Page 14 of Seven Princes: A Very Dirty Fairtytale

“My princess, if any of the other kingdoms attack now, you’d stand no chance” he said. I thought no chance was overstating the case as we were still strong, but he had a point.

I consulted with John about the idea. He told me that we could be okay if we were attacked again, but it wasn’t a risk worth taking. He stated that we should swallow our pride for now and accept them into the case. John was suspicious too. It was seemingly an act of kindness, but an act of kindness between kingdoms was rare. It was an olive branch that we were going to have to accept with trust. The business with Josh always played on my mind however, his lack of appearance hinted that behind the scenes things weren’t as peaceful as they appeared.

John had told me that the Sanyek’s helped fight off the Gattzam from afar with catapults and arrows, and hadn’t been closely embroiled in the battle. Their help was crucial in making the Gattzam retreat, but that they didn’t really get their hands dirty, so to speak.

Isaac, Ralph and the rest of the soldiers were shown into their quarters and a separate part of the castle was made up for them. I instructed guards to keep a watchful eye on them to ensure that everyone in the castle was protected. It wasn’t the most comfortable of environments as the castle was suspicious of having armed guards from another kingdom permanently stationed in the castle.

We discussed strategy and numbers with them to ensure that we were prepared for an attack. We knew that Gattzam wouldn’t be able to attack again for a while, but we needed to counter attack them as soon as we could.

We wondered that the Sanyek’s intentions were, but I was soon to find out. We had a feast on one night and then afterwards, Isaac pulled me to the side to have a private word, between just me and him. I wanted to bring John into the discussion, but Isaac wanted it to just be between me and him.

“We have word that the Gattzam will be ready to attack soon, and also that the Oxerod’s are considering making a move on either this kingdom, or on the Gattzam” he said, I couldn’t figure out how much of what he was telling me was the truth. He was very convincing.

“We need to act now to attack against the Gattzam, before they regain strength” I wondered what he meant by ‘we’, kingdom’s never attack together. It seemed like a strange thing to say.

“Here’s the deal” said Isaac, my heart sank as I knew what was coming wasn’t going to be what I wanted to hear. “We are prepared to use our whole army, in partnership with yours, to eliminate the Gattzam and control their kingdom. What we’d require is for you to give up the control of your army to us Sanyek’s. You’d still be able to live in your castle and have it under your name, but we would have control of all three kingdoms” he said with a smile on his face, as though the deal he was proposing was the best thing that could have happened to us. I didn’t like it, not at all, but I wasn’t going to dismiss it out of hand straight away as I needed to talk to John about what was said, I couldn’t make this decision without him.

“I’ll speak to the general and get back to you” I said, he tried to get me to agree to it right there and then but there was no way I was going that. I immediately sought John’s council on the matter as I took him away from the crowd. I told him was Isaac had proposed that we do and he immediately shook his head before he let me finish speaking.

“What he is proposing is effectively silent surrender” said John, angry at the fact that is was even proposed. We agreed that we were going to reject the proposal, but thoughts then turned to what would happen if we did.

“If they want us to silently surrender, then what will they do if we don’t want to go quietly” I said to John, concerned about their next move.

“Then we’ll go very nosily, and not without a fight” he said, defiant and proud of the castle that he had called home his all life. He wasn’t about to take commands from someone from another kingdom. I agreed, regardless of the consequences, we weren’t going to give away our sovereignty to anyone else. If we did, we’d have no idea what would happen to anyone in the castle. We weren’t going to allow the castle to be ruled by anyone apart from ourselves. John prepared the army for the worse to happen, and any backlash would be controlled. We had no idea how they’d take the rejection, but we couldn’t take any chances.

I told Isaac that we had made a decision and said that I needed to speak with him. I took him into a room with John and he bought Ralph to discuss the matter. I got straight to the point of the matter. “I have decided that we will not be giving up our army, or control of our land” I said confidently, wanting to show my power.

“That is foolish” said Isaac, “There is no way you’ll be able to eliminate the Gattzam on your own” In my head I thought that he may be right, but what was the point of living if you have no freedom? I’d rather die on my feet than live the rest of my life on my knees. I was prepared to do whatever it took for the cause. I was expecting anger from Isaac, but there was only contemplation and confusion at my decision.

“I understand” said Isaac, “I will have to send a messenger to my father to see whether he still wants us to support you at the castle” It was clear to me now why they had come to ‘protect’ us, they had only come to try and make a deal to take over from the castle. They knew that invading us would ring alarm bells throughout the land. A silent invasion wouldn’t do that, and it would grow their empire. I’d wait for the messenger to come back from their castle, but for now we were on our own.

For now Isaac, Ralph and their troops would continue to stay at the castle. The awkwardness of their stay only intensified due to the lack of a deal that just happened between the two kingdoms. The messenger’s arrival the next day would surely not be welcomed with good news. John and I talked about what should be done and whether we should attack, but we thought it would be wise to not make any such moves.

Bella – Forbidden no more

The next day came and with it was an arrival to the castle. We were expecting an arrival that day, but it wasn’t the one we were thinking of. Arriving on horseback was another man whose help was another unexpected olive branch.

I got called to the castle entrance by the guards to see if I would allow entry to the arrivals. I made my there and was shocked by what I saw. It was Prince George with around ten men around him. I asked him what his business was here at the castle, he said that he wanted to help me and make sure I was okay. That he just wanted to speak with me and wanted to make sure I was safe.

At this point I was desperate, and with Isaac and Ralph already calling the castle home, I thought it was worth the risk, so I let him in. I was hoping that he wouldn’t come with the same sort of offer that Isaac did. George was a man that I always longed for and wanted, I’d be heartbroken if he was another man who wasn’t quite what he seemed.

George requested that we have a talk and I took him for a walk around the castle making sure a few of my guards were close by. The events of the last few days made me doubt anyone and everything. George seemed to understand my concern, but was disappointed with my lack of trust.

“Why are you here?” I said, in a tone that I tried to keep as friendly as possible, but I was impatient to know.

“To help you, to protect you, to make sure that you stay safe” he said, with a genuine look in his eye.

“Why?” I said bluntly to the son of a man who hated my father.

“Because . . . I don’t really know . . . I just had this overwhelming urge to fight for you and be by your side. The only thing stopping me from being there was your father, I want to be here now” he said, it was hard not to believe him, but surely his father would want something from our kingdom.

“Why would your father help me?” I said, still trying to figure out what the deal is.

“He won’t. He has no interest in your kingdom, either taking it over, or protecting it. I’m here against his will. The men with me are my own personal guard” he said. He seemed genuine, and his intentions seemed noble.

“But George, you know the risks, you could be killed here, and what for?” I said, as I was looking at this man with so much emotion in my heart; he was the man that I always wanted to get to know better, but never had the chance to. The man that could have been perfect for me, but we were never able to give it a chance. The man whose smile gave me a feeling in my stomach that no other man had been able to do, I couldn’t describe it.

“What for?” said George before taking a breath and contemplating what he was just about to say.

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