Kidnapping the Princess

"Let go of me you mongrel!"

I watched in fascination as the princess struggled against the ropes binding her ankles and wrist. She shook on the floor like a worm, her head twitching in different directions once in a while, no doubt searching for her captor, even whilst it was covered with a black cotton pillowcase.

"Unhand me buffoon and I'll tell my mother the queen to spare your life," she said indignantly.

Oooh! How lovely. As if her mother the queen could help her right now. This one was charming. It almost made me want to let go of her. Ha ha! As if. All that planning to infiltrate the castle and kidnap her would not go to waste. But while she was in my possession, I might as well have a little fun with her.

"I doubt your highness will spare my life if I let you go," I said to her. She stopped squirming in an instant. "You're a girl?" she asked with bathed breath. The corner of my mouth perked up into a smirk. "Last time I checked yes," I told her.

"What do you want from me? Do you want money? Power? Men? I can give you all of that." She tried to sit but it was too much of an effort, considering she was bound like that. I stifled a smile. "I have money," I said. "Lots of it in fact. Power comes with money, so that is not an issue. As for men. Well let's just say that I like women more."

"Then what do you want?" she asked in a small voice. I walked steadily to her and kneeled on the floor. Once I did, I brought her to a sitting position and leaned to her head so I could whisper. "I want your body."

She froze in an instant and squirmed away from me. "You're a lunatic! Jerk! You're an ugly son of a-" I removed the cover on her head and watched her mouth slack open as she blinked in a confused daze at me. I heard her breath hitch as she took a good look at my face. We studied each other for a while.

Her gray eyes took in my features. She licked her thin lips nervously and asked, "What color are your eyes. They are the strangest green."

I smirked at her. "They're called forest green princess." Before she could ask another question, I took her in my arms and hauled her to the bedroom. It was not without difficulty of course. She kept wriggling against me and even threatened to bite me. What a charming princess, I thought in disdain.

Once we were inside the bedroom, which would be her holding room or her cell if you want to call it that, I set her down on the bed where she squirmed some more. I looked her in the eyes. "If you want me to untie you, you'll stop twitching like that. You look like a maggot."

"I am not!" she said heatedly. I clicked my tongue at her. "Sure you're not princess."

She stared daggers at me. "Why did you kidnap me? You're a low life! You're the lowest!" she seethed. I gave her a patronizing look. "And you're a saint princess?" I asked with a smile. "Don't ask questions that you'll regret knowing the answer to."

"Are you going to kill me?" she choked.

"If I wanted to, I would have done it a long time ago. So to answer your question, no I'm not going to kill you. But I am going to hold you here for a long time. Look around you princess. Stare at the four corners of this room because you'll get to memorize it while you're here."

I pointed to the windows. "Those are barred. Even if you cut that lovely honey colored hair of yours to make a Rapunzel-like rope, you'll never escape from here." I tilted my chin to the door where she followed with her gaze. "That is made with metal and is locked with a security code that only I know of."

"Scream all you want," I continued. "This hideout is located miles from any town or road. No one will ever hear you. In this little world of ours, I'm your only friend. I will feed you, talk to you when I want to, and do things that need be. If you're not nice to me, you'll never see the daylight again. Do you understand?"

"I despise you," she said savagely.

"Well I'm very sorry to hear that," I said with a shrug. "But your attitude will not help you at all princess." I stood up and walked to the door.

"Wait!" she called out. "Aren't you going to remove my restraints?"

Her question made me smile to myself. "Say please," I said. Her jaw clenched. "Are you freaking kidding me?" she said loudly.

"I don't think her highness would appreciate your smart mouth princess." I faced her and grinned widely. "I'll only remove that if you say please." She closed her eyes for an instant and deliberated whether to say it or not. She thought better of it and said, "Please remove it."

I walked back to her and leaned down so I could untie the ropes. "See? I know there's some manners left in you," I teased. She pursed her lips and didn't reply. I knew she was angry at me for kidnapping her and doing this. But who cares? I had my own reasons.

