Keara hadn't been able to weed out any information from Andros last night. She sat up in her bed and glanced in the general vicinity of the guest room. Neither her father nor her brother knew that she had brought a guest home last night, let alone a male guest.
Keara pulled on a long robe and walked towards her porch. The sun had hardly risen, and she could rightfully assume that the only people in the palace who were awake were the guards and perhaps her brother, Damien, who shared the same name as her horse, much to her brother's chagrin.
Keara received her stallion when she was three years old, and by seven years old, Keara had full mastery of horse riding and begun learning how to use an arrow on horseback. Now at one and twenty, Keara was advanced not only in horseback riding, but also hand to hand combat and swordplay. Given that females were typically smaller than males, Keara made sure to focus on agility rather than strength, gambling to win an endurance battle.
The brisk morning air greeted her, and Keara sat down quietly on her front steps. Her home was uniquely designed to face the sun, so her home actually faced away from the main palace. She thought it a miracle that the sun was able to conquer her palace walls. Rumored nigh impenetrable, Keara had always wondered why her family had left the palace. They would have been safe inside, safe from all those arrows. Ever since the war with Kuris, nothing remained the same. Though her country, Elama, had defeated Kuris, there was no telling if they could do so again, especially with the losses they suffered the first time —which reminded her, she still needed to talk to her brother about the strange Kurisian man, who appeared on their land.
The sound of a door opening immediately caught Keara's attention.
"I would have never expected the princess of Elama to be awake at such an early hour," Andros remarked.
Keara turned around and looked at the man. With long, sun kissed hair and tan skin, he looked like a prince, or an extremely attractive killer. Andros approached Keara and instinctively she stood up.
"Stay away," Keara told Andros, "Or I'll have you thrown in the dungeons." Her threat now seem trite, as she had used it twice already against the man. She was proved correct in this assumption when he replied.
"I don't think jailing the Crown Prince of Kuris would be very hospitable of Elamian royalty."
Without a pause Keara replied, "For a Kurisian man, titles are null in Elama. You have stole onto our land without formal communication. This action alone is a jail sentence."
Andros reeled at the female's ignorance. Had she no propriety? Well perhaps not, for she did house a male guest. She couldn't have known what he could do —what he wished to do. "I do pray to the gods that your brother and father possess more decorum than you."
"And I do pray that you are praying to Elamian gods, for it is evident that the Kursians have no gods."
"You will not jest in my presence," Andros demanded, taking a menacing step towards Keara. "You, sweet little princess, have no clue what reality is. You couldn't even recognize the name of the Crown Prince of your neighboring kingdom."
"I chose not to study your people," Keara rebutted. "I know everything else about the other seven kingdoms," she finished pathetically.
"I suppose your ignorance is a blessing, for not everyone can handle the truth." Andros glared at Keara, or rather Princess Keara, as she was so keen on correcting him last night.
"I say the same for you too," Keara replied evenly, "I can't expect a male such as yourself, who has never had to flee from his own home in the dead of night and watch before his eyes not only his youngest sibling murdered with an arrow pierced through his neck but his mother slaughtered with five arrows, to sympathize with my reality."
A deadening emotion overcame Andros, and he knew he lost to Keara. Despite what the Elamian people believed, the Kurisians were neither merciless nor were they traitors. For the past five years, Andros had worked with his three younger brothers and eldest sister to uncover who had betrayed Kurisian trust. His father had informed him that the Ji, the highest commanding military officer, of Olyne, the most Eastern kingdom, told his father that Elama had planned to invade Kuris. Provided that Elama and Kuris had always had a hostile relationship, extending back to the arrival of the First Voyagers on the Continent of the Nine Kingdoms, his father readily believed the general. The general had also been one of his father's closest friends —not to mentioned that Olyne was Elama's closest ally.
However, the past five years were not in vain. Andros uncovered that Olyne had plotted to keep Kuris and Elama as sworn enemies, so that Olyne could overtake Elama. For the past decade Olyne had succeeded. Their tradesman had completely infiltrated the Elamian market, and Elama imported food and other natural resources to Olyne. Known for its barren and inhospitable land, Olyne undoubtedly needed what Elama could provide. Andros believed that Olyne would eventually take what Elama could provide.
"You were not the only people who suffered losses," Andros told Keara meeting her eyes.
Keara scoffed and looked away. She had no time for sympathy on his accounts. "Why have you come here?"
"I was forced to enter secretly because you house too many Olyne politicians at court," Andros replied darkly. Could this infuriating female be any more dense?
Keara's eyes furrowed. "What do you mean?" she asked, "Olyne is our closest ally. It is customary to fully provide for them."
"So customary that you would allow them to reside in your own palace when the Prince and Princess are forced to live outside? Tell me, how is it that within the past decade Elamian trade with Olyne has increased five hundredfold, expanding across markets such as clothing, banking, food, arts, and even weaponry. You trade your food for weapons! For the gods, Elama is the only country that does not forge her own weapons."
Keara glared at the supposed Crown Prince of Kuris. "What you are insinuating is that Olyne has a political agenda." Keara paused and boldly stated, "I cannot believe this."
"What you do or do not believe is irrelevant. You are simply a princess, and I must speak to your father and brother as soon as possible." A princess to whom he was to offer his hand.
"You march onto my land, expecting me to allow for your every request. I do not know of a man who is trying to hide his identity, yet clearly wear his kingdom's sigil on his chest."
"I wanted you to know I was from Kuris. This armor, once seen by the king, will prove my identity."
Keara eyed Andros and abruptly turned away. She had noticed far too much. His long muscles legs and strong arms were not to be her temptation. Returning to her room, Keara was about to shut her door before Andros stopped her.
"Get away from me," Keara demanded.
Andros met her eyes again and felt a surge of heat flood through his body as he outlined her beautifully shaped eyes. Those same beautiful eyes narrowed at his lustful gaze.
"My goodness, you Kurisian scum really are disgusting," Keara said scornfully.
Andros took a step forward. "Only to Elamians. You are the only kingdom that doesn't keep slaves. Some may call that progressive, yet I think—"
"I am not a slave," Elama remarked. Her face had flushed a violent red when he had mentioned slaves.
"And yet I think," Andros continued, clearly choosing not to agree with her, "Elama simply doesn't wish to embrace the natural man. Lust is human." He shut the door.
