Princess of the Damned (20 page)

“
We need a room to stay the night,” Sayan said to the tavern keeper.

“
We are doing a little housekeeping today, so you may have to wait a little for a room.” The tavern keeper replied. “Could I help you to some ale or mead while you wait?”

“
Mead,” Sayan replied and then he took a seat at the end of the bar.

“
Do you need a separate room for the lady there?” The tavern keeper asked when he noticed that it was the figure of a woman.

It was too risky to let her stay in a separate from him. “My wife and I only need one room.”

He noticed Nala slightly jerked up when she heard his lie. He quickly guided her to look down again.

“
I think all of these rumors are a bunch of half-ass tales from a senile old man!” The man sitting next to them shouted out. “If that man fought off an entire army by himself and made it out alive, he must be some kind of monster!”

The room was filled with laughter. “It is unbelievable how they fluff these kinds of thing!”

“
I saw it with my own eyes!” A man with a white beard barked. “When the Red Army came, I had no choice but to hide in the rocks to avoid their detection. There were so many of them that the line went on for hours. A black, ferocious beast jumped out from the dark of the night and destroyed everything in his way. Riding on the beast was the Dark Prince himself! He was a giant, towering over the Red Army with his blade! Blood rained down from the sky and formed a slippery stream. Screams of terror deafened the sky! It is true I tell you! It is all true! The Red Army was in so much disarray that they trampled on one another to escape! ”

“
Go home and take your medicine, old man!” The room was rowdy with laughter again.

“
How else would he have become our king?” The old man asked.

“
That is because he killed his own king! His brother! The man is a traitor, nothing more! I would throw rocks at him if I could!”

“
I agree! The former king should have never adopted that ingrate!”

“
Stop it old man, or we will think that the king has sent you out to spread rumors and terrorize us into submission!”

“
You have to believe me!” The old man desperately yelled out. “You! You believe me right?”

Sayan turned around when he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder. The old man jumped back and fell backwards onto the floor.

“
It’s him!” The old man cried out while pointing the accusation finger. “That’s him! I would never forget his face! He’s the Dark Prince!”

The room full of men got up to their feet.

“
You are drunk, sir,” Sayan responded. “I am only a simple shepherd.”

“
I am telling you that it is him!” The old man cried out again.

The tavern keeper gestured him upstairs. “Your room should be ready about now. Take your wife to the last room on the right.”

Sayan placed five silver coins on the table in exchange for the key and then headed to the stairs with Nala. He stopped when a man placed a hand on his shoulder.

“
Are you saying this man right here is the Dark Prince, old man?”

Sayan glared at him and the old man ran out of the tavern screaming.

A man shoved Sayan’s chest and he staggered backward. The fever was making him drowsy.

“
This man is the Dark Prince? He’s slightly taller than the rest of us, but he is no giant. That old man is completely senile. Why, he can’t even stand firm on his own two feet!”
Laughter rounded the tavern again.

“
He’s got a lady with him.”

“
Why is she cloaked inside?”

“
He is probably ashamed of being seen with her.”

“
Let us see your face, girl.”

Nala shook her head.

“
She must be so extremely ugly that she cannot show her face.”

Another round of laughter circled the tavern.

“
I was born with deformities.” Nala said to them. “My appearance is offensive.”

“
What a sweet voice you have. Let us see your face.”

She shook her head again.

When a man tried to reach for her hood, Sayan grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him back.

“
Keep your hand away from my wife!” Sayan warned.

A man standing behind them reached out and pulled the hood over her head. Sayan swiftly pulled her toward him and pressed her face against his chest. He had been trying to hold himself back and he was at his limit.

“
Her hair! It’s white!”

“
It’s not white, you idiot!”

“
It’s like spider silk!”

Sayan pulled out a dagger from his waist and held it against the length of his forearm. “We are only passing through. If you offend my wife any further, I will cut you down. Even if I am only a simple shepherd, I won’t stand for another insult!”

“
Ah, he’s serious!” The drunken men backed away.

Sayan shot a glare at them before leading Nala up the stairs. The feeling of drowsiness returned when they had the privacy of a room. Sayan staggered to the bed and then rolled onto it. His headache felt as if it were killing him. It felt so hot.

“
I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.” Nala sounded like she was apologizing.

“
It’s not your fault. They are just obnoxious.”

“
Has it always been like this for you?”

“
I can’t say I am not used to it. You are too beautiful for your own good.” He didn’t realize what he had just blurted out. He didn’t mean to lead her on more than he already had.

“
You think I am beautiful, Sayan?”

“
I’m not blind.” He turned to lie on his side.

“
I have honestly always thought that you were ashamed of my strange appearance. You’ve never told me that I am beautiful before.”

“
What I am not used to is how you are acting right now. When were you ever concerned about how I look at you?”

“
It is only recently,” she confessed.

“
Nala?”

“
Yes?”

“
Don’t get confused. I love you to death, but it is very different from the love between a man and a woman. Don’t think into it anymore.”

Why did he feel a pinch in his chest when he said that to her? It was the truth, wasn’t it?

“
My heart aches a little when I hear you say that, but you are right.” She said after a moment of silence. “Ever since Trent rescued me out of the river, I have been acting strange. I started to feel all kinds of emotions that I have never felt before. I feel like an adolescent girl who has just discovered that she could like someone and you just happened to be there.”

