The Rogue Princess

Empress Challenge!

“No wait...” Maya woke trying to prolong the moment with her mother.

The thought of having one sounded foreign to her ears as she knew and was used to the fact that her mother was dead and nothing could be done to bring her back. Coming to this place caused her to long for stuff she could not have but could only hope of corner having one day. Greta was hugging her and crying at the same time, making her feel uncomfortable. She never liked anybody to come too close to her especially if they were not friends. She tried extricating herself from Greta but the woman was too emotional to realize she was making her uncomfortable.

At the foot of the bed she saw movement from the corner of her eye, something in her made her heart skip a beat and then start thrumming threatening to jump out of her chest. What was he doing here, she was sure he was there to reprimand her for running around earlier half-naked in the hallway of the palace. Her hands became sweaty in a moment, he had moved towards the head of the bed giving her a better view of his handsome features. When their eyes met, she was captured by the intensity of emotions swirling around and giving her a sneak peek of his soul. It was calling out to her, inviting her to explore the magnetism that pulled her to him. It felt as though there was a being inside of him that called out to her, making its presence known.

His gaze seemed to bare her soul open, reading every hidden emotion, thought and desire locked safely within her. She panicked that, he would see her deepest desires and blurt out a question directed at Greta, in a bid to ignore his presence.

“What is he doing here?”

“He is the one that carried you here,” said Greta while smiling.

Her eyes popped wide open when she heard that, she was embarrassed at him seeing her in her vulnerable state.

“Great, now he will think I am weak as well as crazy and stupid,” Maya thought to herself.

Maya was busy thinking about the situation that she missed Zander and Greta’s exchange of non-verbal communication. There was a silent battle happening between the two that she missed and would never know of. Both were determined to protect her as much as possible from information overload as well as emotional turmoil that she was destined to go through because of who she was. Greta was already acting like a mother hen while Zander had clearly marked his territory even though he had no idea he did.

“Forgive me princess, I did not mean to make you feel any discomfort and if I have in any way caused you any form of distress, I beg your pardon,” he said and then bowed from the shoulders upwards.

“I am Maya, do not call me princess,” she said with a pout that Zander thought was cute. He smiled at that but Maya thought he was making fun of her. She grabbed the candlestick that was on her bedside table and threw it at him but zander ducked causing it to hit the other side of the wall. Greta was about to reprimand her when the door opened and in walked Jared, Casper’s guardian. He did not knock on the door and Greta did not hesitate to let him know it was rude and improper but Jared was determined to disrespect Maya.

“I have a message for the girl, since she saw it fit to challenge the emperor; the challenge has been set for fourteen days from now,” he said as he stood stiffly looking at Maya with disdain.

When zander heard what Jared said, he rushed to where he was standing and was just about to take hold of him by the lapels when Jared used immobilizing magic to trap him where he stood with his arm outstretched.

“Easy punk, you are no match for me,” immediately ignoring zander who was trying to say something to him.

“As I was saying, fourteen days from now there will be a challenge taking place at the northern arena between Casper the emperor and alpha king and his alleged granddaughter who had the guts to issue a challenge,” he said with a smug look.

“You cannot do that, she is just but a kid who did not know what she was doing,” Greta tried reasoning with him but he instead laughed aloud and turned towards her.

“Do not pretend not to know our ways; you were right there with her when she decided to challenge the emperor. However, the king is a just man; he is willing to allow her to train before the fourteen days elapse. Then they will be fighting on an equal ground.”

“Equal you say? How is any of this equal?” she asked hoping to get more out of him so that she can find a way to convince him to talk to the emperor so he could stop the challenge.

“Listen here Greta, you do not need to go to extra length to find ways to stop this challenge, word has already spread that a human has issued a challenge against the alpha king. Reports of unrest have been coming in and more than six challenges have been issued against the emperor presently because they think he is too weak if he could be challenged by a mere human girl with erratic magic.”

“But she is his granddaughter!” Greta exclaimed.

“Then you have nothing to worry about because if she really is his granddaughter, she will come out of the challenge even if it will be just barely on death’s door,” he said.

Greta was about to say something when Jared lifted his hand up to signal her to keep quiet.

“I’m done here, make preparations for her training,” he said and then waved his hand towards Zander releasing him from the hold he held him in. All this time Maya had been a quiet spectator but as soon as Jared left she found her voice and started speaking.

“What was that about?” Maya asked not understanding what had just transpired in the room. Her eyes had been on Zander the whole time he had been rendered motionless by Jared, she wondered how come almost every person she met since the day of her kidnapping, had magic. Probably she was still dreaming - and would wake up to find her Nona Rita - still sleeping at her corner, drooling and snoring.

“Oh child, what do you remember from your breakfast?” Greta asked.

“What breakfast?” Maya seemed to have no idea what Greta was asking her about.

“What do you remember since your arrival to Grundolf?” Zander asked.

