Princess...You Did.

She wouldn't marry a complete stranger and be shipped off somewhere else because he didn’t want to give up what was rightfully hers in the first place. She had never let anyone know, but she couldn’t stand her Stepfather. He appeared kind and brave to everyone else, but she could see through him. He was power hungry. She was to rule over Zuff, just as her mother had, and her mother had before her.

She would serve the people and guide them, do her royal duty by upholding the peace of the land, but she would only do that as the rightful Queen of her home, and none other. Her stepfather would have to come to grips with that. They all sat down at the table and began their evening meal and that's as far as her memory went.

She looked down at her clothing and realized they weren't hers, and there wasn’t a lot of clothing. She wore a black sheer halter top, trimmed in gold beading and a black, sheer loincloth. Through her confusion she recognized that this was attire worn by the palace courtesans, or so she had been told by her lady’s maid. She had seen them once before when the troops were celebrating a holiday.  The women had  worn outfits similar to this and danced for the men.

She remembered thinking she would never have the courage or need to ever wear such clothing. She looked at her left wrist and saw the scar that was in the shape of a Egyptian hieroglyph that was  known as her royal marKing. Given to all women in her family at birth. Why couldn't she remember? It was beginning to bother her, and make the back of her head throb.

She was about to get out of the bed when she saw him. It was the same shadow figure that had been fighting over her. She hadn't noticed him standing there looking out into the sienna red sunset. It was dusk. She looked at his side profile. He was very handsome, she thought.

"You're awake." He sounded relieved to her. "How is your head?" He asked.

She didn't speak. She was frightened, and a little shocked at how off she felt. What were his plans with her? Was he on her side?

"I'm Marlon. Welcome to Moenia, my home." He walked over to her and stopped when he was looming over her. 

She noticed then that he was tall, and then she saw his eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of gold she had ever seen. He was a beautiful man to her, if there was such a thing. The stubble and tiny thin white scars peppered the beauty of his strong jaw and chiseled features and made him seem hardened and cold. That mix intrigued and scared her. 

 He sat down on the bed beside her.

"Moenia?” She played with the name. “I've never heard of this place."

"Of course not. It’s fortified and enchanted. To the normal onlooker it looks like a desert wasteland on the outskirts of Zuff, but to you and I, it's our refuge. You’re safe here."

She felt herself relax slightly at those words.

"How did I get here?" She asked, unconsciously rubbing the fur nervously.

"I brought you here. It wasn't safe for you there any longer."

"Why not?" She asked slowly.

Not safe in Zuff? Her own Kingdom? Her home? What was going on? She had to get back there and find her mother and to make sure she was safe.

She started to remove the furs once more when he stilled her movements.

"Princess, please I cannot allow you to leave."

"But, I must. You must take me back. I have to find my mother. I have to find her… to talk to her. Why am I not safe?" She felt the panic slowly rising up inside of her. 

"Because Princess, your mother, Queen Bihadlly has been murdered." He answered gently.

She felt all the air leave her body, as if someone had punched her in the center of her chest. She felt numb.

"No....no... I...can't....It can't be! Who...who would do this? Who would do such a thing?"

"Princess, you did..."