by Amari A
Chapter 12
I head back to my room and lie down on my bed. I didn’t really have much to do in the kingdom with Brenden in the hospital. He was the only person in the entire kingdom who didn’t treat me like a princess and I liked it that way. I put on some actual clothes outside of my ‘around the castle’ clothes and head back out of my room. Since I was given a little freedom, I decide to walk through the castle. It’s been a while since I roamed through it and maybe I could discover something new. I walk down the hall and into one of the rooms where the guards meet up. No one is inside, so I decide to look around. There are maps all over the wall but there are no weapons. When dragons battled each other, they fought in dragon form so there was no need for weapons.
Someone clears their throat behind me and I turn and come face to face with one of the cutest boys I’ve ever seen. He has tanned skin, blue eyes, and a small jagged scar on his cheek that gave him a hot, bad boy look.
“I know that you’re not a guard so what are you doing in here?” he asks me curiously.
“Well, since I’m grounded and stuck in the castle until I’m needed to save the world, I decided to look around. I’m sure that it’s not a crime,” I say.
A look of surprise crosses his face. “You’re Princess Semaj?”
Yes, but please just call me Semaj. I don’t go for all the flair like my dad does.”
He nods his head. “Okay, well, I’m Onyx. I’m a new guard here. I was added after your little adventure.”
“I call it my quest to save the world.”
He laughs. “And how did that work out for you?”
I smirk. “Can’t say that it worked out great. My best friend is in the hospital for tagging along with me.”
“Yeah I heard about it. Your dad filled me in.”
“Speaking of my dad, aren’t you a little young to be a castle guard?”
He shifts a little. “Well…I’m not exactly a castle guard.”
I raise my brow. “Okay, then exactly what kind of guard are you?”
“I was brought on to specifically guard you.”
It was my turn to be confused. Did he really just say that he was supposed to guard me? “Wait! So what are you, a glorified babysitter? You can’t be much older than me.”
“I’m actually two years older than you and he brought me on because he thinks that it will take someone young to keep up with you.”
“You can call me Princess Semaj then,” I say as I roll my eyes. I can’t believe this. My dad has officially lost his mind.
“So we’re going to keep this formal, huh?” he asks.
“So what exactly do you do? Follow me around or something?”
“I protect you.”
“So I’m taking that as a yes to the following me around.”
He laughs, but I just stare at him. Funny how ugly he became since I found out he’s here to babysit me. I open my mouth to say something else, but my dad and Simon walk into the room. They look from me to Onyx and then back at me.
“So, I see that you’ve met your new guard,” says my dad.
“When did I have an old guard?” I ask him.
He clears his throat which is his tell sign that he’s aggravated. “You’re going to have a guard to make sure that you don’t slip away again.”
“I’m not a little kid dad. Tomorrow I will be fifteen and practically a woman,” I say.
“I know, but until I’m comfortable with you being on your own, you will have a guard,” he says.
“So basically I’m being guarded until I’m fifty,” I say.
Onyx chuckles and my dad shoots him a death stare. I smirk and Simon gives me a look that tells me to cut it out.
“Well, you both just need to get used to each other because you’ll be spending a lot of time together. He’s going to be like your shadow. You won’t be disappearing again,” he says.
“I would do the whole you’re ruining my life speech but since that’s what you’ll be expecting from me, I’m going to take a nap. If my shadow wants to join me he’s more than welcome to,” I say.
“He won’t join you, but he will be outside of your door,” he says.
I roll my eyes and walk out of the room. I storm down the hall into my room and lie down on my bed. I can’t believe that my dad had put a babysitter on me. What’d he think I was? Five? I close my eyes and just let the sleep come over me.
“Semaj! Semaj! It won’t be long,” says the voice.
“Won’t be long for what?” I ask.
“Won’t be long until I know everything about you and defeat you.”
“Velshkar? What are you doing in my mind?”
“Are you sure that it’s Velshkar that you’re talking to?”
“So is there another creepy dragon out there who wants me dead as well?”
“You have many enemies young dragon. You will soon see that.”
“Yeah, well, that’s life isn’t it? If nobody hated me, I would be a nobody.”
“Cocky little dragon aren’t you? It will do you some good to do some research outside of your books to better prepare you for what’s to come.”
“Okay and why are you giving me advice?”
“Let’s just say I’d hate to see you fail.”
My eyes shoot open. What kind of evil dragon warns someone or gives hints on how to defeat them? Also, what kind of dragon invades people’s sleep? Rude ones, that’s who. My stomach grumbles and I realize that I skipped breakfast to deal with a babysitter I didn’t need. I open my drawer and pull out my secret stash of cookies and begin to eat them. I wasn’t supposed to bring anything into the dragon realm that wasn’t supposed to be there but what my dad didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. I finish off my bag of cookies and stick the bag in between my mattresses. I open my door and Onyx is standing outside.
“Really? You’ve really been out here the whole time?” I ask him.
“This is my job,” he says.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. I’m going back over to the medical ward, so you can stalk me over there,” I say as I begin my walk down the hall.
“You know, I’m not actually stalking you. I’m just doing what your dad asked of me,” he says.
I sigh. “Yeah I get it. It’s just annoying, that’s all. I mean, how would you feel if someone was constantly watching you and in your space.”
“I guess I would feel like you. But I promise you, Princess Semaj, that I’m going to try and not be a pain to you.”
“It’s not that you’d be a pain to me. It’s my dad. I don’t think that he’ll ever see me as anything than a kid.”
“Maybe it’s more about protecting you than treating you like a kid. You did run off for a few days.”
“I left a note.”
“You could’ve gotten killed. Imagine yourself in your dad’s shoes and then maybe you’ll understand why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
“So the babysitter gives advice?”
He laughs. “I like to help out a little.”
I stop and look at him. “Well, thanks. You seem like you get it. The only person I’ve met like that is Brenden. He doesn’t treat me like a princess. He’s my friend. My only friend.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Yeah, well, it’s true.”
“You aren’t friends with any of the other dragon princes or princesses?”
I shrug my shoulders. “No, they seem to be into the whole royal lifestyle and I’m not. I just want to be normal, you know? But I have come to learn that I’m anything but normal. People think that because I’m a princess that I’m stuck up or something, but I’m really not.”
“Well from the short period of time that I’ve known you you don’t seem stuck up at all.”
“Where are you from? I mean you don’t sound as if you’re from this kingdom and you didn’t know who I was. Everyone in this kingdom knows who I am.”
He smiles. “Actually, no, I’m not from this kingdom. I’m from Stocksan. The most boring k
ingdom on earth.”
“I’ve been there before. It doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Yeah, but nothing ever happens there.”
“Nothing ever happens here either, you know.”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that. I heard this kingdom has a Princess who likes to run off on adventures and things of that nature.”
I smile. “Yeah we do have that and an overbearing dad.”
He laughs. “We all have that.”
We get in front of the medical ward and stop. I enjoy talking to him and kind of don’t want to go in and disturb Brenden. I did already check on him once and I can always check on him later. Maybe it was time to take that crazy voice’s advice and quit digging in books and see if I can find out things from the people around me. “Do you want to sit down and talk somewhere?”
A surprised look crosses his face. “I thought that you said that you wanted to see you friend.”
“I saw him earlier and will come back to see him later. So babysitter, are you allowed to sit and talk with me or are you just meant to watch me?”
“I’m just supposed to be around you at all times, so we can talk.”
“Cool. I know just the spot.”
He raises his brow. “It has to be on castle grounds.”
I laugh. “Don’t worry about it. It’s on castle grounds.”