Princess of the Damned by Dahlia Lu Page A

ago?”
    She lowered her eyes. “Where are you sending me?”
    “ My prince!” General Malin ran toward them. “His majesty has ordered his men to surround your palace. No one is to leave the premises until the day you depart to the border.”
    “ Something isn’t right…” Sayan spent a minute to think. “How does the King even know that Nala is here in the first place? Someone is pulling the strings, but what is the purpose of it all?” He stared into Nala’s pale green eyes. “Someone is trying to make the King and I turn against each other. I can’t think of anyone else who have this kind of motive, except the Western Prince.”
    The General turned his body to the side to avoid looking at her. “If we refuse the King’s request, we will all be executed for treason.”
    Nala tugged on Sayan’s sleeve. “The Western Prince is here?”
    “ He is probably the one who staged this. He wants revenge for me stealing his bride-to-be.”
    “ I can’t blame him for wanting revenge. You did steal me while he was away.”
    “ You can’t possibly want to marry him.”
    “ I did accept his proposal.”
“Why did you?” He shouted at her.
    “ I’m getting old and if I have no one I want to marry, I might as well marry a Prince!”
    “ You! I never thought you were this kind of person!”
    “ Is it wrong of me to want what every other woman wants? Is it criminal of me to want a husband and children of my own?”
    “ So, to you, any man would do as long as he has a crown on his head? Fine, then marry that coward of a King! He would salivate over the ground you walk on!”
    “ Don’t shout at me, brat!”
    He gritted his teeth. “Brat? Do you know how old I am? I am a grown man or should I dispute it with you in your bed?”
    The burning sensation returned to her face again. She was not angry with what he had said, but she didn’t know why she had slapped him across the face. By the time she realized what she had done, she had already left her handprint on his face.
    She had never hit him before.
    She couldn’t bring herself to apologize either. She just wanted to run back to her room for the privacy she desperately needed.
     
    Sayan stood in front of Nala’s room.
    He had been standing there for a while now, but hadn’t decided if he should go in. When he remembered what happened earlier today, he muttered to himself a curse. Amidst the argument, he had forgotten that his general was still standing next to him. He shouldn’t have said the things he did, especially in front of a third person. Even though Malin is someone he trusts, it should not have been an exception. People will judge her character by the things he said.
    He knew that Nala knew that he had been standing in front of her room. Her senses had always been sharper than an average person, yet she remained silent and didn’t invite him in.
    He went in anyway.
    “ Get out,” she said quietly. She sat on the bed, wrapping her arms around her knees. It was the first time he’d seen her that way.
    “ I shouldn’t have blurted those things out in front of Malin. I will only apologize for that. I will take responsibility for everything I’ve said.”
    “ Just get out, please.”
    “ You could slap me a few more time if it will appease to your anger.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not going to hit you, just get out.”
    “ This is my palace, I will go come and go as I choose!”
    “ Fine, then I will go!”
    He stopped her and pinned her down on the bed. She turned her head to the side so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
    “ Can we talk nicely, please? We have done nothing but argue since we reunited. We never argued like this before.”
    “ That’s because you have changed too much.”
    “ Of course I’ve changed! I’ve been through too many obstacles to stay the way I was! The past eight years were nothing more than a pit of quicksand. I had to struggle and fight and force myself to get stronger to just keep my head above