ZARA'S POV
It's been two days since I left home, and we stopped at an inn to rest for a day before we continued our journey.
King Carl's nation, Everton was a three days journey and by tomorrow, we'll be there.
"Princess, I mean Zara...
"Lia don't call me that, remember I'm in disguise."
"What should I call you then," Lia questioned
"You should call me captain, after all, I'm the leader of one hundred men."
Okay, captain, she muttered, giggling.
"Are you going in disguise all the way to Everton, or you will change when we get close?" Lia asked and I thought for a while.
"Hmm, why don't I just play a prank on King Carl."
"What do you mean prin..., I mean Captain?"
"I mean, I will go in disguise and ask someone else to act as the princess."
"But isn't that risky, what if the king gets upset."
"It's not for long, I just need him to think that the other person is the princess before I introduce myself."
"You are something else Captain," Lia muttered and I chuckled.
I stuff food into my mouth like someone who has not eaten for days. I'm sure no one will believe that a princess would be eating like a glutton, but I didn't care.
It's was just me and Lia in the restaurant, while the soldiers were outside.
"Captain, you should take it easy, or you might choke. how can a princess eat like that?" Lia muttered
"It's a good thing that for now, I'm a captain, not a princess, so I can eat however I want."
She sighed, shaking her head, and I chuckled.
After resting for a day, we continued our journey.
"Princess, watch out Lia yelled but it was too late, I fell into the trap. we were in the middle of a forest, and the place looks like where someone could easily be ambushed.
"Protect the princess," Jamie, the leader of the soldiers yelled coming to my side.
"You should not call me that, or I will be in bigger trouble if the enemy finds out."
"You should call me Captain until we get to Everton."
"Protect the captain," he yelled, and some group of soldiers immediately came to free me from the trap.
They rounded me, forming a shield to protect me. A group of bandits came out and began fighting our soldiers. They were more in number than we were.
This was the reason, my father sent a lot of men with me, but I told him they were too much.
"Zara, we need to go now. we are outnumbered, and if we don't leave, they will capture us," Lia muttered.
"Captain, she is right. you need to leave, I will fight along side the other, to buy you more time," Jamie said.
"I should also fight with you, after all my fighting skills are not bad," I muttered.
"No Zara, the fate of Azrael is in your hands, and if anything happens to you, it will be a disaster," Lia muttered.
"She's right, leave now before it's too late," Jamie muttered.
I climbed my horse and Lia also did the same.
"Go fast fury, I yelled and she rode fast through the forest. It didn't take long before the enemy started chasing us.
"Lia, stay beside me," I yelled.
They chased us and even fired arrows at us. Fury was riding really fast, leaving Lia behind.
"Lia, hurry, Lia," I yelled but she fell from her horse.
"Leave Zara, just go," she shouted, but I was not going to leave her behind no matter what.
Fury, let's go back."
I rode back to where Lia was, in an attempt to carry her, but I was late. we were surrounded by the bandit.
I could fight them if they were small in number, but they were like twenty men. They looked dangerous and some even had tattoos and piercing on their noses. They looked like savages.
"Look who we have here, a pretty boy and a pretty lady, we must be so lucky today," one of the men yelled and they all cheered.
Lia held on to me tightly, and she was shivering.
"But, isn't this one too pretty to be a boy," another man said and the first man scanned me.
"Yes, he is. Look at his smooth face, look at those pretty eyes, they look so fierce."
He came towards me, grabbing my hands roughly.
"Ahhh, so soft, he must be from a wealthy family, we are very lucky, if we sell him, we will definitely get a huge amount of money," The man said and they cheered.
It looked like the first man was their leader, he had more piercings and tattoos.
"Take them and the other men we captured," he ordered and they tied us dragging us with them.
CARL,S POV
"My king, our spy confirms that princess Zara was on her way but got captured, should we send me to go rescue her?" Jerald asked. Jerald was my right-hand man. He was my most trusted person and friend.
"And why should we. They could have sent enough men to protect her."
"But my king, she is going to be your wife and the queen of Everton, I think you should send some men to rescue her."
"I won't send any men to rescue her. They should figure it out by themselves. How many men did they send with her?"
"One hundred."
"One hundred, and they couldn't protect her, They must be incompetent."
"My king, they were ambushed by bandits."
"That's not an excuse and stop taking their side."
But my king, you...
"Just keep quiet. This will be their challenge, if they can save themselves and bring the Princess to Everton, it will prove that Azrael is a strong nation, but if they are unable to save the princess, I won't spare Azrael."
"But my king, the bandits who kidnapped the princess are one of the most dangerous. they sell women for slavery."
"That's Even better. Ask the spy to keep an eye on them, if they're going to sell the princess, then he should buy her.
"My king, no one knows what the princess looks like."
