I will protect you

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"The Prince suddenly came to apologize?" Marine asked curiously, and Rain shrugged her shoulder as she picked up the cup of fresh orange juice that Marine had prepared for her, she gulped it down like she had been parched for days. "Why?"

"I have no idea," Rain muttered but then she paused slightly when she recalled something in what Lily said to her the night before. "I think it's the Duke."

"Your father?" Marine quizzed and Rain nodded.

Lily was right, their father had enough power to make the prince apologize, but there was still an unsettling feeling in her chest, she didn't like the way the prince looked at her.

 There was something suspicious about his gaze, something that she couldn't explain.

"Then that's good," Marine's upper lips curved into a satisfied smirk, Rain glanced up at her wondering what was so good about the prince's apology.

An apology that was not heartfelt, couldn't be considered one.

"Now no one is going to make trouble with you again."

"What does that mean?" Rain asked a little bit confused.

"The boys never expected the Duke to be so angry because of an illegitimate child, they probably thought you were a pushover and so it would be okay to tease you a little." Marine narrated. "But the Duke was so angry he went to the palace to report the issue to the Empress."

All that happened?

The Duke… Her father stood up for her.

 She initially thought it wouldn't matter if she died since her father kept her because it was convenient for him.

Hearing her father went so wild for her sake, she wanted to believe, there were good things about him as well, and she wanted to believe that she could be loved by him as well… Just like a normal daughter.

"Father said the Crowned Prince passed by earlier to apologize to us." Lily inquired. "I heard you met with him."

"Didn't you?" Rain asked with a small concern and Lily shook her head.

"No, I was too mad to see him." She said with a small hint of sadness in her voice, "I told my handmaiden to tell him I was in bed, and by the physician's prescription I shouldn't be disturbed."

Lily sounded offended as she spoke, and she was right to be mad at the prince. Her honor had been on the line on the day she begged for Rain's life.

"But he wanted to apologize," Rain countered in a much softer tone. "You should have listened to him."

"No, there wasn't any need to listen to someone who hurt my sister," Lily replied as stubbornly as ever. "I won't ever forgive him."

"I'm fine now,"

 Lily paused for a while, underneath her eyes were red, probably from crying too much.

"See… The prince was very apologetic, and I am sure if you have allowed him to apologize, you would forgive him." Rain advised.

"No I don't want to," Lily burst into tears, rather than Rain she seemed to be more traumatized by the incident. "I am not going to be a woman who is easily swayed by words, I thought you were going to die."

There was a warm feeling in Rain's chest, and she wondered if this was what it meant to have a family, there would be someone who would worry for you, fight for you, and cry for you.

And it just dawned on her that Lily was her sister, suddenly, Rain pulled her into a tight hug. Lily had been the nicest to her, but then Rain had not considered her a true family. She thought the girl was just being nice because it was convenient for her to be nice.

But as they spoke, she realized that it was because Lily loved her.

"You remember you have a crush on him." She reminded as she palmed Lily's white hair soothingly while Lily cried. "I am fine, but are you going to be fine? Please Lily, please forgive Prince Aryan."

"The weather is nice outside," Rain said to herself, this was the first time, she took the initiative to walk down the small bridge that she had always spotted from her bedroom window, she had no idea it was this far compared to the distance she viewed it from.

 Marine must probably be looking for her, but Rain wasn't ready to retire yet, she wanted to walk around the estate a little bit more. After five minutes of walking, Rain suddenly realized she had gotten lost and she didn't know she was or where to go, she didn't realize the Duchy was that big.

 Night was fast approaching, and she could hear the howls of wild animals in the distance, in panic, she tried to get away as fast as possible.

"Ahh!" a small scream escaped her as she fell to the ground, she had slipped on some broken twigs. "My foot hasn't even fully healed yet I have twisted it again."

