“If cx + 89v = 987 and v = c(85 - x) then….” I tuned out when my teacher started talking about something I was taught a few years ago. This was a review for me, they all knew that. It was just for the sake of the inspector that sat in the back of the room and came every year to see if I was learning at the right pace since I was homeschooled all my life. Since the education office for women found out that I was ahead in all my subjects, they told my parents that they should slow down because, “We wouldn’t want a woman smarter than many of the men, now would we?” as they said. From then on, whenever it was time for inspection, my instructors were all alerted and reminded to teach me something as simple as what they taught at the public high school. I was just happy that today was the last time I saw that lanky old man, with shaggy blackish-brown hair that was long overdue for a haircut. His arms hinted that he used to go work out, probably was quite the heart-breaker - 30 years ago. Now his personality was as bad as he looked, he didn’t like me speaking unless spoken to, wearing pants, and all that old-fashioned stuff from back in the day, before our current king, King Dorean of Vidorn.

As soon as King Dorean came to the throne, everything changed, I was told. Women could become doctors, professors, proprietors, pretty much everything; well, everything but one thing, which was joining the army, including being anyone's bodyguard. Nobody knows why this change happened but one rumor says that if he didn’t do that, the queen wouldn’t have married him. These days there were a lot of those kinds of rumors, but I guess this one was the most believable. The others were about him getting bewitched, dying and being resurrected by a woman, and other unrealistic stuff. Still, back then the role of the queen was different, to;, she was just there, thought of as a ‘trophy wife’, and was sent away when anything remotely important came up. Now, she was right by the king’s side while he ruled the country. Her decision held as much finality as the king’s. Even though all that happened, the people still believed that women were less important than men, and that is why women are still underpaid and taught slower in school. My parents were against all that so they paid everybody fairly and even got me the best tutors around just so that I could get the best education possible and become somebody I want to be.

“Well, I guess that is all, I don’t need to see any more than I have, and I think Miss Meyers here should retire to her room, too, since she looks like she needs to freshen up, preferably into a nice dress before seeing me and her father off,” Mister Hopkins sneered at me at the end. Then just left the room without saying goodbye to both me and Mistress Helrica, who was teaching me German after having switched out with Mister Hevelic, who was teaching me Maths earlier.

*********************

It’s been a week since I had last gone to my academic lessons; instead, I had been sneaking off to practice my fighting skills. Fighting was the only thing that I ever loved besides my grandmother. Normally, I wouldn’t sneak out that often in a week, but my parents understood that it was all because of the inspection. So they let me do what I wanted for the week. After the week ended, though, I knew they would want me to start working on my apprenticeship with my mother. This was only existent because, in order for me to be homeschooled, my parents had to have an excuse as to why I have to be homeschooled, and that is what they came up with. That was another reason why I hated being homeschooled.

Yet a here is another reason, it was that I hardly got out this way, so I had literally no friends who would notice that I was missing. Still, my parents thought I had friends because of all the times I was not home. They obviously didn’t know that I went out to practice fighting. They would have fainted by now since fighting was the only thing that females weren’t allowed to do - which is why I am going to run away. I am going to run away and prove everyone wrong.

So when I came upon the town square to buy something for my family in return for letting me leave for the last week, I did not expect to hear what I heard, “Attention! Attention all males interested in becoming a bodyguard for the prince. He is in need of a new one.” Again? Didn’t they just come last month asking for a new volunteer? No wonder no one seemed interested;, well, except for me that is. However, I wasn’t allowed, so I couldn’t say anything.

“Anybody who is interested has ‘till the end of the week, which is in 4 days mind you, to report. If nobody from ‘ere or anywhere else, the king will randomly choose from the list of ’legeable names. Therefore I advise you to volunteer instead of having a random child be pulled from his family” Well that was encouraging, please note the sarcasm. Still, I kind of wanted to do that, too bad only guys can sign up…I was so distracted by that, that I didn’t notice my grandma until I almost ran into her, literally.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” she lightly chuckled, “Haven’t seen you in a while... now to what do I owe the pleasure to meet my MIA granddaughter here, at the market place?”

