Royal 6

When I woke up, I was in back in my room and the window told me that it was still daylight outside. The last thing I remembered was seeing Charles pointing the gun at the guy with the muscles.
"Thomas, oh thank goodness, she’s awake!" I heard my mother’s voice exclaim.
I turned my head and saw my mom and dad making there way over to the side of my bed. "Darling, what happened?" my mom asked.
I said, "I went up to the tower on the fifth floor and I saw this guy…I think Charlie said his name was Damien…and he started yelling at me that I wasn’t supposed to be there. When I didn’t leave…he brought in this guy…and he tried to kill me…"
My mom slapped my father and said, "I told you your brother was trouble!"
My dad looked at me and asked, "Who’s Charlie?"
I blushed and said, "Sorry. Charles."
Realization dawned on his face as he said, "Ahh yes…good Charles."
"What’s his job?" I asked, remembering that Charles had told me my dad would explain everything when I got home.
He looked at my mom and some sort of look passed between them. He grabbed my hands and said, "Alexandria, some threats are being sent to the castle again. Charles told me he told you why we had to give you up, so I’m sure you already know."
When I nodded, he continued, "The threats are back. None of them include you, since everyone thinks you’re in America, but they do include your mother and I. Now we trust and believe in our military and guards, but if something ever did happen, we would want you here, so you can take reign of Frankton."
"But mom told me that tomorrow the press is going to find out about me. What happens then? Will the threats include me?" I asked, getting even more nervous as the seconds passed.
He sighed and grabbed my mom’s hand. He said, "That’s the hard part. We cannot hide you forever and we do want the country to know about you. Our people deserve that much. That’s why Charles is here. His father is head of our security and he’s grown up around the castle. He knows all the protocol and we’ve trained him. Since no one knows about him, we’ve asked him to be your body guard."
My head started feeling dizzy. Someone would be out to kill me? But why? I had never done anything to them. Plus this meant that Charles had to be around me all of the time. Was I going to be okay with that? I mean, sure he was good to look at and everything, but we argued a lot.
But then he is really sweet. Like when he made sure I was okay before meeting my parents and when he saved me from being killed by the muscular dude. He did have his pluses… "Okay," I managed to say.
My mom said, "Well enough of this depressing chatter. We’ve arranged for a ball this Saturday to introduce you to some important people. My assistant will be helping you get ready, so I hope you’re excited."
I hated dancing, but it seemed to make my mom happy. "Sure," I told her with a fake grin plastered on my face.
She said, "Now, would you still like that free day of yours? One day of normalcy in Frankton as you put it."
I smiled and said, "Sure."
"Even though no one knows about you, we would still like Charles to accompany you. Frankton’s streets are usually always safe, but there are a few exceptions. No one knows who he is, so you two should look normal. Like friends enjoying a day out together."
I grimaced; I had really wanted to go by myself. Besides, he would be bored to tears watching me shop and look around at landmarks all day. "Do you think he’d be okay with that?"
My dad piped up, "Sure he would. He likes it here more than most people. I think he’d be a nice tour guide."
"Well what if I wanted to go shopping?" I said, trying to convince them to let me go alone.
"He could carry your bags," my mom said with a smile.
I laughed and tried to picture it: Tall, muscular Charles carrying shopping bags. He would probably have that look in his eye when he’s mad at me or something. I opened my mouth to speak, but my dad said, "That’s final."
I sighed and said, "Fine."

"That’s the old castle," he said, pointing to a bunch of ruins not too far away from where we were eating corn dogs. "Your ancestors lived and ruled there."
"What happened to it?"
"When your great grandmother ruled, she wanted a nicer place to live. No offence, but she was a greedy person. So she built the new one and the old one was used as a military base. But during the war when you were born, it got burned down," he said and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he really did like it here.
We walked over to a bench and sat down. A light snow was falling onto the already blanketed ground. I had on two coats since I had yet to buy one warm enough for this kind of weather. Charles looked content in one coat that was smaller then just one of mine.
"What was the war about?" I asked, looking over at him.
He glanced around us to make sure no one was watching and then said, "No one is really sure. It was a normal day, just like this one, but someone had gotten into the castle and killed a maid. They left a note on her saying, ‘We are coming for the baby.’"
I shivered and then pulled tighter onto my coats. He continued, "After that, everyone in the castle was on high alert. You’re mom and dad had decided to send you to the states and after that they were devastated. There were more attacks after that and we eventually found out who was causing it. Military were sent out and fighting erupted. After a few months the attacks stopped and all of the fighting stopped."
I tried to put it together and asked, "So the war was over me?"
"Well, sort of, I guess. They were trying to kill off any heirs to the throne and then you’re parents so the person next in line could rule," he looked around again and once he noticed that no one was looking, he seemed to relax a bit.
"Who was next in line?" I asked with true curiosity.
Hatred flared in his eyes as he stated, "Damien. Now your father didn’t believe that he was actually behind it because they were brothers, but everyone else thought it was he who was behind it."
I shivered again, thanks to the below freezing temperature outside and due to the fact that someone had wanted me to die. Charles noticed and asked, "You cold? We could go get some hot chocolate."
I smiled as he stood up and took my hand to help me up. His hand was warm and firm, and felt good against my cold hand. When I stood up, he let go of my hand and said, "You are freezing, Alex."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Tell me something I don’t know."
