“I'm sorry to keep you waiting, my dear.” A powerful female voice resonated around the room. I turned to see who had spoken only to find myself face to face with the Queen. She stood just taller than me, but by her confidence and the way she presented herself, you would assume she was twice my height. She wore an elegant gown and held herself as a queen should.

“I apologize, but I'm afraid my husband is unable to attend our introduction this morning. He has other matters to attend too.” She said as a simple smile spread across her face. Her skin was fair and she had deep smoky blue eyes. The queen's hair was tied up carefully and covered by her crown for the most part, but you could tell she was a strikingly beautiful woman. “I am pleased to have you join us. I have been looking forward to this for some time. I had planned on your arrival sooner, however, this will have to do. At the end of the week, we will have a ball. I have already begun to invite suitors to announce your introduction to court. I have made the necessary arrangements for your attire since I have been informed that your luggage was delayed.”

Wow, that was a lot. I have been here for less than twelve hours and we are already planning for suitors... “Thank you very much, your Majesty.” No matter my inhibitions about this, I could not go against the wishes of the queen.

“Oh, and I have been informed that you would rather we not discuss your military standing with suitors. With that in mind, I have instructed those who are aware to remain silent, but you do know your reputation has spread far in recent years. News of a dominating female commander sweeping through his Majesty's ranking did not go unheeded; because of that, I will send an announcement to the men posted nearby of your resignation, and your intent to settle down. This should help with the rumors that no doubt will begin to circulate. I'm not sure of your reasoning, but I do like you, my dear, and I am trusting in your judgment. You have led my military wisely. I trust that you will be able to navigate your way about this new battlefield.” As she said it all of my concerns seemed to amplify. This was going to be worse than any battle I had faced before.

After we finished our discussion, the Queen and I exited out the front doors of the grand room. I noticed that Eák was still waiting by the door where I had left him. His eyes were down and he did not look up as we began to pass. The Queen stopped without looking at him. “Please take her around the castle so she can become familiar with her new home.”

“Yes your Majesty,” Eák said, while still looking to the floor.

The Queen turned to me, said goodbye and walked off into the corridor.

After she had departed, I turned to Eák. “So, are you normally a castle guard then?”

“Something like that.” He said, I couldn't help but get the feeling he was hiding something...

Eák gave me the grand tour of the castle. By the end, I was pretty sure I had seen every square inch of the place. We had explored the grand hall, the dining rooms, ballrooms, the sleeping quarters, and not to mention met over half of the staff working in the castle. After it was all said and done, he took me out to the gardens.

He told me a bit about the history of the garden. It was started by a late queen, as a hobby, while the then king was off on one of his dalliances. To keep herself busy, the queen would come out and tend to her garden. No staff were allowed to touch it at that time. Though that was many generations ago.

We turned a corner at one of the many statues spread out across the landscape. We stood beneath a stone archway, which delicately held up two stone figures. One was an exquisitely sculpted female, with large doe eyes, and the other a strong looking male. The spot, the landscape, something about it felt familiar, happy.

“Then you are a fan of the gardens??” Eák asked in his usually flirtatious voice. “Beautiful,” I heard him say, as I realized he was looking at me and not the garden.

I turned around and felt Eák's hands press on my hips. He pushed me backwards and my back hit hard against the cold stone. I looked up perplexed at what was going on, when I saw it. His eyes….. the look on his face... Firmly, he placed his hand above my shoulder, locking me against the hard rock’s surface. His eyes burned with a fire and he looked over me slowly. I couldn’t move, but wasn’t completely sure I wanted to. What was he about to do? He moved his hand down and cupped the base of my chin.

“You know. Putting yourself in dangerous situations will only get you hurt Princess.” His smirk was ominous, his eyes hungry. “You know he's in love with you.. Why do you torture him? Do you want to punish him for feeling that way? If that is the case, I know how we can do that.” His eyes darted down to my mouth and back up. He dropped his head, his hand still over me, pressing me against the cold stone of the sculpture. His lips pressed against the bare of my neck. A spark of electricity was sent spinning through my body. His lips kissed me, moving higher. When he pulled back, he looked me in the eyes with a deep hunger, and dipped his mouth to meet mine. My blood began to boil. The embarrassment and nerves I felt sent my head spinning. All I could think to do was fight.

First I jerked my left knee up, connecting with his hip. He stumbled backward and a smile spread across his face. I kicked my legs to trip him. Connecting, but not fast enough, he grabbed my ankle and pulled the weight out from under me. I smashed to the ground and immediately spun on my hip, found my feet, and dove for his chest. We stubble backwards and fell down a sloped hill. Rolling, we spun head over heels until we landed with a “THUD!”

I opened my eyes and he was square on top of me with my hands pinned to the ground, an annoyingly stupid grin on his face. I popped with my hips, twisted, and spun until my legs were wrapped around his waist. I grabbed for his head, he ducked quickly, evading. I snatched the arm and popped into a turn, ending up square on top again, holding him by a twisted arm.

“Ahh!” He let out. “Enough!”

“Are you done being an idiot?” I asked, still spinning, a tingling feeling all over my body...

Still pinned below me, he smiled. “Okay, maybe I don't have to worry as much about you as I thought.”

“What?” The realization hit me. Was he just doing all of that to try and show me something? He didn't actually think that would work, did he?

At the last moment, he yanked his arm out, bridged, twisted and landed on top of me. “You fight extremely well. But you're gonna have to do better than that if you think you can beat me, Princess.” I pulled at my arms, which were securely pinned on either side. The energy boost I had earlier had left me and I didn’t have enough left to get out of this.

“Fine. You made your point.” I said, a little pissed that I had let my guard down.

Eák's smile didn’t fade, as he pulled me to my feet. When I went to stand, he grabbed me at the waist, and pulled me up to him. My chest pressed flush against his, he said. “I'll admit you’re strong, but knee me like that again and I will have to punish you.” As he said it, the blood in my body rushed to my face all over again. I smacked him, and turned to walk away.

Walking down the path back to the castle I could hear him laughing behind me. It didn't take long to find my way back to my room. Eák did a pretty fantastic job explaining the grounds. Once back I saw Liam standing outside my chamber. He looked at the ground, and I could see something was wrong. His face was pained. His eyes shot up when he saw me and I saw the sadness only grow. I stopped outside my room. I had planned on talking to him, but before I had a chance-

“I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. I don’t know what got into me. It was a mistake, and it will not happen again.” I heard what he was saying, and while I knew I should have understood, I felt something in my chest constrict, I felt the sensation, as if I was being crushed. ...it was a mistake... it won't happen again.

I looked down, so he would not see the tears I could feel starting behind my eyes. I was stronger than this and I did not need one of my subordinates seeing me as a weak woman. I didn’t know what I was thinking anyway. It wasn’t like I needed this before. Why did these men have to go and start messing with my head...