“Haha…well…I guess you could say that I’m buying flowers to give to my parents as an apology for my absence? At least that was what I was planning… where is the flower cart again?” when I asked the last part I looked around nervously, afraid I walked by it when I was lost in my thoughts.

“It is right behind you, dear -” I looked behind me and saw it, making a light red color dust my cheeks, “-what were you thinking so hard about that you walked right past you favorite store, which currently has your favorite clerk at the cashier’s? Is it finally a boy or maybe even a girl? I don’t want to judge you or anything,” this only happens if your grandmother is your best - and only - friend, which is just me, everybody else seems to have more than one friend or at least one that isn’t family…

“Nooo, Grandma, gross! I was just plain old thinking…” she gave me that look, you know the one that your friends give you when they know that you’re lying, “ …that it is just soo unfair that only men are allowed to fight! Women can too, they just don’t let us prove ourselves! Plus, there are probably a lot of women who would like to signup as bodyguards, like me…” the last part I whispered so quietly, it was hardly even audible to me, so I was taken by utter surprise when my grandmother seemed like she heard.

“Well now, don’t say that out loud. Don’t say I told you this either, but you could technically become a warrior or bodyguard as long as nobody figures out that you are a girl…” she looked around, paranoid that somebody heard her breathed sentence before continuing again, “ Come child, let us buy those apology flowers for your parents.” So we went and bought those flowers before heading home.

******************

“LIL!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! Ohhh, are those tulips? They look so nice are they for us?” My mother seemed to forget all that was going on as soon as she saw the tulips, for she stopped screaming altogether.

“Yes mother, these are tulips, and they are for you. I got them in hopes that they will help you forgive me for being the absent daughter that I have been. I am extremely and utterly sorry that I have not been here supporting you in your business in the busiest time and instead have run away to selfishly cool my temper. Also, I- ” I was interrupted by my mother throwing her arms around me and holding me so tight that I almost choked to death.

“Dear, are you trying to kill our daughter by hugging her since it seems to me that she is hardly able to breathe right now.” My lovely father came to the rescue, or more like came to make my death worse. This because when my mother had finished hugging me and pulled away only so that I could look her in the eye, all I saw was tears trying to escape.

When she spoke, her eyes could no longer hold the overflow of tears inside of them and released them, allowing them to flow down her beautiful cheekbones, “ Oh, I am truly sorry, it is just that I worried so much about my only daughter, more over my only child.” she turned to face me after saying those word to my father, only making me feel even worse. It was like I could taste the salt of her tears in the air before she continued, “ It is okay dear, we love you for who you, which includes your antics and running away. We understand why you would run after the inspector came to check with us. It is only human to want to cool down. The only thing that I bid you is that next time you leave, please, leave us a note, just so we know you are okay.”

“Yes, mother. Thank you for understanding. I will.” I promised them an empty promise but there was no need for them to know that I did not mean what I said. There was no reason for them to know that I was to leave them again and not return for half of a year at least. There was no need for them to worry about me when I would join the army as the new bodyguard for the prince.

My grandmother’s words had come back to me and helped me make my decision, “…you could technically become a warrior or bodyguard as long as nobody figures out that you are a girl…I don’t want to judge you…” I will sign up and I will show the kingdom that women are just as good as men. After a few more words and hugs were exchanged, I was sent to my room to study.

After a while of studying, I was growing bored and decided to pack my stuff away and read a book instead. Just as I started looking for a novel to read, my door started to slowly creak open and my grandmother came in. She went and sat on my bed, patting the space beside her, asking me to come sit next to her. As I made my way back to her, I was wondering why she was telling me what to do in my room.

