The Masked Princess

The night murder

Meerah 2

A courtyard in Patag kingdom.

Kendrick hauled into the courtyard in the dark as he staggered and murmurs with his hat in his hand, he wore a brown leather pant and a knife tucked to the belt on his waste, he has a deep quartzo eyes that seems to reflect in the dark, his mahogany hair was looking haphazardly comb, which shows how much he had dug his fingers in them while rubbing his head, He found his Father in the courtyard talking to some palace body guard and screamed to the emptiness of the courtyard as his words echoed back to him and the other guards found in the courtyard.

The guardhouse is a fortified structure built over the gateway to the castle to maintain the main entrance to the castle, it is a complicated structure with many lines of defence which include drawbridges, portcullises and openings between corbels that supports the floor and roof of the fortified building from which missiles can be shot or heated items dropped upon assailants attacking the walls with arrow loops and murder_holes where stones are dropped on attackers which are now converted into gun loops or gun ports. The wall is an original deep red brick with little spaces for air.

"Hey Father what is that I'm hearing about the princess and I?..."

He stopped and hiccuped severely as he threw up and messing up the courtyard as he moved some steps closer to his Father and raised his hands in the air stammering, Kendrick is the only Son of the palace king commander and the next in duty after his Father as the culture would have it, but his Father seem to have other intentions for Kendrick. The Father dismissed the guards looking humiliated and sad but tried to withstand the force of the situation as he clenched on his jack while dragging him into one of the guard houses as he literally threw him into the building breathing heavily.

Kendrick got up sluggishly, absolutely regaining himself from his drunken state as he slightly placed his two middle fingers on his bursted forehead. He did not even realised the cut on his forehead until when he observed the blood dropped on the hard concrete floor. Rowan whose face was on the floor as he struggles to catch up with his breathe traced the drops on the floor to Kendrick head and snarled, looking away which shows how less concerned he is about Kendrick present ailments.

Kendrick was already wet beneath his feet in his booth and dripping sweats from his palm at the sight of the blood. The building was very dark except from the moonlight projecting slight lightness into the building. Rowan walked to a wooden table in the middle of the room as he slowly light up a candle. The pristine light from his candle revealed Rowan sternest of face which subconsciously made Kendrick took two steps backward as Rowen opened the rugged carpet in the building that hid the Sandy rocked floor as he picked a tiny rocked stone and brought it closed to the candle until it became red. Kendrick eyes became wide open as he was dumbfounded as to how Rowen stayed put holding a very hot stone as he got carried away. Rowen clenched Kendrick to the floor and forcefully placed the stone on the his bursted forehead.

Kendrick moaned in agony as he stretched with aches. Rowen let go of him and looked at him disgustingly as he spoke in a breathy voice from the force but equally low.

"Imbecile!"

Kendrick stayed stoop at a spot drooling from his mouth and nose with tears in his eyes.

"Father I don't want the princess"

he finally spoke in a low adjective voice that seems brittle which shows how much he is scared to speak.

"Oh seal up young Man" Rowen said in a deep harsh tune,

"You don't even have a reason for your outrageous judgement" he faced Kendrick.

" I don't want her Father, she's masculine" Kendrick said

Rowen smirked and held him by the shoulder.

"You don't know what you get for marrying the Princess and that certify how dumb you've grown to become". Rowen muttered as he sat on a wooden stool and crossed his leg.

" I am not offering you a wife Ken, I am offering you power".

"Father she's going to kill me, she is fierce Father" Kendrick fell on Rowen's feet as he sounded pleadingly.

Rowen became furious and disgusted.

"Get hold of yourself Ken, she is a woman and she is going to be your wife!

"Your subject"!! He screamed.

"All you want is the throne right?" He suddenly sounded subtle as Kendrick nodded hysterically.

"Then she is the path to the throne and you need no wars to get that, all you need is marriage. He said in a fierce thick tune.

" but I don't love her" Kendrick intentionally said that looking pitiful.

"One word from you again and I will get you beheaded, right here and now" Rowen said in his firm croaky voice as Kendrick sniffed quickly and held his lips funnily.

"You are the king and you can get as much women as you want when you get the throne, but right now all you have to do is marry the princess, do you get that?"

Kendrick bounced his head again and Rowen searched through his eyes as if trying to affirm that they are now on the same page.

He moved closer to him and whispered something into Kendrick hearing when he quickly stepped backward dumbfounded. Just right behind Rowen, the oil candle fell as the fire got quenched. The room became dark revealing the shadow of a woman in veil who have been eavesdropping. Rowen followed her immediately as Kendrick stepped out to see who it was when he found that Rowen had beheaded a young maid and he stood breathlessly. Kendrick looked up and found the Princess shutting her cotton hesitantly when she met his wide opened eyes, he looked so out of the world and confused. He stood in the middle of the courtyard mouth gaping and stuck.

The courtyard seems quite noisy as the sound of the maid got the other guides out and at alert. They stood looking at the beheaded maid and The commander of guards as they are lost of what to do next.

"Clean the mess" Rowen muttered finally and got back into the guard room with Kendrick following him as the few guards carried the body trying to clean up the courtyard. Immediately they got into the building Kendrick became restless as he kept asking so many questions at a time.

"What have you done Father?"

"What is going to happen now?"

" What have you done?"

"The King trusted you so much" Kendrick asked in his troubled state.

And Rowen replied him almost immediately after his last question.

"The king trusted me so much and that is what will quench the heat tomorrow".

Kendrick was still restless with his lips shivering as he stood up to his Father.

" he will find out" Kendrick said in a worried and scared tune.

"Not until the Sheep I raised tell him" Rowen said as he pours himself a hot black tea.

"Aside that you have nothing to be scared of"

He chuckled.

Kendrick walked around as he subconsciously muttered.

"But the princess"

He said that almost whispering.

Rowen stopped half way from taking his coffee and asked.

" what about the Princess?" He seemed serious while keeping on an alert face.

Kendrick shook his head slowly in denial to avoid raising more questions from his Father because he never said anything while he saw her during the scene in the courtyard.

"Nothing" he said silently.

But to aviate any suspicion he decided to change the topic.

"I am just wondering if Princess will agree to it".

" to what?" Rowen asked surprisingly

"To the marriage" he said sounding pathetic.

Rowen laughed out in amazement and wide opened eyes.

"Of course she doesn't have a choice, you are the only one who can stop the wedding and confirm that you are not interested"

"No I alone can cancel the wedding, because I moulded it". He gulped the rest of the tea and said.

" she have no choice but to do that because I will make the King believe it is a favour from my part as his long time friend" he stood up and walk up to Kendrick.

"And you have no course to be scared of her, I will get her out of the way"

"Father!"

Kendrick lamented.

"Yes she is a threat and all threats should be terminated". Rowen mentioned.

"she is innocent" Kendrick said in a low tune but wondering if he was right by saying that as he remembered her looking through the window and thought about what the Princess would do next. He knew the princess to be a smart fierce Lady and she won't let that slide. Now he wondered maybe she is actually a threat, maybe she should really be taken off the way. He thought about what the morning holds for them and how his Father planned on cleaning up his mess, as he seems so not remorseful.