The Rogue Princess

At The Breakfast Table

Casper’s patience was running thin as he waited for Kharisi, it seemed she was having a difficult time adjusting to her new home. In the meantime, he was talking in low tones with the unexpected guest who had arrived at the palace very early this morning. The news of Kharisi, the long lost daughter and royal princess of Grundolf kingdom was spreading fast. The rest of those that sat at the table were silent. They were waiting for the princess to join them at the table. None of them had the guts to speak against her insolence with Casper present for fear of losing favor with the emperor.

The impromptu guest at the table was also someone who brought terror wherever he went and it was obvious he was not in a good mood this morning. His red eyes seemed to bore holes to anyone who dared look at him and the aura that surrounded him was nothing short of frightening. The moment the doors opened, everyone at the table turned to look at the incoming princess. She strutted in just like a commoner her eyes on the delicacies laid on the table.

Capser cleared his throat loudly, which caused Maya to avert her gaze from the delicious food on the table to look at the person who had made the sound.

“Hhuh, you?” she said picking the first thing that she lay her hands on and throwing it towards the man who had attacked and kidnapped her.

Gasps could be heard all round the table, they could not believe the nerves of this unrefined girl, how could she hit the emperor, it was paramount to treason and it was punishable by death.

“Where is my grandmother, what did you do with her you moron!” she shouted as she tried running towards Casper. She never made it halfway; two strong hands were holding her by the arms restraining her from moving.

The woman from earlier who had come to fetch her scoffed loudly and said, “How typical, she can never be Kharisi. This is a wildcat that needs to be treated as such.”

All this while, Maya was screaming obscenities, accusing Casper of killing her grandmother and kidnapping her. The people at the table were looking at her with shocked gazes while Greta who was behind her was wringing her hands clearly agitated by the incident.

“Let go of her,” Casper ordered the guards that were restraining her.

When Maya was free she rushed towards Casper kicking him with her hands and legs wherever she could, suddenly her hands were trapped in a strong grip.

“Calm down child, you are making a spectacle of yourself,” his deep voice that held so much authority seemed to reach to Maya. She stopped struggling and kicking but cried loudly, asking for her grandmother. She was begging and pleading to be taken to her when told her that if she calmed down she would be allowed to see her.

She had no choice but to pretend she was calm, if that was what it took to see her Nona. Inside she was feeling a boiling rage, something dark was rumbling in her soul when she remembered the battle between this old wizard before her and her grandmother. Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest, the more she remembered the more her rage grew. She could feel it in her veins; it traveled all the way to every part of her. All she wanted was to squeeze the life out of the old man, how could he lay a hand on her grandmother.

All this while Maya was oblivious of the shocked gazes directed at her, Casper seemed to be struggling to breathe. On his hand, he had conjured a ball of light ready to attack Maya but something stronger was blocking and sucking the magic out of him. The ball of light started to dwindle in size and flicker, his face also contorted as though he was in intense pain. Greta behind her was screaming her name but did not dare to come near her.

Jared came rushing towards Maya with all intent of distracting her focus and disrupting the flow of magic that was slowly choking his master. When he came within a foot of her, an invisible force threw him from her to the opposite side of the room. Everyone in the room was in panic not knowing what to do; Maya’s face contorted in pain, her eyes had turned from azure blue to white.

“Maya, please my girl… you need to let go of your anger,” Greta pleaded in a bid to bring her back to her senses but she was too far gone to hear Greta’s pleas.

The doors opened and in came the young man who had given Maya his cloak earlier. One look at her and he started moving towards her, but the force around her was too strong. He was determined to reach her; he kept pushing his way towards where she was, the magical force surrounding her was too strong that it tore his coat from him. He did not give up, it was hurting him, but he kept pushing until finally he got to her. He held her by the waist from behind, he was whispering to her, pleading with her to come back.

After a while, she seemed to calm down, releasing Casper from the invisible grip that was choking him, and he fell gasping for air. The two guards, who had been holding Maya earlier rushed to the emperor, picked him by his arms and rushed him out of the dining hall. Everybody else that was in the room also started walking out hurriedly except Greta and Zander the young man who was still holding on to Maya.