My hands deftly removed the knots on the rope. Once she was untied, the princess moved her hands around and sat on the edge of the bed. She stunned me by elbowing my stomach and running to the direction of the door. Years of judo training kicked in. I pounced on her and pinned her to the ground where I straddled her.

"You shouldn't have done that," I told her. "My stomach is going to bruise. You're lucky that I don't have a photo shoot right now." She writhed against my grip. "What are you saying? Let me go this instant!"

"I'm warning you princess. If you do that again, I'll rip your clothes off and let you stay here completely naked." That made her stop. "When I release you, you're going to walk back to the bed. Understand?" She nodded. I stood up and helped her to her feet. She headed to the direction of the bed and sat down as instructed.

When I was sure that she wouldn't do anything again, I went to the door and punched in the security code while ensuring that she didn't see anything. "I'll see you tomorrow then," I said before getting out of the room and shutting the mechanism behind me.

I headed to the rooftop of the 4-floor building where we were staying at. At the top was a lovely garden. My garden. But I didn't come here to tend for the roses or the dahlia's, nor to check the forest that lies all around the building, effectively hiding the place from the public eyes. No. I came here to rest my head which has been pounding all night.

I knew that the princess could be difficult. But she was a little different than I thought she'd be. From a distance, she was a goody-goody who was caring, lovely, not to mention quiet. Boy was I wrong. Not only did she possess a smart mouth, she was wild too. The girl elbowed me for Christ sakes.

If I wasn't careful around her, she could ruin my plans. But I do admit that she was pretty. Gray eyes, hair that looked like it was dipped in honey, thin lips, lean but shapely body. She was exactly my type. Too bad she was the princess. With a sigh, I went back inside and headed straight to my bedroom where I jumped on the bed and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, I found myself in a staring contest with her. She simply refused to eat the porridge I prepared for her. "I don't eat that," she insisted with a frown.

I held the bowl right in front of her face. "Lot's of children starve all over the world. You're lucky I'm even feeding you."

"Those children will still starve even if I eat that. Which I won't," she added quickly.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" I asked in frustration. "You're a bloody princess and yet you're such a picky eater. Oh that's right! You're exactly like that because you're royalty. You think you're better than anyone else don't you?"

She rolled her eyes before standing up and moving away from me. "Of all the things that you're going to feed me, you had to pick the one thing that I hate most. Porridge," she said in disgust.

"What's your problem with porridge? I love porridge!"

"Then you eat it!" she screamed.

I placed the bowl on the floor and glared at her. "If you want to starve so badly then be my guest. I won't force you to eat it anymore. In fact I don't want to be in the same room at all." I walked to the door and opened it after punching the code. "I bet you'll eat the freaking porridge once you're hungry," I mumbled.

When afternoon came, I checked on her but saw that she left the food untouched. Well if she wanted to go down that road, I wouldn't be able to do anything at all. She was such a brat. I did my business around the house and returned to her room at nightfall. The bowl was still on the floor with the porridge intact. She hasn't eaten the whole day.

In fact, she hasn't eaten since yesterday. She must have been starving. At present, she was sleeping peacefully on the bed, her mouth opened a little bit. I walked in her direction and sat by her side. She was still wearing the blue dress that she had since the day before. Her hair was still tied in a half crown braid, making her look like a real princess. A beautiful one at that.

My heart squeezed painfully. I'm so sorry Talia, I thought. If things were a little different, this wouldn't have happened to us. But it was destiny. And you could never ever fight your destiny.

I knew I shouldn't be kind to her, but I still went to the kitchen and prepared a decent meal for her. When I went back to her room with the plate in my hand, she was already awake. "What is that? It smells good," she said.

"It's steak and mashed potatoes," I replied and set the plate in front of her on the bed. She looked at me curiously and didn't touch the food. "Don't worry," I said. "It's not poisoned or anything. I prepared that from the goodness of my heart."

