Be My Princess

After chatting for a moment, the Samas finally took they leave and headed for the South Wing. There, the women dismissed all the servants and took over the kitchen while the men stood by the kitchen door, waiting to render any service they could be asked.

The Sama Family Birthday Tradition was special in that aspect: none other than the family members were involved in the cooking and serving aspects of the festivities. The help only had to tackle cleaning works on the following day.

"I did not see the princes," Joseph remarked. "Aren't you supposed to hang out with one of them today?"

"Yes." Michael concurred. "The crown prince to be precise. Where is he?"

"Actually, with the king absent at the moment, both princes have to take care of the kingdom affairs. They're so busy these days that I don't get to see them much." Kat explained.

"Is the king on a business trip? I did not hear of any news of the sort." Charlotte said.

At that moment, Kat realised that she had already said too much. The king's health was a matter at the level of royal family secrecy; hence, her family could not be told about it.

"I can't really say." She simply answered.

"I have a question," Michael announced while pointing his index finger up. "Why are you staying in the crown prince's apartment? Shouldn't you be in this wing instead?"

"I was brought there when I arrived at the palace. Apparently, that is where the maiden chosen for the crown prince is supposed to stay until they marry. Royal family tradition. Despite the peculiarity of our situation, they didn't want to change that." Kat explained.

"Well, I hope that he behaves himself; otherwise I will…"

"Michael! That's rude to think that of the crown prince." Charlotte reprimanded.

"What? Does being crown prince makes him less of a man?" The young man argued.

Joseph lightly smacked his brother at the back of the head. "It's still rude to say such thoughts out loud when you don't really know the man. He could get offended if he heard you."

Kat was distractedly listening to the conversation. Michael's argument had caused the memories of all the intense moments she had shared with Angel in the West Wing to flood her mind.

"Sis?"

Joseph's call snapped her out of her semi-daze.

"All okay?" He asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine." Kat quickly replied with a wave of the hand to reassure him. "And Michael, you should not think that of Crown Prince Angel. He's a good person."

"Ah! So he's the one you like?"

Kat's heart jumped in her chest. "What? What makes you think that?" She exclaimed in protestation. "How could he have guessed that?" She wondered internally.

"Your high pitched reaction just did." Michael calmly replied.

"Michael, stop teasing your sister!" Charlotte called out.

Kat pulled her tongue at her brother and went back to peeling the potatoes.

The day followed its course in merriment; and, at lunchtime, the royal elders joined the celebration in the South Wing. The courses of meal were simple and light as the Samas had also prepared a variety of hors-d'oeuvres, snacks and delicacies to munch on throughout the day for the occasion.

The royal ladies stayed in the South Wing during the entire afternoon, delightfully partaking to the different family games the Samas had prepared, then left in the early hours of the evening.

About half an hour after their elders had left, Angel and Francis made their entrance in the South Wing. As much as she was expecting an appearance from Francis, Kat was rather surprised that Angel had also come.

Her surprise was indeed justified. Angel was only present because Francis had told him that, at their return, he would be passing by the South Wing to greet Kat's family when he had been informed by his mother of their arrival at the palace. Angel had understood that, more than paying respect to her family, what his cousin really wanted was to get to spend some time with Kat; so he had decided to tag along despite his recent decision to give the maiden as much space as she could need.

He had noticed that Kat was avoiding him. Taking it as her misunderstanding him because he had once stolen a kiss from her, acted as if it were nothing, then displayed a clear desire to do it again despite her obvious discontentment, he had decided to make things easy for her by staying away. But the mere idea of his cousin taking advantage of his absence to get closer to Kat was enough to make him go back on his resolution.

"Ah! You are here." Kat exclaimed as she stood up and walked towards them. "Family, this is Crown Prince Angel and Prince Francis. I know that there's no need to introduce them; but since they have graced us with their presence, it's only common courtesy that I do so.

Your Highnesses, I present to you the Samas: my mother, Charlotte; my big brother, Joseph and his wife, Rose…"

"And her one, her only, her very dear and very protective wanch[1] , Michael!"

While he was presenting himself, Michael had stood up, walked towards the trio and finally wrapped his arm around Kat's shoulders. Kat rolled her eyes and shook her head with a chuckle.

"Although my big sister here is unwilling to spill the beans, I already know that one of you is my future brother-in-l…"

Kat quickly covered her brother's mouth with one hand and pinched his thigh with the other. Michael opened his mouth, but Kat retrieved her hand before he could bite her palm; so he ended up biting thin air.

"Don't mind what our kasulans[2] here says; he likes to tease… a lot!" Kat explained when she noticed that the princes were holding their laughter in.