He laughed and then led me down the road to a local coffee house. It was like Starbucks in America. The floors were a dark wood and the walls were a deep shade of red. The smell floating around in the air was delicious. I never liked the taste of coffee, but I had always loved the smell.
After he had ordered us both one, we took a booth in the back. Once we were seated across from each other and asked, "Is there anything else you want to do?"
We had walked through most of Frankton. We had taken a few bus rides, but we mostly walked. But we hadn’t shopped yet. I wasn’t the type of girl who loved shopping, but I seriously needed more clothes. Everything at the castle was too fancy for my taste.
He grimaced at my expression and said, "Your father mentioned you wanted to shop."
I said, "Yeah. I don’t want much, just a few sweatshirts and stuff like that. I’ve been here almost three days and I think I’ve worn everything without lace or frills."
He laughed and said, "I have a friend who runs a store down the street."
"You have friends?" I asked, mockingly.
"What else is there to do when you’re not babysitting the princess?" he said.
I thought he was joking, but it still struck a nerve. Is that all he really saw me for? Was I really just his job? I mindlessly took another sip of my hot chocolate and then got out of the booth.
I didn’t want to be around him anymore. As I started walking out of the shop, I felt his tug on my hand. I turned around and he didn’t look happy. He said, "You can’t walk around alone."
"I can and I will," I said and then yanked my hand out of his grip.
He let me walk out of the shop, but once I stepped foot outside, his arms wrapped around my waist and spun me toward him. "Let go," I said through closed teeth.
"What’s your problem?" he asked, still with a stone grip on me.
I tried squirming out of his embrace but it didn’t work. "I don’t have one."
He rolled his eyes and said, "Just a minute ago you were laughing and making fun of me. Then you got all PMSy."
I punched his shoulder and said, "That’s so rude. I could get you in trouble for manhandling the princess."
"If they knew you were trying to get away, your parents wouldn’t care."
I groaned realizing that he was right. I said, "Fine, I won’t walk away. Now let go of me."
He removed only one of his arms and held his pinky in my face. "Pinky swear," he said with a sick smile on his face.
"What if I don’t want to touch your nasty pinky?"
His took a step closer to me and our faces were only three inches apart. I felt dizzy, but in a good way. For once, I knew I wasn’t going to faint. His gaze bored into my skull as he said, "Then we’ll have to stay like this forever." His breath swarmed my face and I felt myself giving in.
I hated to say that I wanted to stay like that forever, so I simply wrapped my pinky around his and shook. He smiled and then his arm dropped from around my waist. "So where’s this store you’re taking me to?"
We started walking and then he pointed to a boutique down the road. I sighed and then we walked in silence through the now dark atmosphere.
When we walked inside, Charles started looking around for someone. I heard a girl coo, "Charles!"
He laughed and then walked over to a gorgeous blonde behind the counter. She was tall, tan, and had the perfect figure. I felt a pang of jealousy as the two hugged and she kissed him on the cheek, but I pretended to be looking around at the merchandise.
I hated to say it, but the stuff here was really nice. I had only been in here two minutes and I already found something I was going to buy. Then I heard Charles call my name. I walked out of the clothing racks and said, "Yeah?"
He pointed to his "friend" and said, "This is Lola. Lola this is Alex."
Lola made her way over to me and embraced me in a friendly hug. She pulled back and said, "It’s so nice to meet you."
I said, "You too."
She laughed and then whacked Charles in the shoulder. "This loser hasn’t come to see me in weeks. So how do you two know each other?"
A quick look passed between me and Charles as he said, "Alex is new in town and I was just showing her around town."
"Ahh…I see," she said tapping her chin with perfectly manicured fingernails. "So, is there any hanky panky going on between you two?"
I scoffed and said, "In his dreams."
She laughed and then turned to Charles and said, "I like her."
He said dryly, "Yeah, she’s hilarious."
I smiled teasingly in his direction and then made my way over to the clothing racks. After buying fifteen different things, Charles thought it’d be best if I left. After I paid, Charles and I started making our way back to the castle. The temperature had drastically lowered since the sun had already set and the snow was blowing harder. And I thought the weather couldn’t get any worse.
I said, "She seems nice."
"Yeah, I like her."
"How’d you meet her?"
"We went to school together and we stayed in touch. I drop by her shop all the time."
"Not according to her," I said jokingly.
He smiled and said, "She gets lonely a lot. Her fiancée travels for work and so the store’s all she’s got."
"Fiancée?" I asked, sincerely curious. I know Charles annoyed the crap out of me, but I wouldn’t like it if he had a girlfriend.
"Yeah…Derrick. We’re friends too, but Lola and I are closer."
I nudged him with my shoulder and said, "You’re just a regular ladies’ man, eh?"
He laughed and said, "Not at all, but at least I don’t faint constantly."
"I’ll have you know," I said defensively, "I have heart problems. That’s why I faint so much."
He rolled his eyes and asked, "You have a heart?"
I punched his shoulder and then tightened my coats around me as a breeze blew.
We made fun of each other, laughed, and joked the entire way home. But what happened at the coffee shop still picked at my brain. Did he really think of me as his job? Because I certainly thought of him as a friend. A good one.