The Rogue Princess

Bonded

“Oh what a big cutie you are!” Maya exclaimed.

She found Mizpah to be such a sweet and adorable creature and could not understand why Greta would think she would be afraid of him. When he growled earlier, her sadness was forgotten to be replaced by a sudden feeling of comfort, and security beside Mizpah. It felt as though she had found a long lost friend, which was weird because she had only just met Mizpah. All her life she had wanted to own a pet but they were too poor to afford one. Maya had to make do with the city’s stray cats and dogs but they too never stayed permanently as either they were captured by animal control, killed in freak accidents or they simply disappeared.

“He likes you,” Zander said the excitement in his voice apparent.

“He had me at hello,” Maya giggled as she continued to scratch the back of Mizpah’s big ears. Mizpah was growling and purring at intervals obviously enamored by the attention he was getting from Maya.

Greta stood at the corner, wanting to be as unobtrusive as possible as the girl and her beast bonded. She was anxious to witness how the real bonding would take place. She had read in a book she found by chance at the library, that only very powerful beings that reincarnated on earth could form a bond with a familiar animal. They shared emotions and so one would be aware when the other was sad, afraid, angry, happy, and even confused. The moment they met, they both recognized each other instantly forming an unbreakable bond through acceptance.

When Maya first saw Mizpah, she was afraid of him because her magic had been suppressed for so long making her an ordinary human. Only the person who had performed the spell could break it without causing any harm on the individual whose power was either erratic or suppressed. It had felt like a rejection when Maya had run from Mizpah and if she continued doing this, they both; beast and master/mistress had only three days to live.

The pain felt by the beast amplified threefold because Maya had no way of recognizing her familiar. Only on the third day would she have felt a dull throbbing pain all over her body, it would intensify to a point where it would render her unconscious. The beast would fall unconscious at the same time as its master and both would die before sundown. This would upset the world balance causing chaos to erupt all over the seven realms and the chaos would last for a thousand years. Animal familiars had the responsibility and obligation to hasten the bond with their masters in cases such as when the master was not aware of who they were.

It was a dangerous undertaking as it was crucial and the side effects were mostly more than the gains but in Maya’s case, only a mild repercussion was apparent. The loss of her immediate memory could be a blessing in disguise as it might be what she needed to get out of the challenge with her grandfather. Greta was thinking it and so was Zander, they were afraid that Casper had ulterior motives that were pushing him to accept the challenge yet he of all people knew that Maya was unaware of their ways. Zander wanted to beg Maya not to accept the challenge but he did not know the words he would use to convince her. He felt completely lost, how would he tell her that she was supposed to be fighting to the death with her own grandfather while she knew nothing of who she was, or even why she was here.

“Can I walk him out in the open space? This place feels too restricted for him,” she asked looking at Zander and then at Greta not too sure who to ask.

“Of course princess, he is yours to do with as you wish,” Zander said to her.

“Really?” with that she rushed from Mizpah’s side to hug Zander who was too surprised to respond. When she kissed his cheek in gratitude, he felt the world come to a sudden stop and nothing else existed except the feeling of being kissed by Maya.

“To earth sport,” Greta was trying to get his attention, clicking her two fingers in front of his face.

“What?”

“Come back to earth and follow that girl.”

He was brought back to the present but the warmth in his belly would not dissipate causing his heart to lurch with excitement. He had no time to ponder on his feelings; Mizpah and the girl had already left and were just about to leave the palace grounds. It would not be safe for her especially now that word had gotten out that she had challenged their emperor and alpha king. To some this was like an insult to a large number of pack members who were loyal to the emperor and they would not hesitate to attack or even worse kill her for disregarding their way of life. There were those that would have liked to see the end of the emperor’s reign of terror but remained quiet and loyal despite their political stand.

Maya was walking with Mizpah by her side, those that saw her scurried away scared of the beast that was beside her. Mizpah was feared in Grundolf since he was only tolerant of two people; the Emperor and Zander. When they saw her walking with Mizpah wearing a huge smile, those that were pissed off by her challenge to their emperor and alpha king felt a bit intimidated, as it was not usual to see a woman near the beast. Some changed their stand against her but a big number was holding on to their resentment. Her resemblance to her mother Celestine warmed many hearts and gained her supporters, as they all knew of her gentle and kind spirit. They were hopeful that her daughter was the same even though she had not grown up in Grundolf and was ignorant of their ways.

