The King's Daughter

1 Abduction

• Two and a half  years later •

I never understood the need for such heavy security. No one had ever attempted to kill me or hurt me before, so the line of scary security guards on either side of me seemed pointless as I strolled out of the palace and toward the waiting limousine.

My destination, the library, was simply a mile away from the palace and yet my father felt the need to crowd me with guards. Just as Felix opened the door of the limousine, my father spoke from behind me.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't approve of and don't ever find yourself alone like you sometimes do. Keep Felix by your side at all times, is that clear?" He instructed, his brows raised expectantly and the guards automatically straightened their posture at his presence.

Shielding my eyes from the bright sun, I nodded with a knowing smile. "Yes, Father. I promise to be safe."

"Good. I will see you as soon as you return. Have fun my beautiful darling." He bowed his head and stepped back.

Felix straightened and held the door for me as I slipped inside and sat down, crossing my legs and fixing my long maroon dress.

The door was shut and Felix got into the limousine, sitting across from me, his hand absently touching the gun at his hip. I trusted Felix with my life and knew he would never let anything happen to me. Although I wasn't exactly allowed to speak to him unless it was an emergency, I liked to talk to him anyway. We'd created a bond and I knew he was fond of me, in a brotherly way. He was not but ten years older than me.

The limousine began moving and the other security cars in front and behind us guided us along the road. We slowly made it out of the palace gates and out onto the busy street, mixing in with the civilians.

People would stop and stare or hurry to get out of our way, for they knew who was inside. Many people stopped to wave with big grins on their faces and it lifted my spirits knowing my people loved me as much as I loved them.

The people liked to call me the Sun Princess, simply because they claimed I was always happy and kind. Not one of them ever called me by name. No one was allowed to call me by name except for my family. It was always "highness," "my lady," or "my princess."

The windows were tinted so they couldn't see inside, but they knew I was here. Felix was watching me and I smiled at him before pressing my forehead against the glass like a little kid. I could still get away with these things at times seeing as I was not yet eighteen, the age when a young lady becomes a woman. That day would come in a few months.

Just as I saw the tall, glorious library come into view, I grew excited. There were so many things I loved about going there. I noticed a disturbance in the crowd of people ahead but I didn't think anything of it as I eagerly looked ahead at the library.

"Princess?" Felix spoke up stiffening, his voice rigid.

But before I could respond or even realize what had caused his sudden alertness, he yelled, "Princess!" And then he dove across the small space and threw his body over mine just as a gigantic explosion right outside the car shattered the windows and practically deafened me. The explosion crashed right into the side of the vehicle and knocked the wind out of me at the sheer force.

Stunned, my eyes opened weakly and I saw fire and chaos outside. People were screaming and running around while I tried to focus my gaze. My ears were ringing and I couldn't seem to come to terms with what just happened as Felix's heavy body lay limp over me.

Gunshots soon followed and I knew this could not be good. Fear gripped me as all sorts of dreadful scenarios ran through my head. How could such a perfect day turn around this quickly?

"Felix?" I whispered, nudging him and feeling the fear rise as my vision blurred again. There was a metal object imbedded in his back. That piece of rubble would have been imbedded in me if he hadn't thrown himself over my body like he had. Sounds became muffled and I held my head tightly. "Felix...wake up."

But he didn't.

He lay there and I whimpered, noticing several dark figures rush to my door and jerk it open. When my sight cleared for a second, I realized I didn't know these men and my breath caught in my throat when I noticed they wore masks. Maybe they would feel pity for me...?

"Help me." I got out, tearing up and holding onto Felix's body. "Someone tried to kill me and he's...he's hurt."

I didn't want to say dead. No, he wasn't dead.

"Come on princess, I'll get you out." The man said, shoving Felix to the floor roughly and I gasped.

The horrible knowledge that this man had probably tried to kill me ran through my head and I struggled against him. Now I recognized his outfit from television. He was always with the gang whenever they went on killing sprees.

Was I their next target?

"No, no, no! Let me go!" I pleaded while the stranger pulled me out of the car and into his arms.

The explosion had dulled my senses and made me impossibly weak and dazed.

"Don't worry Princess. I'm not going to hurt you... Yet." The man chuckled deeply and carried me away from the limo where Felix still lay. Other men in black were shooting at the other cars and all of the windows were broken, making me believe that they were all dead. I glimpsed a few guards run toward me from behind a car in an attempt to save me, but they were quickly shot down.

In horror, I shrieked, but didn't have the strength to fight the man who easily slung me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. The other masked men made sure we wouldn't be followed. The shots toward the masked men stopped when I was among them. No one dared risking hitting me.

"No! We have to help my body guard! He's hurt and he tried to save me! Please put me down!" I begged, struggling in his arms but he swiftly ran through the rubble and screaming, crying people and into an empty alleyway where more men stood, waiting.

"I've got her. We need to move fast. The King's guards will be on our tails in moments. Niall, the cloth."

"Let go of me!" I cried, hitting the man so he let go and I fell to the ground, the hard cobblestone bruising my delicate skin. The affects of the explosion were slowly wearing off. "Get away from me! I am your Princess and you will not treat me this way!"

"Hurry and give it to me before she draws attention!" The first man ordered and the blond guy tossed over a filthy rag.

As the man attempted to cover my mouth with it, I fought him and kicked him, squealing, "What are you doing?!"

As he managed to cover my mouth and hold it there while I screamed and thrashed around, he smirked and whispered in my ear, "We're kidnapping you."