1
Flower petals fell around me as I sat at the fountain in the palace gardens. I was sad; sad because I was going to be married. It should be strange to be sad of that fact. But I was marrying someone I did not want to marry. It was an arranged marriage. My father, the emperor, wanted me to marry this prince from a neighboring kingdom. I'd met the man only once and I already knew I did not want to marry him. His name was, Raska. He was a big and strong man but he was also very stern. He wasn't very pleasant to be around; he had no sense of humor, and I could tell he had a terrible temper as well.
I was staring at the fish in the pond when my maid, Alima, called my name. Alima had been with me since I was born, she was a second mother to me. "Suhana, what are you doing out here? The tailors are here for measurements for your wedding dress" she said gently. "I was just thinking…" I said quietly. She sighed and came over to sit beside me. "I know you don't want to marry that prince. But it's your duty as princess."
"I know, but what about me? What about what I want?"
"What do you want?
"I want to travel the world, there are so many things in this world I have never seen, that I've only heard stories about."
"I understand, but it's just not possible, not unless you go against your father."
That was the problem I didn't know if I was brave enough to go against my powerful father. I loved him but he was scary when he was mad. And my mother was so indecisive, she couldn't do anything without his consent. And that fact was why I so did not want to marry Raska. He was powerful like my father. I didn't want to be like my mother, unable to think for myself. Forced to obey some man, I wanted to be a free spirit. Free to travel, to love and to be whatever I wanted to be, which was not a princess.
Later after the tailors had left, I went to dinner. Raska was going to be there. I knew he was not going to talk to me, he wasn't going to say one word to me. He and my father were going to talk politics and hunting. I sat down at my allotted place. My father nor Raska even looked at me. My mother was looking down at her hands. What a depressing dinner, every day had been like this for awhile. I missed the days when we were happy. When had we grown apart? Why was my father so distant? Why couldn't my father laugh again and call me his precious little angel? These questions were constantly going through my head.
After dinner I went to my room. Alima came and helped me get ready for bed. She then brushed my fur just like she had done every night since I was born. Maybe I should explain what I am. I am not human. I am a greater half-beast, cheetah type. Greater half-beasts look like beasts but are humanoid. Unlike the lesser half-beasts who have human faces. Alima is a bobcat type, Raska is a snow-leopard type.
While Alima brushed my fur she sang a lullaby to me, the lullaby she'd always sung to me. After Alima went to her rooms, I redressed. I was going to sneak out. I was going to be back hopefully before morning. I climbed out my window with a rope I'd taken from the stables. I made it to the wall where I could easily reach one of the roofs with a single jump. I climbed down to the street and found myself in the market, where even at night the streets were busy. I was amazed at the amount of people out at night, but I guess these were the night folk. I was looking around me in wonder at the non-rich look of everything. I was raised in a palace never aloud to go outside the walls. I was taught about all of this of course but seeing it was different. Then I saw a child being harassed by some big men. They were calling him a thief. I felt sorry for the child, because he was probably only stealing food. I went over and yelled at the men "Hey! What are you doing to this poor child!" They looked at me as if I was vermin, I'd forgotten I was wearing a cloak covering my face. They didn't know I was a princess. They came toward me with menacing looks. I was scared, so I ran. I ran as fast as I could, but they caught up to me. "Hey this one's pretty cute she is" one of the men said as he grabbed my arm. The other one said " Yeah what do you say we take her somewhere special for a little special treatment?" I was so scared I was shaking. Then I heard a third man's voice he yelled "Unhand her you freakish bastards!" and up on top of a roof was a wolf greater half-beast. He then leapt off the roof and kicked the man holding me right in the face. "OWCHH!" he screamed and then "YOU"RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT YOU SCUM!" The wolf man grabbed my hand and ran. He was fast, faster than me. We went around lots of corners. He knocked over barrels trying to slow them down. We ran and ran with the men right on our tail. I could hardly think cause of the rush. It was an amazing feeling. We finally lost them when the wolf man suddenly jumped up to a roof in one leap. He picked me up and continued to run across the rooftops. He suddenly went inside a building. He put me down, and I found myself in a room with no door or bed, just lots of cushions and traveling gear. "Whew that was a rush" He said. I collapsed to my knees. I needed a moment to calm myself. "Hey you ok? I know I'll make you some hot cocoa, that always makes me feel better. By the way what were you thinking messing with those men?" I breathed deeply, after a moment I said "They were harassing a child."
"Ah, so you were being noble. I would have done the same thing. Oh wait I did hah!" I couldn't help but start laughing partly cause of him being funny, and partly because I was so relieved.
"There now your feeling better, I'm still gonna make you some hot cocoa though." He proceeded to do just that. While the water heated up he introduced him self "I am Andrey, son of Ivan, of the land Rumar. And who is the lovely lady I just rescued?" I felt like I could trust him so I decided not to hide my identity. I took down my hood and said "I am Princess Suhana, daughter of Ahmed, of the land we're in right now." That surprised him. "A princess! Whoa, I saved a princess, good for me." He then patted himself on the back. "So, what are you doing out here in the streets at night? You know it's not safe." He had a genuine look of concern on his face. "I wanted to get out of the stuffy palace, nighttime was the only time I could do that."
"I understand, I would probably do that too." Then the kettle started screaming. "Ah the water is done." He poured it into two cups, and gave one to me. "Careful it's hot." He blew on it to cool it down, so I did the same. We took a careful sip at the same time and said "Ow, hot..hot" at the same time. I giggled and he laughed. He had such kind eyes, and treated me like a normal person even though I was a princess. Later that night, just before dawn, he escorted me to the palace walls. We were on my balcony. I said "Well goodnight and thank you, I hope I can see you again."
"Goodnight princess." he took my hand and kissed it. "I think it's unlikely you'll see me again, though I do hope it happens."
Then he jumped off of the balcony right on the wall below, and continued out of sight. "Goodnight….Andrey" I said even though he was gone already. I was relieved to see nobody had decided to check on me through the night. Everything was quiet as I got into my nightie and climbed into bed.