The Princess's Guard ✔️

3

He doesn't respond, hands tucked respectfully behind his back.

But that's the only respectful thing about him.

Despite his cold perfection, I can tell he's rough, brutal. A thrill shudders through me. This isn't going to be an easy few months.

Father regards his new hire with a proud smile. "Ark was a mercenary for many years. He is very skilled at what he does."

"Killing people?"

"Yes," he responds icily.

Admittedly, I lose the ability to breathe for a moment. Father seriously favours a hired killer over any other skilled person in these lands?

"I'll leave you two alone then," father says, stepping back out into the snow.

Ark turns away from me, surveying the space he has to work with. The large part of the room is the gap between the roof and the towering ceiling, with most of the floor space being taken up by various training equipment.

I shouldn't be here, as a Princess, but I'm excited about it.

I just can't let Ark get to me.

"Don't expect me to be too high energy. I'm tired this morning," I mumble.

Ark rubs his gloved hands together, approaching a rack of equipment.

"Perhaps if you didn't wake up and touch yourself before the sun had even risen, you would get more sleep," he responds calmly.

I stare at his back, dumbfounded.

"I..."

There is nothing I can say to escape this mortification. It's like he's stripped me of my training clothes and stood over my naked form to ridicule me.

"How do you...how do you know?" I demand.

He twists his head to focus on me. "Your eyes are glazed, your cheeks are tinted pink and your shoulders are relieved of the tension in them from last night."

How could he have possibly seen all that? Especially in the darkness.

"What I do in my personal time is none of your concern," I grit out.

I could deny it, but why should I? I'm allowed to orgasm whenever I like, and this stranger isn't about to tell me I can't.

He shrugs. "Maybe not. But that's the reason you're tired."

I step toward him. "Actually it's because someone broke into my room the other night with the intention to kill me. Sorry if sleeping at night is far harder than it used to be."

Something flickers in his eyes. Pity? Sadness? I can't tell.

"Your trauma will resolve itself far better with a good rest," is all he says.

I tap my foot, channeling all my anger into that one movement, although mitigating my emotions isn't much use anymore.

"I can't believe you are forbidding me from touching myself. Are you insane?" I snap.

Something shifts in him. He drops the weight he was holding, striding toward me.

I keep my ground, although my confidence starts to waver.

He doesn't stop until he's so close to me I can see every detail on his face. His eye lashes are thick and dark, and below them, dark circles frame his eyes.

My gaze doesn't dare dip down to his lips, which I already know are full and inviting.

"Get on the ground," he demands quietly, a seething kind of anger edging his disturbing calmness.

"Huh?"

He nods downward. "Stretches. Hurry."

I sink to the ground immediately upon his command. Mostly because I don't want him to see my surprise.

My mind must have wandered to its darkest depths to imagine what else he could have possibly meant by that.

Once I'm in position to start stretching, he starts pacing in front of me, hands seated in his pockets.

"Rules," he starts. I roll my eyes.

"Firstly, I will be training you in self defence, nothing more. Your father does not wish to corrupt your reign by making you a fighter."

I can hear he's bothered to have even said that. I don't flinch, not surprised.

"Go figure. Imagine the horror of a Princess who can not only think for herself, but do something about it?" I mutter.

I swear I see the edges of his lips tilt up slightly.

"Secondly, you will not be late to our training sessions at any point, otherwise you will be thoroughly punished. Nothing will become more important than this, and you shall not take lovers, or partake in any related activity. Your mind needs to remain focused."

I gape at him. "Seriously? My sex life should not concern you."

He doesn't even look at me, continuing to stride back and forth, black boots causing the floorboards to creak right near me.

"And thirdly, you must obey my every command. Do you understand?"

"I-"

He stops, holding my gaze. "Do you understand, Kiva?"

This is a man who likes to get his way. And for now, I get the feeling that if I disobey him, I'll be introduced to a kind of wrath I haven't experienced before.

"Yes, Ark." I force a sardonic smile onto my face.

The slightest frown creases between his brows. "What happened to you will not repeat itself. Am I clear?"

I swallow tightly. "Yes, Ark."

We sit in an intense silence for a long moment, before Ark eventually relents, turning away from me.

"Laps, around the gym," he orders.

I scramble up. "When do I stop?"

He waves his hand dismissively. "When I've decided you've had enough. Now go."

I groan, but despite my better judgment, I start into a run, silently cursing Ark, and my new life.

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