The Outcast

Chapter 10

November 13th.

Abel's POV

My head bobbled back and banged lightly against the door. I groaned loudly and rubbed the aching spot. I have been standing outside the princess's door for over thirty-six hours now and the fatigue was starting to set in. I was struggling to stay awake, drifting in and out of sleep. I didn't think standing by a door all day would make me this tired. I wonder how Marcus did this day after day.

Oh, speaking of Marcus, he left about three weeks ago, which meant that I officially started my duty as the princess's personal guard. It was a pretty easy job so far, really boring however. All I did was stand around and stare at the wall in front of me. Sometimes I would space out and get lost in my thoughts, and whenever I heard the princess shuffle inside her room I'd snap out of it.

I had to stay focused, anything could happen at any time. I thought back to what Marcus had told me right before he left. He had pulled me away from the crowd that was bidding him farewell and had told me how much I've improved and that he was sure that I would be able to do my job thoroughly.

'Keep her safe for me Abel, and don't just be her guard, be her friend.' Those were the last words he said to me. And I remembered back to one of our training sessions he had told me that the princess was a very introverted person, she had no other close friends other than him. Thinking about it now, she and I were a bit similar.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the door slowly creak open behind me. I turned and saw the princess peeking out at me. Through my exhaustion I gave her a soft smile.

"Oh, you're still here. Aren't you tired?" She asked, her eyes wide. She glanced down the hall and began fiddling with the door handle. I watched her closely.

"I'm quite alright. Do you need me to go get something for you?" I asked her. She met my eyes and sighed before shaking her head.

"No it's fine." She said and started closing the door. I quickly put my hand out, grabbing the edge of door and stopped her from closing it. She stared at me questioningly.

"Want some company?" I asked smiling at her. Her eyes widened and she glanced back into her room before looking back at me. I craned my neck to look into the room but she tipped and hid my view.

"I, uhm, I need to clean up first." She said, a light shade of pink covering her cheeks. I chuckled and nodded then I let go of the door. She closed it softly and I heard her shuffling around for a few minutes before she opened the door again, much wider this time.

I glanced around the room, I've been in here once before but I couldn't seem to get over how spacious the room was. It was like ten of my quarters put together.

"So where were you going to sneak off to?" I asked as I stepped into the room. She froze. I knew I caught her off guard with that question.

"What do you mean?" She asked straightening some papers on her desk. I chuckled and walked pass her, heading over to the window. I sat on the bumped out seat and placed my sword on the ground before leaning my back against the wall. I looked at her.

"Well, you opened the door really quietly as if you were sneaking out, and you seemed so surprised to see me still standing there." I said glancing outside the window at the long stretch of land.

"I-I was just going out to the garden for a walk." She said folding her arms.

"So why didn't you?" I asked, now meeting her gaze. She didn't respond and a frown made it's way onto her face. I held her gaze and smirked when I saw how nervous she was becoming. "And I did see you outside the castle once, in disguise too." I said breaking the silence.