She lost her consciousness; Zander scooped her up in his arms and looked towards Greta seeming to ask the direction of her room. She did not answer but walked out; Zander followed carrying Maya in his arms. A deadly silence could be felt all over the palace, nobody lay a hand on the emperor and lived to tell the story but here she was, a mere street urchin had subdued the emperor in broad daylight. Those that had been present took this as a challenge for the throne, nobody knew if the girl was really their long lost princess. If she was the one, had she just issued a challenge to the emperor and alpha king for his throne?

Whispers and murmurs could be heard all over the palace and soon just like a wildfire news of the uncouth, human girl who issued a challenge to their emperor spread. No one dared to talk aloud about the fact that the emperor, had been challenged and subdued by a mere human girl. They were all afraid of what was to come next, would he take up the challenge. The common people living in Grundolf did not know Maya’s arrival, her return was known only by a few who were close to the Alpha king and his daughter. It had not been common knowledge to the people and when news of the challenge spread, it roused the anxiety and fear of most Grundolfians.

*Guest’s POV*

Today was the day that I will finally meet my future bride, I have waited for seventeen years but now my patience is about to pay off. A pigeon had arrived last evening from my spy in the Grundolf kingdom, the old wizard had finally held his end of the bargain by finding her. Had I not threatened war, the old geezer would still be comfortably sitting on his throne. I helped him get where he was and he owed me but as years go by he seems to have forgotten the person who made it possible to sit on the throne of Grundolf, the most powerful and most coveted throne in all the seven realms.

“You didn’t need to come all the way to Grundolf, I had promised to bring her to you,” Casper whispered to Chadron the vampire king.

“I wanted to see for myself if what I heard was true, I also had to prove that you had kept your word. You are aware that had you failed this time, I’d would have obliterated you and your kingdom to ashes,” Chadron whispered back, an evil and triumphant smirk plastered all over his face.

“I cannot allow you to take her away for now, it’d be prudent to let her stay here and learn the ways of Grundolf while I try and get into her head to see how much she knows,” Casper was almost pleading with him.

“I can easily do that old man, why would I allow your filthy hands to taint my pure angel,” he said as his fangs involuntarily descended at the mere thought of sucking Maya’s innocent and pure blood.

Casper was about to say something to the Vampire king when the doors to the dining hall suddenly opened and in walked that old maid Greta followed by the girl. Chadron’s dead heart skipped a beat when he beheld the beauty that was before him, the girl’s pure innocence was calling out to him begging to be tainted by his touch and only his touch. His admiration was abruptly interrupted by her sudden outburst when she saw and recognized Casper.

The apple whooshed past Chadron’s ear as it sped towards Casper, he admired just how feisty she was.

“Oh how I’m going to enjoy taming this little wildcat,” Chadron dreamily mused as he watched her.

“Where is my grandmother, what did you do to her you moron,” she was rushing towards Casper but the two jerks held her. Chadron’s rage was immediately spooked as he watched the two guards mishandle his delicate wildcat. He was about to rush to where they were and break their necks but Damon his second-in-command held him by the elbow.

“Sire, please not now I …,” Damon did not finish his sentence as the atmosphere immediately changed and they started to feel heat on their flesh.

Eyes wide with realization Chadron had grabbed Damon’s hand as he rushed from the room to put as much distance between him and the girl. He did not know that she possessed such kind of magic that could obliterate the power of the sun-rings that helped vampires walk in daylight. The magic she had just used could nullify the power in the ring and turn the atmosphere into sunlight regardless of whether they were indoors or outside.

“Damon, we have a problem,” he told his second in command and childhood friend thoughtfully.

“Yes sire, what are we going to do about this, we cannot dare to be careless around her. She has the power to obliterate our existence from this plane completely,” Damon said as he stared at his master.

“Do you think anyone noticed?” he asked his friend, his eyes wearing a faraway look that spelled defeat. Nobody ever defeated Chadron but here she was, a tiny little human who he had been obsessed with for years had just turned him and the old geezer, the two most powerful beings in the supernatural realm to nothing.

“I do not think so sire, they were too shocked by the turn of events to even notice our abrupt departure. Everyone had been focused on the old wizard,” Damon replied to him.

“I bet he will be accepting the challenge from her to try and save face. We have to do something to make sure this does not happen, the old fool might just take advantage of the girl’s ignorance of her identity to finish her and secure his throne,” he said as he straightened his tie.

“Sire if I may speak,” Damon said avoiding Chadron’s gaze.

“What is it?”

“Would it not be better, now that we have witnessed just how much power that girl has to let things run their cause,” Damon suggested thinking only of his King’s and master’s well being.

