"Dance for me. I want to watch you dance," the emperor said.
"I am not really good at dancing though I really love dancing. I was taught a few steps at the palace. Please don't make a joke of me," she said cutely and stood up. The emperor watched as she moved near the lake. She turned around and took a few steps. She studied the emperor's face to see any sign of mocking but he had no emotion.
She started shaking her body. To her, she wasn't doing well but her dancing steps were fire. The emperor's eyes stayed glued to her body as she danced gracefully. It was even more attractive because she didn't know how good she was dancing. She turned around and her body moved. Before the emperor could realize, he was behind her as his hand grabbed her waist. They suddenly fell on his bed in his chamber. Arizona's eyes widened. Weren't they just in the garden? How did they get to his room? Before she could talk she felt gentle kisses on her neck. Her body shivered. The emperor's lips traced down to her cleavage. Her eyes were open in shock. She couldn't believe she really liked what he was doing to her. It felt so nice. Slowly he untied her dress and took it off, then threw it on the floor. He watched her naked body after stripping her. She was getting shy because of his stare and felt like covering up. Within a blink of her eyes, her clothes were gone. He turned her over though she was on all fours, but her ass was facing up.
She felt his weight on her back and he entered her gently. It wasn't rough like he always did. It was very gentle. She was enjoying it. She covered her mouth because of the strange sound that was coming from it. She really liked what they were doing.
"Can you go faster?" she found herself asking. The emperor didn't respond but his actions did. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as the emperor did it at a very fast pace. He continued for almost an hour and she was very tired by the time he was done so she just closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
"Can you just tell me your wishes? It's annoying already that I have to grant it," Alicia groaned. She was following Jimmy who was going to his room.
"I am only going to tell you one now. I will tell you the remaining two later," he said.
"I hate this but just tell me already," she said. He stared at her for a while before he finally smiled.
"I want you to behave like a woman, like a real princess and not like a man," he said seriously.
"This isn't fair. You know I don't like dressing..." She suddenly smiled when a thought came to her head. Maybe if she started dressing like a girl, Asher (Logan) would finally notice her.
"Does it have a particular time?" she asked.
"Yes, for a month," he said.
"Good," she smiled prettily.
"You should go to your room now or do you want to go to mine?" he asked.
"Keep dreaming," she scoffed and left. Jimmy looked at her till she was out of sight.
The emperor was already dressed. He was staring at her face as she slept. He didn't know what came over him a moment ago. He didn't plan to go gentle with her but he just did. Maybe that was just to pay for her dance. Girls don't dance for free, right? He moved to the window and Flower appeared. She was sitting on the window.
"You are still in the palace?" Emperor Raven asked without looking at her.
"I said I have a mission. I will be here for a while," she said.
"That girl, who is she? She stared at my eyes so many days ago and nothing happened to her. You know what she is, right?" he asked.
"I do, but I am not in the right place to tell you," she said.
"What? You are annoying," the emperor said and his eyes became so red.
"Are you going to fight me? Remember I am a kid," Flower quickly said and moved away from him.
"The fact that you are in a kid's body doesn't mean that I can't hit you," the emperor said.
"I really can't tell you anything. You are just so stubborn," Flower groaned.
Logan stood up gently from his bed. Others were sleeping already. He tiptoed out of the room. He went near a bush and brought out a wooden whistle. He blew it and a crow flew to him. He brought out a small paper and attached it to the crow's leg. He fed it some food before releasing it. The crow flew away. He tiptoed back to his room and lay down.
"A crow in the palace, that's strange," Flower muttered while looking at the black bird. She was still with the emperor. She actually saw the bird fly past her and used her power but caught it.
"There is something on its leg," the emperor said and removed the paper. He opened it and found out it was a letter. He read it out.
"My king, nothing much is going on in the kingdom, just that they are preparing for a big festival," he read and frowned.
"So he is a spy. He is going to regret coming here," the emperor said angrily.
"Calm down. His coming here is not really a bad thing. He is going to be of help to you in the future, so treat him well," Flower said. The emperor returned the letter to the bird's leg and it flew away.
"I know that. Isn't that why he is still breathing since he is here?" the emperor said and Flower smiled.
**MOONLIGHT KINGDOM**
Amara was preparing to go to bed. She had just had her night shower. She suddenly heard a sound and went to her window to check. She saw another set of people being led into the palace. They were almost forty. Without thinking she came out of her room and started running after them.
She saw them going to the back of the palace and followed quietly. They got to the abandoned house at the back of the palace. She hid and watched as they all entered the house. She also came out of her hiding and walked gently toward the door. She was about to enter when a black figure appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened and she wanted to scream in shock but nothing was coming out.
"Relax princess, I won't hurt you," Omar said with a cute smile.
"Who are you? And why are those people led into this place?" she asked.
"My name is Omar. For the second question, why don't you ask your dad?" Omar said.
"What do you mean I should ask my dad? Wait? Don't tell me…..?" Amara gasped in shock.
"Yes, your dad is behind the people missing lately," Omar said.
"But why? Why would he do that?" she asked fearfully.
"Because he needs power and strength. And to do that, he needs the blood of thousands of people," Omar said.
"I can't believe this," Amara said in disbelief as she heard the screams of the people. They must have started killing the people.
"He is going to sacrifice all of his daughters too. The last daughter is safe but you and your sister are not," Omar said.
