Chapter 3

Aurora dodged the fist that came flying at her shoulder. She sent a kick to her opponent's side and when they stumbled back she charged forward and kicked out their legs. The cheers of the crowd always gave her the adrenaline rush she needed to fight tough matches like the one she was currently in.

Her opponent fell on their butt but quickly got up and steadied themself. She stayed some distance away from them and they charged at her. They held up their fist to punch her face and she knew that her face was the place that she could not get bruised. It would be hard to hide and she didn't want to deal with her parents freaking out about it. They may get suspicious and question her whereabouts. They may even send someone to follow her and that was not something she wanted to happen.

But as she stepped to the side to dodge the attach her foot slipped and their fist landed right on her cheekbone and sent her back. The crowd let out an "ooh" and her vision went blurry for a second as she stumbled back. But then she quickly righted herself.

Her cheek throbbed with pain and she ignored it as she angrily charged back into the fight. It would be such a pain to deal with and she would have to spend the night de-swelling and putting ointment on her face.

Furious, Aurora sent a strike to their diaphragm and when they wheezed in pain and she kicked their chest and they fell to the ground. Once they laid there for more than ten seconds it was their loss and Aurora had won.

Chelly cheered for her in the crowd and clapped his hands in excitement. She smiled, even though her face was covered. She wore a mask that was pulled up from her neck and it went over her nose. She liked how mysterious it made her look.

When she got back home her first destination was the kitchen. It was around two in the morning and everyone was sleeping. The only guards awake were the ones that patrolled the outside. Their house was a three-story mansion and Aurora's room was on the second floor so it was easier to get in and out of from the outside.

She put some ice in a cloth she found, wet it, and placed it on her cheek.

"Ow! Shit!" she whisper shouted.

That was how she spent the next hour. In front of a mirror making sure that her face was symmetrical. After she was sure she applied an ointment to it and went to bed. Her cheekbone was dark pink color and it was pretty obvious that she had been hit, so when she woke up in the morning she took out her makeup. Aurora hated makeup. She felt like it clogged her pores and made her face look weird, but she only used it when she had an injury.

Her application was nowhere near perfect and so she snuck out again and stayed out of the house for most of the day. Her nosy bodyguard would question her to no end if he realized that she was hurt and that was the last thing she needed. She was already pissed that she got hit in the face and so she didn't want him suffocating him. Aurora was tempted to just buy a ticket to the UK and go and live with Carson but she knew that it was selfish.

Carson probably did miss her but he missed his family more and he needed to spend as much time with them as he got older.

Her day was spent walking around the city, eating street vendors' food, and looking at stores she wanted to visit. She knew that if she went shopping then it would be obvious that she snuck out and so she would wait. Her parents were busy and probably trusted Caden to be with her wherever she went.

"Where have you been?"

As soon as she walked into the kitchen to find a snack her bodyguard was there. It was the evening and she made sure to be a quiet as possible when moving about but he still appeared.

"Everywhere," Aurora answered as she searched through the fridge. She saw a pack of chocolate chip muffins and reached for those.

When she raised to muffin to her lips her wrist was grasped and Caden pulled her towards him.

"Woah. Hands off, pretty boy." she struggled against his grip.

"What happened to your cheek?" he leaned down and inspected her face. He smelled like old spice and eucalyptus mint. It was honestly intoxicating. Eucalyptus mint was her favorite smell. She had a shit tone of Bath and Body Works candles in that scent.

Aurora inhaled the smell and sighed contented but quickly caught herself when he saw his serious face.

"Whatever do you mean?" she played dumb and craned her neck to try and take a bit of her muffin but she could not reach. Irritated, she sent a glare at him and backed away. He only pulled her back and she gave her muffin a sympathetic look.

"Stop lying. Tell me what happened? Did you get into a fight?"

Well, yes, I did.

"How could I get into a fight?"

"Then what happened?" hid grip tightened.

"Why are you getting so upset. Geez. It has nothing to do with you. Or maybe you're afraid of losing your job because I'm injured. I could simply cry to mommy and daddy about how you didn't protect me in my time of need and left me for dead."

His expression got darker. Aurora had to hold in the laugh she so desperately wanted to let out.

"Just tell me."

She sighed. "I almost got mugged ok. Some college kids helped me get away. Happy?"

His grip loosened and she used that chance to pull away. Aurora looked at her muffin and began eating it before looking back at him. He gave her a disgusted look.

"All those looks your giving me should be some sort of crime. Don't scrunch up your pretty face, ok?" Aurora patted his cheek and passed by him.

"That's why you need a bodyguard. Just stop being stubborn and let me do my job," he said.

"Good to know," Aurora said without looking at him.

He followed her out and Aurors groaned in frustration. He just does not quit, did he?

"Tell me when you're going out next time."

"I don't like you, and you clearly don't want to be doing this job. So you should just shut up and pretend to be doing something so that you can get your check."

He grunted as he walked beside her, "You have a lot of talk for a delicate Princess."

"And you have a lot of words for a servant."

That seemed to stump him and Aurora walked away victorious.

The next day she actually had to have him with her as she went to the mall to shop for hair and face products as well as some new clothes. Caden loomed behind her. He wore a simple grey sweater and some jeans but he still looked intimidating as he followed her around.

Simply walking around attracted alot of attention, especially from females who were shopping. Aurora noticed how they very obviously oogling him and she turned and stopped, facing him.

"Hey, instead of being useless why don't you go and entertain yourself with those girls over there."

She pointed behind him to a group of girls that were very obviously checking him out. He looked over his shoulder and the girls all blushed and looked away. He turned back to her with a sneer.

"Disgusting," he said.

Caden's hair brushed over his shoulders as he looked down at her. It was so silky and had a slight wave to it. Unconsciously she reached up and tugged on his hair. He jerked back and gave her a look of confusion. Aurora let out a little laugh.

"It looked soft." she shrugged and turned back to continue shopping.

And as soon as his back was turned Aurora escaped. She had gone into a shoe store and with all the twists and turns he lost her and she snuck behind and him and made a beeline for the door. Her bags rustling loudly as she jogged away from the store but as soon as she went around the corner she stopped and peeked out to see if he was following her.

Once the coast was clear she continued with her shopping. She stopped for a pretzel and as she was munching on it she felt someone grip her wrist. Thinking it was Caden she turned around ready to give him some bullshit story as to how she got here but she was surprised to see that it was some random white man.

Aurora pulled her hand back quickly in disgust and stepped back. "What the hell?" she snapped at him and attempted to walk away.

They were in a very public area and she didn't want to make a scene. She already got some people's attention when she snapped at him. The man walked back up to her and grabbed her more roughly.

"Ew, don't touch me." she pulled away and walked away faster.

He approached her and when they were near the bathrooms he gripped her hand and began to pull her down the hall. It was empty at the moment and Aurora connected the dots of what he wanted to do.

She was fairly strong with all the training she endured but she let herself be dragged by the man. Her bags swung wildly as he pulled her and Aurora set up her face. Was his man really going to attempt to do something nasty with her in the middle of the freaking day?

The thought alone made her want to laugh but it also pissed her off the longer he dragged her, so once they turned the corner to the empty hallway with the bathroom doors she pulled her arm back and decided that she would entertain herself at the expense of this fool's desires.