The Princess and the Bodyguard

Chapter 3

Princess Christabel Melita Astor I was born on Christmas Day, just as the sun was setting, casting a deep, golden light upon the small kingdom. The evening was cool, but not unpleasantly so as the first cry of the new child spiked the clean air.

Her father, Edmund Lionel Astor was the first to welcome her home, cradling his first child in his arms as he sat next to his wife, Marina Sibyll Astor. His father and present king, Henry Elliot Astor VI would be the third to greet her.

The whole kingdom became aglow as the happy news spread far and wide, dousing the snowy landscape in an unmistakable blanket of joy and magic.

When her mother had recovered enough to be active, Christabel was introduced to her people from the palace balcony from the Royal Chambers. The big world didn't bother her one bit as she gazed across the sea of strangers through tired eyes. Her people.

Unfortunately, the happiness was not to last. She grew up in the stone halls of her castle. And though her mother and father had many children together, an illness or an assassin would always dash the hopes of the happy kingdom until just the princess and her father were left. Her cousins were no longer allowed to visit, she no longer had freedom to roam wherever she pleased. The summer castle by the sea was sold, the guards were tripled, and her room was moved to the wing of her father for security.

On her twelfth birthday, she was allowed one short walk with her father to see the graves of her family before she was once again let alone in the castle. After her sixteenth birthday and the twenty seventh such murder attempt on the family since her birth, it was decided she would get her own bodyguard to be trained and put into place before her seventeenth birthday.

And so, out went the royal decrees, promising the winner of the title a raise in status to nobleman. And that will bring us back to present day. Now, once you hear about the pathetic life of the princess, various people will have a different say in the matter.

Some of you may pity her, others may just think she should be killed because she has never done anything. That is true, however that was not her entire decision. And of course I know the people who like her will be quite angry at me for trying to kill her.

Again, my apologies, but I was a young child looking for someone defenseless to blame. Can you hardly blame me for picking her? Really, she was the ideal target.

And since Erik and I were now closer than father and son, he immediately got me into the competition. I know he was my driving force, but I wanted my mother to survive. The winner was raised up to nobleman status, which would ensure my mother would be safe and healthy the rest of her life. I can have alternative motives for doing things. Revenge and protection are quite opposite, but this was one of the few chances they worked well together. I was now 19, I had come of age. I had a job, but it was very boring. However, the guards thankfully remembered my great services to the kingdom and I was not eliminated just through the job combing.

It helps to build a good reputation. My mother was so excited she invited Erik over to thank him for his help. At the end of the evening I had to retrieve the good silverware, mother's special coin and father's army broach from Erik.

Now, you should understand that once you steal it becomes a habit. Erik was actually rather fond of my mother for her obliviousness and gullibility; he hadn't meant any real harm, it was just hard for him to resist anything valuable. However, had I let him know this I would've gotten into a real fight with him. As my father used to say, if it doesn't end in freedom, it's not a battle worth fighting. So, it's good he gave it back. And anyways, he was in too much of a good mood to put up a real fight.

That night, I lay awake in bed, not quite sure what I was feeling. I didn't want to leave Mother alone. I could make sure she was in good hands. That wasn't it. I was excited to go, I wanted to see places outside of the town, outside the kingdom. Erik could take care of our crime family, I wasn't worried about the business. It just, somehow had started to feel wrong. I wasn't sure why. I had been doing this since I was four. Maybe it was what my mother had called a guilty conscience, like when I'd broken a plate or something while my father was still here. I hadn't felt guilt before, why should I now?