The Crumbling Tower

The new Guard

Princess Amber stands in her silent thoughts while her royal maidens in waiting dress her for the night. It is always a hassle when it comes to agreement with the Princess's attire. The King and Queen prefer her to be in beautiful, luxurious gowns. However, the princess prefers to be comfortable in a nice pair of curve fitting pants, a shirt that accentuates her lovely bust line, and a nice stiletto boot. The only thing that she and her parents are in agreement with, is her royal headdress; only because it goes with whatever attire she chooses.
Unfortunately, Princess Amber will not be allowed to dress in comfort today. A new royal guard captain for her personal protection is being sworn in today, and she has to look the part of a soft, dainty princess. Even though her parents know that she is perfectly capable of protecting herself. Amber is a very gifted vampire and her fighting skills can put the best defense trainers to shame, the king and queen will make sure that their precious daughter and only heiress to the throne won't have to lift a finger to risk her life.
Amber huffs and puffs as the maids dress her in a beautiful Peridot green satin gown with a sweet heart neckline. They tie the corset tight which gives her breasts a nice little lift; even though she does not need the extra lift. Her girls are naturally perky.
The beautiful gown has short sleeves that gently fall off the shoulder like a loose hair tendril that falls out of place, but frames the face perfectly. The maids then style Amber's hair in a simple, but elegant bun style and place her royal headdress upon her head.
As Amber sits down in her vanity chair so the dress maid can slide the matching green slippers onto her feet, the doors to her bedroom chambers swings open. Queen Ophelia strides in dressed in her flawless emerald green gown and going all out per usual with her most elaborate jeweled crown upon her head. Amber rolls her eyes, but is careful so her mother does not see.
"Oh, you look beautiful, darling!" Queen Ophelia gushes. "Do I really have to wear this?" Amber huffs, "it's only an official initiation sworn in for the new guard. Why do I have to be in attendance? And why do I need to dress in my royal attire for a minuscule ceremony such as this?".
Queen Ophelia shakes her head. "It is customary for the royal family to be present for such affairs in support of the king, that's number one, and number two, this guard is being personally assigned to you, my dear. Until you bind with a royal consort, you will have a guard at your side". Amber scowls. "Well, that's definitely not going to happen. So, I guess that this guard will be assigned to me for all of eternity".

"Amber!" The Queen scolds.

"Why does it matter if I ever choose to bond with a mate? I'm the next and only one in line rightfully so to take the throne regardless if I have a mate or not," Amber points out, "and let's not forget the drastic night of my wedding that the man that I've felt that was my true soul bound mate was plowing his tool in my ex best friend's garden and apparently had been for quite some time. Let's not forget how devastated I was and how I wasn't consuming blood for almost eight weeks and how I cried nonstop for four of those weeks. I don't want to go through that again, mother. I refuse to go through that again".
The queen stands in silence. Yes, she remembers her daughter's agonizing suffering. How she and the king constantly stressed and worried. The queen remembers how the light had literally left her daughter's eyes and how she was looking whither and weak because she refused to eat. Yes, the queen remembers everything indeed. It has been six years since then, and yet, her daughter refuses to try and get out there and date again. Her daughter won't even entertain the thought of even saying hi to a gentleman.
Queen Ophelia sighs. She kneels down at her daughter's side and takes Amber's hand into hers. "Oh, sweetheart, I will never forget the pain that you've endured, and your father and I wouldn't ask you to go through any of that all over again. But honey, it has been six years. If something were to ever happen to your father and I, we wouldn't want you to be alone and we want you to be well taken care of and protected".
Amber opens her mouth to protest, the queen holds her hand up to stop her. Amber snaps her mouth closed and queen smiles. "I know, I know. You can protect yourself and take care of yourself just fine. You have been trained by the finest battle masters in the kingdom and your elemental magic of fire and lightning damn near rivals your father's. But, you are of royal blood and a lady. You shouldn't have to partake in a sort of battle".
"Didn't you fight alongside father once?" Amber raises a question brow. The queen nods. "And did, but the keyword here is 'alongside'. I wasn't fighting alone and when I'd done my part, I retreated like he asked me to, and he and his men took care of the rest". Amber slowly nods her head and pursed her lips. Her mother made a good point. She would never admit that out loud though.
"All done, princess," the head dress maid speaks. "Alright. Now stand, and let me get a hood at you," the queen says to Amber as she stands upright. Amber roses from her vanity chair and does a slow 360 turn so her mother can appraise her. When she turns to face her mother again, the queen is smiling from ear to ear. "As always, you look beautiful, darling. Absolutely perfect". Amber bows her head a slight to show gratitude and appreciation for her mother's compliments. "Thank you, mother". Queen Ophelia nods. "It's almost time. Let's get a move on before your father sends the entire royal guard looking for us". Amber giggles as age follows behind her mother out of her bedroom chambers and down the hall.

