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Ai walked gracefully to her father’s library, mindful that Michael would never seek her there. The guards bowed to her and opened the doors, with no questions, as they were acquainted with her freely visiting her father since she was a child. She hardly ever needed an announcement or permission to enter his presence. She stopped at a large mirror on the path into the inner study.
She was quite content with the choice of attire handpicked by her two trusted handmaidens. It was a pink dress with black lace at the hems which magnificently portrayed her slim figure, and boldly depicted her royal status. She was often told how her facial features made her appear much younger than the twenty years she had lived. She had thick lashes that framed her deep brown eyes, a small nose, and full lips of dark brown outer edges which blended seamlessly with the light pink in the centre.
She allowed her eyes to trail to her full hair, brushed away from her face and put in a braid that encircled her head. The unusual texture of her hair was one of the most daunting tasks in her daily preparation.
Martha, who had served her from her childhood, and Surina who had entered her service in her teenage years, were the only people, besides her mother, who had successfully perfected the art of manoeuvring the defiant mass atop her head. They were the only handmaidens whose loyalty she never doubted.
A diadem had been placed on her head by Surina to ‘intimidate the greedy nobles’ as she claimed. Ai sighed, as intimidation was the last thing she intended to do. She could, however, not but agree that it did signify her royal position, as she had opted to wear a simple pearl necklace and small pearl earrings. Unlike when she was younger, she did not particularly like jewellery, as they were heavy and tiresome and had done nothing to earn her friendships. Ai’s shapely brows dipped into a frown, as she stared at her image. The thought that recurred most frequently in her mind, made an appearance again.
Had I been of a fairer complexion, I would have been regarded as a great beauty.
She was quick to shake it off, when she recalled the first time, she had erroneously voiced it out to her mother. Although the queen had scolded and reassured her that she was beautiful, she realised that her words had a dampening effect on the woman.
Queen Anne blamed her regular scolding for her daughter’s feeling of inferiority, expressing that she had failed as a mother. It took several weeks for Ai to convince the woman that she had never felt neglected by her, nor had her methods of discipline made her feel any less loved.
The very memory of the mournful countenance her mother had in those painful weeks, was enough to make the princess shudder. She had never again uttered a negative comment against herself since that time. It was her good fortune that her father had been away in a different region at the time, and she had been able to convince her mother never to mention it to the man.
If her mother, who was the less doting parent had undergone such a mournful time because of such a statement, she feared to see the reaction of her father. Ai pulled her gaze away from her image and walked silently towards where she knew the king could be found.
King James, who was seated at his large table looking over a parchment, looked up as soon as he heard her enter and smiled warmly. His blue eyes sparkled beautifully, and he looked much younger than his eight and fifty years of age.
“Father,” She greeted with a curtsy, returning his smile.
“My dearest Ai, what a good pleasure!” he said, rising and walking up to her, with his arms stretched. “You may ask anything you desire for the anniversary of your birth. Be it up to half of my kingdom, I shall gladly grant it unto you,”
“Father, how is it, that you ask this of me every year?” Ai giggled, putting her hands in his.
“My dear child, you have grown both in wisdom and grace and I tell you, I have the mind to give you all I own, for you are my joy and pride,” he replied with a broad smile as she kissed his bearded cheek.
“If you truly mean this, then grant me the promise that you and Mother shall live a very long and healthy life.” Her expressively pleased parent laughed loudly and heartily.
“You say this every year, child. It is yet time you become wittier in your requests.”
“On this matter, I shall never concede, for it shall remain my sole desire evermore.”
The princess had never had a reason to doubt the devotion and affection of her parents and reciprocated it greatly. It was the main reason she desired acceptance in the kingdom.
“Whatever is this emotional moment that I have yet again been excluded from?” Her mother’s voice echoed through the room.
The queen, petite in comparison to her father’s tall form, looked as beautiful as ever in her blue, heavily embroidered dress. Not a strand of her honey-brown hair was out of place, and although she was three and fifty, her beauty had not waned with age, for she looked not a day above thirty. Her grey-blue eyes trailed critically over her daughter.
“How do you do, Mother?” The princess greeted, with a graceful curtsy.
“Ai, I had the joy of running into your knight on my way here. Whilst I did not put him in the uncomfortable position of asking your whereabouts, I could tell that he was in search of you. Could it be that you are here to evade his presence?”
Ai sighed in defeat, as her mother began a lecture on how unbecoming it was to escape the one whose sole aim was to protect her.
She decided that her next best option was to return to her chambers without getting found by her knight. Although it would not be such a flawless victory, it would still mean that she had evaded him, nonetheless. Her only trouble was walking to her chambers, without being found by the supernatural knight.
“Dear child, do you hear anything I say?” Her mother’s raised voice tore through her thoughts. She had not been attending to her words but had caught on to a few things she had said about the dangers of being alone in such festive times.
“Yes, Mother. I shall go now to him.”
“Your knight is the only man we can trust to keep you safe. You will just have to bear with his persistent presence until the end of the celebrations. We are aware of your impulsive tendencies and would rather not have a repeat of the orphanage incident.” Her mother added, in a warning tone.
“Rest assured, Mother, there shall be no repeat of it.”
The younger royal excused herself and walked out of the library, taking a longer route to her chambers in the hope that her knight would not find her. She did her best to ignore how deeply her mother’s words affected her, but it weighed heavily on her mind. The queen said it to remind her of the consequences of defying their instructions since she had been expressly forbidden from visiting that orphanage at the time of the incident.
