The Rogue Princess

Where Am I?

“Hhhmmmmmm… oh please don’t let me wake up from this dream,” as Maya snuggled deeper into the comfort of the fur blankets. She was enjoying the feeling of what she was thinking was a dream, one that she did not want to wake up. The scent wafting into her nostrils had a lavender essence; it tantalized her senses making her want to stay cooped up in that comfort.

“Oh great, you are awake”, a voice startled her.

She opened one of her eyes to peek at the voice that was disturbing her beauty sleep; she was not yet ready to go back to her hard, lumpy cot.

“Go away, stop disturbing me. I want to spend more time in this heavenly place, please go away,” she moaned snuggling deeper into the blankets.

“Your highness, it is time for breakfast and you will be sharing breakfast with His Majesty your grandfather,” the voice seemed agitated as it tried to get Maya out of bed.

“In real life I only have a grandmother and we take our meals from wherever. Please go away, I want to feel good a bit longer. I promise to take lunch with your his majesty later,” she adamantly refused to let go of the comfort of the bed she was in.

The door opened and a clanging sound of shoes as the owner walked towards the bed were heard.

“Natalia, why is her highness the princess not up yet?” the owner of the noisy shoes asked. Maya pulled a pillow and covered her ears in an attempt to drown the noises that were threatening to wake her from her beautiful dream. It was yanked from her hands as the voice of the noisy shoes screeched in her ears,

“Your highness, you cannot keep his majesty waiting. You need to wake up this moment.”

Maya opened her eyes and was met with green ones staring directly at her.

“Oh my goodness, you look just like her,” the green-eyed woman exclaimed as she covered her mouth in surprise. She had a neatly combed grey hair that was bound in a bun at the back, her face was wrinkled, but she looked beautiful and sophisticated. She wore a shawl made with purple fabric and silver silky cords that ran through the wefts making it look so elegant.

“Who are you,” Maya croaked her voice hoarse.

“My name is Greta your nanny and your mother’s nanny before that. This here is Natalia, your maid,” she said her eyes looking at Maya adoringly.

Maya scoffed and after a moment, something seemed to click in her sleep-muddled mind. She panicked jumping from bed to stand right next to Natalia who was wringing her hands nervously. The attack from the previous day popped in her mind, she grabbed the night lamp that was beside the bed and started brandishing it to the two women who were too shocked to utter a word.

“Who are you, am asking nicely…I will not be so nice if you don’t tell me this instant who you are and what you are doing here,” she said brandishing the lamp shade.

“Calm down my lady …” Greta said trying to placate her.

“My lady? Humph, do not dare try to play games with me. My name is Maya Darcy Benneton and am nobody’s lady. So for the last time, who are you?” pointing the weapon at Greta she jumped onto the bed moving to the other side. She used her free arm to peek outside but she suddenly jumped back to where Greta and Natalia were curiously watching her as if she was crazy.

Her earlier threats had been forgotten when she met with the beast that had been standing guard just outside her room’s window. The beast had been roused by Maya’s scream of surprise and had now moved its huge head to position its eye directly at the window where it could see her.

“What is that thing?” she asked as she kept screaming too scared by the growls coming from the beast. Her earlier threats forgotten she went straight to Greta’s arms trying to find safety from the beast.

“Hush child, Mizpah here has taken to you. He has not left your sight since he brought you home,” Greta soothed her as she tried to calm her down.

“What! This thing brought me here?” Maya could not see herself near that beast and she made it clear to the women.

Mizpah let out a loud growl causing Maya to rush out of the room screaming at the top of her voice. Everyone she met with on the corridors covered their eyes causing her to panic even more because she thought the beast was behind her and was just about to swallow her whole.

She was just about to turn a corner when she felt someone grab her hand pulling her in the opposite direction. She did not remove her hand from this person who was holding her hand and running with her towards what looked like the kitchen. When they reached the kitchen they did not stop there but continued on to what looked like an adjacent room connected to the pantry.

“Here, cover yourself with this,” the most amazing, deep, husky voice spoke to her. She was about to refuse but when their eyes met she forgot everything she was about to say. She was looking at the most beautiful mismatched eyes she had ever seen, one was grey and the other one was a deep blue. They seemed to pull her in, making her have a feeling of home coming.

“Thank you,” she said shyly.

It was the first time in her life that she felt shy in the presence of a man and this young, handsome man with platinum hair that almost looked white made her want to hide her eyes. Her heart was not helping either, it was thumping loudly making her want to hide from embarrassment. Her stomach was a carnival of butterflies and her knees felt weak.

“Why are you causing such a ruckus and running around half naked,” he asked with a smile.

Maya looked at herself, she was not aware of the state of her clothing but she did not feel anything was wrong with the way she was dressed.

“Get out of your filthy head and use your eyes properly. Can’t you see I am dressed?” she asked incredulous that this man would even dare accuse her of being half-naked.

“ha-ha-ha-ha, you call that dressing?” he laughed so loudly that it irked Maya.

Before he could laugh at her any more she hit his shins catching him by surprise. He fell back on his behind his laughter cut short to be replaced by a look of utter bewilderment. It was unheard of in the kingdom of Grundolf of a lady, especially a princess to engage in violence. Before he could recollect his thoughts, Maya left hurriedly not knowing where she was going.

When she got to the kitchen, she stopped abruptly when she met with a dozen pairs of eyes all staring at her as if she had two heads. She was about to say something to stop them from staring but before she could utter a word, Greta came in running. Maya was amazed, she expected Greta to be out of breath because of her age, but she did not seem to break a sweat. Natalia came in after her bumping into Greta and pushing her forth to almost bump with Maya.

“Forgive my clumsiness,” she apologized.