“I know what you want to do, “ she held a hand up to stop me from interrupting her, “ but I’m not here to stop you. I came here to tell you about your grandfather and his... journey? It will be hard having nobody find out, but you will do it and I won’t rat you out. Anyway, onto what I wanted to talk to you about. I know I never talk about him, but your grandfather was an amazing man. He was in the army as well, a bodyguard to the current king to be exact, while he was the prince. One night, he was killed protecting the king from an assassination attempt.”

“I was told that before death took him, he asked the king to make women more important in society. History may say otherwise, but it actually was your grandfather who brought change to this land just like you will. So now, continue the family tradition, change this country! I bet he would have been proud of you if he saw you today. Every time you were brought into the conversation, all he could say was that you were gonna change the world, that you have a great destiny ahead of you. Go ahead, make us prouder than we are right now. Change this country. If you need any help, I am here for you.”

With that she left, leaving me with nothing to ponder about my choice anymore. Tomorrow was the last day to sign up, and I was gonna do it. With that in mind, I left my room and went to my private workshop that contained all the fabric I could ever need. I had asked our maid to ask my grandmother to come to my workshop for ‘advice on some designs’. I would ask for help on designs, just not the kind of designs that the maid thought. Once we both arrived, we started working. She told me what fabrics to use and I designed the clothes for my new wardrobe. They were a little baggy, but I had to hide that I was female. I ended up with a lot of denim and dark colored clothes.

Later that night, around eleven, I was getting ready, binding my chest and putting on my new clothes. I was proud of myself. I looked like an actual boy when I looked in the mirror, except for my long hair. I was treading cutting it, for I loved it, so I left it for last. When I finally found it in myself to cut my hair, I first cut it to about chin-length. Then, when I once again gathered my courage, I cut it so that the strands were hardly past where they stopped at the nape of my neck and didn’t go too far past the tip of my ears. When I got to the bangs, I cut them so they ended a little below my feminine eyebrows. Any feminine features were going to be blamed on my mother and how she “always wanted a girl”. That was not only the excuse for my femininity but also my want to be a bodyguard. I wanted to prove my masculinity.

Once that was done, I took a picture with an instant-film camera to leave on my grandmother’s nightstand. That way she would know what I looked like. With everything else finished, I left the photo, took the most important stuff, including my clothing and binds, that I packed this afternoon, and climbed out through my window. I was able to close my window from the outside and since it had no lock, I would not have to worry about locking it. Then without further ado, I took off in the direction of the town square, where the guard was staying.

When I finally arrived at the wagon that the guard-recruiter-guy was sleeping in, I was so out of breath that I stood there like an idiot for at least a couple of minutes. Once I felt like I would be able to talk, I went up a couple of stairs in front of the wagon and knocked. Then knocked again, and again. As I put up my hand to knock for the fourth time, the door flew open and a form in reddish-orange and turquoise striped clothing.

The form turned out to be the recruiter when his grave voice sounded out from the form, “That was a nice wake up call, dear, but why are you here? I am about to leave to look for a volunteer in the next village.” I grew agitated when he called me dear since no-one ever called me dear before.

“Well, Sir, first off, I am a guy. I just look a lot like my mother. She alway wanted a girl so she treated me like one. She also made me look very feminine because of her wish. Anyways, I am here ’cause I wanted to sign up to be your volunteer, prove my masculinity, ya know?” I tried my hardest to deepen my voice and act like a guy. He looked suspicious at first but then opened the door wider and let me in.

“Well then, boy, come on in. Now, you never told me your name, what is it so I can write you down as the volunteer.” Oh shoots, I never thought about that. What should I name myself? What was my grandfather’s name again, oh yeah, it was Lildart.

“Lildart Meldar. Named after my grandpapa. Sir, if you do not mind asking me, what is your name?” he looked at me weirdly, probably because of how formal I had spoken, I answered his unasked question without much of a pause, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just used to be told all the time to be a lil’ more formal.”

