Prequel 3/5

Sai Rook
Protector of the Princess

Stephen Linton

For some people work is a chore – it is that one thing that you must attend for a certain number of days in a year and in return you were given acceptable levels of coinage in order to cover your expenses. For Sai Rook this was not the case – his entire life was his job. Every day he would follow a routine that involved caring for one of the most important people in Holy Lands. Nothing ever changed, he was paid handsomely but never got any free time in which to spend it but that did not matter; his job was his life but that did not mean it was easy.

When Sai awoke the bright sun was blasting its presence across his room, turning the immaculately tidy abode into a room awash with mirrors as every polished surface threw light into every corner banishing all shadows. Stepping out of bed and dragging on his powder blue robes, the dark figure of Sai moved into his adjacent bathroom and had a quick wash before stepping back into his bedroom and running through his morning work-out.

The bodyguard of the Princess was a powerfully built, dark skinned, six foot three tower of strength that had been in the guards for many years. Looking at his face in the mirror, Sai ran his fingers through his short dark hair then across the wrinkles in his forehead; he blamed stress. Trying to look after the every whim of a teenage girl was tiring and soon took its toll on even the healthiest individual.

Stepping into the foyer, a large windowless, open-plan room lit by a strange violet light, it contained a great number of Royal Guards dressed in their black kimono’s and masks. They saluted as he moved across the balcony that had three doors on it; one to his room, one to the bedroom of Princess Keral and another door that led somewhere else entirely. He rapped smartly on the final door in the set; it was carved from pale wood and had a silver door handle. There was a grumble from somewhere within; the usual mutterings of someone who had stayed up far too late reading books. Sai had no sympathy for her as he swept into the room; he had told the Princess to go to sleep at an acceptable time before leaving her company the night before so it was only her own fault. Crossing the dark room carefully to avoid scattered clothes or walking into the corner of the four-poster bed, Sai made his way successfully to the curtains without injury and grasped fistfuls of heavy-duty fabric before throwing them wide open. If there was any word to describe how the sunlight entered the room it would be; erupted or surged. One moment the night was darker than the bodyguard himself, the next moment sunlight flooded and obliterated all shadows in one blistering moment.