Be My Princess

"I'm sorry?"

While Kat was looking at the stableman's very serious expression in bewilderment, Angel smiled and shook his head.

"I am Pastor Elisha's son." Joshua then explained with a chuckle, happy that one more person had fallen for his favourite joke.

Finally making the connection in her brain, Kat noticed the similarity in the father and son's round face, squinty eyes and thick lips, and laughed. "That was a good one!"

"Where is Tornado?" Angel enquired.

"I've already brought him to the corral, Your Highness. And I must say, he does seem livelier now that his master is back." Joshua commented. "Maybe he knows that this time it's for good."

"Is it the horse I will ride?" Kat enquired with enthusiasm.

"No, no. Tornado is not available for you, Changadim Kat. You're going to choose one horse for yourself among all the other horses we have." Joshua replied.

At that moment, a brawny teenage boy approached them and bowed before Angel and Kat.

"This is Kevin, one of my helpers." Joshua introduced him to Kat.

"The hay has just been delivered." He reported to Joshua after pleasantries had been exchanged; then he entered the stables.

"Excuse me a moment while I quickly take care of that." Joshua said.

And just as the stableman was walking away, Angel's phone started to ring and, after a glance at the caller ID, he quickly stepped away to take the call; so, in a matter of seconds, Kat found herself standing alone in front of the entrance of the stables.

Not knowing what to do, she decided to take a look around, and ventured a few steps on her right. As soon as the stables building was no longer blocking her line of sight, her eyes fell on the first corral, where a horse was trotting; apparently very happy to have been brought out of the stables. The horse had a bay dun coat colour and harboured a certain presence that instantly attracted Kat. She could not precisely put her finger on it, but there was definitely something strong… dominant… bold… and even fiery emanating from the stallion that immediately brought to her mind the image a certain crown prince. Eyes glued to the horse, Kat unconsciously walked up to the corral's fence like a moth drawn to a light.

Angel ended his call and walked back to the stables, looking for Kat with his eyes. Joshua reached the entrance at the same time as Angel and immediately enquired for the maiden.

"I left her here when I stepped away to answer a phone call." Angel answered.

They both entered the stables, hoping to find her inside, but only found Kevin busy grooming a horse.

"Kevin, do you know where Changadim Kat is?" Joshua asked

"I saw her walk in the direction of the corral." The boy answered.

"What?!"

Angel's brusque exclamation startled both Joshua and Kevin.

The crown prince worryingly looked at Joshua. "Didn't you say that Tornado was in the corral?"

"Oh, no!" The stableman let out as he saw the crown prince bolt out of the stables.

Angel ran towards the corral, closely followed by Joshua and Kevin. But all three men soon came to a halt a few meters away from the corral, bewildered by the scene playing before their eyes.

Kat had her feet on the lower railing of the split rail fence, her left arm taking support on the upper railing, and her right hand stretched towards the horse that was slowly walking to her. The three men's jaws dropped the moment the horse's muzzle came in contact with the young woman's hand.

"You must be Tornado… I'm Kat." The young woman said as her hand gently slid up from the horse's flaring nostrils.

The horse closed its eyes at the soft stroke and took a step closer. But their 'moment' was soon interrupted by a tongue-clicking sound that diverted the horse's attention.

It was Angel who was calling the horse to him after he had quietly entered the corral. As Kat stepped down and looked at the horse hastily trotting to the crown prince, Joshua came to stand next to her.

"Are you sure that I can't take this ho…? Why are you looking at me like this?" She asked with furrowed brows when she finally noticed that the stableman was looking at her with a stunned expression.

"How did you do that, Changadim Kat?" Joshua finally let out in an awe-stricken tone.

"Do what?"

"How did you manage to approach Tornado?"

"I did not. He came to me as soon as I stood by the fence."

"On his own?" Joshua almost shouted, even more stunned.

"Yes. Why? What's wrong?" Kat asked, now frightened by the stableman's frantic behaviour.

"Aside from Crown Prince Angel and me, Tornado has never approached or let himself be approached by anyone else…" Joshua answered.