“Don’ worry son, it’ll be knocked out of you in no time. So now that you are here, we can leave. Grab your stuff from outside and come up front. Then, I’ll tell ya what you’ll do during the ride back to the casl’.” He went to the front and started to get the horses to move while I brought in my limited luggage. Then I went to the guy, he never did tell me his name.

“Sir, you never told me your name. I would like to call you something other than Sir.”

“Well boy, ‘tis Teddy Delgarté. Just Delgarté to everyone tho. Now that you know my name and I know yours, can we get on with the show?” he looked pointedly at me and then continued, “The ride to the casl’ will take ’bout the whole day so ya can busy yerself by cleaning up the rest of the wagon and stuff.” Cast off just like that, I slumped my shoulders and moped off to the back of the wagon as I was told.

Instead of cleaning all day, I just pushed Delgarté’s dirty clothes under his little ‘cot’. I just picked up the rest of the stuff and then put it in a box I found. After doing all that, I pulled up a wooden bucket that was upside down and sat on it. That is what I did for most of the ride, sit there and stare off into space, thinking about my new life that I’ll be starting. We stopped once for some food and a bathroom break. Other than that, everything was quiet and almost awkward.

“‘Kay, enough daydreamin’, we’re here. Look ahead and prepare to be amazed. Everybody new is” Just like he said, when I looked ahead, I was amazed. The castle was ginormous! The entrance had a dual staircase leading up to it from around the gigantic water fountain in front of it. The fountain was incredibly detailed, huge statues in it and all the expensive stuff.

“Come on, time to meet the royal family. Mainly the prince. Then we go over some basic training and all that” Delgarté took half my luggage and started up the stairs. First, we stopped at the barracks and dropped off my stuff in a room by myself since there would be two people per room and there was an odd number of guards. Then, we made our way to the throne room where the royal family apparently was.

The throne room was probably the most impressive room in the whole castle. The main throne looked like it was made of pure gold and the smaller thrones were most likely made of gleaming silver. King Dorean looked like on the coins, burly and strong. He had a long, brown, and curly beard with chin long hair that was the same texture as his beard. Queen Sofia looked utterly delicate next to him. Her figure was thin but mature. Her hair was black and paper straight.

Next to them were their three children. The new rule for who was to take the throne was that whichever married first would get it. The oldest was Princess Kathrine, who looked like a female version of her father. The second child was Prince Zackaree, and the third was his younger sister Princess Amilea. Princess Amilea looked like a younger version of her mother just with shorter hair than the Queen. The prince was a mix of the both of them, with curly black hair cut right above his ear, a lean body, and this air of confidence that was not too much and not too little.

“King, this is the new recruit, Lildart Meldar. He came right this morning when I woke up and volunteered. Almost missed me, too. Now then boy, greet your rulers.” Delgarté snapped me out of my thought and kept me from embarrassing myself by staring too long.

“ As Mister Delgarté said, my name is Lildart Meldar but I would very much appreciate if I were to be called either Lil or just Meldar. I come from the outskirts of Schlicht and never really socialized, so please excuse my rambling…” I looked down in embarrassment when I realized that I was rambling.

“It is quite alright Lil, it happens to everybody. Still, for coming from the outskirts of the village, you sound rather formal. Why is that, may I ask?” The queen politely reassured me.

“ Oh, my mother just wanted to have a girl so badly that she made me act like one, ‘even the speech’, that’s what she said, Your Majesty.”

“ Well then, and please don’t be so formal with me, you are going to be protecting my son’s life after basic training. On that thought, you may go now and get ready for that,” with that she dismissed me and Delgarté.

*********************

The next morning I was woken at dawn to get dressed and have a small breakfast before they checked what I could do. The first test was hand-to-hand combat, which I unsurprisingly - at least to me - excelled at. The next one was knife throwing, which wasn’t too hard once I got the hang of it. Then shooting with all kinds of things: guns, bow and arrows, sling shots. Lastly, there was sword fighting, since the prince’s bodyguards did not only need that to protect him and themselves, but also to help the prince practice it. I had never done it before, which I informed them of before hand, but I seemed to have a natural knack for it.

