To Aurum With Hate

Three: Princess Sirena

Three

Princess Sirena

            My head was pounding.

            I had spent several hours on a plane, but when I arrived in Aurum, I was driven in a car to the palace. About halfway through, however, someone stopped our car. “Excuse me,” I said, “what’s happening?”

            I knocked on the partition that was between me and the driver’s seat. “Hello? Driver, what’s happening?”

            No one answered. Then, the door opened, and standing there was a group of strangers wearing black clothes and black ski masks. There were guns in hand. “Princess Sirena,” one of the strangers said, “get out of the car now if you don’t want to be hurt.”

            “Who are you?” I demanded. “What’s going on?”

            “GET OUT OF THE CAR!” one of the strangers with a gun yelled.

            Hands shaking, I took off my seat belt, and I got out. “What’s going on?” I said. “Who are you?”

            “We are The Argenti.  We are against the Imperator. We are kidnapping you in the name of our people,” one of them said, “now, get into the car now or we’ll shoot you.”

            I was in Aurum. I had been sent in order to keep the peace between my country and theirs. Now, I was being kidnapped for their crimes. I hated them. One of the people in ski masks grabbed me by arm, twisted it so hard that I winced, and shoved me into what appeared to be an armored tank.

            The strangers around me refused to look at me. I sat there, aware that there were guns being pointed at me.

            “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

            “Shut up,” the guard nearest to me spoke, “we’re not going to give you answers. You don’t get to talk, otherwise---”

            “You’ll shoot me,” I finished, “I got it.”

            I kept my mouth shut. About halfway through the drive, one of the guards took out a blindfold.

“Turn your head,” the stranger next to me said.

I did, and the stranger placed the blindfold over me. “They won’t come for me you know,” I said, “because I’m just a Princess. I’m expendable. They could go back to my family and ask for my sister to marry the Imperator. I’m nothing.”

            The stranger next to me jabbed their gun into my side. “Shut up,” they hissed, “we told you not to talk. Now I’m going to make you not talk.” Then, something hard hit my head, and that was the last thing I remembered.

            Now, I had woken up with a pounding headache. The blindfold was still on. I had no idea where I was supposed to be. I wanted to ask, but I kept on hearing the voices of my captors. “Shut up,” they’d hissed, “shut up, or we’ll shoot.”

            I had no idea if there was anyone with me or not.

            “H-hello?” I called out.

            My mouth was dry, and it hurt to talk.

            I heard the scraping of a chair against the ground. “Well,” a deep voice said, “you certainly are pretty. Maybe I’ll cut up that face and I’ll make an example of you for your fiancé. We’ll see if he still wants the treaty then.”

            I licked my lips, hoping to get some moisture from them. “Who are you?” I asked.

            “I’m your worst nightmare,” he said, “I’m Xavier Bones. I’m the leader of The Argenti. I am going to be your downfall, Princess.”

            “Why me?” I said. “You must know that I was sent here against my will. You must know that I don’t want to marry him.”

            “That’s always the case for Princesses,” Xavier said, “it doesn’t change the fact that you are the symbol of something larger.”

            “What’s that?” I asked.

            “Surely you know how Aurum gains its power?” Xavier said.

            “Conquest.”

            “And alliance,” Xavier said, “your country is next on their list. You wouldn’t submit, and so the alliance was the first step. They are lulling you into compliancy. Once you are married, they will invite your sister here, and she will be killed. They will say that it was a trap to try and trick them into war, and they will use that to continue the war against their people. Then, they will kill your family one by one. If you have not gotten an heir by then, you might survive, but if you have, you will be on that list to.”

            I stiffened. “You’re lying.”

            I had heard rumors of Aurum doing this. I was not the first girl to be part of an arranged marriage with Aurum. There had been several others before me, married off to the Imperators brothers. There were rumors that they had all died at the hands of assassins. But I couldn’t believe that I was part of that. Even if I hated my future husband, I couldn’t think the worst.

            “What do I have to gain by lying to you?” Xavier asked.

            “You’re getting into my head,” I said, “that is enough.”

            He laughed. “Perhaps. But you know it’s true. I’ve heard tell that you hate your future husband anyway. Shouldn’t you want to believe the worst in him?”

            “No one wants to believe the worst in anyone,” I said.

            “I suppose you’re right. But you know, if you were to become part of our cause, and help us kill him, we could keep you safe. I expect that you were planning on killing him anyway.”

            I stiffened. “You don’t know anything about me.”

            “I know everything about you,” he said, “I knew it when I saw you walking through that village that was bombed, Perdita was it? The news footage showed you looking like you were about to cry. They talked about you marrying for peace. How everyone hoped that you would put a stop to the attacks. But if you stop the attacks, that means you have to make the man that killed those people love you. Do you really want to be loved by a monster like that?”

            “I’m a Princess,” I said, “I’m doing my duty.”

            “Does your duty involve sacrificing yourself as well?” he said. “You can be a monster or be someone that slays them. What do you want, Princess Sirena?”

            I didn’t get a chance to answer. There was the sound of a door opening. “Princess Sirena, we’re here to rescue you!” I heard a voice shout. Then, there was the sound of guns. I felt someone undoing the ropes that bound me.

            I was shoved out of wherever I was. Then, the blindfold was removed. There was a stranger standing in front of me. He was tall, with brown hair that fell into his eyes, and broad shoulders.

            “Princess,” he said, “I am Antero Dukas. I am the guard of Imperator Zale, and I will be the Captain of the Guard when he takes the throne. I am here to rescue you. I am terribly sorry that this happened in the first place.”

            “Thank you,” I said, “th-th-thank you.”

            I had been shoved into another car. Antero Dukas sat across from me. Unable to help myself, I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He hugged me back. It was the best decision and the worst decision of my life.