Chapter 1
Her green eyes, wide and curious, stared me down from the safety of her mother’s arms.
The queen of Relkom chuckled at her baby. “I believe Valenor is taking a liking to the young prince.”
My mother smiled in agreement. She took her own turn holding the young princess. This baby thieving seemed to be the trend among the females in the castle.
I straightened up taller next to my father and the other king, trying to appear indifferent as they did.
“Kalin,” my mother’s voice startled me as she walked closer. “Would you like to hold her?”
Though I was hardly a man, being the age of 13 was still enough to need to keep hold of my pride. I shook my head and pretended to take interest in the men’s conversation. It was mostly gibberish to me, but I knew the two kings didn’t agree on many things as they discussed the possibilities of being allies. Also, I knew that my dad didn’t like the King of Relkom and didn’t want our kingdom of Auden to be influenced by their kingdom.
There was only one thing that kept my dad here, gritting his teeth, holding back his dislike, and faking friendship, and that was my mother. She and the queen of Relkom had been friends since childhood. If it wasn’t for them, I’m sure the two kingdoms would have ripped each other apart long ago.
It was all confusing to me. My father taught me that a king needed to always do what he thought was best. To act in total power and dominance and never show weakness. Yet when it came to my mother, he was like a kitten.
My eyes turned back towards the sound of the women laughing as they adored the baby. Their eyes glowed in playfulness and delight. That side of the room looked much happier.
It didn’t take long for my father’s cold eyes to notice me looking. I quickly turned my attention back to the men’s world. The world that I needed to be in.
“Prince Kalin!” The sound of a maid’s voice caused me to stop walking down the hallway. “Bless your heart, I needed saving just now. The queens are having their morning tea, and something urgent came up that I need to tend to. Please watch the princess. Just for a moment! I won’t be but a hen’s hold long.”
And just like that, she dashed away, leaving me without enough time to even know what to think. It was only a moment later when the baby princess started to cry. I slowly walked into the room where she wiggled around in her crib. What was I to do?
Taking care of children was the women’s job. That’s what my father always told me. But with such pitiful cries coming from a helpless being, could I do nothing?
Making sure no one was around, I stepped in front of the crib. Now what?
“It’s okay, little princess. Don’t cry.”
But, of course, my words did no good.
“You don’t need to be afraid. If there is a dragon, I’ll slay it. If there is an ogre, I’ll tie it up. If there is a goblin, I’ll turn it into a frog.”
Those were words to a song my mother used to sing to me. The princess seemed to calm a bit after that but still didn’t look very happy. I lightly poked her little arm. Next, her small hand somehow ended up around my finger.
“Hey, that’s mine.” I lightly yanked it back, but her hold was stronger than I expected. “Are you a finger thief, Princess?”
She made some baby sounds back as slobber started to run down her lips. Baby slime, yuck.
I made my own sounds back. This time, she finally smiled. I felt rather proud of this accomplishment. It encouraged me to make some even more silly sounds with faces till she started laughing. I couldn’t help but admit that she was a little bit cute. Especially those big, green eyes.
“She seems to really like you.”
I jumped at the sound of the maid who I hadn’t realized had come back.
Ripping my finger away, I stumbled back. “Um, uh…yeah.”
Without another word, I left the room. But not without one last look at those mesmerizing eyes.
