Chapter 2: An Opened Heart
The deck was crowded with millions of people waiting to see the princess. The king, queen, and prince were also waiting among the immense crowd. The sun shone brightly, promising a beautiful day, reflecting on shiny objects. Knights and mages were scattered everywhere on the lookout to prevent any danger to the foreign princess.
At last, the ship was spotted coming along the coast. Everyone cheered and whistled at the magnificent sight. Their majesties and the prince rose to their feet and the people bowed. The ship docked and out came the elegant princess looking significant. Wearing a scarlet colored kimono with maple leaves, she walked gracefully to King Jonathan, Queen Thayet, and Prince Roald with Shinkoi at her shadows. Princess Akurean and Shinkoi bowed deeply like they have practiced many times on the ship. Surprisingly, their majesties and the prince bowed at her, too.
Still astonished by her beauty, silence dragged on until Queen Thayet cleared her throat and King Jonathan said warmly, and "Welcome to Tortall, Princess Akurean! I am King Jonathan," pointing to his wife, "Queen Thayet and my son, Prince Roald," nodding towards the prince.
"Nice to meet you", the queen and prince said in unison, bowing slightly.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, your majesties, Prince Roald," Princess Akurean said politely looking at the prince. He is very handsome! Akurean thought. Well, of course, I can't judge a person by their looks.
Like his parents Roald had piercing blue eyes and coal, black hair. His height five feet five, at the age of 15, Prince Roald looked mature and manly. He wore proper clothes, a velvet vestment and black, shiny shoes.
"Come! Let us show you to your rooms at the pages' dorm!" exclaimed the king. "Leave your belongings where they are. The servants would be placed in your rooms by the servants."
Akurean bowed to the king and glanced at the prince. He was staring at her with cold, icy eyes that made the princess shiver. She briskly walked behind the king without looking back.
"My lady, the prince does not seem so fond of you," Shinkoi remarked softly.
"Well, you can't blame him for hating me since he has to marry someone he doesn't even know. I won't hold it against him," Princess Akurean said defensively holding an opened fan over her mouth, so no one can read her lips.
"As you say, my lady," replied Shinkoi.
They walked through the crowds, with knights surrounding them, until they reached the horses. Everybody mounted up and started on the road to the capital city, Corus. Luckily, Akurean had learned how to saddle and mount a horse before she has left her beloved empire or she would have embarrassed herself.
Finally, they passed the gates of Corus. Looking around, Akurean saw townsfolk chat and trade goods. Children sprinted around playing. Once in a while, the townsfolk would turn to stare at her in wonder.
"We have arrived at the pages' dorm, Princess Akurean," King Jonathan said dismounting.
"Please, call me Akurean, your Highness," Akurean said sweetly. She slid down from the saddle and followed everyone inside.
All the pages were eating lunch when the king, queen, prince, and princess arrived. The pages scrambled to their feet, surprised at their guests, and bowed.
"Everyone, our kingdom is honored to have a Shuni princess as our visitor. I would like her to see you fine gentlemen train hard and work hard to become a knight." The king paused and waited patiently for the noise the quiet down. Then he continued, "Of course, the princess will be living here for the time being as a spectator and, if she wishes, join your training activities. You may continue your lunch."
The training master, Lord Wlydon, greeted their majesties and to Akurean, he said, "Welcome to Corus, the capital city, Princess Akurean! I am Wlydon, the person in charge of training these young men to become fine knights. I hope you will enjoy your stay here at the page's dorm with my boys."
"It is a pleasure, Sir Wlydon, and please, call me Akurean," she replied courteously.
Lord Wlydon motioned for a tall, handsome boy with brown hair and green emerald eyes. "Lady Akurean, Nealan of Queenscove will show you to your rooms." He bowed and walked away back to his table.
The king and queen gave their blessings and left. Nealan bowed and motioned Akurean to follow; Prince Roald also followed them.
"Princess Akurean…that is a lovely name and it fits you quite well," remarked Nealan, his eyes looking her over. Prince Roald nudged him in the ribs.
"I thank you for your compliment, Nealan of Queenscove, but do call me Akurean," she said hiding a smile while bowing slightly.
"You call me Neal and I will call you Akurean," Neal said grinning. "Hey Roald, come on, say something. You are a horrible host for beautiful Akurean. Here are your rooms," he said opening a door.
"Thank you, Neal," Akurean said warmly. "You and Prince Roald should return to do your duties. I'll be fine in my room for now until Shinkoi comes back."
"Alright then," Neal said enthusiastically. I'll see you at lunch!" Then he whispered in Roald's ear, "If you don't want her, I'll take your place," he teased and trotted away.
"Prince Roald," Akurean said. Her tone made him look at her; really look at her. Roald gazed into her deep, brown eyes memorizing them, never taking his eyes off. "Would you like to come in? It is silly for you to keep standing at the door," Akurean smiled.
"Forgive me, Akurean," Roald said blushing. He walked in the room.
Pictures hang neatly on the wall. Two beds were arranged and a large desk was in the corner. A closet was in another corner of the room. Akurean walked gracefully to the bed and sat down. Shinkoi went with other servants to get a tour of the palace and get her princess' bath ready.
