The Princess's Secret

Chapter 3

Freen had just finished her afternoon studies and had an hour to kill before she had to return to finish her evening studies. She gingerly walked down the hallway hoping to avoid Rosemary or even worse, her mother. The queen was usually busy with her female court around this time sipping on tea and gossiping about royal gossip.

Freen walked down the long hallway and headed towards the armory room. She wasn't really allowed on this side of the palace as it was usually reserved for the king's army and used for training. Reaching the heavy wooden door, Freen turns the knob slowly and peaks her head in.

She could see the room was empty except for the many weapons and practice targets placed throughout the large room. With a sneaky smile she pushes the door fully open and steps in. Gently closing the door behind her, she walks toward the wall full of weapons that hung adorning the large walls. The room was grand with marbled white floors. The walls were over 30 feet tall with large windows on each opposing side. The high ceilings arched and were decorated with intricate paintings of past wars.

Freen gently touches the stand that held one of the long metal swords. She ran her finger down the blade, admiring the sheer that it reflected. Gently gripping the sword in her hands, she begins her defense pose. The sword is now resting on her shoulder with her elbows pointed out in front of her and her legs spread apart. She looks ready to strike her invisible opponent at any moment. She pretends to swing the sword at her imaginary enemy and quietly makes whooshing sounds.

"You will never defeat the Chankimha empire!" she whispers as she swings the sword around.​​ Besides painting, piano and reading, Freen secretly enjoyed pretending like she the leader of the king's army.

"Back so soon?" Jothram asks. Startled, Freen drops the sword causing a loud clanking sound on the marbled floor to be heard.
"Hey now, don't damage my weapons!" Jothram exclaims as he makes his way to the red-faced princess. Freen hurries to pick up the weapon she dropped and puts it back in its place. "Sorry, you startled me." she says with a flushed look on her face.

Jothram smiles, picks up the sword from the stand and begins to wipe it down with a piece of dark cloth. "Are you not supposed to be studying right now?" he asks, with a raised eyebrow and a side smile on his face.
The dark-skinned man wore his captain uniform as he stood polishing the sword. It consisted of dark leather boots, olive pants, a white pressed long sleeve shirt and a captain hat. He had 3 army pins on his left peck notating what rank in the army he was. Being the captain of the Chankimha army, he would often roam the palace ensuring the security of the palace.

He removed his captain hat, placing it on the armory stand nearby revealing his bald shiny head. He moved towards Freen and awaited her reply. "No, I'm done with my afternoon studies and have some free time." She said sheepishly. She knew that she had been warned by Jothram to steer away from the armory room as it would not only cause problems for Freen, but also get him in some deep trouble with the king for allowing his precious princess to possibly get hurt around all those weapons.

Jothram had known Freen since she was small and had many a time spent time showing her how to play fight when she would wander into their practice sessions. Even now as a young adult, Freen enjoyed sneaking in occasionally to practice and learn some fighting techniques. Jothram hands the sword to Freen and says, "I guess we can sneak in a quick lesson."

Freen smiles and awaits as her sparring partner picks up his sword. With a big smile on her face, she assumes her defense position as Jothram begins his practice attacks on Freen. They continue sparring for the remaining hour before Freen must head back to her studies.
In such a lonely palace, it was nice to have someone to play once in a while.