Princess Amber and Queen Ophelia arrive in the throne room where the king, Legion Daiko, sat on the tallest throne in the center of the three. Queen Ophelia's throne sits on the right and Princess Amber's on the left. The king sees them and smiles warmly. "About time you two finally came down. I was beginning to grow old and petrify here," he jokes. Amber shakes her head and steps up, taking a seat on her throne next to her father. Queen Ophelia laughs at the king's joke, "Why, you don't look a day over 418". As she takes a seat on her throne, the king takes the queen's hand and blesses it with a kiss. Again, Princess Amber shakes her head.
Once they are all seated, the head general guard for the king assembles his royal court knights as they enter the throne room and taking a stand on either side of the aisle. The men and women of the royal guard are all dressed in fine black silk suits with their weapons of choice at their sides. They do the royal salute to the royal family and the head general guard stands in front to start the address.
"To the royal family, you're majesty King Legion, Queen Ophelia, and Princess Amber. I have brought before you the finest men and women of the guard who all shows great promise, skill, and quality worthy enough to protect Princess Amber," the general speaks. This is pointless, Amber says in her mental, but she keeps her expressions from showing it.
The king nods his head and stands. "I've been observing all of you in your training, reviewing your stats and testing to see how well you thrive and how calm you are under pressure. And with some of you, I have engaged in personal hand to hand combat and swordsmanship. With that in mind, I have made my decision who would be best to be the guard captain for my daughter. This guard captain will be permitted to assemble a small team of no more than five guards to assist in the protection of my daughter in case he or she is unable to, or if I call upon them for another assignment. Kyran Domenico, come forth!".
The energy shifts in the throne room as the guard being called forward steps in to the center of the aisle. The energy coming from this guard is strong; powerful. And this catches Amber's attention. Walking down the aisle is a tall gentleman, 6'4" at least. He has long, neat black loc in a low ponytail. His eyes are the color of mustard gold with specks of red. They are sharp and intimidating. He has beautiful, long lashes. The gentleman also has a nice trimmed mustache that lined up perfectly with his trimmed goatee. He has full, kissable lips and strong, broad shoulders and beautiful cocoa brown skin.
As the gentleman walks down the aisle to approach the king, his walk bestows confidence and power. He is handsome. Even the female guards cannot help but to blush as he walks by. He finally approaches the general and the king. "Kneel," the king commands. The gentleman obliges and drops down on one knee and lowers his head. "Kyran Domenico, I, King Legion, hereby declare you the new royal guard captain assigned to secure the safety and protection of my daughter, Princess Amber Daiko. Will you accept the charge?".

"Yes, I humbly accept the charge, my king," Kyran speaks.

The general pulls his sword from his side and taps Kyran three times with the tip of his blade. Once on each shoulder and the third at the crown of Kyran's head. Then, King Legion steps up and repeats the same action. Once this is is done, Queen Ophelia and Princess Amber rise to their feet and stand beside the king. "Royal guard captain Domenico, ride!" the king commands.
The moment Kyran rises to his feet, he and Princess Amber lock eyes, and suddenly, it begins to feel like Amber is no longer in the throne room. It feels like she is floating on air. Her body feels slightly warm, and something in the middle of her chest is giving a little putter-patter. What the hell is this? She asks herself. She hasn't had this type of reaction to a man in years. Not since the first time she has laid eyes on her ex-fiancé. This vampire man is beautiful. His intimidating eyes entrancing her. His power, his scent is calling to her. What is happening? She screams inside of her head.
Amber is telling herself to avert her eyes, to break the connection, to look away. She's fighting hard, but she can't. Why? But to her relief, the connection breaks when Kyran turns to face his fellow guards as the king announces to the audience that he is officially declared as the princess's new royal guard captain. The ceremony concludes with the final royal salute and the guards began to disperse in two single file lines out of the throne room.
King Legion, the general, and Kyran disappears into the royal meeting war room to discuss the final arrangements. Queen Ophelia approaches the princess and throws her arm over her shoulders as the two exit from the throne room. "See, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" The queen smiles, "and he's quite a looker, don't you think?". Princess Amber doesn't say anything. All she can think about is getting back to her bed chambers and out of this dress that has suddenly made her hot. And how she just wants to sit in a cold bath and close her eyes with the escape of how his eyes had a hold on her, and when she can look into them again.