Kat was the one now stunned. "Really? Why?"

"You see, Tornado was not born here like all our other horses. Crown Prince Angel found him in the national park nine years ago; on the verge of death. His mother had been accidently killed after they had been separated from their herd during a poachers' raid a few days prior to that, and the poor colt had been left to survive the wilderness on its own.

He was in such a bad shape when the crown prince brought him here that everyone, the veterinarian doctor included, thought that he would never make it through the week.

Crown Prince Angel, on the other hand, did not relent in his conviction that the colt could get back on its feet. I remember him telling me that it surely took an uncommon level of tenacity for a barely weaned colt to survive the wilderness for that long. And he believed that that same tenacity would help the colt come through that hard time. So he named him, fed him and tended to his wounds on his own during an entire month.

I think that, somehow, Tornado was able to sense that reliance from the crown prince and then draw strength from it.

When holiday time was over, I was the one who took care of him until Crown Prince Angel would come back from school. It took a total period of three months before Tornado could completely recover. And just like the saying goes, what did not kill him made him the strongest and fastest horse we've ever owned.

It's also during his recovery period that Tornado gradually developed a very strong attachment to the crown prince. Attachment so strong that he has never let anyone else approach him. I like to think that it's because he could perceive that no one other than Crown Prince Angel had believed that he could make it. Since I also tended to him during that difficult period, he can tolerate my presence; but only the crown prince can ride him."

While listening to Joshua's story, Kat had kept her eyes riveted on Angel and Tornado. The affection she could read in the crown prince's eyes as he murmured to his horse was suddenly understandable.

"Now I get it…" Kat said to herself, thinking of how seeing Tornado had reminded her of Angel.

"Get what?" Joshua asked.

"Huh? Nothing…" Kat quickly answered.

She look at man and stallion with a smile. This was another side of Angel that she was discovering. The crown prince was capable of strong love and affection. A strong love for his horse that had not only been able to instil willpower to the animal but had also imprinted so deep on it that Tornado had somehow taken after his master's character.

In the lights of Joshua's story, Kat was feeling rather honoured that the horse had approached her on its own volition.

"Okay! Let's go get you a horse." Joshua announced when he saw Angel exiting the corral.

That evening, at dinner, Kat couldn't stop throwing furtive glances at Angel with a dazed smile, while reminiscing the events of afternoon.

Kat's choice had fallen on a beautiful chestnut and white pinto mare named Alizés[1]; and, against all her apprehensions, Angel had turned out to be a very good teacher. With great patience, and using kind words of encouragement every time she would make a mistake, he had been able to teach her the basics of horseback riding in a few hours…

"Why do you keep stealing glances at me with that expression?" Angel asked, puzzled by her unusual comportment.

"Am I?" Kat replied, feigning innocence. "I'm just thinking about today's lesson… You really are a good teacher."

Angel was caught off guard by her compliment and simply looked at Kat for a moment, without speaking. The admiration in her eyes and her happy smile were drawing a blank line in his mind.

"I hope I can have more lessons with you." Kat added.

"You do?"

"Yes. You seem to really love horse riding… I could never picture you being affectionate until I saw you talk to Tornado."

"So you want to have more lessons because 'I' like it?"

"Well… I just think you could take advantage of our interaction time to do something you like."

Angel stared at Kat for a while, touched by the fact that she was able to perceive how much he loved spending time with his horse. Kat met his gaze. Right away, she was projected back to earlier in the end of the afternoon, after her lesson, when Angel had taken his horse to a second corral equipped with different kinds of hurdles, and ridden Tornado with brio for almost an hour. The symbiosis between rider and steed had left Kat in awe. At some points, it was as if the duo were merging into one whole being. The passion she had seen in his eyes at that moment was similar in intensity to the one he had displayed when he was playing the piano…

Back to the present hour, Kat realised that Angel was still looking at her; and under his intense gaze, she felt her body temperature rise rapidly. She quickly diverted her gaze and kept her eyes on her meal until she emptied her plate.

⁂

Monday noon…

Adolph Irung was getting ready for lunch when his secretary knocked and entered his office.

