Chapter 8

Captain Lamar was getting nervous. It had been too quiet for too long. His men told him that Baron Gamby went in and out through the back door, but he didn't exactly tell them anything about what was going on inside. Lamar knew Hayden since they were kids, and he knew how easily the king lost his temper. But unless it was in battle, he never actually hurt anyone in his fury, not seriously at least.

Over the years, many ladies tried to get into the king's good graces, but it always ended up the same. One or two hits with the belt, lots of screaming and crying, and then it was Lamar's job to escort the noble lady back home. Sometimes it didn't even come to the belt, and a few women were motivated enough to last more than two strikes. But as soon as they told him to stop, he always did.

Did his rage finally get the better of him when he got his hands on the princess? Because it seemed highly unlikely that the feeble creature wouldn't try to stop him from hitting her. Did he kill her? Lamar hated himself for even thinking about such things. Hayden was his friend, or at least as close to a friend as a common soldier could get with a king. The Orellian captain knew damn well that if something like that really happened, the king would be tortured by the thought for the rest of his life.

The tied-up Levantians remained quiet, even captain Markos stopped struggling and settled just for piercing Lamar with his eyes.

When the door finally did open, the soldiers from both sides all turned their heads toward it. And Lamar stared with his mouth open. The girl wasn't dead or hurt. No, she was standing there proudly, wrapped in the king's cloak, a smile quickly turning into an angry frown upon noticing her people. And the king… Gods be damned. The way he looked at her… Lamar had only seen him look at one woman in this way, and that was Hayden's mother. Whatever happened in there, whatever the princess did or said, the king liked her. More than that actually.

"What the hell did you do to my people?!" she strode right to Lamar, looking furious.

The captain was quite surprised, not really by her anger but by her confidence. She looked so shy and insecure before. He looked at the king to get some hint of what to do only to see both his eyebrows up in a silent question. "Well," he started carefully, his eyes glancing between the princess and the king, "there was a misunderstanding. The Levantians overheard a part of your… diplomatic conversation and were under the impression they needed to draw their blades and barge in immediately." The princess winced and took a step back, her cheeks turning red. Yes, girl, we all heard you. Lamar turned to the king and continued. "You didn't give me any orders on what to do with them, sir, but I kept them alive." By the gods was he glad he did. "There was no blood spilled."

"Untie them," she told him confidently.

Lamar gave her the you-don't-give-orders-around-here look and continued to ignore her, looking at the king, not liking the smirk on his face at all.

"Do as your future queen commands you."

The statement caused surprised gasps for air on both sides and Lamar found himself unable to close his mouth. His future queen? Oh fuck.

The king walked over to the princess and put an arm around her shoulders. "Princess Karina was kind enough to accept my proposal and we will be married soon. With that, Levanta will become a part of the Orellian kingdom, and therefore there will be no need to continue with this war." Dead silence followed his words. The Levantians were staring at the princess, the Orellians at their king, and Lamar couldn't really decide.

He shook his confusion off quickly, knowing Hayden wasn't the most patient person alive. "Allow me to congratulate, my lord. My lady." His respective bow was met with a cold stare and Lamar realized with fear that this woman wasn't even his queen yet and he had already managed to piss her off. What a way to screw himself up.

"Release my people. Now."

Lamar bowed his head again and shouted at his people to snap them out of the shock. The Levantians were quickly untied and their weapons returned. Lamar returned to the king, cautiously avoiding captain Markos who stood by the princess, hand on the hilt of his sword. Such open hostility in the presence of his king was not something Lamar wanted to tolerate, but he knew that open confrontation between them right now would not end well for anyone. At best they would just piss Hayden off and he would have them both whipped.

"I see you've already made some friends, Lamar." The king smirked, noticing the angry stares the captains gave each other.

More like mortal enemies. "Yes, sir. We've really made a bond."

"That is very good to hear, captain. Because you will be going with them."

Lamar's eyes widened. "I'm what? Sir?"

"You will go with my future wife as her personal bodyguard and protect her with your life. You will follow her orders as if there were my own. Understood?" There was no sign of humor in the king's expression, not even to Lamar who had known him for years. He was being deadly serious.

A cold grip of fear grabbed his guts. "Yes, sir." It was not like he could answer anything else. He glanced at the Levantians. The princess was frowning at him, clearly not happy to have him anywhere near her. Markos on the other hand was having trouble hiding a victorious smirk, his eyes promising revenge. Lamar gulped. This was a death sentence.

Hayden turned to the princess. "This is captain Lamar, one of my most trusted men. I have to say I'm quite fond of him and I would hate to hear something bad happened to him." There was a distinct threat in his voice. If it was under different circumstances, Lamar would be happy for such praise. Right now it sounded like an epitaph.

"Don't worry. He will be well taken care of." Her words were cold and she gave him an annoyed look. Very reassuring.