Greta paid her no mind all her attention on Maya, she sighed with relief when she saw her with a cloak. She had been worried that her virtue would be tainted by running off half-naked through the palace where the knights and guards roamed the corridors.

“Child, please come with me. It is not safe for you to be seen in this state my lady,” she spoke to maya as if she were speaking to a child, afraid of how she would react. She understood that it would take her time to get used to the life in the palace, it was a pity that she had to grow up in such dire circumstances. The thought of her beloved princess living in the streets like a street urchin was not a thought she was finding easy to reconcile with but now that she was here, she promised herself to make sure she had the best life.

“Safe? Where am I safe in this weird place that has beasts staring at you as you sleep/ huh, tell me,” she exclaimed.

“Your highness, please pardon me. Mizpah has taken a liking to you and he has identified you as his mistress,” Greta tried to make her understand.

“What? Me? Why, does it want to make a meal out me?” she asked her eyes wide with wonder.

Greta could not help but smile, despite the fact that she had been gone for seventeen years she was as feisty as Celeste was when she was at the same age as Maya.

“What’s wrong with you? What is there to smile about, I want to go back home to my Nona,” she declared finally feeling fed up with all the drama.

“What are you talking about child, let’s go to your room,” Greta took her by the hand and led her towards the room she had run away from.

Maya had no option but to follow, she was curious to know where she was and why she was brought here. She seemed to remember a certain old man with flowing white beard but the memory would immediately disappear. She looked behind her to see Natalia following behind them suddenly remembering her asking her to wake up to have breakfast with a certain man.

“You! Whats your name? Natasha?” she asked.

Natalia curtsied and said, “Natalia, my name is Natalia your highness.”

“Why do you keep calling me highness, do I look high to you?”

Greta was nervously looking at a certain door while trying to pull Maya towards her room but she was resisting waiting for an answer from Natalia.

“Please child, let’s go back to your room where you can speak freely, it is not right for you to be seen by his highness while you are not yet decent,” she pleaded with her. Maya looked at Greta; her eyes seemed to be genuinely worried. One thing she was good at and something that had helped her survive living in the streets was her ability to read people. She could feel genuine care and love coming from Greta while Natalia was exhibiting total devotion towards her. This allowed her to relax a bit; she would take her time to understand where she was so that she could make her escape. She only hoped that she would not encounter the beast that was peeping at her from the window.

When they got to her room, they found two more girls who were making her bed. When they saw them, they stopped what they were doing and curtsied.

“Good morning your highness, welcome back home,” they said in unison.

“This is Clara and this right here is Kira, they are your ladies in service. If you need anything just ring the bell on your bedside table and they will be here to serve you in any way you wish,” Greta told Maya.

“serve me, I'm not one of those useless high ladies that cannot do things for themselves. Count me out,” she scoffed.

“But child, as a princess this is the kind of life you are entitled to,” Greta tried to reason with Maya.

Maya thought this was just part of her dream and that she would wake up any time to find herself in her old lumpy cot and tattered blankets. Her Nona would be lying in her cot at the corner and she would wake her up to go scrounge for something to eat for breakfast. She pinched her arm and jumped.

“Ouch!”

This dream was so real, she couldn’t wait to share with her Nona how she had dreamt of being a princess who was waited on hand and foot by beautiful ladies.

“Please my lady, your bath is ready,” Natalia spoke too soon, she was still trying to make sense of her dream.

Greta removed the cloak she had been given by the handsome young man with mismatched eyes. She reached the back and undid the fasteners that held the night gown she was wearing together making it fall at her feet. Maya screamed in fright and embarrassment, nobody apart from her Nona had ever seen her naked and now here they were, five of them and they were undressing her like it was a very normal thing to do.

She screeched and bent to reach for the gown pulling it back up to hide her nakedness. Greta was about to say something to her but Maya held up her free hand while the other held on to the nightgown.

“I am not about to parade naked in front of the whole city, let me be. I can take good care of myself,” she insisted.

“My princess, I do not doubt your ability to take care of your needs but it is our duty as your loyal subjects to see to your needs,” Greta tried to reason with her.

“Wait, does that mean you want to bathe me?” she asked incredulous that they would even think of such a thing but she was further shocked when Greta answered in the affirmative.

After arguing with her ladies in waiting for quite some time she finally agreed to bathe herself with the agreement that she would allow them to dress her and make her hair. When she was having her make-up applied, a knock was heard on the door and a lady wearing an elegant burgundy gown walked in.

“I see that the ugly duckling has finally turned into a beautiful princess,” she exclaimed.

Maya was about to make a rude comeback but the squeeze on her shoulder by Greta caused her to pause and keep to herself what she was about to say.

“Ah, it does not talk. Grandfather has sent me to fetch her this instant and he is not willing to be kept waiting,” she said to no one in particular and left in a huff.

“Who is that?” Maya asked Greta but she shook her head and said, “she is trouble”

After they finished preparing her, Maya looked at herself in the floor length mirror and exclaimed.

“Is that me? Oh wow, I look duper” as she twirled around loving how she looked.

The ladies in waiting exchanged glances with each other smiling discreetly; they already liked their long lost princess. Greta took her by the hand and led her out of the door towards the southern part of the palace where his majesty the Emperor and Alpha king of Grundolf was waiting to have breakfast with Maya.

When they arrived two knights stood at the doors with their spears blocking entry but when they saw Maya and Greta they removed the spears granting them entry in to the banquet hall.

Once inside the first thing Maya saw was a large dining table that seemed to go on forever, all kinds of delicacies on display and just about when she was about to reach the table, her eyes locked with the eyes of the man who attacked her and her grandmother Rita.