The Princess and Her Rogue

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  This was far too much to absorb for Kiara. She let her lips part thoughtfully as she scanned her father’s eyes for any hint of joking. There was none. When he had finished talking, she looked to the ground, not responding. She couldn’t possibly marry Sir Claude. Although he was a respectable gentleman, he was far from being her type. He was hard, rigid and a kind of “no-nonsense” person. Kiara desired fun and would rather spend time with friends than staying cooped up in a corner, away from the excitement as Sir Claude did all night. Malcolm must have seen this as a sign to leave her alone and stood up to walk away.

  But, Kiara tugged on his rough hand to make him turn around.

  “Is it your will that I marry Sir Claude?” she asked earnestly. She honestly didn’t want to upset her father by rejecting the man. If her king wanted her to marry Sir Claude, then it would be smarter to accept the proposal than to disobey and reject the offer.

  Malcolm stared down at her for a long hard moment, and then nodded. “I believe it would be a wise match, but you must make the decision for yourself and follow your heart.”

  Kiara gulped to get rid of the lump in her throat, then she nodded with indifference. “Then, I will accept Sir Claude’s proposal for my hand. He may have it freely,” she said grudgingly.

  Malcolm squatted down in front of his daughter and looked her in the eyes carefully. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  “…Yes, it is.”

  The brightness that flooded the king’s face was enough to make Kiara feel better about her mistake. He grinned from ear to ear and kissed her cheek lovingly.

  “In that case, let’s go meet your fiancé.”

  Those words made Kiara want to gag. The king pulled Kiara up onto her wobbly feet and led her back inside the great hall that was practically empty now except for Justin, Eshean and Sir Claude who had all been talking together near the head table.

  Malcolm excitedly presented the reluctant Kiara in front of her future husband - who looked just as eager as the king.

  “Sir Claude, my daughter has something to tell you,” the king said as the group grew silent.

  Kiara felt like screaming that she wouldn’t marry Sir Claude if he was the last man on earth, but thought better of it. She glanced between all four of the men with jittery nerves and bowed her head.

  “I accept your proposal,” she plainly stated with a flat tone. Justin and Eshean were puzzled, but kept their mouths shut and watched as Sir Claude beamed with happiness, as Malcolm did.

  “I am very grateful, my lady,” Sir Claude said with a regal bow. While his head was within striking range, Kiara felt the urge to smack him, but once again resisted. She stood as tall and majestically as she could as if she knew what she was getting herself into. She felt like her life was just going to spiral downhill from there. Nothing was going to get better after something like this.

  They all talked about wedding plans such as the reception, where it would be, living plans, a honeymoon was questioned here and there along with the possible difficulties in working around everyone’s schedule. Kiara preferred to leave all of the decision making up to her new fiancé and kept quiet, staring blankly off into space, wishing this was all just a strange nightmare.

  Before they all exited the hall, Sir Claude gave Kiara a stunning gold band to put over her left ring finger. She didn’t want to wear it, but upon her father’s insistence, she slid it onto her finger. The band was a little too small, but she was just barely able to push it over her knuckle.

  Once she had ventured up the stairs to her room, she tore it back off, tossing it carelessly onto her bed. The only comfort for the rest of the night would come from her little puppy, which she played with to take her mind off of the impending doom of her new engagement.

  When the puppy grew sleepy and stopped wanting to play tug-of-war with an old piece of rope, he curled up on his little pillow bed and dozed off, leaving Kiara to deal with her circumstance. She sighed in boredom, sitting on the edge of her large canopy bed that was draped with red curtains. She glanced around her tiny quarters and found nothing else to do but walk out on her balcony to think of her awful situation.

  The moon shone high in the sky, indicating that it was very late at night. She glanced around to her sister’s windows and all were darkened, so she must have been the only one awake.

  Kiara rested her elbows on the balcony railing and looked out over the castle walls, past the city’s perimeter and out towards her father’s woods where he loved to go hunting every other week. She leaned her chin on her palm and contemplated her future life.

