The Little Prince's Gift

The whole Kingdom was buzzing with one news: The King was looking for a Queen. Everyone was interested to know who will be the new Queen, how will the King choose her, and what made the King choose her bride now? All day there were new rumors and gossips about the Royal Family in the capital's marketplace. Whoever came to my stall to buy herbs and spices had their own theory about the whole thing and as a good saleswoman, I had to listen to them. But it wasn't just the customers, the other shopkeepers were also gossiping among themselves, so much so that half of them forgot that it was well past our shop closing time. I was one of them. I wasn't gossiping exactly but I liked to hear my fellow shopkeepers' thoughts. “Six years, no?” Arin, the middle-aged woman who sold vegetables beside my stall, said loudly to the fruit-seller opposite to us. “Yes, too long if you ask me,” said the fruit-seller while collecting his remaining fruits before closing the shop. “I always thought the King was too young to stay widower. He should have re-married a long ago.” “I agree but maybe he didn't find the one,” Arin said smiling with a different glow on her face and I knew why. She had told me multiple times, about her story of going against her family to marry a man who was two years younger than her, and how she never regretted that decision. She and her husband were still in love. However, I also knew that the King was not marrying for love, or that's what I heard. “I don't think so, Arin,” I said as I finished closing my stall. “I hear the entire court is here, and they have called all the eligible noble ladies for the King to choose.” “Really? Where did you hear that?” the fruit-seller asked curiously. “You know the patrol guards who come to my shop sometimes? They have seen the noble ladies heading for the palace in their ornate carriages,” I replied crossing my bag over my shoulder. Arin and the fruit-seller nodded at my information. “Anyway, I am heading home. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Xena,” Arin waved at me then started packing up her stall. “Goodnight,” called the fruit-seller after me. Thankfully, the night wasn't as hot as I expected. The cool breeze blew through my loosely knotted hair and I let out a sigh of relief after another tiring day. I was almost out of the dimly lit market road when I heard voices. “Where are your parents, kid?” “Who are your parents?” “Are you dumb, Mal? Look at his clothes. He is probably someone from that merchant's family.” I turned very slowly towards the voices because I had a pretty good idea of what I was walking into. Sure enough, three thugs in mismatched dark clothes were surrounding a small boy. Unfortunately, petty thieves and these kinds of rogues were common in our town. I have seen them around the marketplace many times. Usually, they didn't do anything in front of people, especially not kidnapping kids. So I had half a mind to go back and call the others who were still in the market but when I looked at the boy, I knew they will not leave this boy. The kid looked around five or six, his face and clothes were muddy and his brown hair messy. But even from where I was standing I could see that his clothes were expensive silk-made and there was a gold pendant around his neck indicating that he was from a wealthy family. The thugs were not going to pass up this opportunity. “Leave me alone!” I heard the little boy shout which was brave of him, though it resulted in one of the thugs ordering the other two to quickly shut his mouth and take him. And I had no more time for thinking. I pulled up my scarf over my head, trying to hide my face as much as I could as I called loudly, “Kai? Kai? Are you there?” I marched towards the thugs acting as if I was looking for someone. Surprised the thugs stopped and turned to my voice for a moment, and I took the chance. “Kai?” I quickly approached them and peeked at the boy. “Kai! Darling! Where did you run off to? I was so worried.” I pretended to look relieved and opened my arms looking at the boy. He was cute and I prayed that he was also smart enough to play along with me. Thank goodness he was. He looked at the thugs as they reached for him again and he squeezed himself slipping through them and ran to me with full speed. “Hey!” The thugs shouted. “Thank you,” the kid mumbled as he clung to me. My heart skipped a beat at the way he held me tightly. “Who are you?” The bulky one said scanning me up and down, obviously taking in my stained, old, simple blouse and pants. “You don't look like someone related to him.” “I am his caretaker,” I blurted out the first lie that came to my mind. “And we will be going now.” I started walking back holding the boy tight. We barely made three or four steps before one thug grabbed me and another one tried to grab the boy. Instantly, I pushed the boy ahead before the thug could reach him. “Run!” I shouted before twisting myself and kicking the thug holding me between his legs. I knew basic self-defense but I knew these three were too much for me. They were a lot taller and bigger. “You — b*tch!” The bulky thug lunged for me and I tried to jump back out of their grasp. I could not. One of them grabbed my scarf and yanked me towards them. I tried to punch him but another one held my hands. I was about to scream when I heard an outcry and saw the little kid smashing a long stick on the bulky thug's knees. I had no idea where he found that stick. The thug yelled and stumbled and the kid hit him again, the other two thugs looked surprised. I took advantage of their disorientation and hit one of them hard on the head. He staggered back. The other one punched me but I moved away and his fist connected with my shoulder painfully. But I didn't stop I swept my feet under him making him fall back on the ground. I reached the last bulky one and found him on the ground while the little kid was still beating him with his stick. I was surprised to see that the thug was bleeding a little bit and how precise and practiced the kid's hits looked. He knew exactly where to hit with his stick to hurt the man who was more than thrice the size of him. “Okay, that's enough. Come on,” I pulled the kid away as I saw the thug I tripped, getting up. “He called you the bad word!” The little kid roared angrily as he tried to hit the bulky thug one more time. I knew we didn't have time for this but I couldn't help let out a startled laugh. I didn't know someone this little could look so angry and roar like that while still looking cute, not to mention that he was angry because the thug called me a b*tch. The thug stood up completely and I pulled the kid towards me and picked him up in my arms. “We need to go,” I said before running. We were about to reach the corner and enter the marketplace when the thug caught up with us. “That is why you don't mess with us.” And he threw a mean punch at me looking furious. It wasn't about the kid anymore. It was about their pride. This time I had no time to react because I was carrying the kid. I tried to duck but the kid tried to hit him with the stick (he still had it in his hands) and we couldn't do either. The thug's fist came towards me, precisely my head. I braced for the impact. It was going to hurt. A lot. It didn't. With speed and force, I had never seen before, someone slammed the thug into the far wall. The thug was knocked down cold. Our savior let go of the limp figure of the thug and turned to us, and my surprise gave into complete shock. For a moment, I thought, maybe because of the dimmed light and the current experience my mind was playing tricks on me, but I was wrong. “Are you okay?” Our Savior asked and I realized I wasn't mistaking. It was indeed our King. King Raiden. Guards came running towards us. Not just guards. Royal guards. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?” A guard asked. The King didn't reply. His light eyes still fixed at me. Up close he was so tall that I had to look up to meet his eyes. He repeated, “Are you okay?” “I . . .” I forgot how to speak under the King's intense gaze. “I think. . . I . . .” “I was not talking to you,” The King said with a serious cold voice. What? “Levan, are you okay?” King Raiden asked looking at the kid and I saw the kid looking at the king nervously. “Yes, father,” the kid whispered. And it hit me. Levan? As in Prince Levan? Did I just save the Prince?