"There's no fork and knife," she said while raising her eyebrows to me. "I don't want you to stab me," I said matter-of-factly. "You have to eat it with your bare hands. Cavemen did it before. You're going to do it now."

She stared at me in disdain but still pulled the plate to her and ate its contents. I just sat there and watched her eat silently. "Do you want some?" she asked after she swallowed. "No thank you," I replied. "Don't be nice to me. Don't talk to me either. I'm your kidnapper after all."

She ignored me and asked, "How old are you?"

I didn't see any reason to lie to her. "Twenty two," I said with a shrug. "You don't have to tell me your age princess. I know you're eighteen." She didn't answer me and continued eating her meal. After it was all gone, she licked her fingers in a very un-princess way and smiled widely to me. Her gray eyes twinkled, making her look cute.

"I figured it out," she said.

"Figured what out?"

"Why you kidnapped me," she explained. "You said you have money and power. You also said you want my body. So do you have a crush on me?"

Laughter escaped from my lips and I had to clutch on my stomach by the intensity of it. All the while she just looked at me like I was a complete lunatic. When I finished laughing, I wiped my eye and stared at her. "Really? You expect me to kidnap someone because of a crush? That's really cute."

She crossed her arms on her chest. "Then why did you bring me here? You don't look poor. You don't like a hoodlum either. In fact you look like a..."

"Like what?" I asked curiously.

"I won't tell," she said stubbornly.

I stood up from the bed. "Fine. I'll come back tomorrow to feed you. Go back to sleep princess."

"Wait," she said. I turned to her. "You're still hungry?" She shook her head and glanced down at her dress. "I want to bathe. I want to change my clothes."

I sighed and nodded. "Okay. Look to your left." She did as I told her. "You probably don't notice the door there because it blends with the wall. But that's the door to your bathroom. There's a tub, a shower, and everything you need to clean up and do your business. The windows are also barred so you can't escape from there." I opened the door. "I'll come back to bring you clothes to wear." With that, I left the room and shut the door close.

I made the mistake of coming back when she was stark naked in the middle of the room. It was too late when I realized that I already closed the door behind me. I was stuck in the room with the butt-naked princess.

We stared wide-eyed at each other. I held her gaze and tossed the clothes to her. She quickly turned around for the bathroom. My heart palpitated against my chest as I waited for her to get dressed. Talia was all grown up now. Her body told me that. And believe me because I saw everything.

When she got out of the bathroom, she was already wearing the skinny jeans I lent her plus a blue loose sweater. She still looked pretty, and her hair was still styled on a half crown braid. But she looked tamer. Not a commoner though because she'd always look like royalty, but the clothes was a welcome change from her usual attire.

I noticed the black choker on her neck. "Why didn't you remove that?" I asked.

She touched it for a second before her eyes darted to me. "I don't take this off ever."

"Why?"

She gave me a look and walked back to the bed. "It's none of your business," she said. "If you're not going to tell me why you kidnapped me, then I'm not going to tell you my reasons either."

I walked to her and sat down beside her on the bed. "What if I remove it from your neck?" I asked.

She stared at me seriously. "Then I will have to find a way to kill you."

My stomach felt hollow because of her statement. Something happened to Talia. Something bad. And I wasn't able to protect her from it. I turned my head away from her. Now I had to hurt her too. I had no other choice. It was our destiny.

“When we grow up, you’ll be my prince,” she said while laughing gleefully. I took one of the flowers from the grass. All kinds of them were scattered there between us. I tucked the flower on the side of her ear. She looked pretty for a 6 year old.

“I can’t be your prince. I’m a girl,” I told her. “We both are.”

She snickered and held my eyes. “Sometimes Prince Charming is a princess.”

I woke up in surprise and quickly realized that I fell from my bed. With a loud groan, I hauled myself up and stood on my feet. That dream again huh? It was so vivid this time. It was as if she was right there with me. Like it was just yesterday when we were. My train of thought was stopped when I heard the princess calling out.

She didn’t know this but my room was just across from her. My real room was actually a floor below, but I’ve been sleeping in the spare bedroom nowadays. You know, just in case.