  She determined that it may not be too bad. He was very rich, after all and would provide for her well. Perhaps if she made him annoyed enough, he would leave her alone to travel the countryside by herself. Kiara desperately wanted to see the world. She wanted to travel to forbidden lands, discover new places, meet exciting people and leave this boring old life behind. She enjoyed being a princess, but it wasn’t as glamorous as the story books would say. She was highly restricted and had limited opportunities. In fact, if she could have been a peasant for a day, she would take it. Just one day would suffice.

  Kiara sighed and turned to go back into her room, but before she could, there was a rustling behind her. As she turned around, she felt a sudden sharp blow to her head and everything went black.

  Chapter 2

  When Kiara awoke from her unconscious state, she wasn’t sure where she was. Her surroundings were dark and there was only one sliver of light coming from behind her that flickered. Next, she realized that her and whatever she was laying in was constantly bumping her up and down. Then, as her eyes and senses began to adjust, she realized she was bound at the wrists and ankles in a covered wagon.

  She pushed herself up and rubbed the back of her head, which was aching badly. She looked around at the mysterious food supplies and tools and tried to understand what was going on.

  Kiara looked towards the wagon flaps and peered out to see a hoard of gruesome bandits following, at least two dozen in all. They were filthy and disgusting as they either marched or rode their horses along the trail. Behind them was the towering Shin Mountain Range, which stood as part of her father’s kingdom boundary. The group was not traveling fast at all, but they were going somewhere away from Malcolm’s kingdom, that Kiara was sure of.

  As the grogginess dissipated, the fear and panic began to set in. Where was she? Where was she going? Who were these men? Who were they working for? What would they do to her? What did they want with her? Millions of questions buzzed through her mind. Then, the tears came. She felt, deep down, that she would never be back home to Aleph. She would never see her father again. She’d never see her siblings, Justin, Eshean, Miss Heather, the orphans or the servants ever again. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that the only result from this would bring death or worse. She knew that she had been kidnapped and was now a hostage. The idea was terrifying to say the least.

  Kiara scooted back and hugged her knees tightly to her chest, feeling like a scared little child in her worst nightmare. Her party dress wasn’t torn and her undergarments seemed to be in tact, so that was a pleasant sign, but made her feel no better. If these bandits had kidnapped her, it was for a reason and if they hadn’t done any physical harm to her, then it was only a matter of time.

  It was this sobbing that must have caught the attention of the bandits. Suddenly, the flap of the wagon was thrust open and a grisly man with long, dark oily hair snickered menacingly to the lady. Kiara quickly looked up and held in the last of her tears before the man reached out and fiercely grabbed her by the arm.

  No matter how much she tugged and whimpered in resistance, the man threw her from the moving wagon, onto the dusty road. The wagon stopped and the men began laughing at her attempted to stand up straight with her ankles tied up.

  They all stood in a circle around her, keeping their distance as she squirmed up onto her feet.

  “Well, looks like sleeping b
eauty’s finally awake,” they jested.

  “Ain’t that the purtiest dress ya ever saw?”

  “Sure looks expensive. I wonder how much we could sell it for.”

  Kiara glanced around silently at the men, afraid and unsure of what to do at first. Then, one man came up and pushed her down so she would fall flat on her back. She cried out in pain, seeing as she was unable to break her fall, then watched as the bandit cut the ropes around her ankles so she could stand.

  After he had done so, he looked intriguingly at the hem of her dress and reached for it lustfully. Kiara saw this and immediately kicked the man square in the chest to send him toppling backwards. She stood up and pointed her finger around at the group confidently.

  “My father will have all your heads for this!” she shouted angrily.

  “Your father ain’t gonna do squat!” The man that had pulled her from the wagon stepped forward, “He doesn’t even know where we are, so there’s nothing you or him can do about it,” he said as he leered at her attractive body with a disgusting gaze that made Kiara shiver.