“I have never seen anyone as good as you in hand-to-hand combat, Lil. Plus, that sword fight, it was impressive and to say you have never held a sword in your hand before…” MJ, a guard I have befriended just before the ‘tests’, said.

“ Oh, he hasn’t? That was quite impressive out there Meldar, now I am rather disappointed I missed the other tests.” a voice came from the double doors leading into the exercise yard.

When I looked over I saw the prince and immediately bowed my head, “ Your Highness, I am incredibly sorry, I had no idea you would come to watch this.”

“ It is all right, and as my mother said yesterday, no need to be formal. I do not like being addressed like that by my guards, especially not my personal bodyguard.”

“Oh, Zackaree, I see you have chosen your new personal bodyguard, who did you say it was?” Delgarté came out of nowhere. He was the commander of the guards, as I found out this morning, so I wondered why he was sent to get recruits.

“It was Meldar, Ted. He impressed me with what I’ve seen so far. Plus it was the time I selected a new one anyway.” The prince seemed so at ease around these people, unlike yesterday in the throne room. There was probably less pressure on him here.

“Okay then. Lil, this means you have to be with Zack at all times and live in a suite to the left of his. This also means that you will have to train harder than any of us here,” I was told and sent off, with the prince following - for some unknown reason to me - to get my stuff. Once I had everything gathered, the pri- no Zack, as he asked me to call him, led me to my new chambers. There was a door connecting his and my chambers in case of any emergencies.

“Well, you can now take a look around your rooms. Then get dressed in your new uniform. It should be on your bed. Then, please come to the throne room as I will be waiting there for you,” the prince bid me farewell and left for what I presumed to be the throne room.

*********************

Over the next few months, I really did become the most talented guard at the castle. I also became rather good friends with Zackaree, seeing with us having to spend all day and every day with each other. It was getting increasingly harder to keep my gender a secret. Every time it was my time of the month, I had to figure out some way to hide any evidence of my femininity.

The prince and I were on our way to the town down the hill of the castle for the New Moon festival. We were walking down the street because he said he didn’t want to take a ‘stuffy old carriage down a 15-minute walk’ his words, not mine. I was looking at his profile and thought how he was growing on me day by day. It seemed to me like I was growing feelings for him, which scared me, I could not do deal with that right now. This w- I was snapped out of my thoughts but the sound of a gunshot.

It barely missed me making my eyes widen for only a second. Then my training kicked in. I figured out where the gunshots were coming from and put myself in front of Zack. I told him to run toward some crates at the opening of an alley beside the street we were walking down. A split second before the trigger was pulled on a gun somewhere else, I saw the glint of light on it. I pushed Zackaree away from the bullet but I got grazed by my left ribs. Luckily, I had a high pain tolerance. Otherwise, I would have screamed out in pain. This would have caused people to say I needed to go to the infirmary. There they would find out that I was a woman.

It seemed like the people left, probably because they thought that we were both dead due to the silence. After a while, I looked up and saw the prince. I slowly sat up, trying to keep my wound a secret. I went over to him to check if he was still alive. When I came in front of him, his eyes were open and he plainly looked ahead until his eyes recognized my shape in front of him.

He quickly sat up, “ Oh my goodness, you’re alive, I thought you were dead. Thank goodness!! I don’t know what I would have done if I found out that you sacrificed your life for mine Lil” He tried to hug me, placing his right arm exactly on the graze wound. I let out a small yelp but tried to cover it up right away.

I guess he didn’t even try to believe my cover up, “ What was that Lil? Did you get hurt? You have to go to the infirmary if you are.” His eyes showed all the concern that he didn’t manage to show in his voice.

“NO, I am completely fine. Nothing to worry about. I can take care of a small scratch on my own. Don’t worry!” I squeaked out, completely scared of what he will do. Still, he insisted that at least someone else should take care of it so that it is done properly. When I still disagreed, he made it an order. I would have someone else take care of my graze wound. That someone else would be him, Zack.