“Miss kidnapper,” she said loudly. “Are you there? Yoohoo!”

I shook my head in disdain and grabbed the white tee on the bed. I wore it quickly before going out of the spare room and punching the code for the metal door to enter her holding area. The princess sat on the floor hugging her knees.

“What do you want?” I asked with a frown. “You ruined my sleep.”

“For someone so pretty, you have a foul attitude,” she said and pouted. I stifled a smile and leaned against the door. “So you think I’m pretty?”

“Give me a break,” she mumbled. “Don’t fish for compliments because you’re not getting more from me.” I stared hard at her and scanned her body. She lost a pound or two. I’ve been feeding her good food for two weeks, maybe she was depressed. She looked pale too. Her usually pink lips were dull, and her honey colored hair was not set into a half braid.

“What’s wrong? Why did you call for me?”

“Aside from the fact that you’re holding me hostage here?” she mocked and glared at me. “Miss kidnapper. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been inside this room for the last two weeks. I’ve been cooped up inside this room too much that I think I’m going crazy.” She raised her arms in defeat. “You rarely talk to me and God knows what you’re doing on the other side of that door.” She hugged her knees again. “I give up. If you want to kill me, just do it. This is torture.”

“I already told you that I’m not going to kill you.”

“Then please talk to me,” she said in frustration. “I can’t stand this. Sitting around in this room doing nothing is maddening. Please,” she whispered. “If there is an ounce of humanity left in you, please talk to me.”

Those puppy dog eyes of hers got me walking to her. I sat down on her left side. “What do you want to talk about?” She scratched the wooden floor with her nail. “I don’t know. Tell me about you. And please don’t give me that crap about being my kidnapper and all. Even if you tell me things about your life, I won’t be able to do anything about it.”

I decided what I could and couldn’t tell her. Just a teensy bit of information wouldn’t hurt. I faced her and crossed my legs. “I grew up in England.”

She turned her head to me and I could see the surprise in her gray eyes. “You did? But you don’t have an accent.”

“That’s because I went there when I was around ten. My adoptive parents took me to their country and raised me there.”

“Oh,” she said. “Did you also study there?” She turned to face me and mirrored my position. By now, both of us sat crossed legged in front of each other. “Yes I studied and graduated in that place,” I said. “But I was born here.”

“So what was your course? You did graduate right?”

I almost laughed at her question. I graduated at an Ivy League school. The best in that country in fact. My millionaire parents made sure of it. But I shouldn’t tell her that. “Yes I did get my diploma. And I studied different things,” I answered. “You’ll get bored if we discuss about it.”

“Okay,” she said. “Can I ask you another question? What’s your name?”

I gave her a look, making her shrug. “I’m tired of calling you miss kidnapper. Surely even someone like you was given a name.”

“My adoptive parents gave me the name of Iris. But my name before that was Cybele. You can call me either one.”

She thought about it for a moment. “I think I’d like to call you Cybele. It’s a really cool name. It’s like I’ve heard it before somewhere and I just can’t remember.” I smirked at her and held her gaze. “That’s because you’ve heard of it before,” I said.

“Where?”

“It’s a Greek name,” I explained. “You probably read it in a book somewhere or watched a movie with a Cybele character.”

“Maybe,” she replied. “Anyway you can call me Talia. Drop the princess name okay? You don’t really treat me like one anyway.” She reached out a hand to shake mine. “Nice to meet you Cybele,” she said with a dimpled smile. I looked at her and felt goose bumps crawling on my skin. Her smile gave me déjà vu. I missed it.

“Aren’t you going to take my hand?” she asked with raised eyebrows. I grabbed her hand and gave it a quick peck before letting it fall. She blushed furiously because of my action. Still a blusher I see. After she recovered, she continued her string of questions. “Aren’t you too pretty to be a kidnapper?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I dismissed. “Oh come on,” she said. “Green eyes, toffee colored hair, straight nose, perfect teeth. And what are you, 5’9” or something?”

