Chapter 1 Prologue

• Princess Patricia descended the cobweb strewn and molded old staircase to the library that was hardly used in their castle basement. She was surprised to see the lights perfectly working. She went through thousands of books neatly packed in hundreds of shelves. She had been bored out of her wits since she was on short mid-semester break from her boring university life.
• Patricia didn’t have many friends at the University and in the kingdom, but only part time associates who were more like lackeys who only wanted to be friends with her because they knew they would benefit from her status. She knew they were using her as much as she was using them and she had an upper hand.
• Coughing as she wiped off the dust and cobwebs from the books which looked like they haven’t been touched in centuries, she wondered why there even was a library in the castle if no one ever uses it.
• She walked aimlessly hoping to get something interesting she could read to deal with her boredom. She went from shelf to shelf, her mouth and nose covered with her scarf to avoid getting choked by dust.
• She was soon getting annoyed and wanted to go and call the maids to come clean up so she didn’t have to choke on this much dust when her eye caught a very interesting section, “the Ancient decrees”.
• Her interest was piqued, she pulled out the dusty leather bound brownish book, dusted it and walked up the staircase to her room. She threw it on top of her reading desk and went to wash her hands and face first.
• Plunging into her couch she curled her legs, put on her reading glasses and opened a random page. As if fate was directing her, her eyes fell on a sentence that said; “As part of our treaty and alliance, the royal house of the Northern kingdom, has signed a permanent decree with the Western kingdom, that all princesses of the Northern royal family are to be betrothed to the princes of the Western kingdom as long as this treaty stands, unless broken through a blood oath”
• “Now that’s interesting!” uttered Pat as she closed the book her heart suddenly filled with euphoria. She wondered why her parents never told her she had a potential prince charming somewhere. Were they deliberately keeping it from her until she was 21 and officially coming of age as per their lifestyle?
• She confronted her parents who claimed that they had to keep it from her until the right time, whereas they honestly did not know anything about the decree since they were not part of the ancient royal family when it was made, but had only become royal through unscrupulous ways their children knew nothing of. She did research to find out who the prince of the Western kingdom was and what he did in life.
• She found out he was 19 just like her and that he was in the Southern university. Her interest got even more piqued. She wanted to know what kind of a person he was, and to get closer to him so that she may perhaps fall in love with him before they were officially declared betrothed.
• Patricia considered herself lucky to know she has a chosen mate somewhere. She wanted to make sure she marked her territory.
• She begged her parents to take a transfer for her to the Southern university citing that she wanted to be away from home so she could learn the ropes of taking care of herself independently which marked growth.
• They agreed and she transferred to her new university. Acting all naïve and innocent, she gained a friend who actually led her to the very person she came on a mission for. Prepared to pretend all the way until she snatched him away, her journey began!
• Prince’s POV
• “My prince, the Queen seeks your presence,” one of the maids said to me while batting her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes at her attempt to seduce me. These wannabes never tire of trying their luck with someone in a higher rank.
• I nodded and dismissed her from my room. I am Prince Kenneth Paige Junior or the soon to be King Kenneth Paige the twelfth in a few years to come, son of the current King of the Western Kingdom. I am about to go back to college. I attend a science and technology university in the South of our beautiful country situated in Africa.
• The South is more like the metropolitan area. It is a place where all kinds of people are found. All kinds of races and species mix up and everybody minds their business.
• However, this place is not so convenient for my kind. We sort of feel restricted from living the life we ought to live. I’ve been living in the South for a year now but I still haven't gotten used to it.
• Me and my childhood friends Tom and Mal, being my second and third in command, have been going to the same University. I very much miss my home. The West of the country.
• I miss the excellent atmosphere that our small savanna area gives us. I miss the jagged cliffs of the hills in the horizon, especially when the sun is about setting where there is an array of colors ranging from crimson, gold, bluish purple and greenish hue, emanating from the grasslands especially when we have the wet monsoons.
• I strode out of my suite towards my mother’s chambers. As I am now nineteen and doing my second year, my mother, the Queen, troubles me a lot with talks about “the right one”.
• I know that being summoned to her chambers at this moment in the afternoon means lecture time. I bowed to her slightly and she hugged me. She isn’t much into the strict formalities when it comes to her family.
• “Nkem, how are you my son?” she asks. “I’m doing good mom. How are you doing this beautiful evening?” I ask back.
• “Sad son! You will be leaving for another year. It’s boring when you are not around. (Sigh!) I wish I had a daughter!” mom said.
• “Mom! Aren’t you happy that you have two very handsome boys?” I asked, pouting and making a sad face.
• “Oh come on Ken, you know very well that you and Dev are my joy and pride. That doesn’t mean I still don’t wish I had had a third one, as a girl!” mom said, pouting.
• I could tell that behind all the elegance and glitz and glamor in the castle and all the expensive and comfortable stuff she had, her longing was deep. I couldn’t imagine being the only boy amongst women.
• I could now understand why mother was always bringing up the issue of my mate, my woman. ‘I felt irritable every time she brought it up because, it’s very uncomfortable for me to have to talk about girls and my sexual interests with my mother, oh gosh!’ I facepalmed at the thought of that.
• I strolled out of the castle to take a walk after her short lecture. The castle dates back to the medieval period as it has centuries in existence. It is so refreshing to look at it from the hill tops.
• Curved with quarry stones and roofed with oven baked clay tiles, you would expect to see the same classic look on the inside but the inside screams modern Era. Every king has had an opportunity to change the interior to their liking.
• I guess I’m going to have to make a few changes too. With the help of my queen of course. This is the subject which I haven’t allowed myself to think about and muse over.
• I have never been in love, even the simple teenage infatuation. I concentrated on developing my physique, training well to prove myself worthy to be the next King.
• I spent a year in the South already but I haven’t even come across anyone that is interesting enough to steal my heart. My mother brings up arrangements of meeting princesses from other kingdoms but I’m not into that. I really would prefer finding love by myself.
• In the south, I live like a commoner, I do not want to cause unnecessary attention to myself, which could mean the ladies would flock around me and I just might make the wrong choice. However, I surely look forward to falling in love on my own, not some arrangement.
• A week later, I was in my dormitory at the University with Mal and Tom. A sudden urge that was driving me nuts sent me to the student mall.
• My lion Zeus, yes I am a werelion, was grunting inside my head, filling it with all weird thoughts of romance and told me to look to my left. My head snapped to the left and there she was.
• The most gorgeous girl I had ever seen. Light skin tone. ‘A perfect match for my dark one,’ I thought to myself as I found it difficult to peel my eyes off of hers.
• I was seriously and unashamedly drooling over this damsel’s dreamy brown eyes, curly neck length black hair, curvaceous body with perked breasts. Her lips were screaming for me to kiss them.
• Tom nudged me. “Man, stop ogling, you are making her shy.” I heard him but I really didn’t care.
• My feet confidently carried me to where she was with all the “Prince” in me attitude. I was going in for a kill. This is the first girl who has ever fancied my interest and that of Zeus. “Hi!” I said.