Once we got to his room, he made me go to his bathroom where he keeps his medical supplies. He made me hop on the counter, which made me suspicious of him potentially being suspicious that I was a girl. As soon as Zackaree had all the things he needed, he made me lift up my shirt. Upon the lifting of my shirt, the bindings around my chest showed. I saw his eyes widen and questions fill them.

“ Why do you have bindings around your chest?” he asked. Of course, he would say that.

“ Right before I left home I had an accident and hurt my back. It is still healing The doctor back home said to leave these on for at least half a year and regularly change them. No worries.”

“ I do not believe you. Why do you really have bindings around your chest?”

I guess I had no other option left but to tell him the truth, “ They are there to hide the fact that I am a girl” I looked down shamefully, feeling my face heat up.

“I knew it,” it was such a quiet mumble that I almost didn’t hear him. So he did have suspicions! When I tried to hop off the counter and leave though, Zack stepped between my legs and kept me from standing up.

“Where do you think you are going, little missy? I still haven’t treated your wound properly. Now, sit there normally and hold still.” His voice was stern yet teasing, unlike anything I’ve ever heard him say. So I did as I was told and help still.

Once he was done treating my ‘wound’, he told me to leave but stopped me right before I entered my suite, “Please pack up your things and be ready to move back to the barracks, you are released from your duty as my personal bodyguard. Your new job is to guard the walls. I will not tell anyone your secret.” It sounded like his voice broke at the end but I was not willing to turn around and see why.

“I was not worried about that, your highness.”

*********************

It has been exactly two months since that incident. I have been taking most of the night shifts in order to avoid having to see the prince if he left the grounds. There also have been many whispered conservations among many of the guards assigned to the walls. The few words that I have heard were about somebody trying to break into somewhere. It was getting more suspicious lately, especially with all those new people signing up for night shifts.

I would have told somebody, but who could I tell? The only important person that I knew and who could do something about it was Prince Zackaree. Him I couldn’t tell because he probably thought that I was not good enough since I was a girl.

I was pulled out of my thought when I heard the groan of the gates opening. At least half the guards on duty were letting in like 10 - 20 people. That amount was only ever let in at night if there was some kind of event going on at the castle, but there wasn’t.

I was just about to call out to them when I heard what was being said, “The prince’s chambers are right down here, come on follow me…” The gruff voice that I recognized to be Neil’s, another guard, slowly faded away. It took me a moment to realize that they were planning on killing or kidnapping the prince. I felt so happy at that point that I had bothered to learn all the secret passages of the castle. Then I sped off to warn Zack.

As I arrived, I saw him asleep on his bed so went to wake him up. He jumped up with fright when I ever so lightly touched his shoulder. I guess he had a nightmare.

“Your highness, you have to leave now, people are coming to get you.”

“How do you now this, Meldar? If that is even your name.”

“Now is not the time for that, Prince. I know because I saw them come in and overheard them being led to your suite by Neil. Now please leave so I can pose as you and be attacked instead.”

“Why should I let that happen? You are not even my personal bodyguard anymore and you’re still risking your life for me. This exactly why I sent you to guard the walls so that you would be safer.”

“Of course I will risk my life for you, my prince. Plus, if you truly wanted me safe, you should have sent me home. Now please leave, I am trying to save your life here.”

“I will not leave you here, you can either come with me or I am staying here with you. End of story,” he held up his hand before I could protest, ”my orders.”

“Very well your highness. Would you please hide behind the secret passage door over there? I will be laying in your bed pretending to be a sleeping you. Once they try to kill me, I will jump out and try to fight them off.”

Just as I lay down in his bed, we started to hear voices that were growing louder. Then there was the squeak of the door and Neil’s voice saying, “He’s in there, sleeping.” I could feel somebody walk up to me and stop beside the bed.