ZARA'S POVThey took us to a place, which looked like their base. there were a lot of bandits there and also a lot of hostages. They were locked in cages like animals.The soldiers who were sent to accompany me, were also captured. Just about thirty of them, the rest were killed.They took Lia to the cage where they kept women and took me to the cage, where they kept men.I wanted to scream at them to take me to where they keep women because I'm a woman but I decided against it.I sat in the cage, along with my remaining soldiers and other men."Your high... I mean Captain, I'm sorry we couldn't protect you," Jamie apologized, and I was glad he was still alive."It's okay, we just need to figure out to get out of this place.""But prin..., I mean Captain, that seems nearly impossible, this place is heavily guarded."Even so, we still have to get out of here."I looked around and saw that most o
ZARA'S POV We grabbed our weapons, fighting the men who were close by and before you know it there was chaos. Everyone was fighting one man or the other even the women had been released and some already fled running for their lives. By the time the fight was over, most of the men are women were dead including the bandits, some were dead, while some fled. There were just about a hundred and fifty men and like three hundred women. Even my soldiers were just a few now like seven men remaining. "Captain, someone called, and I turned around to see Jamie and Theon walking toward me. I was so happy that they were alive, and I ran towards them, hugging them. Jamie cleared his throat and I chuckled. " Where is Lia? I suddenly remembered. I twirled, looking around toward where the women were. Lia, I yelled. "Jamie, you have to find Lia." "Lia, is that your wife?" Theon asked and I could help but laugh. Y...yes, I shuttered. I wanted to tell him, that I was a woman, but I decided t
CARL'S POV What did she just say, she's the princess? "What did you say?" I asked to be sure "I am princess Zara of Azrael." "But you are a man," one of the council members blurted out and I glared at him. Is he so foolish that he can not see that the person in front of him was a woman? "I'm not," she muttered removing the boy's wig she was wearing, letting her long dark hair fall freely. How beautiful, I thought, letting out a breath of relief and the council members also did the same. Oh, I didn't they were also scared of having an ugly queen. "Then why is this woman dressed as the princess, and you're dressed as a man," Jerald asked. "I was embarking on a dangerous journey, so I needed to protect myself," she replied. That doesn't change the fact that she fooled me into thinking that the ugly woman was the princess. She could have easily changed when she got to Everton, but she choose to fool me, for that I would make her life miserable. ZARA'S POV When I entered Eve
ZARA'S POV Lia and I turned to see a cute Little boy who looked like Carl. He was so cute with chubby cheeks and I couldn't help but pulled them."Uhh, what a cute little kid," Lia said also pulling his cheek, and he pouted his mouth angrily."You lady's have no respect, how dare you pull the cheeks of a man," he muttered, making Lia and I laugh."What's your name, and how old are you?" I asked the kid with a smile."My name is Prince Aiden, and I'm five years old."It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Aiden," I said with a smile."The pleasure is mine," he replied raising his shoulder. He looks arrogant and adorable.What do you expect, he is the devil's brother."I heard you will be marrying my brother, does that mean, I'll be marrying that little lady with you?" Aiden muttered, pointing at Lia and I chuckled."Look here kid, I'm not Little, and I'm way older than you, so there is no way I'm marrying you," Lia muttered.""What's wrong, I'm handsome and hot, many girls are dying t
CATHERINE'S POVI purposely sent Zara to the king's room, because I knew he was with that witch Gwen. I really didn't like her. Carl was my son and I didn't want that woman to trap him.She may pretend in front of everyone but I knew she was a corning woman.I watched as Zara staggered into the room. She was drunk and it makes my plan even more perfect.I smiled when Zara walked into the room, I could just imagine the look on both Carl and Gwen's faces.I walked closer to eavesdrop on their conversation. "What are you doing?" Someone said from behind, making me jump in fear. I turned to see Aiden staring at me."You scared me," I said holding my chest."Mom are you eavesdropping on Carl," Aiden muttered with his eyebrow raised."Of course not," I replied, with an awkward smile.He looked at me suspiciously, before he walked away. For a five years old, he acts like an adult. I looked at the door one last time before walking away, I didn't want anyone else to catch me eavesdroppi
ZARA'S POV"Did you sleep well, Princess?" The arrogant jerk asked with a smirk, and I suppressed the urge to scoff.I put on the fakest smile anyone had ever seen, showing him my teeth."I slept well Carl," I Muttered, calling him by his name, and I saw his eyes turn dark. He didn't expect that I would call him by his name."How did you sleep, Carl?" I asked, emphasizing the Carl with a smirk."You should address me as your Majesty," he said angrily, and I scoff."But that's not your name is it," I questioned, trying to get on his nerves.He looked at me like he was going to kill me. I'm the one who is supposed to be angry after he kept me on the balcony. Stupid jerk, I just hate him."So, what if it's my name, you have no right to call me by my name," he muttered, walking closer to me.I looked at him, anger evident in his eyes, but I didn't back down, I met his gaze head-on. "Okay, your Majesty," I said in a mock tone. The way he was looking at me, if looks could kill, I'll be
ZARA'S POVAfter eating, I went straight to take my bath because I stinked. I sat in the bath, with my eyes closed, loving the feeling of the warm water on my skin, Lia also sat beside me helping me to bathe.Zara, Someone yelled and I opened my eyes to see Catherine. She walked towards me with an apologetic look, I guess she feel guilty for what her evil son did to me. "Zara, I'm sorry for how my son treated you, I can't believe that stupid son of mine would lock you up in a dungeon, I only got to know about it a while ago," Catherine said."It's okay, you don't have to apologize to me, it's not your fault."She smiled, patting my head then she walked away.I walked into the devil's room after my bath, to put on my clothes. It was a good thing that he was not in the room, because maybe apart from being evil and arrogant, he may also be a pervert.I thought about leaving the room to find another room for myself, but I changed my mind. I grinned evilly, as I thought about what
ZARA'S POVLia and I sneaked around in the palace like thieves. We hid behind pillars and furniture. But that was enough. I was sure that if we didn't leave the palace soon, Carl would find us."Princess I have an idea," Lia whispered."What idea?" I asked, also in a whisper."I think we should ask queen Catherine for help, even if she is Carl's mother, she likes you a lot and I'm sure if we ask her she would help," Lia said."But how are we going to go to queen Catherine's rooms, there are guards everywhere," I replied."You are right princess, I didn't think of that.""Ladies," a tiny voice said, startling me and Lia.We both twirled in the direction to see prince Aiden looking at us. "Aiden, what are you doing here," I questioned, and he rolled his little eyes."I'm a prince, and this is my palace, I could go wherever I want," he replied, and I realized my question was actually foolish."Now it's my turn to ask what you are doing sneaking around like thieves?" Aiden asked.