Rosangela: The Runaway Princess (Book #2)

I was dragged out of the throne room and marched down the hallway by the guards.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” I kept screaming at the top of my lungs, but they ignored me.

I tried to wrench my arms out of their grips, but their holds didn’t loosen, they tightened it instead.

I dug my feet into the floor, refusing to walk further. Seeing this, the two bulky guards who were holding my arms lifted me up by my upper arms.

I thrashed about and began screaming again, “LET ME GO! LET ME GO!”

The guards carried my kicking and screaming body through some hallways and we also climbed up some staircases.

Along the way, I couldn’t stop screaming, “LET ME GO! LET ME GO!”

When we reached the top of the stairs on the next floor, a guard who led our way came to a halt abruptly, thus the rest of us had to stop too.

He spun around to face me and yelled at me, “Shut up! Aren’t you tired after screaming for a long time like that?”

“No, I won’t stop screaming until you let me go,” I shouted back.

“I’m warning you. The prince won’t hesitate to cut off your tongue if you’re being too noisy. So shut your mouth, if you know what’s good for you!” he threatened me.

I laughed. “You must be kidding me.”

“Do I look like joking to you?” He snapped at me.

I stared at the guard’s face. I saw from the seriousness of his expression that he meant what he had said.

I gulped. 'I had suffered enough when my grandfather forced me to drink a potion that caused me lose my voice for several days. And if this vampire prince really cut off my tongue, I won’t be able to speak forever. No, I don’t want it to happen.'

“O—okay, I’ll stop screaming,” I stuttered.

The guards gave an amused grin and ruffled my hair. “There’s a good girl.”

I glared at him.

This guard signalled to the other guards to get going, and once again I was being dragging away.

I kept silent for the rest of the way to the prince’s bedroom. When we reached there, one of the guards knocked on the door.

“Come in!” The prince ordered from the other side of the door.

One of the guards opened the door, revealing the prince’s luxurious bedroom. I thought my bedroom in the kingdom of Clanbella was the biggest bedroom I’d ever seen. Apparently, I was wrong. This bedroom was twice the size of the bedroom I had in the Clanbella kingdom.

My eyes darted around the room. This bedroom was lit by a crystal chandelier that hung from the center of the room. The walls were painted in a soft shade of red, meanwhile the ceiling was painted white and it matched the colour of the fitted carpet that covered the hardwood floor.

This room had four oversized widows with red velvet curtains overlooking a vast area of forest. I also could see a range of mountains in the distance.

I spotted three doors inside this bedroom. I guessed that the first and second doors were the bathroom and the walk-in closet. Meanwhile, the last door happened to be the french doors leading to the balcony.

A four-poster king-sized bed with red curtains stood pressed against the wall in the middle of the room. Its sheets, blanket, and bedspreads were white, while the comforter and pillowcases were red. At the either side of the bed was placed a bedside table with a lamp and digital clock on the top of it.

A red sofa with white cushions was put against the footboard. Across from the sofa, there was an entertainment armoire that was used to house a big screen TV and other media products.

On the left was a set of comfy sofas white in colour surrounding a coffee table. Several bright red scatter cushions were set neatly on the sofas.

To the right was a large desk with a swivel chair and two armchairs. On the top of the desk, there were a personal computer, a telephone, an intercom, and a stack of files.

The wall behind the desk was entirely taken up with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. All of the books were nicely arranged in each shelf.

Sitting on the swivel chair behind the desk was a man whom I assumed to be the prince. He had his back towards us, so I couldn’t see his face.

The guards pulled me into the room and then towards the desk where their prince was sitting. They stopped a few feet away from the desk and after that they forced me to my knees.

“What’s wrong?” The prince asked without turning his back to face us.

'How rude he is!' I thought.

“Your Highness, King Joaquin and Queen Estrella sent this human girl to be your pet,” the guard, who threatened me on the way to this bedroom, replied.

“I told my parents that I don’t want a pet. Now bring her back!” The prince ordered angrily.

Hearing the prince’s remarks, I secretly let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank God! Finally I don’t have to be pet. I preferred working as a slave rather than being treated like an animal.'

