His Queen

11. Greetings

Aliya's POV

"My lord," the guard named Anthony appeared in the doorway, "the guests have started to arrive. Princess Emma and her fiancé are making their way towards the ball room now."

"I'll be there shortly," Damien ran a comb through his hair, styling it to perfection like always.

"I ordered some guards to take care of Aliya's safety tonight, where are they?"

He set the comb down on the table and turned around, questioning the guard who nodded and replied, "they are waiting at the ballroom entrance, sir. I've chosen two of my best men for the job, they will meet you there. The rest of us will also be on high alert tonight, just like you wanted."

Satisfied with the response, Damien dismissed him and started to put his watch on. I took a moment to take in his final, completed outfit. Although I was used to seeing him in suits, something about his look was different. Perhaps it was the soft, velvety material of the black tuxedo he was wearing, it made me want to reach out and trace the smoothness of the jacket with my fingers.

Underneath, he wore a plain, white shirt that fit his body like a glove. When he shifted, the coat moved from its position but the shirt didn't budge. Tracing my eyes up, I noticed the black bow tie around his neck and the white pocket square tucked in his suit jacket.

The only thing "blingy" about his plain black and white outfit was the watch on his wrist, which stole the show with it's flashy, golden color.

I just remembered what he talked to the guard about.

"You ordered some guards to look out for me tonight?" I asked him.

"Yes, don't want to repeat yesterday's incident. Although nobody would dare to touch you under my roof, everybody knows you are our guest. But I couldn't risk it, who knows if they decide to break in somehow?"

"They? So you know who tried to kidnap me?"

Was he hiding something? He was missing for the whole day today, maybe he had managed to track down who tried to hurt me.

"Yes, but I'll take care of it," he simply said and made an attempt to walk towards the door.

I stopped him, "who is it? Tell me."

"You don't have to worry about it, I have it under control."

He gave me a look which made me believe he wasn't going to tell me anytime soon. But why?

I sighed, realizing there was no point arguing with him about it.

"I don't like this, I hate feeling like I'm in danger somehow and not being able to do anything about it. Believe me, I'm grateful for your attempts to keep me safe but I can't just walk around with bodyguards for the rest of my life. You won't always be there and I can't even defend myself."

Maybe he was right all along, maybe I was just a weak human who never stood a chance against these new enemies I seem to have made.

"You're not as weak as I thought," Damien frowned, "you have this inner strength that just needs a direction. You're fierce, you just need to put your anger towards something more powerful and destructive. You can take down anyone who stands in your way with proper guidance, you just need to believe in yourself."

His words shocked me, I didn't know he ever noticed me this closely until now. He's always called me incapable of competing against him or his species, but there he stood, telling me the complete opposite now.

"Who's going to guide me?" I asked, sounding defeated already.

"I can teach you," he said after a moment of silence, "I've trained some of the best fighters in this world. Don't expect me to go easy on you though, your cute and innocent eyes won't be able to save you this time."