Chapter 1
It was an ordinary day for Prince Rio. When he wasn’t busy handing out foodstuff at the palace’s entrance, he was apprenticing under his father, and sparring with his younger brother, Tyger.
The help in the castle adored Prince Rio because of his compassion towards them. He would offer help when necessary and when he saw them in the hallway, he would say hi. He was the kind to make the maids blush. Rio emitted the beauty of a Greek God. Some said his brown eyes glowed gold whenever he stood in the sun, and others described his olive-brown skin as smooth as peanut butter. They even admired how his midnight black hair curled like ripples in the ocean. He was quite blessed.
On his way back to his room to change for dinner with the king and queen, he found a young maid at the foot of his bed sobbing her eyes out. Her tears trailed her brown cheeks and dripped onto his rug. As much as she tried to dry her face with the hem of her blue checkered dress, more tumbled.
The prince stopped at the door. The maid had been caught up in her despair that she hadn’t seen him. Then something fell from her hand and rolled an inch.
She reached for what seemed like a golden token.
Rio’s eyes widened.
His gold pendant—the one given to him as a teenager by his mother. Stealing, perhaps? But he didn’t move. He watched as she tucked the golden token into her pocket.
“Eh-hem,” the prince coughed.
Startled, the maid leapt to her feet and stumbled back, tripping on the edge of the Peruvian rug.
Rio darted towards her, catching the little thief with one arm.
She yelped, her brown eyes bulging in disbelief.
“Stealing, are we?” he quipped.
The maid stilled.
As Prince Rio brought her tiny frame upright, he noticed how frail her body had been. Did she ever eat? From afar, she seemed normal in height, but as he stood next to her, she appeared short and underweight. Maybe his six-foot frame had something to do with it, but still…
After he released her arm, the maid shivered with fear.
Rio’s face grew serious. “You have something for me. Something you’ve stolen?”
The maid said nothing. Instead, she stuck her shaky hands into the sides of her uniform.
“I saw it, ma’am,” he continued. “Now, if you don’t wish to give me back my pendant, I will have you thrown into the cellar downstairs for theft.”
She let out a breath.
“Or… you can give it back to me now and forget this ever happened.” Rio extended his gloved hand in front of her, curling his fingers. “Your pick.”
The maid shook her head. “I… I can’t”
Rio quirked a brow, dropping his hand. “You can’t or you won’t? Okay, the cellar it is.” He turned towards the door—
“Wait!” her wispy voice called.
He froze, a smirk playing on his lips. Of course, he wouldn’t throw her into the cellar. That was for hardcore criminals. He only wanted to get a rile out of her. After all, she’d stolen from him.
“I-I… I need it.” She plucked the golden, oval-shaped pendant from her pocket.
He closed the space between them. “That is an important piece of jewelry. It belongs to my mother.” He paused when the maid winced at his last word. “She gave it to me when I was younger,” he continued. “So, I do not see why you would need that more than me.”
The maid’s chin dipped.
“Speak,” he commanded in a gentle tone.
“My father is ill. My parents don’t have the money for the medication and I’m afraid he’ll die.”
“So, you believe stealing from the prince was a grand idea?”
She sniffed, wiping her tear-stained cheeks. “You have a lot of things. Things you don’t use and are non-existent in your eyes. I didn’t think you would miss—”
“Wouldn’t miss my mother’s heirloom?” he cut her off. “Are you crazy?” Was she eyeing him the entire time? What else had she stolen from him? He could never recall seeing her in his room, or even at the palace. Or maybe he had never noticed. She was so small and fragile-looking. “Are you new here?”
She shook her head. “No, but I… I was recently promoted to a housemaid, sir.”
“And the first thing you do is steal from me?” Rio couldn’t recall seeing her before he’d gotten recruited in the military. Maybe she was hired after the fact. It could be plausible since he’d only been back for a month.
She shook her head in disagreement. “No, well, I need the pendent more than you do.”
“You’ve got quite a nerve.” He reached for the pendant again and she took a step back.
“I told you, I need it for my father.”
“Don’t you get wages? Send it to him and stop being a brat.”
The maid scoffed. “Wages? We work for free.”
Prince Rio scowled. “The kingdom of Oskos prides itself on honesty and integrity. I shall not have you taint our palace with lies.”
The maid’s jaw slackened. “I am not lying! We do not get paid for our work,” she walked to the head of the bed and straightened one of his pillows, repositioning it in front of another. “Doing this work is a privilege. We eat for free and are clothed with fine material.” She did a curtsey, flaring the hem of her dress. “Working in the palace is taught as a blessing,” she mocked.
