Be My Princess

Kat slowly emerged from her sleep with a sensation of well-being. A warmth emanating from right next to her was enveloping her entire being; somehow making her feel like she was exactly where she was meant to be. Hence, reluctant to open her eyes, she sighed in delight and tightened her hug on the… pillow? Her eyebrows twitched. That pillow was feeling way bigger and harder than usual…

Kat slowly opened her eyes and, as she assessed the situation, her mouth opened wide in bafflement. She was a pillow-hugger; and she often had a hard time falling asleep without an extra pillow or a plush to cuddle. Though she had managed to make do without an extra pillow that night, her deeply rooted sleeping habit had still led her to unconsciously look for a substitute.

But how had that happened? Both Angel and she had moved from each end of the bed to the middle. Lying on her left side, Kat had her head resting on Angel's chest and her right arm wrapped around his torso while Angel was lying on his back, left arm folded – hand under his head, and right arm wrapped around her shoulders…

Who exactly had made the first move?

Kat bit her lower lip and scolded herself internally. She had to move away before Angel woke up. But as she tried to slowly remove her arm, Angel immediately reacted. Breathing in and out heavily, he turned his head to her side, tightened his hug around her and gently stroked her shoulder with his thumb.

In panic, Kat quickly closed her eyes and tried to breathe regularly to make it look as if she was still asleep. Angel's head moved. She felt his warm breath on her forehead right before his lips grazed that same area. Then his head brusquely moved back, and she felt his body stiffen.

"He must have realised that it's me…" She thought.

Kat could not dare to face Angel in such an awkward situation; so she kept pretending to be asleep and left it to him to manage the problem. She let him slowly remove her arm and gently turn her around as he retrieved his own arm, and kept her eyes closed all the while Angel was freshening up in the bathroom. It was only when she heard him leave the bedroom that Kat finally sat up and heaved a sigh of relief. She then jumped off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

After a shower, Kat put back her clothes and stood in front of the mirror. While she was combing her hair, her hand passed on her forehead, she immediately reminisced Angel's lips grazing that very spot, and her heart leaped in her chest. She looked down and patted her chest at the level of her heart.

"Now listen to me, you crazy heart. Do not dare to get all worked up over a man who belongs to another woman, okay?" She then looked back at her reflection and added: "And as for you, Changadim; you can't afford to be swayed by him. Get you act together!"

Kat exited the bedroom and found Angel in the kitchen, finishing to do the dishes. On the kitchen counter, a breakfast meal was set… for her. She knew it was for her because the beverage was hot chocolate; Angel only drank tea or coffee.

So he had noticed that it was her favourite… Kat could not repress a smile.

"Don't be swayed! Don't be swayed! DON'T BE SWAYED!!!" She scolded herself.

"Walankanyi." She said timidly as she sat at the counter.

Angel simply nodded in response.

"You're not eating?" Kat asked.

"I've already eaten." Angel replied dryly.

Taken aback by his distant behaviour, Kat stared at Angel as he walked back to the bedroom. Was it that awful for him to have woken up with her in his arms? But as Angel grabbed the box he had forgotten on the coffee table the night before, Kat somehow got her answer.

"Serves you right!" She muttered at the address of her heart. "Who told to get overexcited for a man who has already set his heart on another woman? I hope you've learned your lesson."

Kat tasted the omelette and concluded that Angel could be granted to have good culinary skills by the way he had cleverly seasoned it. After eating her breakfast, she cleaned her dishes and decided to wait for Angel outside.

As she exited the house, she spotted Tornado standing at the end of the paved path; and as soon as the horse perceived her approaching steps, he looked up in her direction and engaged on the paved path at her encounter. Kat stretched out her hand and the horse placed its muzzle against it.

"Hello, Tornado. I didn't get to see you yesterday because of the rain."

Kat then remembered something she had always seen on TV.

"Be right back!"

She rushed into the house and came back out shortly after, three apples in hand. As if he had truly understood her, Tornado did not move from his spot. She presented the first apple to the horse and he took it in at once.

Kat smiled brightly as the two other apples were chugged just as fast as the first one, and patted on the horse's forehead as Tornado chewed on the last apple.

"That's a good boy!"

"You will have to explain to me how you always succeed at approaching my horse."

Both Kat and Tornado looked in the direction of the entrance door at the sound of that deep voice. All showered and changed, Angel was standing by the door, arms crossed.

"I'm not the only one who approaches the other." Kat replied.

