“I’m here to make sure you’re safe,” Izzy said in a hard tone. She didn’t know how to respond to Maliki’s wish. Izzy continued to stare at him in wonder and confusion. She had never heard of a prince wanting nothing but company. It was unheard of and left her dumbstruck.
“Don’t give me that look,” Maliki frowned.
“What look,” Izzy said, snapping out of her thoughts.
“That thoughtful look on your face when you think too hard,” Maliki chuckled. “It is attractive but very weird to what I am used to.” No women had ever looked at him like that with such interest and just the thought of being important had made him feel confident about himself. Women usually passed by him or gave him interest only because of his title.
“I do not have that kind of expression,” Izzy blushed, looking away. She gritted her teeth by her feminine behavior and decided to try a different tactic. “I’m here to protect you not to have a nice little conversation with you.”
“So talking to me is nice, now is it?” Maliki smirked, catching Izzy blush again.
“You’re impossible, you know? It’s my job to protect you so let me do it properly,” Izzy said as calmly as she could. She looked at around the bare room, taking everything in and storing it for future references. She didn’t want to intrude his privacy but she needed to know the quickest escape route and anything that could suddenly become a choice of weapon. Maliki’s sharp bedpost that stuck out to a cone shaped point looked deadly enough to become a dagger if there were no other real weapon near her. Izzy nodded to herself, satisfied of everything now that she had taken them into familiarity.
Maliki walked around his room, opening the closet to find comfortable wear of clothes. It was a tiring and uneventful day with his sister and father and all he was craving for was a good sleep. He began to strip until all he had on was his trousers.
“What are you doing?!” Izzy yelled, shielding her eyes as fast as she could.
“I’m undressing,” Maliki said in a matter-of-fact tone. He didn’t know any better because he had no experience when it came with women. He was stuck inside the palace his entire life and only male suitors would come to woo his sister.
“You aren’t supposed to undress in front of a woman!” Izzy shouted, turning around so he wouldn’t notice her deep blush. She huffed a couple of breaths, feeling overwhelmed. Although she had seen many guys naked when she trained with some of the king’s men, it was different when it was a prince.
“Are you afraid of looking at my skin?” Maliki laughed, letting out the laugh that was lost for many years. “Is it that wrong?”
“Whatever,” Izzy mumbled, hating how Maliki was taking this as an entertainment. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“You are to sleep here,” Maliki said, turning around in his loose shirt and pants. He didn’t want his company to leave just yet.
“Me sleep here?” Izzy scoffed. “Sorry I don’t want to be known as a prostitute.”
“Prostitute?” Maliki asked, confused.
“Maids who sleep with their master is an act of a prostitute. It is absolutely immoral,” Izzy said, defending her pride. She would never be one of them.
“You may do as you want then. I did not wish any harm on your reputation,” Maliki said, in all honesty. He opened the door, feeling the night’s wind playing with his hair. He breathed it in, feeling finally at peace in a small, quiet place even if Izzy had not chosen to stay with him.
“Good night Prince Maliki,” Izzy said, bowing curtly before going out the door to face the wind.
“Good night Belle,” Maliki smiled at the nickname. Izzy snapped her head towards Maliki, giving him a raised eyebrow.
“What kind of nickname is that?” she asked, feeling silly at yet another nickname. It was going to be hard to keep track of what people called her.
“The nickname I gave you,” Maliki grinned. “Belle.”
Izzy also thought of the nickname, liking the way it rolled off of Maliki’s tongue. “Belle,” Izzy said, testing it out. “I don’t like it,” she lied. She didn’t want to have a connection with Maliki. Her destiny was to forever be alone. Not to marry and start a family. It was already hard to get Alexander off her mind.
“Goodnight Belle,” Maliki said one last time, before finding it appropriate to close the door.
Izzy sighed and began her way indoors. As she made her way back, the only thing on her mind was her Maliki. He was certainly different than any man Izzy had ever come across. There was something different about him that Izzy didn’t quite understand.
“He’s different,” Izzy said, smiling to herself.
“Who’s different?” a voice came from the darkness. Izzy gasped, not realizing she had said it out loud. “Sorry to scare you,” the voice said again. Izzy immediately recognized it.
“Timothy,” she sighed in relief. A rough, calloused hand picked her up by the waist as she scrambled in his hands laughing. “Timothy! Put me down!” she tried saying in a serious voice but it came out as a laughter.
“Tell me who’s different,” Timothy teased, beginning to spin her around.
“None of your business,” Izzy squealed as Timothy spun her around again. “Why are you so happy anyways?”
Timothy only gave her a goofy grin that made him look like he was a little boy again.
“Because Stefan put up some of the weapons I made and a noble complimented on it, wanting more by the end of next week!” Timothy laughed, finally letting dropping Izzy to the ground. She laughed along with Timothy, happy for her friend.
“That’s great!” she smiled, giving Timothy a hug.
“Thank you Izzy,” Timothy grinned. “So I heard you’re stationed to Maliki.”
“Yes, apparently a punishment,” Izzy sighed, rubbing her temple. “I was supposed to finish my training soon but Maliki is just delaying the process.”
“Get to know the prince before you say anything negative about him. He seems lonely and secluded compared to his sister who’s practically always the center of attention,” Timothy suggested.
“He’s so childish and immature!” Izzy complained, remembering back at Maliki’s strange behavior. She shook her head, trying to get the image of him off her mind. It was immature for her to picture the prince in that manner.
“Apparently from what the maids said it’s because he was never fully introduced to the royal way. King Henry rarely let Prince Maliki involved with anything,” Timothy explained.
