Hot. Hot hot hot. These were the only things I was thinking as we rode through the desert to the palace of Prince Dastan. Now it was only Jacqueline and Aaron, my most trusted guard with me. We also had a few palace guards that had met us at the border, to escort us safely to the palace. We were now on horses, with a couple of mules for all of my clothes and things. I was riding a pure white horse, save for the sprinkle of black spots near her rump. She was very gentle and apparently the Prince asked that I ride her specifically. Atash was riding in a satchel on my back, and I was currently envying the clothes of our Persian guards, they seemed so light and airy, made for the hot weather. I, on the other hand was still wearing my light purple dress from yesterday, and it felt as though it weighed a hundred pounds. I had taken off my sapphire necklace earlier as I was scared it would heat up and burn me. My clothes were definitely not made for the heat. My face was also getting very sun burnt, I mean, I'm pretty tan, but this amount of heat is sure to burn anyone.
Just when I felt as though we would never arrive, we did. The palace of Alamut was beautiful. I felt a surge of adrenaline at the thought of meeting the princes and felt as though I could wait no longer. I gave my sweet horse a squeeze and we began to gallop down the sand dune, leaving the others behind. I must have been a sight to see, my long curls flying behind me, eyes bright, sweat pouring down my face, sand everywhere, Atash peeking out of the satchel on my back. I beat all the guards to the gates. I laughed at their attempts of keeping up, and when the Persian guards reached me first, they looked at me in a bit of awe and said,
"We haven't seen someone ride like that in awhile, Your Highness. You are going to be quite a handful for our rulers." They chuckled a bit. I giggled and said,
"You are just being nice. My brother is a much better rider than I."
He simply shook his head and said, "You must enter a race or other tournament. I would always bet on you."
I blushed and asked, "What is your name, guard?"
He stood up straight and said, "Arman Konduz, Your Highness."
"Well then, Arman Konduz, if I ever decide to race, I'll let you know."
We both chuckled, looked at Aaron and Jacqueline as they finally trotted over to us. They could be so darn slow. Arman signaled to one of the Persian gatekeepers, and the beautiful golden gates opened for us. The city of Alamut was gorgeous; I couldn't help looking at everything with my mouth hanging open. I'm pretty sure I DID have my mouth open for awhile because Jacqueline gave me a disapproving look. I smelled spices, saw bartering, watched small children run around and some were even jumping on rooftops! Everything seemed so..free. It wasn't like home, and I relished in it. We reached the palace all too soon it seemed, and the weight of what I was about to do really hit me. I have to meet and stay with the Prince of Persia's family! But he is also the King of Alamut; do I address him as King or Prince? What if they don't like me? What if they are barbaric? Millions of questions ran through my head as we rode up to the palace doors, and saw a man standing there. He was very regal looking, his hair was a shaggy dark brown, he had a light tan and was very muscled, and his clothes were as those of a king. I wondered who he was as we stopped. He smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth and said as he reached for my hand,
"Hello Princess Amelia Sophia, I'm sorry to ambush you like this, but I wanted to reach you before my children and niece did. I am Dastan."
I could barely believe it. The prince had come to meet me personally! He seemed so warm and his blue eyes were sparkling with so much mirth, that I immediately relaxed and gave him my hand.
"Hello Your Majesty, it's a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it was under different circumstances."
He took my arm and tucked it under his, and I immediately wished I had changed. He was so crisp and clean! I was sandy and my hair was windblown and messy, and I smelled like horse. He drew away my insecurities when he began to speak again.
"Please call me Dastan while you are here. We want you to feel as one of the family. My children have been so anxious to meet you. My niece and daughter especially," he chuckled. "What does your family call you at home? Amelia?"
I shook my head and said, "Everyone calls me Emily. What are your children's names? I'm sorry I was just told about this whole trip a day ago, it was very last minute. They thought if we packed early, then we would give away the fact that we were being sent away, and the enemies would attack up on our voyage."
He nodded gravely and said, "I see how that would be important. I would do the same for my children." He was leading me through a beautiful garden when, a beautiful girl who looked about my age ran in.
"Uncle Dastan! Help! We are playing hide and seek! Rasheem is the seeker." Her gaze fell on me and lit up. "Hello, you must be Amelia! My name is Farah. We are going to be great friends." I couldn't help but smile. She was absolutely stunning, with olive skin, chestnut brown eyes, long dark hair that almost reached her waist and white light dress on with gold thread, she also had gold armbands on her upper arms. Threaded into her hair were assorted small white flowers, normally one would have thought she would be haughty and proud, but not her. Farah's smile was one of genuine happiness. She was right; we were going to be great friends.
Dastan laughed loudly and gave my arm a squeeze, as he said, "Well, this is my niece, the Grand Princess Farah, of Persia, although she doesn't act as one most of the time." He chuckled and patted her cheek. She grinned back and waggled her eyebrows, "Nobody's perfect Uncle Dastan, now if you two will excuse me, I have to go hide from your son." She pecked Dastan on the cheek and gave my hand a warm squeeze, before running off.
Dastan cleared his throat and said, "Well that was one of the brood. She has an older brother named Garsiv who is about twenty so he is staying with his father, to learn battle strategies and such. And we are blessed with lovely Farad." We both laughed at that and continued our stroll through the palace.
"I have three children. My oldest, Rasheem is your age, Sher, my next son is eleven, and my youngest and only daughter, Astera, is four. You will meet them shortly. My wife is also anxiously awaiting your arrival. She was quite jealous that I got to meet you before. Now, this is your room."
We had arrived at a beautiful room overlooking the gardens and city. The bed was huge and the room was my favorite shade of purple! I looked at him in amazement and said, "How did you know this was my favorite color? And look at this view! Wow! Oh, and my bed is a beautiful blue. Oh, thank you Dastan!"
