Dan'enda Struggle

Chapter Three: The Guardians

The young woman before me approached, the guy and the guards stood back a few paces. "Princess Nydia? I am Rose Dranovan. My family has been a main contributor to the Guard for many generations. This is my younger brother, Sevrin," she motioned him forward.

She continued, "I believe you are of a similar age, and may already have met in school at some point. My father was very briefly informed of the danger that occurred earlier this afternoon. I have been told to come down to meet you, see how you are faring, and speak to your parents with my father, the commander. My brother came because he needs to learn about our duty, and how to carry it out. He is beginning his training soon, so this is a way to test him and remind him who he will be serving. I understand that I am to be your guardian once my father and your parents work out some details. Princess, I look forward to protecting you." She saluted and urged Sevrin to do the same. I sat in shock and watched the two of them. I knew she was attempting to ground me, to keep my mind focused.

I watched them, though I still couldn't really hear or comprehend what I was being told. I didn't need a guardian. At my blank stare, Rose spoke again. "Princess, where are the king and queen?" She looked where I pointed and then spoke to Sevrin before walking away, "Sevrin, keep her company. Talk to her. Be a friend." The other guards that accompanied them turned and positions themselves by the entrances.

Sevrin looked at me and sighed. "I don't even want to be here. I haven't even finished my schooling. I don't know why they made me come with her." He paused as I stood up, clearly embarrassed. "My apologies. Uh, Princess. What should I do?" I had started to walk away.

I didn't know what to say, so I simply said, "Follow me. Do your job, I guess." I led him to my room down a few halls and went to my bed. I sat down by my pillows with Ivy in my lap and motioned towards the other end for him to sit. When he sat down, I spoke, "Why are you and your sister here? I don't need a guardian."

"I don't really know why. My sister has been training since she was little, a prodigy in my father's eyes. She is eighteen now, and one of the most skilled available, so she is one of the higher ranked guards. My guess is that my father was told about you being in danger, so he sent my sister to watch over you for a while because she isn't much older than us." Sevrin watched me. "Right now, I don't think anyone wants you to be left alone and risk whoever is behind this coming back for you."

I looked away from him to look out the window, then back to him. All I could think about was how normal this day started and how much has changed. "I don't need anyone to protect me. I do not need help. My sister does. She is the one who is lost. She needs to be protected before the darkness in her grows and takes over."

"Princess, I don't know. But perhaps you do need to be protected. There may be others who wish to harm you."

"But why would anyone want to hurt me?"

"Because you are the princess," he said very confidently. "And a talented one at that. I remember seeing you excel in school, even early on. You learned everything so quickly. I am surprised that no one had thought about you negatively before. You've only been getting stronger. People may feel threatened by your strong presence and abilities. It'll be better for everyone to keep you protected, so that nothing happens to the future of Dragha."

"Then I don't want to be the princess," I snapped. "I don't want to be strong if my family is getting hurt because of my strength. Just call me Nydia. I'm not a princess. I'm not even a good sister if I couldn't protect her and keep her home."

"Princess," I shot him a look of warning. "I mean, Nydia, you are the crown princess and you will need to accept that you will be queen someday. I know you're upset about your sister, but I also know there will always be some bad days ahead of you. You will need your strength, your bond with Ivy, to rise above those challenges. If it is to be my duty, then both my sister and I are here to help you through, including helping you save your sister."

Ivy chirped at me and I looked at her. She agreed with Sevrin. Footsteps sounded down the hall and so I looked towards my door. My mother and father walked into my room with Rose and a few of the other guards, including the commander. My mother spoke quietly, still fatigued from earlier, "Nydia, sweetheart, Rose is going to be your guardian. I believe Syrena has been persuaded to go into the darkness. She just wouldn't do something like that on her own. Before anyone can go after you, we will have someone guard you."

"I don't need protection! I have Ivy. Ivy has me. Everyone keeps saying how strong she and I are, so why do I need a guardian? So that other people get hurt instead of me? I want Syrena home and safe!"

My father was going to speak but stumbled over his words. He and my mother were astounded by my statement of defiance. Before he could gather his thoughts, however, Sevrin spoke, "Nydia, maybe if whoever is behind this tried to get to you and instead got to your sister, they might use her to get back to you. If there are guards around you, we could find the person and save your sister. If they send her after you, we can keep her home and figure out how to save her."

Ivy chirped again. I could tell she was stressed even though she was trying to keep me calm. I stroked her head then stood up. "Fine. Rose, I will accept you as my guardian only if I can be trained as well."

My answer was unexpected and I got a surprised squeak from Ivy, a few shocked looks, and a nod of approval from Rose.