“Sleep tight my prince,” it was an unfamiliar but yet chillingly familiar voice at the same time. Then a hand holding a dagger came down towards my heart. I jumped up and kicked it out of the hand. When I saw who it was, to say that I was shocked was an understatement. The feminine body and the black shoulder long hair. It was all the same, nothing had changed since we were 5.

“Oh would you look at that, itty bitty Lilyanna is here. Have we moved on to more royal payment for your services? I am even more disappointed in the prince now. Such low standards.” she let out a shrill laugh when she was done.

“Why are you trying to kill Zack, Melanie? What has he ever done to you?” I stood there, in a defensive position, she didn’t seem to have seen my sword yet

“Oh, nothing. Other people just want him dead so they send me. Now would you kindly tell me where he has run off to?”

“No, I don’t think I can do that. You see, that would break the oath I took when I became his personal bodyguard. So would you please leave, or do have to make you?”

“Haha, funny. You? A bodyguard? Please. Let’s see what you got.” With that, she pulled out her own sword that I hadn’t seen before and I pulled out mine. At first, neither of us got anywhere, but then she knocked my sword out of my hand. In return, I hit her hard underneath the chin. That seemed to knock her out. It was not over yet though. Now that their leader was down, everybody came at me. I tried my best to defend myself but suddenly I was lifted off of my feet and held so I could not move anymore.

“Come out prince, I have your little girl. Do what we say and she will live.” For some reason, Zackaree stepped out. Holding his hands up and no sword in sight.

“That’s a good little prince. Now, you shall drink this poison or else I will cut up this pretty neck.” Zack looked hesitant at first but the looked at me and his eyes hardened.

“Where is it?”

“No, don’t do it.”

“I have to, I want you to live Lilyanna.” That was the first time he actually said my real name. I guess he heard Melanie say it.

“This cute and all but please get a move on, Neil please give our prince here the poi-” the dude that was holding me was cut off by guards storming into the room. Everything after that was a blur, the only thing I remembered was Zack laying me down in his bed and kissing me on the forehead.

When I woke up, I saw a note next to my head, saying that once I got changed into what was in the bathroom for me, I should come down to the royal dining room. When I saw that Zack had put out a dress for me to wear, I was surprised. Still, not as surprised as I was when nobody said anything about me wearing a dress on my way downstairs. As I walked into the dining room, everybody in there looked up. Zackaree started smiling, as did the rest of his family.

“Now that you are here, why don’t you introduce yourself to us again. Your real name this time please.” The queen politely bid of me.

“Well, obviously, my name is not Lidart Meldar. That was my grandfather’s name, he actually was your personal bodyguard, King Dorean. My name is Lilyanna Meyers. Nobody really important with no friends beside my grandmother before I came here.”

“Well then Lilyanna, I hope you plan on staying here with us. You still have a lot to learn about being a bodyguard and about your grandfather.” I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

“Wait, you’re letting me continue being a bodyguard?! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!”

“Well, you did save our son’s live twice. Plus he asked us personally if you could continue being his personal bodyguard.

*********************

That had been a month ago. Since then, they had figured out that it was mercenaries that were sent after Zack. This was done in hopes that while the country was mourning the loss of his life, a neighboring country could successfully invade us. Melanie was put in dungeons until her trial and everything was going perfectly.

The King and Queen even allowed me to go back home and visit my family after they introduced me to the country. I was allowed to ask someone in my to life in the castle with me and I chose my grandmother. Without her, I would have never come so far.

When I came back to the castle, the prince surprised me by saying that he had fallen in love with me and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes, I had fallen for him too. Now that I am not only the first female fighter in the country but also a princess-to-be, the king made it illegal to not hire somebody based on their gender. Anybody who paid one gender less than the other if they are equally qualified will have to pay a large fine.

Zack and I decided to not live in the castle until we are crowned King and Queen, which won’t be until Dorean steps down. Much of my time is now spent training or hanging out with my new friends that I hardly ever notice the time passing. Everything was truly perfect now.