Maya looked from one to the other, wondering why they were asking her what she remembered. The only thing she could remember was a white haired man trying to kill her and her grandmother. He had thrown a bluish light at her that carried her from where she was standing to … she could not remember anything from that moment till to just before she woke up.

“I remember an old man with a long white beard hurting my grandmother,” she solemnly said, her heart heavy with the thought of her Nona dead or hurt.

“What else?” Zander asked loudly, he could not believe they would wipe her memory and then issue a challenge.

“uum … uuu .. Mm…ah... I ah, I remember something but it is not from when Nona was fighting with the old man. It is a dream that seemed so real and I’m not sure I understand what it was,” she said while fidgeting with the hem of her bedspread, too nervous to look at Zander or Greta. She was afraid they would taunt her for being foolish.

“What is it,” both asked too curiously at the same time.

“I was with this beautiful woman, who looked elegantly dressed in a maroon silk gown, platinum hair falling over one shoulder in a braid. She was in a room that looked almost the same as this one but it was much bigger and more sophisticated,” she paused to look at them to see what their reaction to this revelation. Instead of the bored, all-knowing expressions she was expecting, she found that they were really acting interested in what she was saying.

“Go on child,” Greta coaxed Maya to continue.

“SHESAIDSHEWASMYMOTHER!” Maya said in one breath, her eyes closed.

Maya opened her eyes to look at Greta only to find her shocked beyond words, her mouth hanging open, and her hands trying to cover her shock. Zander was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face but something told Maya he was shocked to hear her say she remembers seeing her mother in a dream.

“Child, who taught you to travel to the dreamscape,” Greta asked obviously agitated by something.

“What are you talking about? What is a dreamsc..dreamsco..ah, that thing you just said?”

“What did you two talk about?” she avoided Maya’s question by asking her one.

“Well, nothing much and I’m not willing to share until I know I can fully trust you people?” She scoffed.

They both breathed a sigh of relief that further confused Maya concerning their behavior since she woke. When she remembered she was awake, she realized that she was not in her old shack but in an elegantly furnished room, that clearly was not hers.

“Child,” Greta said holding Maya’s hands in a bid to plead with her so she can divulge what transpired between them in the dreamscape.

“It is important I know what you two talked about so that I can be able to help you,” she explained to her in a way that would be hard for her not to understand.

“You will help me escape,” Maya’s face suddenly brightened with hope.

“Better than that, I can help you meet your mother!”

“And how would you do that? My mother has been dead since I was two years old. Not unless you plan to send me to where she is by killing me, I do not understand how you will be able to pull it off.

“Listen here child; your mother is not dead.”

“What?” she asked incredulous that all this time she was living with her Nona; she thought her parents were dead for real? Had they not wanted her? If her mother were truly alive, why would she not want to meet her daughter? As these thoughts were making their rounds in her mind, tears were falling uncontrollably. She could not believe that her own mother would give her to somebody, for all these years and without the urge to know how she was doing.

“My mother is alive?” she asked with a broken voice that carried all the pain go growing up without a parent.

On the other side of the window, a spectator had been watching all this time to see what would transpire but when Maya shed tears; he could not bear to watch anymore. He let out a loud growl, which shook the windowpanes threatening them to fall off. Greta was alarmed but Zander just looked at Mizpah and smiled. Before anyone could utter a word, Maya had stood up and walked towards Mizpah. She was now stroking his neck and he was purring contentedly.

“You are such a big boy, what’s your name?” Maya asked intrigued by the strange beast before her. It looked so dangerous and menacing but Maya felt no fear, it appeared to her to be as gentle as a sheep.

“His name is Mizpah!” zander said.

“Oh, what a beautiful name”

As if to agree with Maya, Mizpah licked her face causing her to giggle.

“How comes you are no longer afraid of him?” Greta asked surprised to see her so comfortable with Mizpah unlike earlier when she had run from him.

Maya could not remember ever meeting Mizpah and she let her know as much. They continued like that for some time, the people in the room temporarily forgotten as master and subject familiarized.

“How” Greta asked Zander

“I am guessing this is all Mizpah’s doing. He could not bear to see Maya afraid of him and so instead of waiting until the magical barrier put in place by Carita Bennett broke by its own, he hastened the process by breaking it with his power.”

“What happened to her memory,” She asked.

“I’m afraid that’s just one of the downsides, Mizpah made a hard choice to spare his mistress the pain of going through what happened again and again. Her immediate memory is wiped clean; I just wonder how far back it has been wiped.”

“She still has memories of the day they were captured; I’d dare say that the breakfast is no longer in her memories.”

“You are right about that, how does she face the challenge?”

Zander was worried, though he understood it was the accepted way of life among the werewolves that anybody who dares confront an alpha will be issuing a challenge for the alpha position. In this case, Maya was in a challenge for the position of empress and Luna queen.

“She only needs to tap into her power, if she is a true Adolfo descendant, she will have no problem,” Greta spoke slowly her mind conjuring different scenarios.

“How will she do that?” Zander asked.

“Carita Bennett.”