Francis stepped closer, placed his arm on Michael's shoulders and leaned in in a confidential posture. However, what he said was not spoken in a confidential tone.

"Michael, you seem to know your sister very well…"

Michael glanced at Kat – who was all ears – and stretched his lips in an amused smile. "Definitely!"

"Then you definitely are the man I need!" Francis exclaimed with a fake serious expression. "According to you, which one of us do you think Kat has chosen?"

"Oh Francis, come on! Not you too!" Kat let out.

She bit her lips as soon as she realised why her entire family was looking at her with an obvious silent question.

"So it's Francis already…" Michael commented while slowly nodding.

"Yes. I insisted." Francis proudly explained.

"You guys are the worst!" Kat let out in frustration.

"Alright, I'll stop now," Francis said with a chuckle. "I just wanted to quickly meet your family since today is Angel's day… again!" Francis looked at his cousin. "Why did you have to be on Saturdays?!"

Angel simply smiled, but it was still a sort of triumphant smile that he gave to his cousin.

"Anyway; it is very nice to meet you, Sama family. And I will see you all tomorrow!" Francis bade before leaving.

Angel also intended on bidding goodnight, now that his cousin had left, but Michael pre-empted him before he could speak up.

"You, Crown Prince Angel, however, cannot go anywhere. You are spending the night with us here!" Michael let out in a friendly tone that still suggested no negotiation.

"Michael, the crown prince has his own apartment," Kat argued.

"Not tonight!" Her brother replied implacably. "Tonight, he is a guest at the Sama family's temporary home here in the South Wing of the palace; which means that he cannot leave even after the end of our festivities!"

Kat looked at Angel and mouthed 'Sorry' with an apologetic smile.

The crown prince chuckled and walked to the sitting area. "Alright then." He let out as he sat on the sofa. "I will start by apologising for being a bad guest who arrives so late at the party. Then I'll make amend by staying for as long as the festivities will last and spending the night here. So, what do we have on the program for the evening?"

"Well…" Charlotte reached into the pocket of her cardigan and brought out a flash drive.

"What is it?" Joseph inquired.

"I have been going through your father's stuff lately, and I stumbled upon his old cameras and a few pellicles. I brought them to a friend of mine whose son is an IT specialist, and he was able to recover all of the pictures and videos your father had taken when you were little."

"What?" Kat exclaimed.

"Crown Prince Angel, are you ready to meet young Kat?" Charlotte exclaimed.

All protestations turned out to be to no avail. In last resort, Kat tried to snatch the flash drive from her mother's hands but Michael was quicker to take it from their mother and plug it into the TV's USB port while Joseph managed to hold her back.

"Don't worry, Kat. There are also pictures and videos of Joseph and Michael." Charlotte revealed. "You will have the opportunity to get even on their birthdays."

At that revelation, Kat settled down and looked at her two brothers with defying eyes and a fake evil smirk. "I can't wait for their birthdays to come then."

"And boys, don't think of 'accidentally' damaging the drive after this," Charlotte warned as she took the remote control Michael was handing to her. "I made sure to save everything on other devices as back up… just in case."

While her sons wondered if she had the ability to read minds, she accessed the flash drive and select the folder named Kat. In it where two folders names Photos and Videos. The first folder comprised pictures dating from the time of Charlotte was pregnant with Kat up to when she reached age 9. At each picture, her family would either tease, laugh or reminisce the moment the picture was taken with fondness or nostalgia. Angel, on his part, did not comment but would often throw bantering glances at Kat every time a funny picture would come up, and quietly listen to the stories relating to each picture with a smile.

In the second folder, the first video they watched was recorded right after Kat's birth. Then followed videos of special moments like her first steps or first words, and, for others, her birthday celebrations. One particularly special moment was a recording of the time four-year-old Kat was begging her mother to let her keep the pendant she had just stumbled upon.

"Did you know that Taatuku was filming us?" Kat asked her mother.

"Not at all. I was really surprised when we found this video."

Indeed, in the video, mother and daughter appeared completely oblivious to the fact that a camera had been pointed at them from a profile angle. And even from such angle, James Sama had still been able to capture the sweetness in the innocent look of a four-year-old girl pledging to take very good care of her family's treasure. The emotional connotation of the scene left everyone in the room in speechless awe.

"And that, Crown Prince Angel, is how my sister found the path to her destiny to become the crown princess of Ruund!"

Michael's exclamation after the video had ended had the effect of snapping the family out of their emotional trance as they all burst into laughter. Even the stoic crown prince could not resist the young man's comical nature.