Angel locked the door and hung the key on a hook right next to it.

"You just leave it there?!" Kat exclaimed, baffled.

"Should I walk around with it?" The prince retorted.

Kat felt like serving the crown prince an even drier retort but held herself back. There was really no point in arguing with him if it was going to avail to nothing in the end.

Angel walked to his horse and removed the saddle bags before hopping on Tornado's back with great litheness. Once he was well seated, he stretched his hand towards Kat.

"Let's see if Tornado really likes you." He said with a hint of defiance in his eyes.

Kat lifted her chin in a way of showing that she was up to the challenge, then placed one hand in Angel's and the other on the horse's croup and waited a few seconds. Angel also waited for his horse to react; but Tornado simply checked on the person who had placed her hand on him then looked back in front, docilely waiting for her to hop on as well. Reassured, Kat put her foot in the stirrup then took momentum. Since the young woman was dressed in a skirt, she had to sit with both legs on one side of the horse; so Angel kept holding her hand until he was sure that she was properly seated.

Angel then slightly leaned on the side to catch Tornado's eye. "Did she really win you over with three measly apples? I didn't know you sold your love that cheap, Buddy." He said in a scolding tone.

Tornado neighed and shook his head as if protesting.

Kat chuckled and leaned a bit to be able to see the horse's head from behind Angel's back. "Don't mind Mr Grumpy here, Tornado. It's nice that you have more heart than your master." She encouraged the horse.

Angel turned back his head and gave her a squinted look from the corner of his eyes. He then brought his hands behind his back, grabbed her by the wrists, brought her arms before him and crossed them on his abdomen.

"What are you doing?!" Kat exclaimed, a bit startled.

She tried to remove her arms but Angel locked both her wrists in a strong grip.

"Hold on tight." He ordered. "You won't have much balance in this position."

"You know, Crown Prince, we would communicate way better if you could state what you want out loud rather than pushing me over as if I were supposed to read your mind."

Angel did not even bother to reply. He hit his heels against the horse's flanks, clicked his tongue and pulled on the reins to command the horse to turn around and walk towards the main road.

In the upscale neighbourhood of Musumb…

In the big villa at the end of the third street, a young woman was sitting in a white leather sectional sofa in the very spacious living room, watching the news on a large flat screen TV.

"In exclusivity on the news this morning, pictures of Crown Prince Angel with a woman who has now been identified to be none other than Miss Natacha Irung; the pride of our kingdom; national Javelin Throw Champion commonly known by her nickname 'Warrior Princess', and the daughter of the renowned businessman Adolph Irung.

The pictures taken on the last day of the crown prince's business trip in DRC, and released on the internet by an anonymous source yesterday have created quite a shock wave throughout the kingdom.

And with Crown Prince Angel's 25th birthday coming up in a few months, one can only be curious to know whether Miss Irung is the royal family's choice for the heir to the throne or not. So far, the royal family has not made a statement regarding…"

Natacha turned off the screen and threw the remote away from her. Entering the room at that moment, her father looked at her with concern.

"Why are you looking so upset, Sweetheart? Aren't you happy to finally be acknowledged as the crown prince's future bride?" He asked as he sat in the couch next to her.

"All this will avail to nothing if I'm not acknowledged by the royal family." Natacha argued. "Plus, I feel more like I have created trouble for Angel by going to see him in Kinshasa. Are you sure I can trust all of Lady Josephine's advices?"

"Of course you can!" Adolph exclaimed with assurance. "I told you already that I owe my actual success to Lady Josephine's help. I would never entrust you to someone I don't trust."

"It's just that I don't see how making these pictures public can help my case." Natacha still argued.

"Lady Josephine has informed me that the royal family has already chosen a maiden for the crown prince." The father explained.

"What?"

"And according to her, they are already very fond of that young lady." He continued. "Given the current state of your relationship with Crown Prince Angel, don't you think a little boost with the use of media power is necessary to make everyone know where the heart of the crown prince truly lies? Don't you see that we need to force the royal family to acknowledge you as their son's choice?"

Natacha was taken aback. Was it the reason why Angel so awkward with her all the time they were together in Kinshasa? And that goodbye kiss… she clearly felt that he was hesitant; or, more precisely, slightly reluctant to kiss her back. Was his heart already set on following his parents' will? Maybe she did need to remind Angel of his feelings for her…

"I guess you're right, Tatuku. It's time for all of Ruund… No… It's time for the whole world to know that I, Natacha Irung, am the uRuund crown prince's future bride."