“It’s 5’10,” I corrected. “See?” she said as if proving her point. “The last time I checked, kidnappers were supposed to look grizzly and I don’t know, scary?” I rolled my eyes at her. “Flattery will get you nowhere Talia. I’m still your kidnapper and I won’t let you go.”

She pouted. “I’m just telling the truth.”

“In this case, the truth won’t set you free,” I snickered.

“You have a dark sense of humor. Do you know that?”

I gave a shrug. “Only on Fridays.” I stood up from the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. “So what’s it like being the princess? I bet you can do whatever you want without being punished.”

She lowered her head and thought for a while before responding. “It’s pretty much like this. I wasn’t allowed to leave the palace. Not on my own. I have like 20 men and women guarding me. I wasn’t allowed to go to a normal school either. I was home schooled.” She laughed to herself humorlessly. “The only difference between here and there is I had my books and a laptop to keep me company.”

“What about friends?” I asked.

“I didn’t have friends. I had acquaintances,” she said honestly. “All of them came from noble families. But I know they just suck up to me because I’m going to be the queen someday. Even my fiancé is as boring as crap.”

“You have a fiancé?” I gasped. My little outburst made her look at me in surprise. “Yeah. His name is Lance. We are to wed on my 20th birthday.”

I swallowed hard. That information escaped my knowledge. The thoughts of kidnapping her consumed me for years that I didn’t know she got a fiancé. “Do you love this boy?” I asked.

She answered me with a laugh. Her cute voice echoed around the room. I waited for her to finish. “Of course I don’t,” she said. “Who would want to marry that twit? Not me! I’m only going out with him because the queen told me so.”

“And does her majesty know that you hate the guy?” She gave me an are you stupid look. “Duh! If she knew that, she’ll behead me. You don’t know my mother Cybele. She can be pretty difficult.” Oh I know her alright, I thought darkly.

“How’s your relationship with your mother?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” she sighed. “But what I do want to know is how you managed to kidnap me right under my guard’s nose. My lead guard Keira watches me like a hawk. She must be worried now.”

So Keira was her name. That slim Latina gave me a hard time. She was constantly on the lookout. Too bad for her she had to sleep for 8 hours. I grabbed the opportunity to seize the princess at that moment. Years of looking at their pattern and hacking on their main security server helped me with my plan. I didn’t graduate at an ivy league for nothing.

To Talia I said, “Your guard had a moment of weakness.”

Both of us stayed silent for a while. Being true to herself, Talia spoke up. “Why did you do it Cybele? You’re not as bad as you make yourself sound.”

She wanted to open up this topic again and I just couldn’t let her. Too much was at stake. Time, effort, and years of sacrifice would have gone to waste if I let her get to me. I mustn’t deviate from the plan. I shouldn’t let her within my walls. I have to hurt you Talia, I thought sadly.

I stood up quickly from the bed. “If you ever say those words again, I’m going to force feed you with porridge.” I leaned near her and tilted her chin so we were eye to eye. “I’m not your friend so don’t act like you know me. I’m not a good person either. Always remember that.”

I left the room in a hurry and paced back and forth on the hallway. You’re stupid Cybele, I thought. That pretty girl inside is the enemy. You’re going to screw up if you let her come any closer. She must despise you at all cost and you should hate her in turn.

I yanked my shirt up and stared at my tattoo near my hip bone. Long live the queen, it said. Remember your promise Cybele. Never forget why you have to do this. Talia is not Talia anymore.

With newfound determination, I walked in front of the metal door and punched in the security code. Talia opened her mouth as I grabbed her hand and pulled her out. I lead her past the other rooms and into the laundry area. This building was unique. There were four floors in total, plus the rooftop. Each floor houses several rooms, its own kitchen, and a laundry area.

The second and third floor had security system all over the place. I designed it that way to prepare for this day. All the windows were barred and almost all rooms had a security lock. We were currently on the third floor.