He laughed as I twirled around the room, and was even more surprised when Jacqueline walked in. It was an adjoining room!
"Now, don't thank me. It was all Tamina and Farah. They wanted you to have the perfect view, and they sent a message to your mother asking for your favorite colors. We all just want you to feel as at home here as possible. I know it's hard to get up and leave everything you know and love. And, Farah made it so that your rooms are just down the hall from each other, so that you could get to know one another better. Now, I must take my leave, but I will see you in a half a hour. We are having a family dinner. A guard will come get you when it is ready. See you soon Emily."
And with one last warm hand squeeze, he was gone. Jacqueline busied herself in getting my bath ready. Thank goodness. I really smelled, wow, I stank. That bath was exactly what I needed, to clear my head about everything. Farah, Dastan, Tamina, Rasheem, Sher, and Astera. This was my new family. I wonder what the ones that I haven't met will be like. Jacqueline banging on the door for me to hurry up interrupted my thoughts.
"Emily! We are going to be late! You can't still be soaking in that tub! If I have to I will send Aaron to drag you out again!" That was one of her favorite threats, since she knew I would die if it ever happened again. When I was little, and poor Aaron was a new guard, I had refused to get out of my bath and Jacqueline had to have Aaron drag me out. Poor Aaron, I was a feisty ten year old.
I immediately jumped out of the bath. She was serious. I wrapped myself in a towel and tip toed out of the bathroom. She had laid out my new clothes for me. I sighed since I had thought I would get some light Persian ones, like Farah's. But no. The gown was a golden champagne floral color with the sleeves' end in a deep burgundy color. I had gold and red flats to match. At home I would have liked this, but here is just seemed bulky and hot. The only thing I liked about it was my diamond necklace, which was a sort of a cobwebbed feature. My hair was in a sort of curled ponytail, but was loose and low on my neck. Jacqueline set a gold chain coming from my hair, around my forehead and back to the other side of the ponytail. When Jacqueline had finally deemed me ready, a knock sounded at my door. She went to answer it, and Arman and Aaron were standing at the door.
"Your Highness, it is time to dine with the family."
Aaron gave me a wink and offered me his arm, while Jacqueline fell into step next to me, holding my hand. They both knew how nervous I was about meeting the rest of the royal family. We approached a grand room, with a large dining room table in the center. It was covered in lavish foods, most of which I had never seen before, but all looked delicious.
At the head of the table was of course, Dastan. On his right was one the most beautiful women I had ever seen, she had long beautiful dark black hair that reached her waist, tan skin, chocolate colored eyes, and one of the best figures I had ever seen. I assumed this was Dastan's wife, Tamina. To the right of her was a young boy who I assumed was Sher. He looked like a perfect mix of both his parents. He had Dastan's strong physique, goofy smile, and shaggy styled hair, while his mother's eyes, tan skin and dark hair. And on the right of him, was a little girl who I guessed was Astera. She looked exactly like her mother, with her dark hair already down to her shoulders, tan skin, beautiful cute face, but even from a distance I could see she had her father's blue eyes. Between Farah and Dastan, stood a boy who looked my age. He must be Rasheem. He was quite handsome, almost a mirror image of his father, with a slightly lighter shade of brown hair than his siblings, the blue eyes, toned body, but had a shorter cut of hair, short of spiked up in the front. I could barely take my eyes off of him.
Dastan stood up and walked over to me saying, "Ah Emily! You have arrived. You look beautiful. Forgive us for sitting down, we had someone who just couldn't wait." He then gave Sher a looked that made him, look guiltily down at his plate.
I giggled and said, "The fault is all mine, I walked slowed than I should have on the way over, and your home is magnificent." I sent a wink to Sher who looked at me; surprised I would take the blame. Dastan laughed and took my hand, and led me to the table.
"Emily this is my family. You already know Farah." Farah gave me an excited wave, which I returned with a smile. "This is my wife, Tamina." Tamina got up and gave me a scrutinizing look. I felt a moment of panic until she held out her hand and gave mine a warm squeeze, "I'm happy you made it here safely, Emily."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." She looked so regal and queenly, that it only felt right to address her that way.
Dastan continued, "This is my youngest Astera." He gestured to the young girl who waved at me while bouncing in her seat.
"Sit across from me Emiwy!" I smiled and nodded.
"And these are my two boys, Sher and Rasheem." They got up, kissed my hand and bowed, while I curtsied back. Sher was smiling while he looked at me, while Rasheem looked just plain angry. He held my hand so lightly, like he didn't even want to touch me, and his lips barely grazed my hand. It clearly said that he did not like me being here. I felt very offended and upset at that. Why was I feeling this way? I shouldn't care about some boy! I have done nothing wrong and if he doesn't like me, then fine. I don't like him!
I took a seat next to Farah and across from Astera as she wished. Farah leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll get you some lighter clothes that will look great on you."
"Thanks Farah."
"And I'm sorry about Rasheem, he is usually so nice to guests. I don't know what's gotten into him."
"It's ok. Maybe he's just having a bad day. I really don't care."
Apparently I didn't look believable since she just raised her eyebrows and nodded. The rest of dinner passed quickly with everyone but Rasheem asking me questions about home and my family. Farah, Sher and I quickly made plans to go riding tomorrow. Rasheem said he was busy, and politely declined.
The entire way back to my room with Aaron and JacquelineI thought about what I could have done to make Rasheem angry. Nothing. Absolutley nothing. This was making me angry! There was no reason for him to be rude like that. Well, that won't bother me. He can find some other princess. I'll be out of here soon enough.