Back at the royal palace…

The atmosphere around the royal dining table that Sunday early afternoon was very heavy. Aware of the tension between the king and the crown prince, people at the table were feeling uneasy; thus, no one dared to talk.

Kat, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by her surroundings. Eating mechanically, her mind was repeatedly jostled by the images of Angel and herself looking at the waterfall, eating together, waking up in each other's arms, riding back on Tornado, or of Angel helping her down without much effort, as if she were as light as a feather… It was not until the sound of her name being called pierced through the fog of her daze that she was finally able to reconnect with reality.

It was the queen mother calling for her attention. "Are you alright, Kat?" Isabella asked with concern.

Kat looked around; everyone's curious gaze was locked on her. "I'm sorry, Ngaak. My mind was elsewhere." She quickly answered. "Were you telling me something?"

Isabella smiled. "I was just saying that I did not see you at Church service this morning. Did you attend the second one?"

Pastor Elisha only held services on Sundays; three services in the morning and one service in the evening to allow all the inhabitants of the Royal Estate to attend at least one service in the day. The first and shorter service began at 4am and was often attended by the maids permanently assigned to the royal and princely apartments before they would start their work.

The second service beginning at 7am, Isabella had assumed that Kat would be more likely to attend the third one that started at half past nine, which was the one ideally set for the members of royal family to attend. Hence, she had been surprised not to stumble upon the young maiden on that third service; and her query was both to get an answer and in an attempt to break the now unbearable hovering tension.

"You attended today's church service, Maaku?" Queen Sophie repeated.

"Yes. Last Sunday, Kat told me that she could not go a whole week without attending a church service at least once; so it got me to think that I had become very good at finding excuses not to attend just one service every week."

Isabella looked back at Kat and waited for her answer.

"Actually, I could not make it to any of the services this morning because, by the time we got back from the Forest Palace, the third service was already coming to an end."

The sound of a piece of silverware hitting a porcelain plate resounded in the quiet room. Prince Francis had dropped his fork in befuddlement.

Now, everyone was looking at Kat and Angel alternately. Kat looked at Angel from across the table; but the crown prince did not even bother to lift his head, leaving it all to her to explain the situation.

"Well… with what had happened yesterday, I was quite worried about Crown Prince Angel; so Peter offered to take me to the Forest Palace to see him. What I didn't know was Crown Prince Angel had actually gotten there with his horse. Crown Prince Angel tried to get someone to send a car for me, but apparently they couldn't…"

Queen Sophie repressed a smile. It was good to see that palace staff had taken her all instructions at heart.

Before Kat moved into the West Wing, she had stressed out to them the importance of helping her son and the maiden have as much privacy as possible. Peter was showing great diligence in his task of helping the two youngsters spend time together; and all that without even her input.

"Because of the rain, we were obliged to spend the night there; so we could only ride back on Tornado this morning." Kat finished.

The queen blinked. "You rode on Tornado?!"

Everyone was again staring at her; but this time, disbelief was painted on only the king, the queen and the queen mother's faces.

"What about Tornado?" Francis asked in curiosity.

"Since the moment he was rescued, that horse can only be approached by Angel and Joshua; and only Angel can ride him." Isabella recalled in a way of responding to Francis' question. "How did you manage to get Kat on him?" She asked at Angel's address.

"Apparently it only took three apples." Angel calmly answered.

Seeing that they wouldn't get any more from him, everyone turned to Kat for elaboration.

"Stop thinking so low of Tornado." Kat scolded. "You saw it last Saturday; Tornado came to me on his own volition."

"I wasn't there from the beginning; how would I know whether you didn't use some trick to get him to come to you?" Angel argued.

"What trick could I have possibly used?" Kat protested. "Like everyone says, Tornado doesn't like to be approached or to approach anybody at the exception of Joshua and you. What could I have possibly had that no one before me could have offered to your horse?"

To Kat's irritation, Angel simply shrugged. She was about to say more when she suddenly remembered that they were not alone and stopped herself. She look around, smiled awkwardly and dived back into her plate.

On one side, Queen Sophie and Queen Mother Isabella were at the same time amused by their squabble, intrigued by Angel's teasing behaviour, and delighted to see that they were already developing a familiarity. Whereas, on the other side, Lady Josephine and Prince Francis had contrary feelings towards the evolution of their relationship.

Yet everyone around the table was wondering the same thing: What on earth had happened at the Forest Palace?!