  She took a defensive position against the outlaw and glared with such intensity that he seemed to step back a little with intimidation.

  “Who are you men and what do you want with me? If you want money, I can give you anything, name the price. But, for heaven’s sake, let me go?” Kiara said loud enough for the party to hear. The men chuckled and scoffed at her plea.

  “We already have the price for your head, madam and I doubt that King Malcolm would top it. We’re on orders from the Deceiver.”

  Kiara’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked softly. She knew that anything involving the Deceiver would not end well. The false king had no mercy for those who served Malcolm. A daughter of the king would not go without being tortured in his presence. She couldn’t imagine the kind of pain and anguish she would face if she was being taken to Deceiver’s castle in Tau.

  “That’s for us to know and you to find out,” the leader chuckled. His voice was laden with malice and cruel intentions. His worn, scarred face resembled that of a coal miner or a dirty blacksmith. And from they unutterable stench that emanated from the band, it seemed like none of them had taken a bath in weeks.

  The league of bandits chuckled in unison and one man came up to tie a rope around Kiara’s already bound wrists, then fastened the other end to the back of the wagon. While Kiara was still in shock and dismay of her circumstances, the caravan was on the move again. Most of the bandits moved to the front, towards the rest of the wagons that were traveling with them, but some stayed behind to keep an eye on Kiara.

  As they began moving again, Kiara was forced to walk instead of ride under the safety of the canvas wagon. This was most inconvenient as the sun was already high in the sky and beating down harshly upon her frail body.

  Soon after they began to move again, Kiara glanced up into the trees that lined each side of the road. As her eyes fell on a peculiar looking silhouette, she was tempted to shout for help, but forced herself to be quiet. If the shadow was indeed that of another traveler that had nothing to do with the bandits, then it would be unwise to get them in trouble as well. And if it was only of an animal or odd-looking tree, then she would have looked like a fool and her hopes would be crushed to begin with. But, the longer she stared, she saw it move and she knew it was a living creature that was following the party.

  She only watched the shadow slink from tree to tree, its glinting eyes glancing from one end of the wagon train to the other with intent focus. Kiara felt this follower was the only friend she had along the trail and her eyes constantly fled to its shadow for comfort, hoping that maybe it would rescue her soon.

  After an hour, her legs and knees grew weak and tired. She began to stumble and trip over her dress skirt almost with every step. The men only pointed and laughed at her inability to keep up with the wagon. On occasion, she would lose her footing and fall flat on her stomach. This only increased the ridicule inflicted upon her, as well as got her dress extremely dirty and torn. After she had recovered from such a fall, she would grimace that her perfectly new dress was no more than a rag with embroidery designs. It was no longer fit for a princess. She found her situation so depressing and humiliating, but she tried to be strong. If she were to be tortured or killed, she would do so with honor.

  Once the sun was beginning to set to her right, she knew they were traveling directly south. And from observing the road signs that they had been passing, she evaluated that they were not walking in Deceiver’s territory, but around it in what was called the “Grey Area”. Outlaws inhabited this land and those who chose neither to serve Deceiver, nor the king. Those sent into exile usually lived in the Grey. And if, indeed, they were in the Grey and headed south, then their destination was not Deceiver’s kingdom. It was the Field of Fire.

  The Field of Fire was a long, endless stretch of land beyond Deceiver’s territory that was like a death trap for any fool that would venture into its boundaries. The Field of Fire was riddled with volcanoes, hot geysers that spurt out steam as well as rivers of molted lava snaking through the land. If the bandits were taking Kiara to the Field of Fire, she would surely die if she didn’t escape. There was no hope of survival if Deceiver’s orders were to have her left in that field.

