章節 15: Warrior Princess

I woke up and saw that I was in a castle.

I was back in my past life or rather more accurately in my dream that played out my past life memories.

Just then a blade reflected the sunlight into my eyes. Out of reflex I jumped out of bed and drew my sword from its sheath.

Blades clanged together as I tried to make sense of who was the attacker. After a few exchanges a male voice called for us to stop.

"Still sharp even early in the morning, I see," came a chuckle.

"Geoffrey? What are you doing here in my room?" I stared at him.

"Joey brought me here. We decided to fly to the Kingdom of Nitreil for a visit," he winked.

I placed my sword back to its sheath. So I was really agile and a warrior princess indeed. Even in my dream my movements were fluid as all the muscle memories picked up almost immediately.

Since I was already in this dream there must be something that I needed to learn from this lifetime. I decided to make the best out of this stay.

"Do you have anything to tell me, Geoffrey?" I said down at the edge of my bed as I glared at him.

"Just wondering if you made your choice on who to choose as your suitor to attend the Summer Gala Ball. You are 18 this year. It is time to choose me," he flashed his signature smile.

Just then all the memories from the past 2 years since I last visited this lifetime came flooded back in. Geoffrey or Jeff became a regular visitor to my chambers since our fateful first meeting under Joey the Falcone's nest. He was hell-bent in making me choose him when I came of age.

Something felt off but I could not put a finger on it.

Besides Jeff there were a few more court's favourite, mostly Princes who had no claim to their own throne as there were too many princes in line so the prospect of marrying me was even greater as they would gain an entire kingdom just by marrying me.

"Can you accompany me to the Oracle?" I made a request.

"Who is the Oracle?"

"The Oracle is a lady who lived in the woods beside a gorgeous waterfall. No one knows how old she was. She is ageless and very wise. My mother used to visit her with me when I was younger," I said.

"Alright when do we go?" Jeff quickly agreed, he just wanted to be by my side for as long as possible.

"After my session at the court. After midday I suppose. In the meanwhile you may stay in the garden or I ask the maid to prepare a guestroom for you to rest," I said.

"Can I be in the Court? I want to see how you rule your kingdom. If I marry you then it will be my kingdom too. I better get acquainted to it now," Jeff was beaming with confidence as he said that.

I shook my head and just said, "Fine."

Jeff already had a permanent guestroom in my castle with his persistent and consistent visits. With both my parents gone there were I did not have to concern myself with elder's approval. I was the Queen afterall.

Session at the court was mostly the same old problems and listening to the reports from the ministers. It was not Jeff's first time attending court as an observer. He knew his place and did not speak as he was not a ruler yet. I caught him staring at me and felt quite uncomfortable. I could never get used to this attention.

After court, we had lunch in the garden.

"My Queen. You are indeed the most beautiful flower in the entire royal garden," Jeff complimented me.

"Even more beautiful than all the gardens in your kingdom?" I challenged him.

"I only care about you and not any other flowers in other gardens," Jeff smoothly stated.

"Jeff, you are impossible. You made yourself my permanent guest at my castle, you presumed I am going to select you to be my King to rule by my side when I come of age, you are a beautiful arrogant man I don't know what to make of you," I was flustered.

The edges of his lips curved up as he placed his cutleries on the table and leaned closer to me, lightly touching my fingers with both his hands.

"Thank you for calling me beautiful, you don't have to know what to make of me, just love me," he said as his right hand deftly caught an arrow the flew right at us.

"Assassin! Protect the Queen!" Jeff shouted.

A commotion ensued as the Royal Guards caught the black hooded assassin. Before they could even do anything the assassin bit and swallowed his own tongue before dropping dead on the ground. It was a suicide mission.

"This is the 4th attempt this month," Jeff looked at the body on the ground.

"I've lost my appetite. Let's start our journey to the Oracle," I motioned him to follow.

As we flew over the kingdom on Joey the Giant Falcon, my hands gripped tighter as Jeff held me snug from behind. It was not the first time we flew together. He was respectful in his extended two-year-courting and never crossed the boundary. All he did was to hold my hand or hug me with the occasional pecks on my cheeks. In modern couple terms, we were dating albeit innocently.

Joey descended and the trees appeared larger. The sound of the waterfall signalled that we were near. We got off Joey and walked to the lone cottage and rang the bell.

"Come in!" A female voice called out.

We pushed the door open and walked in. It was dark as the light was dim inside and my eyes were fixed on the lady seated, smiling at us.

"I have been expecting you," she nodded at us.

The Oracle. She was Magdalena. Or at least she looked like Magdalena.