People's Princess? (Dual POV)

**********Ektor POV*********

This is only our second date... No, it's a meeting. A check-in, precisely. 

I try to rehearse whatever questions I had made a list of mentally, but they are already slipping from my memory. What has she been up to this week? How is she liking her new life? Did she think over my proposal? What is she going to say? My brain is completely in overdrive.

I straighten my collar and clear my thoughts, checking myself out a bit in the reflection of a boutique window. Not bad. I put up my hood to cover my head full of blonde hair and obscure my royal blue tunic. 

I am often told I am a striking image of my father from when he was younger and that my late mother's genes didn't stand a chance. I could see that. Growing up, I used to pass by magnificently painted portraits of my father that adorned the hallways of the Dome Castle, where I was raised. The man in that art looked a lot like what I look like now, except my lips are fuller and softer than his. As people though, we don't belong in the same book, much less the same page.

I had never imagined my father to be the type to care for the welfare of Healers despite my persistent rallying and tries to get him to listen. The sudden change of heart was definitely strange to witness but welcome, nevertheless. What I didn't imagine was getting involved in his plan of action this way - as a groom in a political marriage. 

I felt it would at least be the one good thing I am able to do as the prince of this land that has raised me. 

I had entered this situation expecting nothing and with an open mind but the healer he had chosen for me had exceeded any impression that I had planned on having of her. She struck me exactly where I didn't think I'd be struck.

It's true that I didn't have any romances going on, on the side but I never really considered that love could be an option for me. She gave me the choice to decide her fate when she was, for the first time in her life, given a choice at all. 

Maybe it was too soon to tell but, Judah was a comforting presence.

"Did you wait long?" I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around to face a figure a head shorter than me, her dark, curly hair hidden away in a hood like me, and a bright, plush smile on her face. Judah seems to be in great spirits today. Excellent!

"Your highness." She gives me a curtsy, looking up at me with an enthusiastic face.

"Something good happened today?" I let slip, unable to hide my interest. "If I'm allowed to ask."

"Ah well, good things do happen every now and then!" She says, swaying from side to side, lost in thought. "It makes me particularly happy when my hypothesis proved right by experiment." 

I cock a brow at her, gaining intrigue. "Well, what did you hypothesize? Would you like to share your findings?" I ask as we make our way onto the road and into the crowded Market streets of Koronis. Today, we shall take a look at commoner lives in Koronis - a place where Healers and Higher Angels mingle together and bargain for goods. 

"Mhmm..." she lets out a giggle. "It's all healer science, boring to you, your highness." 

I smirk at her. "Do you believe the royals don't receive instruction on healer sciences? I am well read on the topic of Medicine." I am maybe coming off as too haughty, but I can't help it. Something inside me yearns for her validation at any cost.

"Are you?" She challenges, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear and smirking back. 

"Tell me your highness, what's the treatment for Sarcosepsis?"

The ensuing conversation is one of a lot of discussion and debate about ways one can treat that malady. I tell her bits of what I learnt years ago, and she merely gives me a mischievous smile, not revealing what's going on in her head. It only makes me want to prod more and more.

We walk through the streets of the market, perfectly blended into the evening crowd as we converse. Today, two Storm Angels accompany us, hidden in the crowd as bodyguards. The ceaseless noise coming from market chatter, clanging of coins and foot traffic provides a good cover for the topic of our talks. At some point the conversation melts away and instead we get engaged in pointing out what is unique or eye-catching about each little shop on the street. So far, we have pointed out animal shaped balloons, windmills made of paper and cellophane, painted ponies up for riding (absolutely cruel!) and even some mouthwatering delicacies being sold in paper plates.

 "Oh, that's ice globes!" Judah says with a lot of energy and points at this pink and yellow cart selling melon sized hollow globes of red, hard sugar candies. "I used to accompany my friends when I was little. We never had coins to buy any, but sometimes, we passed by to smell it." She says, overflowing with nostalgia. I hide my sympathetic smile. 

With some courage, I extend my hand towards her for her to take. "Would you like to get some?" 

She looks at my hand and purses her lips which almost makes me want to take my hand back and go cry in a corner. 

But she does eventually slide her hand into mine, keeping her gaze glued to the ground as we make our way to the ice-candy shop. I can almost feel my wings fluttering again inside my clothes from the dopamine surge.

We buy a globe for her, and she is happy to indulge in it without offering me any (understandable).

As we continue to wander through the streets, her presence beside me feels more natural, more right, with each passing moment. I am beginning to forget for once that I am a Prince. In this disguise, both of us could look like any other pair out to have a fun time. 

While I am lost in my merry thoughts, I suddenly feel a tug on my cloak and look down to see a roughed-up kid clinging on to me. There are patches of mud on his face and his glassy eyes are quivering. I put up my hand to make sure the Stormers know not to show themselves yet.

"What's wrong?" I ask, bending down to his level. He doesn't say anything but points at his open mouth. 

"He's hungry." Judah interjects and kneels beside me.

"Well... we can buy him some of the candy? What do you think?" I ask Judah, unsure of how to approach this. 

"No, he doesn't need candy. What he really needs is proper food." Judah mutters to herself, inspecting the kid. "He's severely malnourished." 

"Well, surely we can buy him a meal..."

"No." 

