Chapter 1 | Seventeen Years Later

~Aurelia~

"Hurry up! We will be caught if we don't leave right now!!" Callie harshly whispered while I took my sweet time to look my best.

"Almost done," I whispered back and checked to see if the coast was clear.

"The carriage is by the fountain. I will exit through the kitchen door."

She dashed out of the room, and I followed her course slowly to not raise suspicion.

Callie ran right into the person that we wanted to avoid.

"You two! Where are you going?" Princess Amara asked her.

"Er..." Callie looked at me nervously.

"To see the men that are training. I mean... we are going to serve drinks to them." I mumbled, failing to make our story believable.

Amara raised her brow.

"So there's a new hottie that you two are fawning over?"

"Kind of" Callie giggled to which Amara rolled her eyes.

"Do you need anything?" I asked, hoping she didn't. We were already late. 

"No, it's just that you two look way too dressed up for some rookie in training. Enjoy!"

We both breathed a sigh of relief when Amara went up the stairs. We ran through the side door before she changed her mind and turned around.

"Phew! So fucking irritating!" Callie said, and I laughed, stepping into the carriage.

"How are you two mysterious women doing this afternoon?"

"Oh shut up, Marlo!" Callie pulled out a plain black cloth from her side of the seat rail and I did the same.

"I was expecting a sorry. Say, so sorry to keep you waiting and being so late as always Marlo. Or say, thank you so much for not leaving without us; you are a sweetheart, Marlo."

"You are indeed a sweetheart, Marlo. Sorry, we couldn't leave any earlier." I said to him while covering my face with the cloth, only showing my eyes.

"Aww, you have always been the sweeter one, Aurie. Tell me one thing: what's the point in taking hours to get ready when you can't be seen outside the palace?"

"Um... what if he sees me? Not knowingly, but I always feel like he senses my presence."

Marlo threw his head back and laughed. Callie rolled her eyes in disbelief too.

"She just likes to think that he feels her, smells her, wants her, yada yada yada..."

"Oh, shush! I never said he wants me. Can't you go any faster Marlo?"

"Hold your horses, woman!"  

I couldn't contain my excitement as we neared the fighting pits. It has been days that I properly got a glimpse of Dominic. He is, without doubt, the most beautiful creation ever although my sister Callie would argue that his friend Dylan is the best. Well, at least we aren't competing for the same man.

Both Dominic and Dylan lived on the palace grounds like Callie and I did. But we hardly got to see them because they were training to be part of the elite unit called the 'Somatophylakes' or the Royal Bodyguard Shield group. They were recruited from the prestigious cavalry known as the 'Hetaroi' — the finest cavalry in the world.

Dylan is slated to lead the personal protection unit for the Prince, Argus. Dominic is supposed to do the same for Princess Amara.

Ever since the princess has come to know of Dominic's existence, she has been smitten with him, much to my annoyance. Dominic avoids her like plague and doesn't usually come anywhere near the main building or the tower room.

Being the handmaiden of the princess means I don't get to see him either because I am stuck with her most of the time. I am waiting for that to change. So when his training ends, he will have no option but to cater to the spoiled princess's needs and accompany her on her leisure trips.

I was supposed to be with the princess all the time, at least as much as possible, which would mean quality time with Dominic in only a couple of months when his training ended.

"Your blushes and smiles are all so obvious even when most of your face is hidden." Callie and Marlo were smirking and teasing as usual.

"Stop it you two! Let's go." I jumped out of the carriage and ran towards the crowd. Callie and Marlo followed.

None of the combatants wore armors in these fighting pits because the audience was mainly there to see blood. These fights were rarely fatal though, as the fighters just wanted to push their physical limits to experience the thrill of battle and primal glory.

It wasn't just the fighters that experienced the thrill of course. The brutal energy of the roaring crowds, their claps and shouts, the drumming of their feet, it all adds soul to the fight.

Dominic never missed a prizefight. And I never saw him lose a single fight; he was easily one of the crowd's favorite. 

I squeezed Callie's arm with excitement when I realized that we made it just in time. Dominic's appearance in the pit aroused the spectators to a fever pitch. And this was my favorite part when he bared his sculpted chest, flexing all those toned muscles in his bareback. Just the sight of it was worth all the risk.

There was an animal-like ferocity about him that both scared and excited me at the same time. That confident gaze, smoldering eyes that were the deepest kind of blue, dark unruly hair — everything about him screamed just two words, wild and untamed.

"Look at that chiseled chest, oh so yummy!" I squealed in excitement to which both Callie and Marlo laughed.

I turned to Callie so that Marlo couldn't hear my next words, "I want to run my hands all over him."

"Aha! Only your hands? Not your tongue?" Callie knew exactly what I was thinking.

My cheeks felt hot at the thought of doing something like that and turned to look at the fighters.

Dominic did that again! The way he sometimes pauses in the middle of a fight when he comes too close to the spectators, it's almost like he senses something or someone and freezes.

I grabbed Callie's arm nervously when I watched his body stiffen. He turned around for a second to look at the masses, loud and cheering for him, and just before his eyes met mine, he had to turn back to counter an assault.

I always believed that he felt my presence. I just knew.