ROYAL DUTY

25.colours of love

Natalia felt giddy and happy.

There was a literal bounce in her steps as she moved, head down, from the wolf palace to the eagle palace. Once again, she was wearing a maid's uniform. Except this time she was in one of the Athanasia maids' uniform. With her hair braided and tied like an Athanasian maid.

Of course, she had to thank Luisa for both (getting her the uniform and styling her hair). The moment Natalia woke up, she had been cornered by the over-protective maid about her relationship with Tyren, forcing Natalia to confide in her. When Natalia mentioned that she was planning to visit Tyren, Luisa had taken it up on herself to make sure Natalia could effortlessly pass off as an Athanasian maid.

And now, as she was walking from the wolf palace to the eagle palace, every nerve on her body was supercharged in excitement. It was exhilarating to her, passing guard to guard and fooling them. When she got to the Eagle Palace gates and reached to open them, one of the two guards standing there stopped her.

"I have never seen you before," he accused, running his narrowed eyes over her face intently before moving his gaze down her frame. "Which section do you work in?"

"Cleaners section." She hoped that would suffice as an answer. She had never heard of any sections, but if maids in Athanasia had sections, one of them would be named the cleaners section, right?

"What is your name?" The guard continued, his eyes were still narrowed. Such that his friend next to him also started paying attention.

"Kenna." She had heard the name being called in the kitchen and hoped this guard didn't know the actual Kenna.

"What are you going to do in there?" The other guard asked, gesturing to the gate.

"I was ordered to come here and clean the storage room on the first floor," She answered, recalling a storage room she had seen near Tyren's office last time she had been to his office.

The guards gave her one last critical look, before opening the gates for her. Pretending all was quite normal, she walked at moderate speed, head down, going for the stairs. She felt the guards' eyes on her. But she didn't let it deter her. Ignoring their gaze, she walked all the way to Tyren's office.

There she found two guards she didn't know guarding his door.

One battle down and one more to go,

All for her man. Internally smiling, she walked on.

"Good day gentleman. I was instructed to clean the crown prince's office," she greeted in good nature. The two men, who were bulky and scary-looking, looked down at her as if she was a tiny fly disturbing them.

"There were no such orders given." One of them, the dark-haired one, replied, looking away.

"Well, I have received them. I can't just go back. Ask inside. Maybe they were issued without your knowledge." At her words, both the guards looked down at her as if she could morph into a weapon. She knew there and then, that she had said something wrong. And before she could think of anything else, one of them withdrew his sword and placed it on her neck.

"Who are you?"

Taking a deep breath, she blinked several times, mustering the personality of a terrified little servant, while she thought of a way out of her situation.

"I am a friend of Soren's. Call him and he will confirm my words." Soren knew almost everything about Tyren. He would rescue her. After all, it was a better option than claiming to be a friend of the Prince.

"We don't believe you. Say who you really are before we disfigure your pretty face," the other one growled.

"I swear, I mean no harm. Soren knows me. Do you really think that I would summon the personal body of the crown prince if I was lying?" Their murderous and suspicious expressions didn't falter. Before they knocked her unconscious and dragged her to a dungeon or something, she expertly and swiftly twisted the hand holding the sword on her neck and dived for the door. But before she could open it, strong arms were tightened around her waist, dragging her backward.