"Dad wants to kill us?" Amara asked.
"I don't lie. I can help you though if you agree to work with me. You will get everything you want including the throne. I know you have a wish to sit on the throne as the first child of the family," Omar smiled.
"How can I trust a total stranger?" Amara asked.
"I am giving you time to think about it. I have to go to the king right now. See you later, princess," he said and vanished. Amara stood at a spot for some time but quickly hid when she heard voices. She covered her mouth in shock when she saw the guards bringing out the people's dead bodies. They were put in a big sack and then dropped on a carrier. She walked quickly out of the place so they wouldn't catch her. She ran straight to her room and closed the door loudly. She was still in shock when a voice snapped her out.
"Where have you been? I have been in your room for almost ten minutes," Amira asked.
"I went to do something outside. It's nothing," she said.
"You look flushed. Are you seeing someone now?" Amira asked.
"What are you saying?" Amara asked.
"Who are you seeing? Is it one of the guards? I am happy you finally got over Logan," Amira said.
"You are saying nonsense. Can you go to your room? I want to sleep," Amara said and pushed her out.
"Goodnight then," Amira said before leaving. Amara sighed as what she had just witnessed some minutes ago came to her head.
"I can give you the throne," Omar's voice came to her head. She moved toward the window and saw the king with Omar too. They might be returning to the palace. She watched till they were out of sight. She sighed and lay on her bed. Did she just find out that her father is a monster? She couldn't help but ask herself.
**CRYSTAL KINGDOM**
All the new guards gathered at the training ground. It was time that they would be appointed to their posts.
"I wish to be among the guards appointed to the emperor," Gael said.
"What is so special about the emperor?" Logan asked with an eye roll.
"He is the most amazing ever. Do you know? He saved us from slavery and brought us to his land five years ago. I was thirteen then. I admire how courageous he is. He is the best emperor ever," Gael said.
"I want to guard the princess brought from the Moonlight Kingdom," Logan said. Gael looked at him weirdly without saying anything. Murmurs filled the whole place when Princess Alicia appeared in a beautiful gown. She did makeup and that made her really attractive. The guards couldn't stop looking at her. She stared at Logan and smiled at him.
"I think the princess just smiled at me. Does she have a crush on me?" Gael asked with a smile.
"Stop dreaming. You are just eighteen and she is twenty-five," a guard whispered to him. Jimmy arrived and stared at the princess. He was shocked to see her beauty. He approached her gently.
"Why are you dressed like this at the training ground? You are getting the guards' attention and that isn't good," he said.
"What's so bad about it? They are just admiring my beauty," she smiled.
"What beauty? You are not allowed to dress like this while the training is going," he said. She was about to shout at him when the emperor appeared. They all bowed in respect.
He came there to choose the two guards that would be assisting Jimmy.
He first pointed to Gael. That made him jump happily as he came to collect his special uniform. Then he pointed to Logan. Logan didn't budge from his spot and just glared at the emperor who smirked at him in return.
"What are you still waiting for?" Jimmy asked. He finally left his spot and went to join Gael, who was happy that they were both chosen.
"You should pack your stuff and follow me. You will be taken to a room that is closer to the emperor's chamber," Jimmy said and they both followed him. A senior official started distributing them to their posts. Alicia groaned. Logan didn't even spare her a glance but this was just the beginning. She knew she would get his attention soon.
"What is going on here?" Arizona asked. She heard soothing music and followed it here to see some girls her age dancing.
"We are the palace dancers. We are preparing for the festival, and we are going to perform on the day of the festival, my princess," one of them said.
"Can I join please?" she pleaded with a smile. She really loved dancing. The girls exchanged some glances before nodding.
"We will be happy to have you among us," another girl said. Arizona smiled. She just noticed that everyone in this kingdom was nice. There may be some unkind people but the nice ones were much more, which was not the same in her own kingdom. Everyone was mean to one another there. She really admired this place.
She changed into one of their red beautiful dresses and started dancing with them. She was so good that she got the steps very quickly. Some guards that were passing stayed by the window side and watched them dance. They couldn't stop admiring the beautiful princess.
"Why did you choose Asher? It's obvious he doesn't like you which always made me wonder why he became a guard in the first place," Jimmy said.
"I chose him for a reason. I found him very interesting," the emperor chuckled.
"He will come around soon. No one can hate you for a long time anyway," Jimmy said. They saw some guards looking at something from the window. They kept smiling as they whispered to each other. The emperor wanted to walk past until his eyes spotted Arizona where she was dancing. She was twisting her body and waist while the guards watched her. He stood there watching her with no expression until they finally noticed him.
"Your majesty!" they all called in surprise and bowed.
"Follow me," he said to Arizona and left. She quickly rushed after him. Taking just three steps they were already in his room.
"What was that?" he asked.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"What were you doing among those dancers?" he asked.
"Oh, I wanted to join them to perform during the festival," she said.
"So you think I will allow you to dance in the presence of people, allow guards and those lustful men to stare at you?" he asked. He was obviously mad. The fact that some guards were looking at her made him mad.
"I don't know..." she stammered.
"There are some things you should know, Arizona," the emperor said.
"You know my name," she grinned.
"You belong to me. I brought you here for only me and not for anybody so if you are going to dance, it will be for only me," he said coldly.