Princess Petun was sitting on the stone bench, twirling a petunia in her fingers. The scent of the garden gave a nostalgic feeling that made her close her eyes to reminisce the past.
It happened three years ago.
All her life she was raised in a locked room cellar. She's not allowed to go outside, and if permitted, she'll be wrapped in a long shawl covering her face and constantly guarded. She could only read books that were screened by her governess, and watch movies according to the palace's biddings.
She's aware of the fact that she'll be somebody's wife when the time comes.
That night, she heard a rustling sound on her window. Thinking it might be a trapped animal on her barbed sill, she rose. She was already at the window when the sound stopped, and was about to return to her bed when the rustling sounded again. The window was a few metres high and to see the view outside, she needed to pull a table and a stool on top of it.
When a flute sounded, she declined that thought.
It was a familiar tone – a folksong she often heard from her chambermaids, about a sparrow hit by a stone and abandoned.
She sung the lyrics, made the player paused a second, surprised, but continued to play until the song ended. There was a moment of silence, and the rustled sound began.
"Cease!", she blurted out. "Don't leave."
The rustling sound stopped.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but you're a good player."
Silence.
"I'm the one who should say sorry.", a manly voiced answered. "You have a nice voice, are you a palace musician?"
She should be pissed that this man was not able to recognize the location he's been at the moment, downgrading her status, but she brushed it off.
"You can say so. Perhaps, you're also a palace musician too?"
Crap if she'll be busted. She didn't have any idea who's who in that group.
"Not yet, but I'm aiming to be one."
"So...you're sort of practicing?", she fumbled, with a sigh of relief.
"Yes, but I never thought that somebody's in this isolated corner of the palace. I even thought this is a storage or something."
This is my house, she thought.
"I'm Kyrios. What's your name?"
"Petun.", she answered.
"Like a flower. Simple but elegant. I like it."
She blushed on his comment. It was a simple flattery from a stranger, but it greatly affected her.
"Shall I see you tomorrow, Petun?"
It makes her heart flutter when he casually said her name, but she knew she must turn him down.
"I'm sorry, but I have other appointments tomorrow."
"Then how about the next day?"
"All my schedules are tight."
Silence.
"Must be difficult to work in the palace.", he muttered.
She could sense a sound of defeat, and with honesty, she wanted to be acquainted with him again.
"But tomorrow night, I will be here again. Same time."
"We can meet tomorrow night then?"
She heard a delightful sound that made her chuckled.
"We cannot. It will be the same like this – you outside, me inside."
"Why's that?"
"Because sir, women have curfews unlike you."
For days they became acquaintances without meeting each other. Kyrios even attempted to climb the highest tree to have a view inside the window, but Petun knew he couldn't see a thing inside since windows were tinted and barbed. He admitted that he wanted to see her in person – badly – and so was her, but she kept it by herself. She knew it was impossible.
Then one day, Kyrios discovered the truth about her identity and her chamber. From other people.
"I was such an impertinent lowly person to address you casually, and disturbed your sleep, your Highness."
"You're leaving?"
Silence.
"Kyrios..."
Silence. Not even a rustling sound.
She had felt rejection several times, and knew the feeling of being abandoned, but for Kyrios, it was the most painful. "I haven't told anybody about you. You are my first secret, and my first friend. Please, don't leave."
She heard a low sigh.
"I haven't told anybody that I spend here practicing or talking with you every night. Because you're my first secret too."
Tears flowed on her eyes. "You're not leaving me?"
"No, my dear Petun."
Their relationship stayed like that for months, learned new things about each other. They shared their views about society, about literature, and culture, and found their similarities. Petun learned that Kyrios was older than five years, and quite intelligent for a mere servant. She often asked why he wanted to become a palace musician.
"I love music.", was his vague response.
One day, Petun received a visit from his brother Beeno. He's the kindest person in the family, and she loved him, but when he told her that she will be relocated to another chamber, she declined. It was a heated argument, but in the end, she was left with no choice but to follow his brother's biddings. While they were walking, brother Beeno suddenly embraced her, only to realize he was stabbed on the back.
