I groaned as I finished off the third grammar sheet today.

"That's enough," I said, handing it to Solidad.

She laughed and took it with her left hand.

"You want to learn don't you," she said.

"No, I don't," I said.

"Well, too bad," she said, "You don't want to look uneducated do you?"

"What would the princess think?" Harley added.

I felt my face heating up slightly and I turned away from them.

"I don't care what the princess thinks," I lied.

I still couldn't figure out why her opinion mattered so much. I had been back every night this week and I still couldn't figure it out. Was it because I knew she was a princess? Did I automatically assume her opinion meant more because of her title?

That was silly. Why would I do that?

"Something tells me that isn't true," Solidad said.

"It's not true," I protested.

"Then why haven't you gotten her out yet?" Solidad asked, "You know you're on a time limit. You've been back multiple times, but you never take her out of there."

"She fights back," I said, "I've already told you that."

"You don't expect me to believe that you can't best her?" Solidad said, "Jaiden, you've been professionally trained. You know how to knock a person out. You have the capability to disarm a person quickly. You can't tell me that you haven't been able to beat her. You've been letting her win, haven't you?"

I ducked my head. That was true. I had been letting her win. I don't know why. Up until now, I hadn't told Solidad any of it. I'd been making excuses.

I looked at her paralysed arm. She had lost too much for me to waltz in and mess things up for her. She deserved to know the truth at least.

"Harley, I want to talk to Solidad," I said.

Harley frowned at me.

"It's alright," Solidad said, pecking his cheek, "I'll come see you later."

Harley pulled a face, but stood up and walked out anyway.

"I don't understand why," I said honestly, "I feel like something's holding me back."

"What does it feel like?" Solidad asked.

I thought for a moment, trying to put my feelings into words.

"I feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't be," I said slowly, "Which is weird because I knew I'd have to do this. I see her though and she fights so furiously against me. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Solidad…Am I the good guy? Or am I the bad guy?"

The question had been bugging me for a while. Was I actually doing something good? I thought I was, I'd been told I was, but that didn't stop me feeling uneasy.

"Of course you are," Solidad said, "If you're insecure, you should've said so. Jaiden, you're doing a good thing. You're trying to take back what we need."

"Why do I feel so awful then?" I asked.

"I think you're becoming attached to her," Solidad said, "I'm afraid your delay has only given you time to know her more. You feel bad because you know what'll happen after."

I looked at her.

"What happens after?" I asked.

"You won't get to see the princess as much as you do now," Solidad said, "You know that though. In fact, you might not get to see her ever again."

I felt like I had rocks in my stomach. I just felt so heavy. Never get to see Mina again? That filled me with dread. I didn't know I'd never see her again.

"Why can't I see her?" I asked.

"You'll go back to your life," Solidad said, "the princess has her own thing she needs to do. If you're lucky, you might see her at a special event. That's how the rankings work."

"But I would've saved her," I protested, "I'll be her hero, why couldn't I see her?"

Solidad reached out, but I backed away. I should've been told what would happen before I got too close. Why didn't anyone tell me this?

My throat felt like it was closing over. Breathing was getting difficult, like all the air in the room had banished.

"I'll be her hero," I repeated, "I'm her friend, why wouldn't I get to see her? That's not fair."

"Jaiden, that's how the social classes work," she said gently, "She'll be busy. She'll have too much to see you."

I looked up at her. Something inside me hurt. It hurt a lot and I didn't know what it was. For the first time, I said something to her I'd never said before.

"I don't believe you," I said, walking out.

I lay in my room. I felt horrible. I didn't want to go see the princess tonight. I'd have to try again though or I'd be reported. I didn't want to lose my position. If that happened, I had nowhere to go. I had no family to run to.

Solidad was the closest thing I had, but I was mad at her. She should've told me I wouldn't see her. Was I supposed to assume I wouldn't?

This was not fair. I was the one doing to work. Why was I the one to suffer?

There was a gentle knock at my door.

"Go away," I called, "I don't want to see you."

The door opened anyway and I looked up, expecting to see Solidad. What I saw instead, was Dawn. She was holding a book in her hands and she was smiling softly at me. She closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed next to me.

"Someone told me you were upset," she said.

I turned away from her.

"They said you didn't take it well the news of not being able to see the princess again," she continued.

"She should've told me," I said.

"She thought you already knew," Dawn said, "She thought you already had an understanding of how social classes worked."

"She just assumed I knew I wouldn't get to see her," I said.

Dawn put a hand on my arm.

"You've already seem more than some of us have," she said, "I've never seen the princess once. I don't know if I ever will. You're lucky and I'm jealous of you."

I laughed bitterly.

"What good is that when it just hurts," I said.

"It hurts because you care," Dawn said.

"I wish she'd bluntly told me," I said, "I never would've gotten so close."

"Do you remember this book?" she asked.