“You may be a princess in the palace. But here and now, you’re nothing,” I said harshly. “Since you’re so bored you’d rather die, why don’t you become my servant instead? From now on you’re the one who’s going to launder all your clothes. I want this whole floor cleaned. I also want you to cook thrice a day. If you even skip one meal, I’ll feed you porridge for months.”

She gasped and stared at me incredulously. “That’s right princess,” I said to her. “You’re in my world now. What I say goes. You hear me?”

She gave me a sad smile but still nodded. “I understand Cybele. But you have to run me through things. I have no idea how to operate the machine.” She pointed to the washer on the right.

“Well aren’t you an ignorant little kid,” I huffed.

“Excuse me for not using one of those all my life,” she snapped. “I just happen to be a princess. Do you think I’ve ever seen one up close?” She placed her hands on her waist.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” I snapped back. “Princesses are supposed to be bright right? Imagine if you become a queen. You haven’t washed your freaking clothes yet, let alone use a washing machine. How can you rule a whole country?!”

She glared at me and walked to the counter. I didn’t think anything of it when she grabbed an opened carton of laundry detergent. But when she threw the white stuff all over my face and clothes, I knew I had enough of her bratty behavior.

I scooped some powder that have fallen on the floor and threw some on her own face. She growled loudly before pouncing on me. We both fell to the ground and rolled while shoving powder on each other. The beastly girl bit me on the ear and I accidentally scratched her back with my fingernail.

Her fingers got tangled in my hair and when she pulled it free, she accidentally yanked my hair, causing me to scream in pain. In turn, I grabbed her shirt and felt it rip in my hands. We were squirming like lunatics on the floor.

“Stop!” I panted. “You’re mental!”

Instead of objecting like I thought she would, she giggled like a schoolgirl. “What are you laughing for?” I asked while wriggling. She was currently straddling me on the floor. I didn’t know how it ended this way. I never lose in a fight. She was such a pain to deal with.

Talia grinned and said, “Your accent came out back there.”

I raised my eyebrows. “It did? I didn’t notice.” She tickled me on the tummy and I laughed hard. “Stop it!” I said. I tried to move my arms but it was pinned on my side.

“You don’t look mean and scary to me,” she teased. “But on a serious note Cybele, please don’t be harsh. I know you’re just trying to intimidate me but you don’t really mean it. I can see right through your act you know.”

“Stop imagining things,” I retorted.

She touched my face without thinking about the consequences of her action. When she spoke, she had that tender look on her gray eyes. “Every time you lie, you get that sad look in your face,” she whispered softly. “Now I don’t know the reason why you decided to kidnap me. I also don’t understand why you’re trying to act mean. But as long as I’m here, can we just be friends?”

“I’m not the best person to be around with,” she continued. “I was pampered. I was sheltered. And God knows I don’t act like a real princess. But since you’re going to keep me here with you, you might as well be kind to me. You said that you’ll hold me for months. If we continue like this, we’ll just burn out.”

She stood up and dusted herself before offering a hand. “What do you say Cybele. Truce?” I looked up at her beautiful face and smiled to myself. You’ve really become a beautiful princess Talia.

I took the hand that she offered and hauled myself to my feet. Once I did, I pinched her butt for revenge. “You’re a pervert!” she said and moved a step back. A laugh escaped from my lips. “What? I can’t touch the royal butt? That’s for yanking my hair and biting my ear.”

She tried to hide a smile but I still noticed it. “Don’t do that again. I mean it.”

“Sorry. The royal goods are just too hard to resist.”

She grabbed some white powder on the floor and threw it to me. I was able to dodge it in time. She placed her hands on her waist. “Stop trying to hit on me. I’m not lesbian,” she said with a smirk.

“Didn’t you hear the saying that girls are like pasta? They stop being straight when they get wet.”

She gave me an amused look. “Sorry Cybele. No matter how cute you are, this girl is straight as a pole.”

It was my turn to smile at her. “Even poles bend Talia, especially one that hasn’t been straight to begin with.” In my mind I said, challenge accepted princess.