"Akurean, I…" Roald began.
"Yes?" she asked looking at his blue eyes.
He cleared his throat and started again, "I-I'm sorry that haven't talked to you or welcomed you properly. I apologize for that. It's just that I haven't seen a lady as beautiful as you and my mind just scrambled." He smiled as Akurean blushed. "At first, when my parents told me that I am to be betrothed to a princess from the Shuni Empire, I was so upset, so angry because I have to marry someone I don't know, which irritates me. Since you know the princess that I am supposed to marry if she accepts, will you tell me about her?"
"Well," Akurean chuckled, "she…is similar to Shinkoi. They grew up together and Shinkoi admired her. She is intelligent and always cared about other people. The princess…is a skilled fighter, too. She can use many weapons and she loves to train with the men-at-arms." She looked at Roald who felt awed and smiled.
"Thank you for telling me about the princess," he said smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow to show you around."
"I will be looking forward to it," Akurean said bowing.
He started towards the door, then turned around and grinned, "You can call me Roald and I'll call you Akurean just like your deal with Neal. Have a good night."
"You have a good night, too, Roald," Akurean whispered as Roald closed the door behind him.
Akurean went to the desk to write a letter to her parents. She started writing, but I sounded wrong and threw it away. Then she tried again. She wrote:
Dear Mother and Father,
I have arrived at Tortall safely. The king and queen are quite nice. I met with the prince and his friend today, too. The prince has talked to me a few times, yet, I am not so thrilled. He is still a stranger to me, but that's why I talk to him, right? Prince Roald has promised to show me around the palace tomorrow. It is time for my bath now. I'll write to you again soon!
Love,
Akurean
Akurean gave the letter to Shinkoi, who gave it to a messenger. Akurean and Shinkoi both went to take a bath. A bell rang loudly to signal the people at the palace that it was supper time. Pages filed out to the meal room, getting in line to get food. Prince Roald knocked on Princess Akurean's door. Akurean opened the door and smiled.
"How do I look?" Akurean asked as she twirled around to show the prince.
The princess wore a Tortallan gown that was the color of the sky. Despite the plain appearance, Akurean still looked gorgeous.
"You look splendid!" Roald exclaimed.
Akurean blushed slightly and said, "Thank you."
"Are you ready for supper, Akurean?" Roald said offering her his arm.
"Yes, I am. Shinkoi, dinner time! Let's go!" Akurean said as she placed her hand on Roald's arm.
"Yes, mistress," Shinkoi said dashing to the door.
He led them through the halls to the familiar meal room where everybody chattered. As they entered, squires and pages jumped to their feet and owed.
"Ah, Princess Akurean, Prince Roald," Lord Wlydon nodded and gestured Akurean to an empty table. "Your maid can get your food." He nodded to Shinkoi and she went to get soup for her mistress and herself.
"We start training tomorrow at dusk, if you'd like to join us. We'll be doing staff training this month," Lord Wlydon said pleasantly.
"I'll be sure to join," Akurean replied.
"Very good, princess," Lord Wlydon said and bowed.
Soon, Shinkoi returned with their supper and began to eat. Roald and his friends walked over to their table and asked in unison, "May we join you?"
Akurean laughed and said, "Have a seat."
"So, are you really going to do the training with us?" Neal asked.
"Sure. It would be fun," Akurean smiled.
"But you don't know how to fight! Do you?" asked Roald.
"Of course my princess knows how to fight! Every woman in our empire is required to train and learn self-defense," Shinkoi boasted.
Akurean flashed a glare at Shinkoi, telling her to stop giving any more information. Shinkoi blinked an apology. "I have only been trained to use shurangins."
"What are shurangins?" asked one of the boys sitting at the table.
Shinkoi glanced at Akurean, who nodded. "Shurangins are these specials knives that people in our country use."
"But how can that be used to fight an enemy when it is small?" Roald questioned.
"They are used to-"the loud bell rang to signal the pages and squires to class. "Oh, I guess you'll just have to wait until next time. I'm pretty sure your classes are much more interesting than our boring little lecture," laughed Shinkoi.
Akurean giggled as the pages stuffed the rest of their food down in order to be on time for their night time studying. The sight was pretty hilarious that made Princess Akurean and Shinkoi laugh, which made the boys blush in embarrassment. They waved good bye and went their separate ways.
"Today was pretty fun, don't you think so, Shinkoi?" asked Akurean.
The maid replied, "I agree. I wonder if tomorrow will be even more exciting than today! I look forward to the training exercise tomorrow. I can't wait to see their faces when I beat them up!"
Akurean laughed, "Shinkoi, you should change that attitude of yours or you'll never get a good husband."
"I'm happy if you are happy, my princess. Once you get married, then I will start looking for my true love, so don't you start worrying about me!" Shinkoi reassured the princess.
"You never changed at all, Shinkoi," Akurean sighed. "Well, it's best to get some sleep, because we're going to be waking up early tomorrow."
"Good night, my lady," Shinkoi yawned as they got into bed.
"Sweet dreams, Shinkoi," Akurean whispered as she drifted off to sleep.