She placed the book on my lap. I flipped it open and read the start.

"Yeah, it's the silly one about the princess and the dirty little boy," I said.

"Exactly," Dawn said, "You said it was stupid and that princess' didn't make friends with dirty common boys. Jaiden, you are that dirty little common boy. Solidad thought you already knew that."

I stopped. It was a stupid story though. The princess and the common boy shouldn't have become friends. She was never going to fall in love with him.

If I was the boy…Did that mean that I shouldn't have had any hope of being friends in the first place? She saw me as her enemy after all. She never thought of me as a friend. Why would she think I was her hero either?

"Just think about it ok?" Dawn said, "And don't take it out on Solidad, she was only trying to help."

She walked out, leaving me with the book in my lap and jumbled thoughts in my head.

When I jumped into the princess' room that night, she was right in front of me. I decided not to think about what had happened earlier. I'd leave that for later. Right now, I was here with the princess and I was going to savour it.

Her face showed slight surprise and I chuckled a little at her expression.

"Well, hello princess. You're right here. Are you trying to make this easy for me?" I teased.

She frowned, but the corner of her mouth curved slightly.

"Don't fool yourself. If you beat me, then I have back up," she said.

She raised her sword back and my gaze followed where she was pointing.

It was another boy. He had brown hair and green eyes which were glaring straight at me. His arms were crossed and he had a sword beside him.

It was a guard?

"That's not fair, are you saying that I'll have to beat two people just to take you away?" I asked.

I could beat the princess fine, but he might be a problem. I didn't know how skilled he was. I would need to use something else now. I'd need to rethink this and plan again soon.

Mina nodded.

"But don't worry, you won't beat me anyway so you don't have to worry about Drew," Mina said.

Oh, this was Drew. I held up my sword, eyeing Drew as I blocked an attack from Mina.

This was the guy she mentioned before wasn't he?

"He looks hostile," I said, taking not e of the glare.

Drew looked like he was ready to kill me. He looked like he wanted to right now.

"Don't worry," Mina said, "He's just jealous."

I watched as she lightly nodded her head towards May.

I chuckled. Really? He was jealous of me because of something she'd said?

"Is that because I'm supposedly so hot?" I asked.

I blocked an attack from her, swiping one of my own at her.

Had May said that to Drew or something?

She giggled as she blocked the attack.

"That would be right, except that you're not actually so I don't know what there is to be jealous of," she said.

I laughed. She jabbed at me twice and I batted her sword away with mine.

"Someone's learnt their comebacks," I teased.

"I'm just better than you," she teased back playfully.

Her eyes glinted and I felt like grinning.

"We'll see about that," I said.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was having fun. She was playing with me too now. I teased her and she was teasing me back. She was letting me advance on her, only to push me back again.

I did grin at her as I fought back. I teased her gently as we fought.

I didn't know what had happened between now and our last encounter, but she really seemed to be enjoying herself this time. It was almost like she didn't care that we were being watched. I lifted my eyes to Drew for a moment to see he was raising an eyebrow.

I blinked as I found my sword being snatched from my fingers. Her eyes glinted in excitement as I backed up, the two swords pointing at me.

"You're beaten me again, I'm quite impressed," I said.

She had managed to hold out against me. She would have me delay another night at least. I would get to see her again.

I held my hands up.

She grinned, looking so proud. She panted, her hot breath warming my face.

"I'm just so amazing, aren't I?" she asked.

I smiled at her. She really was. She could fight off a man larger than herself. I was starting to wonder if I really wouldn't have trouble taking her. She seemed to be getting stronger herself. I would have to practice lots.

"You are amazing," I agreed honestly.

She really was amazing and sometimes I felt like I should've hugged her for being as strong as she was.

Mina's face slowly started to turn pink and she jerked away from me. She whipped my arm with her sword and I tried not to yelp, gritting my teeth against it.

"Get out of here," she mumbled, looking away.

I laughed.

It was cute how she thought she had control; how she thought she could boss me around like that.

Where was cute coming from? Why was I saying that word to myself so often? Why had Solidad ever taught me this word to begin with. It seems I would've been better off without it.

"I'll see you another night princess," I said

I yelped as Mina used my sword to whip me again and I jumped out the window.

I smiled sadly to myself. She was an amazing princess and I wished things didn't have to go this way.

Me: I possibly may have been bawling my eyes out over this...

Jaiden: Really? Why?

Me: It's sad and I'm emotional! I randomly feel asleep for an hour in the middle of the day today and I woke up feeling disoriented and weird. Don't blame me for being emotional!

And I'm sorry if the quality lacks in any chapters or if I've previously made mistakes and included names other than the characters than I'm using. I have tried to scan through and edit out the other names from my NaNoWriMo, but it gets difficult. Please just excuse them for now. I'll go back over the chapters at a later date and try to fix them up.