Izzy began walking back inside the palace, turning around to walk backwards so she could face Timothy while walking. “It still doesn’t change the fact that he’s a grown man,” Izzy shrugged, letting the topic go. Her complaints wouldn’t change anything so it was better for her to keep her opinions to herself.
“You’ll be surprised, Izzy. Sometimes people are not what others think they are,” Timothy warned. Timothy continued to follow Izzy around the palace and never did Izzy fall. She was well familiar with the interior of the palace that she could sleepwalk through the endless hallways never getting lost. Unfortunately, she wasn’t prepared for one thing.
Alex was coming from the opposite way in a sullen mood when suddenly he thought he could join in a prank. Timothy was a master at emotion and kept Alex’s presence unknown to Izzy. Alex stood right behind Izzy, walking in sync.
“I’ll say,” Izzy scoffed, thinking particularly about Alex. “I think Alexander is the-omph!” Izzy said, as she bumped into something. She swore there wasn’t anything behind her. They were in the same hallway as her room which was an open field of nothing but carpet, not a gigantic wall.
Izzy turned around, planning to laugh off her mistake but found a pair of dark brown eyes. The next thing that came out of her mouth was a small scream.
“Shhh!” Alex said, clamping his hand over Izzy’s mouth. “Geez, woman! You can be very loud when you want to be.” Izzy fought with Alex, trying to rip his hand off her mouth but she found it useless. Timothy had stepped in to help Alex or else Izzy would have had Alex in her grip in a matter of seconds.
“What are you two doing, you unpleasant men?!” Izzy shouted but it only came out in an unintelligent mumble.
“Missed me yet?” Alex grinned, turning around to face her while keeping his hand securely on her mouth.
Izzy shot him a narrowed glare which only heightened Alex’s enjoyment. Izzy resorted to the only thing she could think of and licked his hand with her tongue.
“AH! That is very disgusting for a lady!” Alex said, wiping his hand furiously on his tunic. All Izzy cared was that she was now free of his grasp.
“You two need to learn your manners!” Izzy puffed but the two men knew better than to take it seriously.
“Oh, come on Isabelle. Lighten up,” Alex laughed, high fiving Timothy.
“It was only a joke,” Timothy shrugged. Izzy couldn’t help but smile at the two who had seemed to be getting along just well. The last time they were all together, Timothy was indecisive of choosing sides. Izzy and Alex were always fighting and forcing Timothy to choose sides but she felt happy that the barriers were broken down.
“Only a joke,” she repeated, smirking at how the tables have turned.
“Alex, what is this sound of nonsense?” a feminine voice flaunted her way towards them. It was Anastasia in her silky night gown that still seemed to help her lift her breast up for the world to gawk at. Izzy despised such things as she had already seen enough with regular dresses and looked away.
“Oh, Annie! We were just talking. I shall be right in,” he smiled at her and Izzy felt a twinge of what she thought as jealousy. His smile seemed genuine and radiant as if she was the only thing in his world.
Anastasia noticed Izzy standing there in her undergarment and scowled. “What is this prostitute doing here? Shouldn’t she be elsewhere?”
Izzy felt her blood boiled as she heard the word she would rather describe Anastasia as. At least she wasn’t going around strutting her body off when even Timothy was present.
“Isabelle is not a prostitute. She’s my bodyguard who I asked to meet because I needed to see her for her punishment for her behavior today,” Alex lied, although Izzy didn’t understand why. She had her own reasons and could defend herself.
“And yet she chooses to dress like that. Unacceptable,” Anastasia scoffed, looking Izzy up and down. She heard about this ‘Isabelle’ girl from Alex and how they used to fight but he had informed her that he had once liked her. He never told anyone because he was a prince but Anastasia wondered if his feelings still lasted for this girl who couldn’t even properly dress herself.
“I asked her to hurry. Dear, why don’t you go in? I will be in bed in a minute,” Alex said in his most suave voice. Annie looked at him with a raised eyebrow but listened to him otherwise. When she left Alex turned back to us. “I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow morning?”
“You guessed wrong Alex. We’ll be going back to training but I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around,” Timothy smiled at his friend. He heard the fakeness in his voice when he was talking with Annie. He even caught the fake smile he used around other women to make them listen to him. He was so sure he had an interest in Izzy. “You’re a little sneaky guy, aren’t you?” Timothy laughed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about Timothy,” Alex said, furrowing his eyebrow.
“Okay, I’ll play your game but remember I know you better than anyone else,” Timothy smirked.
“And I’m confused so I shall be going back to bed. Goodnight Timothy, Prince Alexander,” Izzy said bowing to both of them in respect. She heard Alex scowl at his title which only made Izzy smile but she kept her amusement hidden.
Back in her room, Izzy quickly jumped to her bed, feeling the urge to sleep. She tried to fight it but she eventually gave into the warm blankets and the dreams that awaited her.
“Are you happy for us?” Anastasia whispered to Alex as they laid down on their bed. Technically they weren’t supposed to be sharing beds already but no one had to know.
“Of course I am,” Alex replied but he was a millisecond hesitant.
“Well, I’m glad,” she whispered, detecting no flaw in his small lie. She closed up the space between them and gave him a seductive kiss she had been waiting to share since the first time she laid her eyes on him.
He’s finally mine, she thought, grinning as Alex began to trail his kisses down to her neck. Her moans were loudly heard although it was half forced and half desire. It was her birthright to be there in Alex’s arms; it was her birthright to rule both kingdoms.
She thought back to her own realm where she had slept with almost all the noble men she met. She always felt like she needed more. Even though she had Alex in this arranged marriage, she found herself wanting more. With this in thought, she moaned louder as Alex began to do what he thought of as his duty. Never did she know that his heart only mourned for Isabelle to be by his side.