However, my relief was short-lived, because after that, the guard inquired, “Don’t you want to look at it first, Your Highness? You know, she’s quite a beauty for a human.”

'He referred to me as it? Oh God, this guard is so annoying! Please remind me to punch him after they unchain me!' I grumbled in my mind.

'And God, I hope the prince won’t listen to the annoying guard,' I prayed silently.

Unfortunately, my prayer wasn’t answered. The guards words unexpectedly succeeded in arousing the prince’s curiosity. He swivelled the chair around to face us, so I could see his features clearly now.

The prince seemed to be in his early twenties. His vivid green eyes stood out against his fair complexion and raven hair.

'He’s handsome,' I thought, 'But not a patch on Maximilian.'

I mentally slapped myself. 'Oh Rosanne, why do you keep thinking of Maximilian?'

The prince rose from his chair. He’s apparently very tall. He looked stunning in his royal blue shirt, black slacks, and a pair of shiny black shoes.

When the prince made his way towards me, I quickly dropped my eyes to my lap.

“Look at me!” The prince demanded after he stood before me.

I kept my eyes down, refusing to look at him.

“I said look at me!” he repeated, but I ignored him.

Impatiently, he grabbed my chin and tilted my head up, forcing me to look up at him.

When his eyes met mine, he seemed to be hypnotized. The prince stood frozen, gazing at me with his mouth slightly opened.

'What’s wrong with this prince? Why is he staring at me like that?' I asked myself in bewilderment.

When I felt it’d been too long, I jerked my head out of the prince’s grip, breaking our eye contact.

A smile touched the corners of the prince’s mouth. “On second thoughts, I’ll keep this pet,” he stated.

My eyes widened in horror. 'He can’t be serious,' I thought.

“That’s a wise decision, Your Highness,” the guard commented, and it made me hate him even more.

“Unchain her!” The prince commanded.

“Are you sure, Your Highness? She’s very feisty. I suggest you to keep her chained up all the time,” the annoying guard advised.

“Don’t worry! I think I can handle her. Now unchain her!” The prince ordered.

The guards yanked me to my feet, and finally unchained me.

As soon as my hands were free, I shot out my right arm and tried to land a punch on the annoying guard’s face. But the guard caught my hand and twisted my arm behind my back. I restrained myself from crying out in pain. I didn’t want to look weak in front of these vampires.

“Hey don’t be so mean to this little girl!” The prince warned him.

The guard immediately let go of my arm. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I just want to teach her a lesson,” the guard said while glaring at me.

When I glowered back at him, the guard suddenly grabbed my jaw. I winced in pain as he squeezed my jaw tight.

“Behave! If you cause the prince a trouble, King Joaquin will kill your precious mate,” he threatened me.

The prince furrowed his eyebrows. “Mate you said?”

The guard let go of my jaw and explained, “Yes, Your Highness, she was caught trespassing on our territory with her werewolf mate.”

“So your mate is a werewolf, huh? It’s weird! Why hasn’t he marked you yet?” The prince gestured at my exposed neck.

I got tensed up as realization dawned in. My father told me that when a werewolf mated with another, the male werewolf would mark the female werewolf by biting her neck. Since there was no any mark on my neck, it meant that I hadn’t been claimed yet by anyone.

'Oh shit!' I cussed in my mind, 'Randolph forgot about the mark when he lied that I was his mate. He should have thought first before telling lies. Now the prince has found out that I’ve been lying. What shall I do now?'

“Hey, why didn’t you answer me?” The prince’s question brought me out of my trance. “Why hasn’t your so-called mate marked you yet?”

“It’s none of your damn business,” I retorted.

All of a sudden, the guard backhanded me across my face.

“Do not speak to the prince like that! Do you understand?” He yelled at me.

I really wanted to talk back to him, but I restrained myself. I didn’t want to give the guard another reason to hit me again.

I brought my hand up to my stinging cheek and winced in pain. 'Ouch! This hurt like hell!' The tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked back my tears. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

“That’s enough! You’re all dismissed now,” the prince boomed.

All the guards bowed before they turned around, and finally stamped out of the room, leaving me and this vampire prince alone.