The king waved him off and Lamar quickly went to pack his things, while the men prepared his horse. What the hell did he do so wrong that Hayden wanted him dead? Because that was the only result of this assignment he could imagine. Yes, he could be careful, avoid them, fight them even, but he was going to be alone. And a man needs to sleep, eat, drink. It doesn't take much to kill someone, Lamar knew that all too well.

When he returned, the carriage and its escort were ready to leave, the king was just saying goodbye to the princess. "Be careful, Karina," he whispered while kissing the back of her hand. Did she put some sort of a spell on him? No, Lamar knew the truth was much more simple. Somehow she made him fall in love with her, which was way worse.

As they traveled through the pitch-black night, Lamar tried to stay close to the carriage, in a feeble hope that the princess might protect him in case the Levantians tried to attack him in the open. But he didn't think they would. No, there were easier ways to get rid of him. A cut in his saddle strap. Bad food or water. Or just countless little annoyances to make his life hell until he snapped and provoked a conflict himself.

Marcos was riding on the other side of the carriage, ostentatiously ignoring him. He talked to someone inside and then sent one of his men forward. They soon arrived at a small farmhouse, the soldier they sent ahead was already talking to the scared locals. Lamar was quite surprised they were still here, with the huge army camped nearby. But they probably didn't have anywhere else to go.

"...will be honored." The man was just reporting to the princess and Lamar came closer to find out what was going on.

"Great. Laina, go make the arrangements and make sure to pay them well. I really need a few hours in a real bed." The maid left the carriage and headed towards the house and the princess growled quietly trying to do the same, muttering curses under her breath.

Lamar knew exactly what her problem was, a spanked butt probably hurt like hell in the wobbly carriage, but was not stupid enough to point it out. He got off his horse instead and offered her his hand. "My lady, I… I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier and for not addressing you properly." It was never too late to try and fix some of the mess he made. He really didn't want to die.

The princess raised an eyebrow. "Captain Lamar, as long as you follow my orders, I honestly couldn't care less about how you address me." Her expression melted a little. "I do appreciate you didn't harm my people."

Lamar wasn't so sure it was such a great idea anymore. If he had killed them the moment they tried to draw their blades, he wouldn't be in this situation. But he could hardly tell her that, especially since at that moment she tripped and nearly fell to the ground. Lamar managed to catch her, holding her in his arms in a much more intimate manner than he would have liked.

"Get the fuck away from her, worm." A heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

Lamar carefully helped her stand up and turned to Markos. "I was just assisting the princess, there is no need…"

"I will assist you to your grave, coward."

Lamar found himself pulling out his sword, his blood boiling over the insult.

"ENOUGH!" The princess yelled at them and Lamar bit his lip. That stupid temper of his, he was no better than the king in that manner. "You two assholes will stop this. RIGHT. NOW!" She was furious and the two men stood there in silence, their heads down. "Listen to me now. Actually, all of you, come here!" The remaining soldiers gathered around them, nervously looking at one another.

"You will stop with these stupid conflicts. I don't care who did what, this ends right here. Captain Lamar, from now on, you are under captain Markos' command. He is the head of my security team and you will follow his orders to the letter. Understood?"

Lamar couldn't believe it. His already shitty day was getting worse and worse. "Yes, my lady." Once again, there was nothing else he could say, not after Hayden specifically ordered him to do what she says.

"And you, captain Markos, stop grinning like an idiot. From now on, you are personally responsible for captain Lamar's life. If anything should happen to him, and I mean absolutely anything, you will be stripped of your rank and released from my service. Do you understand?"

Markos stared at her in horror. Lamar would feel some satisfaction if he wasn't so terrified himself. Seriously, she was almost as bad as Hayden when he lost his temper. They were either perfect for each other or they were going to kill each other quite fast. "Y-yes, my lady." Markos finally managed to say something.

"And the rest of you," she turned to the other men standing around and trying to be invisible, "I want you to understand one thing clearly. We lost the war. Levanta is becoming a part of Orellia. It is the only way our people will survive. This is happening and anything you think you might do against it isn't bravery or heroism, but it's stupidity and it's treason. And while I can tolerate stupid people, I will not tolerate traitors. Is that clear?!"

The guards mumbled quiet "yes, my lady", eyes pinned to the ground.

The princess exhaled slowly, trying to control herself. Her next words came out much calmer, almost kind. "Anyone has any questions? Ask now or shut up forever."

Most men looked like they would prefer the ground opening and swallowing them alive to open their mouths and say something, but a short bald man raised his hand. "So, we will all be Orellians from now on?"

"Yes, sergeant Aulus. We are all going to be Orellians very soon and I suggest you make your peace with it. You can ask captain Lamar, I bet he will confirm being an Orellian is better than being dead." Lamar kept his head down, praying she would stop mentioning him. But his prayers went unheard because the princess continued, "And as for captain Lamar, he is here for the same reason as all of you. To protect me. I'm not asking you to become best buddies, but you will treat him fairly and with respect. There will be no insults on his address, or on the address of king Hayden for that matter. No assaults, physical or otherwise. No stupid pranks. You will act like fucking adults or I'll whip you myself."