There were two orphanages in the Kingdom. One was specifically designed for known or proven Ore natives, and another was for foreign and unidentified children. Ai had visited the Ore orphanage for natives several times and was impressed with the way it was run.
Obstacles and resistance, most especially from her parents, had prevented her from visiting the foreign one, but the plight of the foreign orphans struck close to her heart as she felt she was quite like them. She sought an opportunity to locate the orphanage and visit the poor children.
The opportunity came with her friend Nathan, the adoptive son of the Prophet Asher. She had met him when he moved into the palace, after the Yachad festival. He became the third friend she ever made, and as soon as they were close enough to form a trusting friendship, the princess sent him off to find the Orphanage. He was able to locate it within a week, as his late mother had served the children before her demise.
Ai was forced to visit clandestinely through her secret garden, which also had a hidden route that led out of the palace. Her accomplice accompanied her the first time and then provided her with a map and a horse for her consequent visits.
She had wept the first time she visited the old cold building, which leant precariously as though a mere gust of wind could send it sprawling. Its rickety, dilapidated doors did little to keep the elements out, and the place lacked basic amenities. The children...
Oh, the children... Malnourished, underfed, scrawny...
It was her love for the children that made her visits so frequent. She had at first visited once each month, but soon her visits became a weekly task. It was at the time when she frequented the orphanage that Michael had come into her service. She had met him a day after the anniversary of her fourteenth year. King James had decided that she needed optimum protection and requested the best soldier from Ore’s Army.
Ai was introduced to the tall brawny man who was said to be the most qualified to protect the princess. The man had his head bowed the whole time, obscuring his features. He had gained no favour with her, for he seemed too stiff, as he followed every order given. In her opinion, he was a boy who had only seen nineteen summers, and she believed him rather too young to be considered the best.
She took her sentiments before her father, expressing that a youth, who had not attained his majority could hardly offer the level of protection he desired for his daughter. Her father waved off her concerns and expressed that he had seen the youth in actual combat and had no doubt he was the right one for the job.
At the time, she had resented having a personal guard, because she wished to protect her clandestine visits to the orphanage. Her resentment however turned into curiosity, as the man did not spy on her as she thought he would. He gave Ai the impression that he resented being her guard as much as she did, as he had made it a point never to meet her eyes. He was forever bowing his head in her presence, and she made it her amusing goal to see that he lifted his eyes to hers of his own will. Most of her mischievous plans failed as the man was stoic, efficient and always saw through all her tricks.
Since at the time, he was only to serve her in the day from noon till sunset, she ran out of her futile tricks. She had even embroiled the unwilling Nathan in her plans, and yet still failed to make the man catch her eyes.
She learnt from her father that he was so good that he could still be as effective if he was blind. Her father was ever boasting of his skills, expressing that he had watched him spar with the commander of the Ore’s army and was almost able to conquer the man regarded as Ore’s strongest.
By the third week of his attending to her, she had given up on her efforts and settled for gazing upon his dark hair. It reminded her of her dark-haired friends, and she sometimes imagined he was Sora.
It was at an unexpected time, when she ceased trying, that she finally achieved her desire. She had long abandoned trying to see the man’s face and went about reading the Holy Book, as instructed by Prophet Asher. It was a letter of an apostle to the Romans, and she found that she could grasp it better when she read aloud and had done so, ignoring the presence of the stoic young guard who stood at the door.
She had been oblivious that her reading had piqued his interest till the third day of her reading, his curiosity got the better of him. She had been reading the eighth chapter about a love that seemed so incredible that the man had taken a step forward and spoken.
“Surely you know such love could never exist!” He had proclaimed. It was the first time their eyes met, and she was so stunned by his fierce green eyes that she was wrought speechless. His staunch exterior flitted for a moment and what oddly seemed to be mutual surprise danced across his face.
Time seemed to have been suspended, as they stayed for several moments staring into each other’s eyes. Then, reality cruelly tore apart the moment, and awkwardness filled the room. The man seemed to have shocked himself by acting in such a manner that was evidently out of his character and begged her pardon.
The princess was quick to wave off his apology and take advantage of his odd display of emotions. Unwilling to miss the moment, she engaged him in discussing what she had been reading. She acknowledged that she too had difficulty believing it the first time she read it. But that very chapter had become her favourite as it spoke of adoption, a topic she dearly wished to understand. She admitted that it was almost as though it was written for her benefit, and she had the mind to ask the Prophet to give her a better understanding of it.
The guard uttered a few words that day, but from that moment on, the stiff bowing and stubborn formalities were abandoned. Instead, he often stared into her eyes till she had to turn away. A lot of times she had to remind herself not to be intimidated by that beautiful mossy gaze. She had become determined to make a friend out of him but was always met with rigid formality. Although he listened as she read the Holy book, he never asked any questions, so the princess took it upon herself to ask him questions.
It was during one of her one-sided interviews she had asked the origin of his name and a few days later, the orphanage incident happened. After he risked his life for her, she took it upon herself to not only care for him but also befriend him, as he slowly recovered from his wounds. She went to see him daily and, on his request, she read the Holy Book to him.
Ai's recollection ended abruptly as she collided with a person. She had been so caught up in her memories that she failed to keep her eyes on the path she was walking. She was about to give her flustered apologies when she looked up and saw the familiar smug smile, she had become accustomed to.
"Nathan." She observed dryly.
