Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1

by Evida Suntoyo

  “Yes, ma'am.” Replied the team leader, “He left the capital early this morning, but we couldn’t wait for him to arrive to come looking for you, so we left first.”

  “Ah, I see. Thank you.” She replied to him.

  “Captain, Her Highness Puteri is hurt, we have to move slowly.”

  “Yes, sir. Please let’s go this way.”

  “Captain, one more thing. Earlier we came across a group of men that looked quite suspicious, maybe they are a gang of loggers or poachers, I’m not sure. But we need to be careful, just in case they turn around and come up from behind us, or if they have any other members of their group coming this way.”

  “Yes, Raden. We will keep a look out for them.”

  Ali positioned his arm around Paramita’s waist again, and she hung her arm around his neck. “Are you okay?” He asked her

  “Of course, it just my ankle, it’s not as though it’s life threatening.”

  “Pfft, I don’t know why I even bothered to ask you.” He said.

  “Raden, I can help you carry Her Highness Puteri….” Said one of the guards.

  “No!” Ali answered shortly.

  “It’s okay, I think he can help me. You’ve been dragging me around all morning, you must be tired by now.” Paramita said to him.

  “No! Wait until after you bury me, before you start thinking of letting yourself be touched by any other man.” He answered.

  “What in the world does that mean?” She asked.

  He didn’t attempt to explain. “Come on, let’s go.”

  They crossed the main road and took the path that the guards used earlier.

  “There’s a group of men with weapons in front of us.” The guard walking at the front shouted to them. “They’re coming this way.”

  “Are they the police or soldiers?” Ali asked.

  “It doesn’t seem like it Your Excellency.”

  “Throw down your weapons and put your hands up in the air.” A man who’s probably the leader shouted out to them. Several men came out from the surrounding trees, armed with machetes.

  The guards drew their weapons and situated themselves in a circle around Ali and Paramita, taking a defensive position.

  The head guard said. “Don’t do anything rash, what do you want from us?”

  One thug pulled a girl out from the bush and put her in front of him, putting a machete close to her neck. It was the little girl who took Paramita to see the orang utan.

  “Throw your guns down, or we’ll cut her!” The man shouted again.

  “Men, put down your guns, we don’t want to risk anybody’s life,” Ali said to the guards.

  The guards obeyed Ali’s orders and threw down their handguns. The thugs came forward apprehend them.

  “Search them, make sure they don’t have any other weapons.” The gang leader shouted.

  The thugs came forward and searched the guards and Ali, satisfied that they didn’t find any weapons, they confiscated all the wallets that they found.

  The thugs made them walk off the footpath that they were following and go further into the forest.

  “Look, do you know who we are?” Said the team leader to them.

  “Quiet!” One of the thugs yelled at him and hit him on the head with the handle of a machete.

  Two Royal Guards moved to attack back, but the team leader signaled them down.

  “Walk!” Ordered the leader, gesturing to the forest.

  After walking for at least an hour, they reached a clearing. The leader signaled for them to stop.

  “Our orders were to kill them all!” The leader shouted

  “Wait, don’t harm her, she’s…” One royal guard was about to identify Paramita, when he saw Ali signing him to be quiet.

  “No, please don’t kill anyone.” He said holding his arms up, “I’ll cooperate, I’ll give you anything you want, but don’t harm anyone, just let us go.”

  One of the men walked to Paramita and grabbed her face. “It’s a waste to just kill a beautiful woman like her, I think we can make her our wife first.”

  The others laughed, they started cheering and making obscene remarks.

  “Don’t touch her!” Ali shouted angrily, leaping forward to hit him.

  The Royal Guards were tense and engrossed, ready to attack the thug.

  Paramita never felt so humiliated in her life, she briskly moved her head to free herself from the man’s grasp, then threw a hard head butt directly at his nose. The man screamed and fell down clutching his nose, blood was gushing out. High on adrenalin she took the opportunity to launch a front kick towards his head as fast and as hard as she could, and as the man landed with his back flat on the ground, she quickly jumped forward and landed on his sternum then proceeded to stomp his head several times, until he stopped moving.

  Ali and the guards took this as a queue, they moved attacking the thugs nearest to them. One of the thugs in an attempt to subdue them, he pulled out a gun that they had confiscated from the guards, and pointed it at Paramita, who was standing a few meters away from him. The thug pulled the trigger to shoot her.

  Ali and the guards stopped in their spot.

  Suddenly they heard Paramita yell, “He doesn’t know how to shoot the Glock. The security is still on.”

  She swooped down, grabbed a stick that was lying near her feet, and swung it as hard as she could towards the thug’s hand. The gun flew from his hands, Captain Bagas ran up and punched him in the jaw, and then the stomach. The thug fell to the ground.

  Ali grabbed the thug close to him by the collar, pulling him down then planted his knee into the thug’s stomach, he clasped both hands and banged it against the thug’s neck causing him to fall to the ground. Ali seeing that the ring leader was about to flee ran towards him. The ring leader stopped, turned around then aimed the rifle at him. But Ali was faster, he grabbed the barrel, and yanked it away, then used the butt to hit him. The leader fell the unconscious.

