The Princess Guard

Chapter Three

The Press

I stood nervously in fathers office, waiting for him to come in. He almost never called me in here. My guard stood by the door silently, keeping his eyes straight ahead. No snooping in this room..smart.

Father walked in from a side door, smiling at me he took a seat at his desk as my guard bowed.

"Daya, a reporter requested a meeting with you." He spoke softly and I looked at him in confusion.

"A meeting about what, exactly?" I held back my attitude. I knew better.

"You're getting close to needing to find a suitor, so I expect that's what it's about. It's the usual company. It would be a small conference, in a sense." He spoke in his serious tone. The tone that told me I too had to take it seriously. I nodded politely and folded my hands at my front.

"You can take Braxton if you'd like, he is in the premises." He raised an eyebrow at me and I held back my groan. Braxton. The dumb boy I grew up with, who my father very much wanted me to marry. He was the only other male besides a guard that he trusted to take me outside of the castle. I didn't like him, he was arrogant and entitled.

I must've made a face because he laughed, waving a hand towards my guard.

"It's him or the guard." He rested his head on his hand and I glanced back at my guard who stood as still as a statue.

I bowed my head and sighed under my breath.

"The guard will do."

*•*•*•*•*

We stayed silent during the car ride to the office building. I was happy with that.
I sighed in frustration when I saw there were gates lining the sidewalk, keeping the crowd back.

Of course somebody told of my arrival here.

I ignored the flashing cameras and calls for my name, my guard opening my door and walking close behind me into the building.

A man in a suit walked with us happily, bowing and making small talk as we walked. He went over how this go, not like I hadn't done it hundreds of times before. I sit at a table and listen to the different reporters questions and blah blah blah.

I took my seat at the long table that was situated on a stage, reporters filling in. My guard denied the offer to sit, standing close behind my chair. The reporters and photographers filled the room. Thus began the questions. I answered each one carefully, taking my time and showing nothing but poise.

Never react with your face
My fathers advice rang loud in the back of my head as I answered some of these people.

It had been about 20 minutes at this point, we shifted from political questions to things about me. I hated these questions. The ones about my work were so easy to answer, I knew what I was doing like the back of my hand. Myself? Not so much. They asked about the guest list for the big party that would be at the end of this month, I gave a very vague answer. I didn't even know who would be there. All I knew was it was where I was meant to start searching for the future king.

I narrowed my eyes slightly as the next reporter approached the podium.

Serena Balswin. One of the nastiest reporters out there, really. She only cared for gossip. I usually was able to remove myself before she could take the floor. I straightened up even more, showing no apprehension.

She greeted me with a foxlike smile, asking a few simple questions. She motioned towards my guard now, who was towering next to me.

"We hope this guard will meet your expectations-" she said this jokingly, the crowd murmuring nervous laughs. "-the Queen had already sired a guard by your age, surely you'll be able to keep a suitor better than you can keep a guard?"

Silence overtook the room. I fidgeted with the hem of the dress I had changed into prior to coming here.

She really just said that.

"What do you mean by that?" I faked innocence, struggling to keep my composure. She laughed quietly, waving her hand.

"My apologies princess, it's just that you've gone through many guards lately. The Queen sired to her first. Maybe with her guidance, you would've had better luck with keeping one. I'm extending my luck to you, in hopes a suitor will be able to stand you." She smiled at me politely and I stared in shock. Nobody had ever so blatantly insulted me like that. I was speechless.

I could feel my heart break at the comparison to my mother, how I probably was letting her down. This was quickly diminished by the anger boiling in my stomach.

I looked up at my guard out of an unknown instinct, he was staring at Serena coldly. His jaw was clenched. He glanced down at me for a brief moment, touching the small of my back he leaned closer to me.

"Pardon my interruption, Princess. Would you like me to have her head for disrespecting you? I don't think it'd be a very tasteful decoration though." He spoke calmly and my eyes widened. He said this loud enough for the entire room to hear and everyone began murmuring amongst themselves.

I tore my eyes from him and looked to the dreadful woman, she was as white as a sheet of paper with fear.

He straightened up, his gaze meeting hers.

She began stammering an apology, and I stood up quickly.

"Thank you to those with kind questions, and thank you for taking the time to come here." I said this slowly, staring at her with anger. One of the security guards pulled her away and I walked off the stage, my heart hammering in my chest.

We got in the car silently, I called to the driver to take us home. I had enough of being around people already.

I leaned my head on the window, fighting back tears.

My guard sat quietly staring straight ahead.

I looked over at him discreetly, studying his composure. How was he always so calm? He just threatened that woman's life without batting an eye. His short black hair was swept up to the side and I noticed it was greyed slightly at the tips. Strange. His eyes flicked to me and I brushed my hair behind my ear. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow and I sighed.

"Would you have done it?" I whispered nervously and he tilted in his head as if to ask what I meant.

"Would you have killed her?" I spoke firmly and he nodded.

"Without hesitation." He spoke plainly and I went back to looking out the window. My phone was blowing up with text messages now, most were apologies. The only one that caught my eye was Victoria, saying we needed to go out tonight after that show.

I quickly typed back. I needed a drink for sure.