“If I didn’t know you and your intentions, you would not have a head on your shoulders at this moment,” said Chadron as he summoned his pigeon to send word to his spy within Grundolf palace.

“Forgive my insolence sire, I was only looking out for you,” he bent on one knee before his master.

“Come, let’s secure the safety of my beloved,” he disappeared towards the direction leading towards the border of Grundolf.

in Casper’s quarters*

“What in Azoth’s name happened in there Jared?”

Casper asked walking from one end of the room to the other. How could a mere, untrained human girl reduce him to a weak old man? In the face of her magic, he had felt insignificant, weak, and so irrelevant. He continued to pace the floor, scratching his long beard as he tried to think of his next step.

“Sire, if I may speak?” Jared knelt before his king his head bowed in respect and devotion towards his Alpha king.

His majesty the emperor continued to pace oblivious of Jared’s plea. He was worried of rebellion from the packs under his reign as Emperor and Alpha king. If word got across that he had been subdued by a mere human girl, the position he had worked so hard for years to establish would become naught.

He could not allow a stupid incident to disrupt that but he was at a crossroads, on one hand he had to accept the challenge she had initiated unknowingly to save face and on the other hand he could not risk to be seen as a villain who challenged his own granddaughter.

His anger increased as he thought more about Maya.

“Jared, can you find out how much damage she has caused and see if we can control the spread of what happened today. Make sure to inform every member of the pack to be present at the arena two days from now.”

Jared’s mouth twisted in an upward smirk when he heard his king’s words, it was as if he could tell what he had in mind even before he spoke. Just as he was about to rise from where he was making obeisance to his king, the door opened and in came strolling the devil himself, his minion trailing behind him.

Chadron took one look at Casper and chuckled, “well well well, this is a sight to behold. A powerful emperor and Alpha king reduced to pacing the floor in distress. Remind me to reward my angel handsomely, she should do this more often.” He laughed an evil laugh that got on Casper’s nerves.

“I may have been weakened but rest assured this will be the first and last time she does that. I plan on teaching her a good lesson, one she will not forget any time soon,” he threatened, trying to appear unaffected by the event that had occurred.

“What are you planning old geezer, you can rest assured that challenges will start arriving left and right from this moment henceforth. I hate to be in your shoes,” Chadron replied smugly, unaffected by his ally’s distress. He walked over to the drink cabinet and poured two glasses of whisky, one for himself and the other he handed to Casper.

“I have a plan that will stall all the other challenges that may arise, I will accept Kharisi’s challenge and will be fighting for the throne in two days’ time,” he replied his eyes bearing a faraway look that made him look a century older in just a few hours of meeting the cursed child.

“At this point, I guess it would be too late to ask you to bail out of the challenge. I still need you on the throne so that you can secure my interests,” he said making quote marks in the air. Chadron needed Casper to be able to woo Maya; soon he would be drinking the heavenly nectar of an angel straight from her porcelain silky skin. Just the thought of him sucking Maya’s blood from her neck gave him a boner, his fangs descended of their own volition.

Casper chuckled, “that bad, huh?”

Chadron willed his fangs to recede but it took him more than usual, he really felt too attracted to Maya’s pure, untainted blood that it felt like he could suck all the humans on the planet and still never feel any satisfaction as a drop of her blood would satisfy the hunger he felt every time he thought of her.

“Mind your business warlock, I’ll have her when she is ripe and ready and for that to happen you need to make sure that not even a scratch touches her skin,” Chadron drawled threatening Casper with his cold gaze.

“How am I supposed to make that happen seeing as I will be fighting her in two days’ time?” his smooth voice would have been mistaken for humility but it was laced with sarcasm.

“Not a scratch old geezer, not a scratch.”

Chadron walked out in a blur and disappeared into the vicinity.

Casper’s face contorted with anger; he kicked the table before him toppling all the contents on it to the floor. He took a figurine of a wolf and threw it against the wall smashing it into smithereens. His frustration with the situation at hand was causing him to lose his self-control. He morphed into his wolf and smashed through the window. He ran to the forest behind the castle howling out his frustration. Wolves all over the pack felt the distress their alpha king was experiencing and started to howl loudly in answer to his frustrated ones.

Jared his faithful servant, guard, confidante and subject followed his master’s tracks carrying a change of clothes for when he came back from his venting run. They needed another plan immediately; he should have killed the girl when he had the chance.