  It didn’t take long for the guards to subdue the robbers. “Take off their shirts and use it to tie their hands behind their backs.” Ordered the team leader to his men.

  Ali approached the man who had tried to molest Paramita. He was now regaining consciousness. “Stand up!” He yelled while pulling the thug up by his shirt.

  “Give him a machete!” Ali said to the Team Leader.

  “What are you doing, Bang?” Paramita asked him with surprise.

  The Team Leader gave a man a machete.

  “Come on, if you want to go free, then attack me,” Ali told him

  “Abang!” Paramita yelled.

  The thug leaped forward and swung at Ali with the machete, he slashed it aiming at Ali’s neck. Ali moved backward to avoid the attack. “You missed.” He said.

  The thug kept moving forward swinging his weapon blindly left to right. Seeing that the thug had no fighting skills, Ali decided to end it quickly. He jumped the man’s right side and clinched at the man’s arms tendon with his bare fingers. The thug screamed, and let go of the machete, and held his right arm with his left hand. Ali pulled the thug’s arm behind his back, kicked him and pulled on his arm. The man screamed and fell to the ground. His right arm limp and his shoulder dislocated.

  “This is an example, if anybody else ever dares to touch my fiancée, I’ll cripple them without a second thought.” He said out loud, even the Royal Guards, swallowed their saliva at his warning.

  Ali walked over to Paramita and pulled her close to him in a hug, “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” He asked her.

  “I’m okay, thank you.” Paramita was surprised at his action, but suddenly the words of the thug echoed in her ear, causing a chill to run down her spine, she instinctively buried her head in his chest. “That was the most disgusting thing I ever heard.”

  Feeling her body shaking, he held her tighter. “It’s okay, it’s over. You did very well.”

  “Your Highness Puteri, you were amazing!” Said one of the guards to her, the others voiced
their agreement.

  “Thank you, gentlemen.” She said while lifting her head up.

  “We have to interrogate these criminals. We need to know how they knew who we were, they were clearly waiting for us.” Said the captain.

  “Something’s not right,” Paramita said to Ali. “Where’s the little girl?”

  Ali looked around, “Captain, where is the little girl who was taken hostage?”

  “Search the surrounding for the child who they used as a hostage!” the team leader ordered his men.

  “Sir, we searched everywhere, but we can’t find her.” Reported one of his men.

  Hearing this, Paramita looked at Ali, “Is this all a coincidence?”

  “Unlikely.” He replied. “Captain, we should get back to the main road. Let me ask you this, have you contacted the palace?”

  ‘Yes sir. We did last night.”

  “Did you contact them yourself, or did you ask somebody to help you?”

  “I contacted them myself, sir.”

  “Who’s waiting for them at the village?

  “The driver is, sir.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Abang, he might be in danger,” Paramita said with an alert tone. Suddenly she remembered something, “Captain, why don’t any of you have a radio?”

  “We did not carry any handhelds, Mam. We only have the long distance in the car, that’s how we alerted the palace last night.”

  “Captain. “ Ali said “We don’t have time to interrogate these people, we have to head back to the village right away. We don’t know who’s on our side, and who’s against us. If my father arrives with the Royal Guards, they might be walking straight into a trap.”

  “Yes, Raden. It’s better if we take a different route back to the village, just in case.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Men, make these thugs take off their pants and cut them up as ropes, along with their shirts. We have to bind their legs, hands, eyes, and mouths so they don’t try to escape and warn anybody.” He gave orders to his men.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Hey, one moment,” Ali shouted. ”Before you start taking people’s pants off, I will take Puteri over there. She doesn’t need to see those men naked. Find us once you’re finished.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Come on.” He said to Paramita.

  “But shouldn’t we help them?” She asked him. “That way we can get it done faster.”

  “The guards can manage without our help. Besides, I prefer that you don’t see men in their birthday suits, no matter what the situation is.” He replied.

  “If anybody else heard you say that, they would think that you’re jealous towards me.”

  “Would they?” He answered shortly. “Here, sit down on this rock.” He said while patting to a rock that has a rather flat surface.

  She walked over to the rock, and tried to hoist herself up with her arms, to no luck. He held both sides of her waist from behind and lifted her up on the rock. “Turn around, and let me take a look at you ankle.” He said.

  “My ankle is okay.” She replied.

  “I want to make sure. You threw a hard kick back then, and you also landed on both feet when you jumped. You didn't feel anything because of the adrenaline surge, but once it goes back to normal again, you're going to be in a lot of pain,” He said while taking off her shoe. “It’s swollen. Does it hurt?”

  “Not if you don’t touch it like that.” She said while putting a painful grin as Ali moved her feet in a circular movement.

  “We need to wrap that ankle so it doesn’t get worse.” He said while tearing off both sleeves of his shirt.

  “I’ll be fine, you don’t have to trouble yourself like that.” She cried.

  “Shhh, be quiet.” He said while taking her foot and wrapping her ankle. “I should have done this earlier.”

  “Thank you!” She told him, “You’re very kind to me.”

  He smiled and pinched her nose. “Are you going to cry?”

