The Fallen Princess

Two

Zakai had surrendered any realistic claim to the throne when he was still a boy, long before he understood the full weight of what that decision truly meant. Even now, in adulthood, he never once regretted it. He wanted no part of it.

Only Cecil still insisted on calling him Prince. To her, he would always be the quiet, serious child she had tended since childhood. She had cared for them both, him and Zaria, with the unwavering devotion of someone who had long ago chosen them over her own safety.

Politics had offered Zakai nothing but danger. Knighthood, however, brutal, demanding, exhausting, made far more sense. Steel was honest where courtiers were not. In a world where he and his sister had grown up as targets, better he learn to wield a sword than a smile.

Zaria split her modest royal allowance with him; the only true benefit she received for remaining tied to the crown. Their mother’s lineage had granted them beauty, but little else. In return for her generosity, Zakai became her unofficial, unyielding guardian.

He shielded her from the Queen’s calculated traps, from the vipers lurking in their father’s harem, and from the men who looked at her with hunger rather than respect.

For all her father’s titles... King of the Southern Continent, Lord of the Hallowed Sands... his reputation was defined not by his conquests but by the women he collected. Beautiful women. Nearly a hundred of them.

Some he coveted for their looks. Others for their magic. And others still simply because he could take them and taking was a power the King wielded freely.

The Queen retaliated in her own quiet, ruthless fashion. She manipulated the concubines beneath her, selecting the most ambitious among them and bringing about the demise of the loveliest. No screams, no witnesses, no trace. Just poison.

The truth was worse: most of the harem had not come willingly. They were war prizes or stolen from their homelands. Zaria’s and Zakai’s own mother had suffered the same fate... taken, used, and finally put to death by order of the Queen. She had survived long enough to raise them until they turned 9.

Children born to the King’s harem were granted royal titles for the sake of alliances, traded as tokens to earn favor, or used as courtesans to please visiting nobles. Their beauty was currency. Their existence was leverage. And that was how the world named their father: The Lewd King.

Zaria stepped into the front garden, the morning sun warm on her pale skin, and the scent of jasmine drifting on the breeze. Tiny feet pattered across the stones.

“Zaria!” her little half-sisters squealed, rushing toward her in a flutter of pastel dresses and messy braids. “Hello, my beautiful sisters,” Zaria answered with genuine warmth. She kissed her fingertips and tapped each girl lightly on the head. A greeting that had become theirs alone.

Zakai barely had time to turn before they barreled into him, four small bodies colliding with his legs. He stiffened instantly, awkwardly patting their backs as though afraid to break them. The oldest was ten, the youngest barely four, all of them carrying the soft features and frightened eyes of children who had already seen too much tragedy.

For Zakai and Zaria, surviving childhood had been nearly impossible. After their mother’s death, many in the palace had wanted the twins to follow her into the grave. They were too pretty, too threatening to the Queen’s influence.

Less than a year after their mother’s murder, someone slipped poison into their food. The two children were dragged to the far edge of the castle gardens like forgotten refuse, left in the shadow of the outer wall. But Cecil found them.

Somehow, through a miracle, stubbornness, or elven blood thick in their veins, the twins had survived.

Years later, fate repeated itself. Zakai discovered the four little girls now clinging to him in the same pitiful state. Abandoned, unnoticed, and nearly lost forever.

He carried them to his sister without hesitation. Zaria nursed each one back to health, only to learn their mothers had been “removed” from the harem. With no one else left in the world, Zaria and Zakai became their shield.

“Come, children,” Zaria called brightly. “Put on your cloaks and let’s go. Today, our dear brother is escorting us to Saint Lia’s orphanage, where you may play.” The girls erupted into delighted squeals, scrambling to fetch their cloaks.

The orphanage, just outside the castle grounds, was one of the only places where they could be ordinary children, unburdened by palace politics or danger.

They made their way through the stone corridors toward the knights’ quarters, sunlight filtering through high glass windows in fractured beams. Several young knights waited on horseback, ready to escort them into town.

“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” Aldric teased as they approached. “I skipped breakfast to be here, you know.”

Aldric had been Zakai’s friend since they were boys training in the sparring yard, long before Zakai abandoned his formal post to devote himself to protecting Zaria. Their bond had endured late-night drills, bruises, heartbreak, and countless disciplinary lectures.

“Princess,” Aldric said as he turned his full attention toward her, a familiar glint in his eye. “You look radiant as always.” He hopped down from his horse with theatrical grace, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. He lingered just long enough for annoyance to spark in her brother’s eyes and perhaps a grin to tug at hers.

Zakai stepped forward with a sharp exhale, giving Aldric a shove to the shoulder. “One of these days, I’ll do more than that,” he muttered under his breath. Aldric laughed. “I look forward to it, my friend.”

His attention shifted to the girls, who peeked at him from behind Zaria’s skirt. “Oh my!” he exclaimed dramatically, dropping into a bow. “Zakai, tell me you didn’t steal these lovely little fairies from the forest! We must hurry and return them before they curse us!”

The youngest shrieked with laughter as Aldric scooped her up and spun her around. He chased the others across the clearing, pretending to stumble and fall while they dissolved into delighted giggles.

Zaria smiled, her heart softening. These small moments, she thought. These are what make life bearable.

“I hate him,” Zakai muttered as he stepped beside her. “You do not,” she replied, laughing lightly. “He’s a good man… but I still hate him.” Zaria arched a brow. “And what grudge could you possibly have against him?”

Zakai hesitated, a rare thing for him, before answering in a low voice, “Because I think he would be a suitable suitor for you… and I both love and hate him for it.”

Zaria blinked, startled. “Aldric? And me?” She considered the possibility no one had ever spoken aloud. “Well,” she said slowly, “handsome as he is, he’s married to the knightage. He has no desire to settle down.”

Then she smirked. “Honestly, I think he’d make a far better husband for you, dear brother.”

Zakai turned to her with utter disbelief. “How so?” “He only uses me to irritate you,” she replied, grin widening. “Whenever it suits him.”

“You must be drunk,” he declared dryly, folding his arms across his chest. Zaria nudged him with her elbow. He refused to smile, but she caught the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

They grew quiet for a moment, watching Aldric finally collapse onto the grass as the girls clambered over him like victorious warriors. “The fairies…” Aldric gasped dramatically as he stumbled toward them.

“They have overpowered me. I am defeated. Please carry on in my stead.” He bowed deeply to Zakai, then winked. “If I must,” Zakai grumbled, stalking toward the girls in exaggerated resignation.

“Jester at heart, that one,” Aldric remarked, nodding in Zakai’s direction. Zaria laughed harder than she intended, warmth blooming in her chest. “Leave him be, Aldric. He’s doing his best.”

Aldric shifted, expression briefly turning serious. “Zaria, I’ve been meaning to speak with you about something-” “Sir,” another knight cut in urgently, “pardon the interruption, but if we don’t leave soon, we won’t return in time for the meeting with the Corporal.”

Aldric sighed, running a hand through his golden hair. “Yes, you’re right. Perfect timing.”

he muttered flatly. A faint tension settled in the air, a pause that hinted Aldric had wanted to say more.

“I’ll gather the girls,” Zaria said quickly, stepping away from the heaviness and toward the sound of laughter.