surviving the crown

chapter threeeeee

  ok guys so this chapter is a bit more romantic and i can't help smiling whenever i read it. anyways, enjoy!

chapter three - Princess Linh Akari of the Fire Kingdom

     Princess Linh Akari woke up early that morning, as in 4am early. She woke up for her training that she has every day for a couple hours. She did karate and worked on fencing and horse riding. Akari's dream was to be a general in her kingdoms army but that isn't aloud, only males were accepted, which in her opinion was totally unfair. She had begged her dad, Emperor Haru, time and time again to let her fight but he declined every single time saying it was "too dangerous" or "against protocol and royal standards". Akari wished with her whole heart that she wasn't born royal, she hated wearing fancy kimonos and dresses and having to act all girly. In other words, it was torture.

     Today's training went pretty well. Kenji, Akari's training partner, whom she had known since before she could speak, had landed a couple blows to her stomach and jaw but she struck him right back, maybe even harder. He always made her laugh with petty comments and jokes. If she was being honest, he was the only one who made her laugh. But of course she could never tell him that, she would never hear the end of it.

     "I definitely would have beat you in that fight," Akari said, making fun of him for missing a blow to her stomach.

     "Yeah right, I totally would have won, I could have painted my toe nails while fighting you," he said making big hand gestures as he walked with Akari to the stables to practice their riding. Akari rolled her eyes dramatically, playfully elbowing him. She ran ahead of him, looking back at him and grinning. Kenji caught himself off guard, stumbling, her smile was gorgeous. He grinned and yelled for her.

     "GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW LINH," Kenji was the only one who called her Linh. She liked how he said it. She looked over her shoulder again and was startled to see him about five feet away. She screamed like a little girl and sprinted away as fast as she could, smiling to herself. Kenji grasped for her wrist and caught it. She gasped as he spun her around, her heart started beating so loud she couldn't hear anything else. She looked into his brown eyes, mesmerized. Kenji grinned the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face, then he shoved her away and she lost her footing, falling into the puddle of mud on the ground. Her heart was still beating from him being so close but she got up, mud in her fists and threw it at him, covering him in dirt. He screeched so loud she thought the people of the Ice Kingdom could hear him.

     "OH YOUR GOING TO GET IT LINH AKARI TANAKA," he yelled, if he weren't wearing a huge grin, Akari would have thought he was gonna kill her. He grabbed fist fulls of mud, ran up to her and smeared it on her face. They both toppled to the ground with laughter, not able to stand up. Finally after what felt like ages of laughing, Kenji got up and handed Akari his hand to help her up, she took it still laughing. Then she shoved around him and bolted to her horse, Khan. Kenji effortlessly mounted onto his horse, Ruby, racing after Akari and Khan.

     "ILL BEAT YOU TO THE CASTLE!" Akari said, giggling like a maniac.

     "YEAH RIGHT, YOU WISH" he yelled back at her, looking like he was about to topple off his horse, he was shaking due to laughing so hard. Khan galloped to the castle, beating Kenji and Ruby. As soon as Akari came to the entrance, she immediately started worrying. Her dad was waiting for her. He was staring at her and Kenji.

     "Akari! What in the name of Fire Kingdom are you doing?" Emperor Haru asked. He said it calmly but in a firm voice. His eyes were so wide they looked like they might pop out of their sockets.

     "I'm so sorry dad! We just got carried away during training," Akari said. Her stomach felt like it had a gaping hole inside. All the sudden her father basically bent in half and started coughing. "DAD," she screamed, fear clawing it's way into her systems.

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     Akari was sitting in a room blocked off from her fathers bed by a glass wall in the hospital wing of the palace, Kenji beside her. They had found out that her father had the plague, her eyes were red and puffy from crying and Kenji had made sure not to leave her side. She appreciated him being there for her, she didn't know if she could do this without him. He had joked and made her laugh even while her dad was dying. She started sobbing, she couldn't help it.

     "Hey, hey, Linh, it's okay. I'm here," he whispered, his voice grounding her. Akari sniffled. He put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his chest, hearing the beat of his heart. She fell asleep there. Akari had been watching her father the past day or two. Kenji placed his head to rest on hers.

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     "Linh, wake up," Kenji gently whispered into Akari's ear. She lifted her head up and blinked away the light.

     "What time is it," she mumbled, clearly still not awake. Kenji nudged her with his shoulder, trying to get her to wake up more.

     "Linh... he's-" his voice broke, afraid to tell her the news. Kenji paused, piecing together his words. "He's gone, it happened just a few minutes ago while you were asleep," he said gently trying to ease the news to her. Akari burst into a fresh round of tears and leaning off of him, covering her eyes with her hands. Kenji knew Haru would never be back, which made Akari Empress.

that's it for chapter three! i hope you enjoyed. wow, lol i've posted three chapters in one night! anyways thank you so much for reading, i really appreciate it. have an amazing day/rest of ur day! byeeeeee