Chapter One

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Life was supposed to go in a very different direction, it was supposed to be easy and safe. But here he stood, watching as his soldiers were being slaughtered like pigs to the slaughter house. And what was he doing? Standing on a hill, overlooking the battle because his guards refused to allow him to leave and join in the battle. 

Just because he was the Imperial Prince didn’t mean his life was more important than that of a common foot soldier.

“Stand down, soldier.”

The guard, Charles-Something, stared at him through the small slit in his helmet, his eyes the color of black coffee. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I have my orders from the King. You are not to leave the encampment.”

He clenched his jaw as his anger snapped to the forefront, he wanted to tear the head off of the man, but he reined in the urge. It wasn’t this man’s fault that his father, the King, was paranoid that his only son and heir to the throne would die in battle. He was just doing his duty.

“Dismissed, soldier.”

Frowning, the Prince looked over the soldier’s shoulder and felt his frown deepen. The voice had been female, but as far as he knew, they had no female soldiers. But the person in front of him was definitely female, the smaller body frame giving her away. She wore a helmet, hiding and protecting her facial features.

The soldier saluted the female, obviously recognizing her as someone important. “Yes, ma’am.”

More confused than before, the Prince crossed his arms over his chest and rose a brow. “And who might you be?”

Her head barely moved, but he knew instinctively that she was sizing him up. If it weren’t for the fact that one, she wore his father’s Royal armor, and two, the soldier had recognized her, the Prince would be worried. She was very much a stranger to him and could present a safety issue.

When she spoke, her voice was chilling and emotionless. Cold. Calculating. “I am Commander Ariana Mistwood and I will be your personal guard, Prince Roland.”

“What?”

Her eyes were the color of a clear blue sky and they darkened considerably. “His Royal Majesty, King Jasper, your father, has reassigned me to your personal guard. I am to shadow you with or without your approval.”

Prince Roland shook his head, “No, what I mean is, I’ve never heard of you. As far as I knew, my father employed no females.”

If she became any tenser, she was liable to snap. Didn’t this female know how to relax? “I am not employed by High Royal Majesty, not directly, and that is as much as I will reveal about that; I am not at liability to speak of the pact between my people and yours. Suffice it to say that my people owed a debt to King Jasper and I am paying it off.”

“And you expect me to just take your word for it?” He narrowed his eyes on her, “How am I to believe you?”

He watched as she shifted her weight slightly, her eyes never leaving his face. With a sigh, she gripped her helmet and removed it. His eyes widened as he took in her face. Her skin was the color of light honey, creamy and smooth. Her eyes were large and slightly slanted, giving her an overall exotic appearance. Her hair was so blonde, it was nearly white. She had beautiful, soft, and full lips; they were tinted pink.

But it was her ears that caused him to gasp; long and pointy, they signified one important detail: she was an extremely rare, thought to be extinct, race. An Elf.

“I am breaking several oaths by revealing my race, but you deserve to know the truth.”

With her helmet off, it was hard to focus. Legends and myths abounded about her race, many scholars argued over the supposed immortality that the Elves possessed. The legends claimed that the Elves had disappeared, hunted and slaughtered for their unearthly beauty and magical powers. Standing in front of her, Prince Roland understood the fascination the humans had for them.

She was exquisite and extremely beautiful…. Yet, it didn’t explain how she had come into the employ of his father.

“Tell me something,” she rose a brow, her eyes steady. “How did my father even manage to find your race, let alone employ one of you?”

Her expression hardened, her eyes taking on the quality of hardened steel. “That is between my Queen and your King.”

“But-”

“Listen closely, Your Highness.” Prince Roland snapped his jaw closed at her cold delivery, her tone sending a chill down his spine. “I am not here to make friends with you. I was ordered by my Queen to seek you out and protect you, and while I will obey her, I will not become friends with you. I have lived far too long to ever forgive humans for the heinous acts they have committed against my people.” She slipped her helmet back on, hiding from the world once again. “Do I make myself clear, Your Highness?”

“Crystal.” He sighed, “However, there is one thing. You claimed my father had reassigned you, how could he have if your Queen had ordered you here?”

Something nasty flashed in her eyes, but whatever she was thinking was kept to herself. “My Queen has ordered me here, but it was through King Jasper that I was ordered here. She chose to send me, pulling me away from duties as a Sentinel to guard a human.”

“But why you specifically?”

Her voice became flat and cold, devoid of any emotion; she was like a living and breathing statue. “I am my Queen’s daughter, therefore I would never betray the peace she has brokered between my people and yours. Others of my people would have slaughtered you the minute they laid their eyes upon you, and while I share their hatred in your race, I will stay my hand. You are not for me to end, as much as I loathe the very air you breathe.”

“Well…” Prince Roland blinked, at a loss for words at her candor. As the Imperial Prince, he’d never really gotten the honest opinion or response from anyone. They all spoke to him in the most respectful tones possible, fear of what the King would do should they step out of line kept them in line.

As if deciding the conversation was over, the Commander shook her head and turned away from him. She took up her post by the door to the outside world. Whomever the Commander was, Prince Roland, suspected she would never reveal that part of herself. He hoped his father knew what he had brought into the human world. She obviously had no love for humans and he had to wonder…

When the time came, would she stop an assassin’s blade from killing him?

 

 

Author's Note

Well... I have no idea why WritersCafe deleted this chapter. Now I know why it looked so small... it was missing chapter one. What in the hell? Oh well, sorry for the mixup!