The emperor reigned with a strong and sometimes merciless heart; he was feared all over Grundolf. In more than five centuries no one had dared to challenge his reign, the news of Maya – a mere human girl – challenging the emperor had brought mixed feelings especially to his army. It was unbelievable as it was undo able and most were hoping to witness the challenge in two weeks’ time. Others were already hopeful of a change in reign and were anxious to see the end of Casper Adolfo the great. To them Maya was a symbol of hope and changing times.

This lot filled the streets of Grundolf to witness the beast tamer; as they had nicknamed her. They rushed to the streets but kept a safe distance fearing the beast. Nobody dared to shout but there were whispers of awe all around as they watched beast and mistress strut along the streets as though they belonged together. Behind them was Zander who looked on the duo with a certain kind of satisfaction that only came from knowing that finally everything had fallen in place. He followed behind keen on keeping the girl safe from any sudden attacks that were due to happen especially when there were tensions in the kingdom.

His eyes darted from one corner to the other to check the perimeter and when he was assured, he strutted along trying to catch up with Maya and the beast. As if to give the audience a spectacle, Mizpah suddenly stopped and nudged Maya towards his back.

“Oh, you want to give me a ride?” she asked excited to be riding on the back of the beast. This would give her an aerial kind of view and she was feeling a bit dwarfed by Mizpah’s size. It was as if the beast had sensed her apprehension and now it was kind of kneeling to give her easy access to its back. She was just about to voice her concerns over how she was expected to get on the beast’s back when Zander spoke.

“Ask him to hoist you up, he will,”

Maya looked at him as if he had suddenly grown an extra head.

“Trust me, he will,” Zander insisted.

She was standing there by Mizpah’s side contemplating whether to believe Zander’s madness and look like a fool or try it and learn a new thing about her newfound friend when sudden gust of wind came from nowhere and started to lift her off the ground. She squeaked, surprised to be elevated above ground, but was amazed to realize that she was not alarmed or afraid. She was completely at ease and in seconds, she was sitting on Mizpah’s back. She looked down and saw Zander looking at her with an “I told you so” look. Soon after, he too was hoisted atop Mizpah to sit behind Maya.

“Mizpah I presume?” Maya asked him.

“There are many things you are yet to learn about Mizpah and yourself. Just look around, it is very unusual for him to take to anyone. The only people that he allowed near were the emperor and I.”

Maya was seeing many people lining the streets but did not understand what they had to do with her and Mizpah. She looked behind to ask Zander the meaning of the spectacle of people thronging the streets but as if he could read her mind, he spoke.

“They are shocked to see you getting along so well with him that they are now calling you a beast tamer and a goddess reincarnation.”

“what?”

“there is a legendary myth that talks of the moon goddess walking the earth in human form. She had a fierce beast just like Mizpah by her side and only her mate could come near the beast. It killed anyone that dared come close to the goddess with ill intention and scared her enemies away. To date there has never been an empress to sit on the throne of Grundolf and most people here are hoping you will be the next ruler of Grundolf.”

“Well, that is such a beautiful tale but it does not apply to real life. In a fantasy story it would make such a great reading.”

“The people on the streets say otherwise,” he scoffed.

“Look, I don’t really know what you are trying to say but one thing I’d like to emphasize; I’m not a princess, a reincarnated goddess or whatever thing your mind comes up with.”

She turned to look to the front to focus on enjoying her ride on Mizpah.

Behind her Zander was feeling frustrated by her lack of interest in her title and knowledge about her own family heritage. Had it not been for their bonding with Mizpah, he would have been the first one to reject that she was the long lost princess. He sighed and focused on finding a way to make her accept training in preparation for their challenge. He was afraid for her; she was nowhere near to be involved in a fight to the death with a seasoned and cunning warrior such as the emperor. She was surely bound to lose and he was not ready to lose her at any cost.

“Okay fine, fine, I give up. Will you at least agree to train with me in hand combat every morning?”

Maya’s head whipped back to look at Zander so fast that he was surprised the action did not sprain her neck.

“What? Training, like muscle training, defense, and the likes?” she asked enthusiastically.

“Y..yes,” Zander replied apprehensively.

“Really?” she asked her face beaming with a smile Zander found infectious.

“Yes, if you want we can start this evening,” he declared out of the blues.

“I believe you have earned yourself forgiveness for calling me princess, I’ll even allow you to call me queen if you’ll train with me,” she declared her posture regal as she sat up straight on the back of Mizpah.

Zander could not help but laugh at the sudden change in her but his laugh was cut short when up ahead on their trail stood the emperor and his minion, Jared.