The Princess in Disguise

Prologue

POV Marcus

I’m tired of my people dying unnecessarily, due to the alliance with the Gold Kingdom. Our borders attach by the river and my people suffer greatly. I have tried to fix the situation by putting guards there and allowing for a wall to be placed for the protection of those living on the border line. The problem resides with the King Darius not punishing unlawful citizens. The people have caused fights, demolished innocent homes, and keep brawling on my territory. I’m putting a stop to all this. I will fix this situation and expand my rule. I heard King Darius has a beautiful daughter and I plan to marry her without any arguments. I plan to have this Peace Treaty rewritten and I will give him no choice. “Phillip, are you ready to start a war with the Gold Kingdom?” He looks at me with excitement and understanding. We both have talked about solutions for our boarders for along time. My right hand man and brother, Phillip. We are only minutes apart in age, but he was after, which makes him my younger brother. “Let’s do it! Where do we start? I want to know the exact plan you have in mind, Marcus.” “Okay! My plan is for you to stay here and meet with King Darius. Take your time in the meeting. We will pretend we are interested in rewriting the Peace Treaty. While, I go to his Kingdom and take his only daughter and this war will be good as over.” “Wow, Marcus, you’re such a cleaver brute. Do you even know anything about the daughter?” Phillip is built wider and taller than me, but he has to wear glasses when he’s reading. We almost look alike other than our height and built. I look at him thinking how much do I even know about this girl. “I honestly only know King Darius only has one child. My plan is to capture what he holds most valuable. I have heard the Princess is beautiful to look upon.” Phillip looks up at me and smiles. “Maybe, I will marry her instead.” “I plan to make her queen beside me regardless of it all, Phillip.” He looks surprised that I’m interested in any girl. I never cared for any woman, so he was shocked I was ready to marry a girl I never seen before. “Well, I hope she is beautiful for your sake brother. I look forward to meeting the future queen.”

The Gold Kingdom was ruled by a mighty King Darius. A Kingdom known for its rules and hierarchy. No one would have imagined the palace to be infiltrated and in shambles. King Darius went to the Diamond Kingdom to meet for a peace treaty. Our territory and theirs meet on the west side, we share a river between our lands, and we have been allies for over 50 years. It was a shock the meeting didn’t come to fruition and then to come home to find the guards brutally murdered and the palace a disaster. “Sir. Trent, take your men to the west. Sir.George take your men to the east. I will go straight to the castle.” My heart was beating out of my chest and my blood was boiling over with fear for my family. My sweet wife, Belle tried to talk me to not go to the meeting. I should have listened to her wisdom, but I felt we had a good opportunity for the Gold Kingdom to make a new contract with our neighboring Diamond Kingdom. This was a cunning attack and I want to make sure we know for sure who did this. “Brent, who is responsible for this?” We are puzzled by no evidence and how the castle guards are all killed with no witnesses. I need to focus and try to stay calm, so I can find out who is responsible for this and see if we can find a witness. “Please, let me know if you find anyone alive, I mind-linked.” I hold my breath when I walked into the castle and see my Belle lying on the floor. “Sir. Darius, I believe she’s alive just unconscious. She took a blow to the head, Brent says.” I examine her bruised head and relieved to find her breathing in my arms. I send Brent to find our doctor. I need to find my sweet little Brooke. My only child and she is only 5. Please, let her be okay. Judy our doctor walks in with haste. “Please, Judy, stay with Belle while I look for Brooke.” “Yes, Your Majesty, she will be okay in my care. Please find our princess, Judy looks with sadness.”Without a word I walk with swiftness looking for my baby girl with desperation. Will I ever see my Brooke again? “No sign of the little princess, Your Majesty. I did find her shoe by the west gate. Maybe a sign of a struggle.” My heart stops and I feel numb with pain for losing my Brooke. They took my daughter. Oh, how I love my baby girl. The jewel of my eyes is now gone from me in a flash. Memories of her kept flowing through my mind. Walking with her down by our fishing pond. The wind catching her sweet loose sandy blond curls in the wind. She would always want to ride my back and spin around. We played hide and seek through the gardens. She would hold my hand on our family walks. Her hazel eyes would keep you in a trance. The tears started sliding down before I could stop them. “Sir, it’s not over. We will get our princess back, Brent gives me a pat on the shoulder.” I look up at the night sky thinking only of who could have done this and is my daughter okay.?