Rain's heart hammered painfully in her chest when realization dawned on her, she hoped that maybe someone would realize that she was missing and then they would send help. But she might have died before then, she screamed slightly when she suddenly heard the flapping of wings from one of the shrubs.

"God…" She heaved another small sigh when she realized it was just a bird. "Someone please help me!"

She tried shouting, but to no avail, she couldn't even see anything in sight, night had fully descended but there was still no help. Fear crept in her, she was tired and hungry, yet too weak to walk, she was also sleepy but she dared not fall asleep.

She couldn't just sit there waiting for something to come out of the darkness and attack her but there was also nothing she could do.

"Why did I get lost?" She asked herself. "Why can't I just sit down in my room?"

 It was probably because she was already used to it, at the time when her mother would usually go about her work, Rain had always felt lonely and the fear of abandonment, and so she would always leave the room, even though her mother had warned her not to.

She would walk around the red light district in search of her mother, until she had gotten lost, most times, Merida or Letisha would let her tag along with them out of pity.

 She was used to going out to look for someone, even though she had no one to look for anymore.

It is almost like a mental illness. Yet she missed those days, at least by now, the other courtesans would have noticed she was missing and Merida would have gotten here.

Tears pooled in her eyes, it was getting cold and she didn't like the sour taste of being alone, she pulled her knees to her chest and cried in them.

"What is the princess doing this far in the forest?" Her head snapped up, solely because she recognized the voice, it belonged to Doni. "Didn't anyone tell you just how dangerous this part of the forest is?"

"Is it very dangerous?" She muttered softly while wiping her tears, then taking her time to look around. "I have been hearing howls, but I thought they were just frogs."

Doni laughed, the girl was so dumb.

"Since when do frogs howl?" He dropped the torch in his hands and stomped on it until the flames went out, since she could hear howls, it meant they were close. "What you heard are probably wolves." 

Her eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped her lips, she had only read about those ferocious animals in tales, which means she could have died if Doni hadn't shown up.

"Wolves?" Her voice came out louder than intended, and she covered her mouth immediately after she heard another howling, but this time it wasn't in the distance again, they were so close now. Doni got down and covered her mouth.

"Shh…" He chastised in a whisper. "Don't be so loud."

She nodded hopefully at him, the only logical thing to do was to hide because they were nothing but a pair of kids, a pack of wolves would be overkill for them. Doni stretched his hands picked the burned-out torch and tightened his hands on the wood.

He needed a weapon, and this was hard enough.

"Can you walk?" She shook her head in response, apart from the injury in her ankle, she was paralyzed with fear. "So, I have to carry you."

He stooped down in front of her urging her to climb his back, she was trembling like a leaf in a storm, her teeth clattering. Doni could tell that she had never even seen a wolf before, so it was right that she would be scared.

"Try your best to not scream no matter what you see." He instructed in a small whisper. "You can close your eyes if you must."

"A-Aren't y-you scared?" She asked tightening her arms around him.

"No," Doni muttered, he was quite confident.

"Wolves are terrifying." She muttered, he could also feel her tears leaking onto his shoulder. "It says so in the books I read, they attack in packs and kill their prey, they have sharp claws and fangs that cut and tear."

"I will protect you, so please don't worry." He started walking, as slowly and as carefully as he could.

"How can you say something like that so casually?" She asked even more curiously. "You are just a few years older than I am. You should be terrified."

"I will be terrified if you keep talking loudly and instead of wolves we meet with a bear." He complained but it was playfully.

"There are bears in here too?" She asked finally bursting into tears, as if the wolves weren't terrifying enough.

"Why are you crying?" He teased. "Are you that scared?"

She nodded and he laughed out loud, the first heartfelt laugh since he got employed in the estate.

"It would be difficult to kill a bear with just this stick but if it comes to it, I promise to protect you princess, so please stop crying." Somehow it didn't feel like a bluff, Rain tightened her arms around him again, still shaken but less afraid… why?

Because she had Doni.