After the slideshow, the family was back at the dining table to share supper; that time, with Angel. For dessert, the rest of the birthday cake that was shared with the royal ladies in the afternoon was served. And with genuine delight, Angel praised its fine taste.

"It's amazing to think that it is homemade. I now see after whom you take your cooking skills." He said at Kat's address.

"How do you know about her cooking skills? I don't remember anything about cooking being included in her Princess Training schedule."

Joseph had spoken out in a tone that made Angel smile at the realisation that both brothers were very protective of their sister.

"Indeed, you are right, Mwant Joseph. It just happened that we were once held at my private palace for an entire day because of the rain and Changadim Kat graciously offered to prepare a meal for the both of us." Angel explained.

It was evident that Angel's explanation was piquing the family's curiosity; so Kat signalled her family, with just a look, that further query was unnecessary before anyone could place another question. She definitely did not want them to discover that she had spent a whole night alone with a man in a secluded place…

A Monopoly game followed right after dinner. The game had become the highlight of all birthday celebrations in the Sama family as soon as everyone had aged enough to be able to play it. That game session always resembled a mind war between the players spiced up with taunts and pretend intimidating comments. At first reserved, Angel soon got caught up in the gaming vibe; responding to defiance in a joking manner and making taunting comments like everyone else. At the end of the game, Rose was the one who had won the monopole of the capital city.

The last portion of the day was reserved to 'Words of Blessings'. At turns, and by order of seniority, each family members would stand up to speak a word of blessing over the birthday girl.

Charlotte stood up first and took her daughter's hands. "Princess, whatever the plan God has for you in life, I know greatness lies in wait for you. May you find your destined place and always thrive under the wings of God's love."

Joseph, Rose, and then Michael followed up with best wishes and blessings declarations; then everyone looked at Angel. The crown prince did not expect to be a part of that family moment; so it was awkwardly that he cleared his throat and slowly stood up.

"Changadim Kat… I don't quite know what to say… I've known you for a short amount of time, but I have come to greatly appreciate the woman you are. So at this moment, all I can find to say is that you grow even stronger, wiser and more confident… and that you never let anyone or anything get you to compromise on your faith and yourself."

If she had had a lighter skin tone, Kat's reaction to Angel's words would have definitely been noticed.

"Wajikitanyi, Crown Prince Angel…"

Angel ordered the maids in the South Wing to arrange a room for him so as to spend the night at his 'hosts' place'. Kat, too excited to have her family around, decided to sleep in her mother's bedroom.

Lying on the bed, facing each other, mother and daughter quietly looked for sleep until Charlotte spoke up. "So… Crown Prince Angel, right?"

Kat stared at her mother in amazement. "Does it really show that much?"

Charlotte chuckled. "I am your mother. When it comes to reading you, I kind of have an unfair advantage on others. I could easily pick that up from our nightly conversations."

"True." Kat concurred with a smile.

But her smile disappeared quickly, and she let out a sigh.

"Is it because of the athlete?" Charlotte asked again.

Kat was again amazed. "Unfair advantage you say…"

"It also made quite a wave in the news," Charlotte replied after a slight chuckle. "What are you going to do?"

"What can I do, Maaku? He is in love with another woman. I can only look for a way to get over him as soon as possible."

Charlotte seemed sceptical. "Are you 100% sure of that? Has he ever openly stated it?"

"He has…"

Had he?

Kat could not affirm with assurance and Charlotte could see that. Her conviction was supposed to come from the exchange she had had with Angel at the Forest palace right after the first internet leak. However, though her mind had registered a positive answer on Angel's part, her heart still stubbornly pointed out that the crown prince had never directly answered her question.

But still…

"He never denied it, at least," Kat added.

"All I can tell is that you need to make sure of that before you make any decision."

"Do you think the crown prince has feelings for me?" Kat enquired, intrigued by her mother's insistence.

Charlotte did not want to make affirmations because she had no certainty on the matter. Her opinion was more of a wise insight from an onlooker's standpoint. But she still felt the need to nudge her daughter in that direction. "Well… he did spend the whole evening with us. Even slept over here when he didn't have to…"

"That's just because he is trained to be courteous in all circumstances," Kat argued.

"There could be more to it."

"Maaku, you've just spent an evening with him. I've been sharing an apartment with him for two months now."

Charlotte took her daughter's face in her hands. "The onlooker often has a better view of the game than the players…" She smiled. "All I want is for you not to come to regret the decision you will make in the end. So, make sure you are not wrong about him." Then she kissed her forehead. "Now go to sleep, Princess."

[1] Younger sibling

[2] Last born