“Don’t humor me. There must be a wage.” All his life he grew up in the palace and was sure staff received wages. There was even a time he’d heard his father and his trustees talking about wages. He was positive of that. So, if the maids never collected a salary of the sort, then whom was it for? “I know there’s a wage.”
“There isn’t.” She took out the pendant from her pocket. “Then why would I need to steal this?”
“Greed?” He moved towards her, hoping to snatch it from her tiny fingers. But she tucked it away. “After all, you’re a thief.”
“I am not greedy and a thief, your highness.”
He lifted a brow. “Really?”
Her lips folded.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t get your name?” he said, brushing past her. He slipped off his gloves, set them on the nightstand, and then pivoted to meet her stare.
“Ms. Kaija.” She held her chin up.
“And last?”
“Is that necessary, your highness?”
“No, but I would like to know.”
“So you can have me arrested and ruin my family’s name? If I give you my last name, you can do anything with it.”
“Just a moment ago you were afraid of me. Now, you seem to have a bite. Are you a con artist too?”
Kaija swallowed a lump in her throat. “I’m not.”
“Your last name?”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Are you really questioning me, the prince? If you don’t give it, I can always find out the hard way.” He made another step towards her, but she eased away, moving to the other side of the broad room. If his bed didn’t take up nearly half the space, he could have easily slid over it and trap her on the other side. “I can go ask the housekeeper or even the queen. Then she would want to know why—”
“Achebe,” she said, suddenly. “Are you going to punish me?”
“I need my pendant back.”
She shook her head. “I need this for my—”
“Father?” He rolled his eyes. “My pendant is an important heirloom of the family. You cannot just take what is not yours and pawn it for cash. You have wages for that.”
“Can’t you get it through ya thick skull? I told you we don’t get—” Kaija cupped her mouth, recognizing what she’d said. She held her head down and curtseyed again. “My apologies, your highness. I never meant for it to come out like that.”
If she wasn’t as dark as umber, her cheeks probably would have been crimson. Rio couldn’t help but smirk. No one dared to speak to him like that, and here she was, meek and tiny with the mouth of a lion. How could he scold her for something no one risked doing? “Lift your head,” he finally said.
She glanced up at him under her long eyelashes. Her small face reminded him of a kitten. A cute little kitten.
“Ms. Kaija!” Someone called from the hallway.
Rio turned to see Magu, the head housekeeper, standing behind the doorway with her hands planted on her broad hips. The woman did a quick curtsey and nodded her apologies before shooting Kaija an icy glare.
“Your Highness,” Magu took a step into the room. “For whatever reason my staff is keeping you, I humbly apologize.” Then she paced across the room, snatched Kaija by the hand, and tugged her along.
“But—” he paused, sealing his lips. He couldn’t tell Magu his exact reasons for keeping her. Should he?
“It certainly won’t happen again,” Magu said.
Kaija peeked over her shoulder, giving Rio a woeful look. He knew she probably prayed that he didn’t say anything. And he didn’t. But he needed to get the pendant back before she sold it.
In the hallway, Rio heard the housekeeper scolding Kaija for spending the past fifteen minutes in his room. She also belittled her for her posture whilst in his presence. He moved to interrupt the conversation but his brother, Tyger, entered, stopping him in his tracks.
Rio took a step back.
Tyger glanced behind him. “Woah, what did she do to deserve that?”
Magu slapped Kaija on her back again and she straightened. Rio had to stop himself from rushing over to scold Magu. His mother always told him that the servants were very different people and that royals should never get involved with their everyday dramas. Let the help deal with the help, she had said. That’s what they’re there for, anyway.
Rio walked to the door and closed it after seeing Magu yanking Kaija down the hall. Every muscle in his body ached to fetch her from the hag, but since his brother infiltrated his room, he would retrieve his pendant another time. The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene. And given the type of person his brother was, he preferred to keep his troubles to himself.
Tyger flopped back on Rio’s bed and pulled the same pillow Kaija had straightened. He hugged it and then threw it across the room, hitting Rio’s golden-framed mirror.
Rio gritted his teeth. “Kai—” he cleared his throat. “The maid just fixed the sheets. Show some respect.”
“Who cares? She’s gone anyway.”
Rio picked it up and set it back in its original position. “Why are you here Ty, I thought beating you at fencing was enough for you to go lick your wounds?”
Tyger flexed his shoulders and jabbed the air in front of him. “Next match, I’ll be ready.”
Like Rio, Tyger possessed great looks, strength, and ridiculously good hair. Although he was darker, he inherited most of his mother’s Indian heritage. The queen was Indian, but she was also mixed with black.
“Yeah, right.” Rio smacked his brother’s foot. “Get off my bed.”
“Fine.” He stood, brushing his white sleeve. “Father requests your presence in his cabinet. Now.”