  She smiled. She felt a heavy weight suddenly fell and crushed her heart. The more time she spent with him, the more good qualities she found in him, the more it made her heart hurt. He was perfect. He was the ideal man she had always hoped to find in the past. But now, he’s in front of her, but out of her reach. She realized that she was seeing herself spiraling down into an unrequited love all over again.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “What’s wrong? Did I put it on too tight? Is it hurting you?”

  “No, it’s not that. Can you please don’t treat me like that?” She said while removing her foot from his hand.

  “Treat you like what? Did I do something to offend you?” He asked not understanding her sudden change in behavior.

  “No, you didn’t. On the contrary, you’ve been great. It’s just that, I don’t think we should get any closer, emotionally. In the future, when we go our separate ways, it’s going to be difficult on me.”

  He put his finger on her lips tracing it gently. “Didn’t you promise me, that you were going to stop thinking about leaving?”

  “I know. But, you’re such a great person, I don’t want to cause you to be separated from the woman you love.”

  “Just stay by my side, and you don’t have to worry about separating me with the woman I love.”

  Paramita responded. “So, you are going to continue to see Dewi, despite being married to me?”

  “Mita, I want you to know that Dewi and I are o…” Ali couldn’t finish his sentence when the Captain interrupted, “Excuse me Your Excellency, Your Highness. We’ve finished, we can go now.” He said.

  “Abang, let’s go.” Paramita said as she moved to jump down from the rock.

  “Wait a minute, let me help you.” He replied while lifting her by the waist and helping her to the ground.

  She thought to herself. “Mita, you have to prevent yourself from getting hurt. You have to protect yourself!”

  * * *

  Raden Hamza felt restless. Last night as he was leaving the Sultan’s office after the meeting, they received a call that Puteri Paramita and his son, had an accident while attending an event in a remote location. He had a bad feeling when Pangeran Bashir had volunteered Ali and Paramita to go to the event.

  He knew he shouldn’t have kept his son in the dark about the political strife that they’re currently facing and is threatening his family.

  In the wake of the economic crisis that hit South East Asia, although Jothar had not been directly affected by it, but the waves of political unrest has reached the nation. People are starting to feel un-conformed with the monarchy. Not necessarily with the Royal Family and the Sultanate, but the public are beginning to demand representation in the government. And the Sultan is not ready to release his absolute control over the country.

  They had suspected that the popular demand to form a parliament was actually orchestrated by intellectual actors moving behind the screen. The investigation performed by the Central Intelligence Bureau had discovered that a key member of the Royal Family was an active player, the prime suspect was none other than Prince Bashir, the current Sultan’s own elder half-brother from the previous Sultan’s concubine. What they can’t determine yet, is where he got the funding for such an ambitious political movement.

  “Your Excellency, we are thirty minutes away from the village,” The Commander of the Royal Guards said, interrupting his chain of thoughts.

  “Thank you, Colonel.” He answered. Raden Hamza took a deep breath.

  Their envoy was quite a big one, three trucks and a van in total. They not only consisted of the Royal Guards, but also the army’s elite squad. As they still do not know what the size of Pangeran Bashir’s forces are.

  The car stopped, “Your Excellency, we are not going to enter the village by car, we do not know if there are any hostiles waiting for us. We are leaving the cars here, with the drivers and four heavily armed men on guard. We will spread out and proceed
by foot towards the village. There is a chance that your son and the Princess are not there, so I have instructed my men to keep a look out for them, they will radio us if there are any signs of them.”

  “That sounds like a good plan.”

  “Your Excellency, you can wait here, until we clear the perimeter.”

  “No, by no means. I will come with you Colonel. Even though I’m an old man now, but I still remember some of my military training from back in the day.”

  “As you wish, sir.” He said.

  They split up in five teams of four men each carrying an M16, only Raden Hamza had a standard revolver in his hand. They walked through the woods carefully, scanning the area around them. The dense woods was making it difficult for them to push forward.

  “Sir, look, there are traces of people recently walking through this area. The branches are freshly cut.” Said a soldier who was part of the Raden Hamza and the Colonel’s team.

  “We have to be cautious, this shows that they’re armed with machetes.”

  “But please don’t be trigger happy, we don’t know if it’s my son’s party or not.”

  “Sergeant, alert the men that there might be another armed group out here, but we don’t know if they are friendlies or hostiles.”

  “Yes sir.”

  They continued to push forward. When the trees suddenly sparse, and they reached a small clearing, several men were standing there. Hearing the rustle of the trees, the group was alerted, and jumped behind the big trees in front of them, sounds of gun cocked rang through the forest.

  Raden Hamza’s team ducked to take cover, “This is the Royal Army, put down your weapons and surrender yourself!” The colonel shouted a warning. “You are surrounded, surrender immediately.”

  “Wait don’t shoot.” A man’s voice shouted from the other side. “I’m Raden Burhanuddin Ali, son of Raden Hamza the Minister of Finance, Her Highness Puteri Paramita is with us and also the Royal Guards.”

  “Put your guns down, it’s my son, it’s him.” Said Raden Hamza.