly on the right door. When the door swung open, my right cheek received a sharp, stinging slap that caught me entirely off guard. That hurt! I whimpered loudly from the pain, clutching my face with my left hand as he dragged me roughly behind him into the expansive Throne Room.

Halfway into the room, he pushed me to the floor, and I dared not move any more than necessary. He is really confusing, but I know one thing I'm going to show him: he messed with the wrong servant! My violet bangs covered my face, and I didn't bother trying to fix them as I remained frozen on the floor, trying not to breathe too loudly. I had expended far too much energy in my attempt to escape from this man and his soldiers. I remained silent, attempting to rest before the next confrontation began. That's when I heard the faint but distinct sound of metal clinking against metal, a sound I recognized as chains connecting shackles, which I had worn many times. I also sensed the presence of two of the most important people in the entire kingdom. How did they get captured? Why aren't they at the Mage camp?

"Father! I see that you've found yourself a new throne!" the prince's voice rang out as I could hear his steps approaching the Queen's throne.

"Yes... I must say it's quite smaller than I'm used to, though. I'm unsurprised since this is a sad little rock with a woman ruling. I have no idea why they would put a woman on the throne. The men here must not be strong enough to put them in their places. But don't worry, Queen Delia, I will happily fix that issue for you and your pitiful realm," a new, deeper voice echoed. It was colder in tone, and I could feel the rising tension in the room. He must be the king.

 

I heard the doors open again as the presence of more soldiers walked in. Uh oh! That's not good. Do I have any attacks that can take out that many people? And if not, what options do I have?