The kid's face contorts to show some feral emotion, but Judah stands her ground. She takes a look at the shops around until she finds what she is looking for. 

"Don't let this kid run away." She orders me before fleeing into the crowd. I exchange a look with the kid. "Yes, she can be confusing at times but she's a good woman." The kid shakes his head.

We wait under the humid cover of air for a few minutes, and I start fanning myself until I see Judah return. 

"Listen up, punk..." she commands, handing him a packet that looks to be some shoe polish and a brush, sealed in plastic. "... This is your bread and butter starting today." 

The kid looks at the contents in his hands for a second before he loudly starts protesting and charging onto Judah with his fists in the air, knocking her hood off and exposing her face but Judah holds firmly him by his shoulders. 

"Hey, you!" she looks at him unwaveringly. "Take this advice from someone who was exactly in your shoes fifteen years ago. If we leave you with food, you eat today and die tomorrow." 

"But this..." she points at the shoe polish. "This will earn you enough to fill up your tummy daily. Start working early in the morning, stack up on the bills. Be wary of nice elders and buy some of your friends this stuff too when you earn enough, do you understand, boy?" 

By her tone, I could tell this is not some kind of joke for her. I would have never even thought of this route. She does not want to partake in a one-day charity. She wants to give this boy a means to survive and pay it forward.

"Take this too." she smiles at him, tossing him a sandwich pack. "Will get you going till tomorrow when you start work, am I right?" 

The boy looks skeptical but accepts her gift anyway. He then proceeds to run away. Whether he will take her advice or not, only time will tell. But it seems to me that she is on the road to become a people's princess.

"Ah phew." She sighs, getting off the ground. "Healer kids... I could adopt all of them if I could. But this is their reality for now. If they don't fight, they won't survive."

"Ummm.... I am sorry..." I say, at a loss for words.

She gives me a crinkly, mischievous smile. "What are you sorry about Prince -"

Just then, without warning a man walks up to grab Judah by the arm. My reflexes kick in before I could think and I grab the man by his shoulder, applying pressure for him to step away. 

"What do you want?" I ask him in a low voice, trying to stand in between them.

"It's her!" the man exclaims. "She was in today's paper! Isn't she going to be betrothed to the prince?" he asks. Wait, what? How does he know?

The commotion catches the eye of quite a few onlookers, and we have a crowd forming around us already. 

"Betrothed to the prince? Is she royalty too then?" 

"Wait, the newspaper specifically mentioned she was a Healer. How is a union between a Healer and a Light Angel possible? That has never happened!" 

"Plus, we were expecting the pretty prince to be with someone... no this mediocre, perhaps?"

"It's simply not fair. What does she have to be chosen specifically! It makes no sense."

"Wait, so is that the Prince with her then? that man!"

 The crowd, catching a whiff off the ongoing chatter starts increasing and closing in on us. I shoot up two fingers in the air for storm guards to help us out but the crowd is now getting noisier and right in our faces.

I try to hold Judah's hand but before I knew it, the crowd separates us and it impossible to keep sight of her with so many faces and heads obscuring my view.

"Judah!" I yell out but I don't get a response. I am now starting to feel claustrophobic and anxious as my heart rate increases and I clamp my hands on my ears. If anything happens to Judah...

The storm angels must have noticed my green signal because soon enough thunder booms in the sky and a bolt of lightning strikes down near the crowd, shocking them and scaring them away. I look around, trying to find Judah but I am unable to spot her anyway.

I meet up with my bodyguards. "Did you see her?"

"No, your highness, she is nowhere to be found amongst the dispersed crowd."

I grit my teeth and stifle a roar. The storm angels take two steps back, swallowing hard.

"Find her by any means!" 

**********Judah POV*********

There is a sharp pain behind my ear, and I feel deja-vu. It's like the day I woke up right after my leap off the tower. 

Only this time, when I reach out to touch the back of my head, there's a small lump poking out through my hair that is extremely painful to touch. I crease my brows and try to smooth over the lump, letting my life-force out for self-healing. As the tendrils knit through my hair, I take a look around. 

I'm seated amongst some large boulders, under a canopy of tree branches. Night is falling swiftly and the only thing stopping this place from being drowned in darkness is the moonlight. I hear a distance cry of a creature echoing somewhere. 

Where am I?

I prop myself up on my knees and squint hard to try to make out any landmarks but all I can see around everywhere is a thicket. 

I don't remember what happened exactly but as soon as I let go off the prince's hand, I was struck in the head and carried out before I lost consciousness. 

I try to find a sturdy, long branch to prop my body on as I walk out of the cave of boulders with my head very dizzy from the blow. The pain has stopped now after some healing though, or at least it's numb for now. 

The night is only accompanied by the sound of crunching twigs, occasional ruffle of leaves or the constant buzz of bugs. I hear a croak or two of a frog around as I make my way through the thicket. 

I keep walking on until I reach a clearing, only five minutes away from the cave and immediately something feels off. 

I look around but see no sign of life, but something inside me feels like it's climbing up my throat. 

My throat is closing in. 

I slump down to my knees once again, facing up towards the moon this time as an unimaginably heavy feeling of despair and anxiety take over my entire body. 

The last words I hear in my brain are those of Macy reading the newspaper for me after breakfast, that a new Malevolent lair had been discovered recently near the woods of Koronis...