Preparation to War

Audrey held onto her mother like a child holding onto a piece of candy, she didn't always have the best relationship with her mother but the situation she currently was in made her cherished what she had.

Damien waited until she said all her goodbyes. There was no way he was separating them when he wished he could hold his mother too. Even when the Baron's were leaving, Audrey still tried following them until she was stopped by one of the guards at the door.

It was so unbelievable that she was married to the first prince. The first prince who had always been a mystery was now legally her husband and guardian. With the hall empty and the prince walking ahead of her, she followed silently behind knowing there was no place to run to. She dreaded that room but for now she needed to pretend to be at ease with the whole situation. It was the only way she could save herself.

When Damien entered his room this time, he didn't lock the door behind. He moved towards a small bag and started filling it with clothes.

Surprised, Audrey couldn't keep her words to herself, "What's going on?"

"I told you I have a war to prepare for. I need to leave immediately."

She sank on her bed, a slow smile curling unto her lips. This might be the perfect opportunity for her. With her husband gone, there was no need to consummate the marriage, and it was the golden opportunity for her to finally escape. She was lost in thoughts of bliss of places she could escape to, places she had never been to before, with her family rejection, she was a free woman.

"What are you smiling about? You ought to be packing your things."

What?

"You mean I am going with you?"

He nodded, "I thought we already established that fact, why do you doubt again?"

"I never knew it was possible for women to go to war."

He scoffed, "You're no ordinary woman from the moment you married into the royal family. You've responsibility towards the kingdom and the citizens. It's best you prepare sooner, the carriage leaves in a few minutes."

Glad she hadn't unboxed her luggage; she pulled it from where Phina had dropped it and waited.

"What are you waiting for woman? I believe I spoke in a clear language."

She shrugged, "I am ready. What else do you expect me to pack?"

Damien was done with his luggage; it was a small bag that barely fits two outfits. She wondered how he was going to manage with that when they were going on a war.

Her heart stopped. It literally stopped for a second, before it started beating wildly when she heard him laugh. It was such a beautiful sound, one she didn't think a beastly man like him could produce if the words that came out from his mouth were a means to judge. Then as suddenly as he had laughed, he stopped, "Are you seriously going to war with that bag?"

She looked down at the bag; it contained all she needed. There was no way she was bringing anything out of it. So, she nodded vigorously, "Of course, everything is important to me."

Damien nodded as if he understood her, "Fine. Lift your bag and follow me then."

She looked at the monstrous bag and wondered how she was supposed to lift this thing. It was all thanks to Mia that she had successfully gotten it to the middle wing for the competition. Yet, the look of amusement on Damien's made it impossible for her to declare defeat. So, she struggled. She tried pulling it but the bag wouldn't bulge. She paused to glare at Damien whose amusement had metamorphosed into a full blown smile.

It was nice to see one of them was amuse by the whole situation.

"Fine. I can't carry it. Are you not supposed to help me as my husband?"

"oh dear wife; every man with his luggage. I suggest you take a number of things you can easily lift. He turned and started searching for something before throwing an identical bag her way. "I suggest you keep your necessities in here."

Much to his surprise, she obliged without complain, but what he had expected would take few minutes, actually took her an hour. She spent a lot of time painfully selecting which one to pick and which to leave behind.

After she was done, she changed into a simpler wear on Damien's command. To her surprise, Damien had lifted her bag for her when she wanted to carry it herself.

"I can't let my wife lift heavy things."

She stared at him in disbelief, "You should have helped when I tried carrying that heavy bag."

But Damien was done conversing.

It was obvious that her husband was feared, with the way the people avoided them like a plague but showing their respect too. Audrey remained beside the man striding off without saying a word. He led them towards unfamiliar places until they got to a base where different men were lifting things into different carriages, and unlike her believe there were lots of women here – although not nobles like herself. Yet, she was glad not to be the only woman among the men.

Damien led her to a white carriage and opened the door like a gentleman he wasn't, "Stay in here while I sort some things out. I'll be in here when it's time to leave.

The last thing she wanted was to argue with her husband, so she sat quietly in the carriage; the noise in the surroundings made her felt at ease that she wasn't alone. Again her mind drifted to what could have been her life if she had successfully become what she had always wanted to be, but she wasn't one to cry over spilled food.

It felt like forever in the carriage, and her stomach was starting to get depressed from the lack of food. Slowly, she opened the carriage and got out. She tried looking for Damien, but he was nowhere to be found. Having no other person to open up to, Audrey slowly moved to where she had seen the women. They should be able to help a fellow woman.

Some women stood had akimbo as if they were waiting for others while some were too busy to notice her. It was a strange arrangement, but who was she to complain when all she had come for was to beg for a meal – if it was available. Slowly, her gaze moved around the women trying to find who was more approachable out of them all, and that was when her gaze settled on a familiar.

Mia

What was she doing here?

Without bothering about anything else, she moved towards Mia, "What are you doing here?"

Mia lifted her gaze, but there was no hint of surprise on her part. She looked like it was normal to see Audrey here and not in some royal chambers.

"Getting ready to go to war!"

Audrey frowned, "Did you come willingly or were you threatened?"

Mia stood up, "You don't need to bother yourself, Audrey. I came with the crown prince."

She thought she might have heard wrong. Didn't Phina say the crown prince was married to Princess Ella? Why wasn't she here?

Why Mia?

She needed to talk to Mia. Just as she tried pulling Mia to a secluded place, something pulled her from behind.

She turned all of a sudden into a hard chest and gasped. Everyone was silent, even the sound of moving feet had quite down. Slowly, she pulled away from the chest to look into her husband's eyes; he looked angry.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was a whisper but every word was clear to her ears. He didn't let go of her hand. Audrey tried twisting her hand only for him to hold it tighter.

Without any more words, he quietly led her away from the peering eyes towards their carriage. No one dared to stop him or interfere in their matter. Audrey followed quietly not because she couldn't fight back, but because the last thing she needed was to cause a scene and then draw other minds back to the fact that she was married to the first prince instead of the crown prince – not that people had forgotten.

He followed her into the carriage, "I thought I asked you to stay in the carriage."

Annoyed, she retaliated, "Well, I got tired of waiting in the carriage. I needed to breathe fresh air."

He moved closer to her until his breath was a few inches away from hers, "I don't appreciate my wife leaving my sight. I want you were I can always see you."

Audrey frowned; she had no idea how to categorize this, was it care or what? Yet, she found herself defiling him, "I think I have the freedom to move anywhere I wanted."

He shook his head and grabbed her hand pulling her on his leg. "You're my only family left. I'll be damned if I let anything happen to you. And you will make it easier for me. Do we understand? He didn't wait for her response before sealing the rest of the conversation in a hot kiss.