That name. “I see,” he said softly. The fever is getting to him. His heart is throbbing inside of his chest.

“
It is not fair to you. I think I will try and get to know more people. Perhaps the confusion will clear up once I meet a good man.”

“
Are you thinking of marriage?”

“
Marriage?” She became quiet again.

“
If you have already decided on marriage, I still want you to stay in the palace.”

“
I will not stay in the palace, Sayan.”

He turned around immediately. “Why?”

She blushed as she squeezed the water out of the damped cloth. “If I fall in love, I will follow that person to the end of the earth.”

“
You would leave me for that person, Nala?”

She came to his side and placed the damp cloth on his forehead. “You don’t need me anymore, Sayan.”

“
So your answer is ‘yes’.”

She didn’t deny it.

Sayan paused as soon
as he stepped foot out of the meeting room. He was momentarily dazed by the young man with an imposing aura standing in the hallway. This man had the second set of platinum hair he had ever seen in his life. Instead of gentle pale green eyes, the man possessed a pair of translucent blue eyes accompanied by a flawless face and a beautiful still expression. The simple black clothes he wore could not hide his noble birth. Perhaps that was the reason why the guards did not deny him access to the palace.

Sayan shook his head. Being dazed by a man, that was a first in his life.

“
Your Majesty,” the young man greeted him, but he did not lower his head.

“
Brother!” Nala called out at the end of the hall. She ran to him and hugged him tightly. “I felt your presence in the palace. What are you doing here? Did mother ask about me?”

“
He is your brother, Nala?” Sayan asked.

Nala smiled and nodded. “This is my one and only brother, Trent.”

Trent. That name. The series of memories flashed before his eyes. Trent is Nala’s brother? But that would mean…

“
Thank you for taking such good care of my Nala, Your Majesty.”

His Nala?

“
And here I thought you would never come to visit me.” She tugged him by the arm and led him down the hallway. “Let’s not bother Sayan, he has more important things to do. Brother, I want to ask you more questions.”

“
Nala,” Sayan called out to her. “I am not busy.”

She did not even hear him.

“
That is wonderful, Your Majesty!” The queen exclaimed as she exited the meeting room. “If you are not busy, then would you please spare me some of your time?”

Sayan turned to face her. “Certainly, your highness.”

“
Call me Essa,” she insisted. “Formalities make strangers out of us, don’t you agree?”

“
Yes,” Sayan replied.

“
May I call you by your name, Your Majesty?”

“
If that is what you prefer.”

“
I would prefer that very much.” She smiled and then wrapped her arm around his. “Since the death of my husband, I am awfully lonely. Will you escort me to the garden? Spring has arrived and I am curious to see how different it is from the kingdom I grew up in.”

“
Fai, does my brother hate me?”

The beast lazily looked up at her. He was getting ready for an afternoon nap, but it seemed like it wouldn’t go as planned. He stretched his body and yawned

“
He is very kind, but he is also very distant. He avoids a lot of my questions and he avoids looking into my eyes. Tell me, Fai, does he hate me for some reason I don’t know about?”

The beast climbed onto the bed and then slipped under the cover. A flash of light radiated throughout the room.

“
He loves you, master.” The beast comforted her. “It is not possible for him to hate you, even though you have done so many terrible things to him in the past.”

“
I did terrible things to him?” She gasped. “What did I do?”

“
I am not supposed to tell.”

“
Fai!”

“
Are you happy the way you are now, master?”

“
Yes.”

“
I better keep my mouth shut.”

“
Fai, as your master, I order you to tell me!”

Fai exhaled. “I don’t even know where to start. The question should be what have you
not
done to him. You have gotten very creative over the years. That is all I can tell you. Even if you threw my pups off a cliff, I would not say another word on the subject.”

She lowered her eyes with guilt. “Why was I so horrible to him?”

“
Not another word.” Fai retreated back into the blanket. It was getting warm and cozy. Maybe he could get started on that nap.

Nala could not guess
the reason why the queen summoned her to her quarters. They had never even exchanged a word. What could the queen possibly what from her? It was because of her that her husband was killed. Could it be that she wanted revenge? She had to expect the worst.

Nala let out a sigh of relief when she could sense Sayan’s presence in the queen’s quarters as well. All worries dissipated from her mind when she saw Sayan sitting by the queen’s side. With Sayan here, the Queen could not act out any ill intentions.

“
Your Majesty. My Queen.” Nala knelt down in front of them and bowed her head to the floor. Even if she and Sayan could speak on the same level when they are alone, she could not ignore protocol in front of the queen. It is the easiest way to get executed. “How may I serve you?”

“
Rise,” the queen commanded.

Nala got up to her feet again. She hoped this conversation would be short because she could sense her brother’s presence close by. He must have returned to visit her.

“
So you are the famous dancer everyone has been talking about,” the queen left Sayan’s side and circled Nala. “It is a shame that I was not able to attend your previous performance.”

“
I can dance for you whenever you wish, my queen.”

“
There is something else that I am more interested in.”

“
What would you like me to do, my queen?”

“
I have heard that dancers are known to be skilled at seducing men. I want to learn just how it is that you please His Majesty in his bed. Is it the same as pleasing other men?”