She couldn't scream out of fear, especially when the dark eyes of the attacker looked at her. The final blow was about to be landed, but halted when the palace guards arrived.
That moment, Petun received a tight security and received a 24/7 patrol around her new chamber. For months, she suffered from nightmares and disturbed sleep, but nobody came to ease and reassure her safety. How she wished Kyrios was there.
But it was short-lived. Kyrios finally found her – underground.
They still couldn't see each other because of the tinted windows and barbed wires, but his voice was more audible. It was deep and soothing like an angel, and when he played the flute, it was more heart-warming and touching she could almost cry.
"My dearest Petun, I'm sorry I was not able to reach you. Your location was kept secret, but I tried to seek you. I studied the guard rotations, and after a month of observation, my hunch led me here."
He explained to her that from the previous chamber, no guards were placed on her site, which was a very good tactic – as if there was none importance there. But checking its entrance, there were embedded traps for force entrance, similar to her current chamber.
When she told him about her brother's murder and the tight security she experienced, he was forced to tell her everything.
Not only his brother Beeno was murdered, but her other half-siblings as well.
She might be bearing the 35th heir, but in reality, she's the 5th heir.
When her brother Lamook told her about her bethrothal to Levinski, a man he barely remembered she met during her brother Beeno's funeral, she knew it was her ticket to escape. But she couldn't leave Kyrios, more, to live in a place without him.
"Accept the proposal.", Kyrios said when Petun confessed everything. "Go to America with him. That way you'll be safe from the killings inside. I or anybody else couldn't save you – only you could save yourself. Didn't you say you wanted freedom? Here's your chance."
"But I don't want to have a freedom by marrying somebody I never loved!"
"Who said you're going to marry him? Do you think I will allow that?"
She knew that tone of voice – it was a voice full of determination and anger.
"My dear Petun, go to America, and rest assured, I will follow you."
"Your Highness, you need to rest.", Afef's voice woke her from her daydreams.
"You're supposed to assist Lieutenant Dallas."
The butler sat beside her. Afef was an important person, next to Kyrios. He had stayed by her side since she was small, and saved her various times.
"The Lieutenant was capable of defending herself, despite for the fact that she's being monitored by her colleagues. Also, the whole households were cooperating with her."
"How's Lieutenant coping?"
"Horribly."
She chuckled when the butler told her how Eve screamed for help when the maids pampered, dressed and dolled her. She even reacted when she was introduced in their native cuisines, but settled with their native sweets. It was Eve's direct command to treat her like she's Petun while capturing her 'as-if kidnappers', and everybody simply complied.
"I couldn't believe that Lieutenant Dallas was so dedicated to her work, that she's willing to stay in the suite for days instead of going home with her husband. She did it for Mr. Howe and Miss Mathilde."
"She also did it for you, your Highness.", Afef assured her, "Her husband Roarke and her team installed various camera sensors around the suite, observing the situation 24/7. She'll be safe portraying as you, so don't worry."
"Either my Father or some of my brothers will attend the Ceremonial Dance, will she – "
"Everything has been covered. The Lieutenant already seen this, and those royalty were informed that you're alright. Only the households present here and your brother Lamook believed that you've been kidnapped. Your betrothal believed you're safe and ready for the wedding. The NYPSD knew you're under recovery, and only the Lieutenant, her husband and I knew your whereabouts."
Petun allowed Afef to pass the message to her brother Lamook, the only sibling she trusted, that she's been kidnapped, used the spiel applied in the households, in which Eve reluctantly approves.
She adjusted her turban, and reached for her clutch. "I have two things that you must pass to the Lieutenant tonight."
Afef waited for her words.
"One – the killer I met in the hotel and the killer who killed my siblings used the same tactics, but they were not the same."
"The Lieutenant knows that.", he said which made Petun blinked with a surprise.
"Then this last one – someone will kidnap me during the Ceremonial Dance, and kill Levinski."
Afef closed his eyes and thought of the two images Eve showed to him. One male and one female, and he knew their names. Which of them wanted to harm the Princess?
And if his hunches were right, the Lieutenant already knew about the latter information as well.