  Kiara had no more tears to cry over her fate. She only took it with a spoonful of despair and tried to make this seem like a sacrifice for her kingdom instead of something to have pity over. Kiara knew that if this had anything to do with Deceiver, then it was obviously a plot against Malcolm. Since Kiara was Malcolm’s favorite daughter, if anything happened to her, Malcolm would be tempted to start an all-out war against those that hurt her. Deceiver must have wanted this sort of reaction; otherwise Kiara wouldn’t be in this position. Deceiver had a plan and so far, he must have intended to succeed. Deceiver had lost once to Malcolm and Kiara doubted that Deceiver would try something again if he didn’t think he could defeat Malcolm once and for all.

  Back at Malcolm’s kingdom, the morning after Kiara went missing, the whole castle and city were in an uproar. Kiara was missing and Malcolm was so angry that he could have killed anyone who upset him in the slightest way.

  As King Malcolm ranted and raved in the throne room to Justin and Eshean, his temper was unleashed for the first time in years.

  “How could she leave! She had just become engaged to Sir Claude! She couldn’t possibly leave without at least leaving a note or some indication of why she was leaving! What have I done? What happened?” Malcolm collapsed himself down into his throne and held his head in frustration.

  “My lord, maybe she did not go by will. You are a great father and she loves you more than anything. Her whole life is here. There’s no way she would leave by choice. Perhaps there is something wrong? Maybe she left to go to town late last night or early this morning and has yet to return? I wouldn’t jump to conclusions and be so hard on yourself just yet when there is no logical theory of why she would be gone,” Eshean reasoned wisely, stepping up to Malcolm’s side and resting his old hand on the king’s shoulder.

  “Kiara wouldn’t leave like this. She was just telling me yesterday about her plans to go to Daleth for the archery tournament. She would have tomorrow afternoon if you approved her plans. No horses or carriages are missing, so that means that she was kidnapped. She wouldn’t miss the archery tournament for anything, even a new proposal,” Justin said calmly. All three men were evenly distraught about Kiara’s disappearance.

  The king burst up from his throne. “Kidnapped? Kiara kidnapped? Send out a search party! Have men patrolling the borders! Send knights into every town to look for her! I’ll kill any man or woman who would dare kidnap my child!” Malcolm shouted to his servants, who quivered at the sound of his booming voice, then scattered off to fulfill his orders.

  “We already have men looking all over Aleph for any sign of her. Don’t worry, my king, we will find her and bring
her home safely,” Eshean said with a steady voice.

  All three stood in thoughtful silence, and then Malcolm spoke up again. “Do you suppose Damian is behind this?” he asked softly.

  Eshean had to think for a moment before replying. “If he is, then what will you do?”

  “I would be urged to wage war against that traitor!” Malcolm grabbed his goblet and threw it against the far wall, causing it to shatter.

  “Then I would advise you to keep a calm mind until Kiara is found. If this is not the Deceiver’s doing, then you would be declaring war without a logical reason and sending men to battle for no purpose by false revenge. If the Deceiver is behind this, I would not recommend war either.”

  Malcolm looked confusedly to his advisor and waited for him to finish.

  “Kiara is a priceless treasure to you and her loss would be very grave. But, this offense is only against you and not the kingdom. If Deceiver were planning something sinister against your people, I would say that war is a viable solution. But going to war against Damian in search for a reprisal is not wise.”

  Malcolm looked to Justin for any comment, but the young man only bowed his head to let his father decide. The king then took a bold breath and nodded. “Very well. I will wait for any message from Deceiver. If I receive none and Kiara is not found, I will not wage war. But, if any evidence comes up that Deceiver is behind this, I want my knights and army assembled for battle.”

  Chapter 3

  After hours of walking, stumbling and dragging feet, the caravan stopped for the night. When the wagon that Kiara was tied to finally stopped in a wooded clearing, Kiara fell to her knees in the darkness, exhausted, thirsty, starving and miserable. The wagons had circled around the clearing near the tree line, creating a shelter for the bandits to cook their dinner and set up camp in the middle. Kiara didn’t move and thankfully, no one bothered her.