"There is a lady who requests to see you right now, Sir."

"You know I am about to leave for lunch, Jess. Who…?"

"Oh, I promise I will not be taking much of your time."

As she spoke, the woman passed from behind the secretary and entered the office without waiting to be invited in. Adolph Irung quickly stood up, surprise and delight painted all over his face.

"Lady Josephine!" He exclaimed as he bowed; then he signalled the secretary to leave them.

Even though Lady Josephine had been unwilling to disclose her identity, Jessica Nsomp still felt apologetic to have failed to recognise the royal consort. Hence, the secretary curtseyed very reverently.

"Will Lady Josephine be taking something to drink?" She asked, her head kept lowered.

"Bwat mwanyi, wajikitanyi." Josephine replied with a smile.

"Your Highness should have called before coming to my office." Adolph said as soon as the secretary had left the room.

"I didn't know that I had to call and make appointment first, before visiting a friend." Lady Josephine replied.

The man smiled humbly and gestured her to take a seat on a sofa in the sitting space facing his desk. "My Lady truly honour me by calling me friend. But I actually meant to say that I would have made sure to spare you the hassle of waiting to be announced before you enter my office."

"Don't worry; it was not the slightest hassle."

"So, does it feel good to be back home?" Adolph enquired.

Josephine's lips curled up. "Better than you think…"

For a moment, she assessed her interlocutor. The years had weighed his once burly figure; but she could still see the same witty expression in his tapered eyes.

"I am back with a special agenda; an important thing I need to take back. And I will be needing your help to get it." Josephine announced.

"You know I am always at your service, Lady Josephine. What is it that you need me to help you take back?"

"The crown of Ruund."

A flash of surprise passed in the businessman's eyes. "My Lady must be thinking too highly of my abilities." He replied humbly.

Josephine chuckled. "Leave it to me to worry about how to get the crown for my son. However, I need you to put at my disposition all the means I might need to achieve that. If I'm not mistaken, you have a lot of good connections in the kingdom, right?"

The man nodded with an honoured expression in his smile. He was about to talk when a beep sound resounded from the phone on his desk.

"Your daughter is in the lobby waiting for you, Sir." The secretary announced through the phone.

Adolph looked at his guest, and she nodded in response. So he went to his desk and pressed a button on his office phone and instructed Jess to send his daughter in.

"Hello, Tatuku! Ready for lunch?" The young woman exclaimed as soon as she entered the office. "Oh, sorry! I thought you were done with your guest." She added after she noticed the woman sitting in the sofa opposite the one her father was sitting in.

"Come sit down, Natacha. I want to introduce you to my guest."

The sofa Lady Josephine was occupying was giving back to the office door, so Natacha had to step closer in order to find out who her father's guest was. And when she finally made eye contact with the royal consort, she froze in surprise for a few seconds, then quickly curtseyed. "Lady Josephine."

"Wajinganyi, changadim." Josephine replied in a dignified tone. "Natacha, right?"

The young woman nodded mechanically

"You have a beautiful daughter, Adolph." Josephine then said at the father's address.

"I'd want to be humble about that; but how can I?!" The man replied with pride. "I mean, not just any woman can pride to have captured the heart of the crown prince…"

"Tatuku!" Natacha interjected, while throwing a furtive glance at the lady sitting next to her. "This is supposed to be a secret…"

Josephine looked at father and daughter in puzzlement. "The crown prince…? You mean, Crown Prince Angel? When did that happen?"

"And is it serious…? Between the two of you?" Josephine asked, now with obvious interest.

Natacha looked at her father with scepticism. Firstly because she was reluctant to share such delicate information; and secondly because she did not know how the royal consort would take the news.

"Don't worry, Darling." Her father reassured. "You can trust that Lady Josephine will not divulge anything we discuss here. In fact, I know that she can even help you if needed."

"Changadim, believe that, for the sake of my friendship with your father, I will help you to the extent of my capacities; if you really need me to." Josephine added.

Though still a bit resistant, Natacha conceded. "Well, it was serious until… I rejected his marriage proposal."

[1] French for Tradewinds