Firebird

Chapter 3

Kyla

    After spending an hour with Tanwen, I went back to the throne room. Everyone was casually standing around talking. My father laughing with them about some joke. He smiled when I walked up and held out his arm. I smiled back and stepped up to him.
    "Is Tanwen okay?" He asked. Everyone turned their attention to me.
    "She's okay now. It was just a bad day." I told him. "She blocked me out so I had no idea it was happening."
    "Well she will sleep it off and be better tomorrow." He said. I nodded while he talked. "Now, firebird, I need you to show the General to his room. You can show him around tomorrow."
I tried to keep the scowl from my face. My father wanted this to work. Seeing Tanwen act the way she did today reminded me that things could be worse.
"Of course. I'll show him to his room and then I'm tucking in for the night." I kissed his cheek and nodded at the General. He followed as I walked away. We made our way down the hall in silence. Once I got to the floor with my room I stopped outside the door next to mine.
"This room will be yours, General." I said as I opened the door. He followed me in.
"You can call me Beckett." He said quietly. I stared at him moment and nodded.
"And you can call me Kyla. No need for formalities here." I responded. "This door here connects to my room. I'll leave it unlocked because my father requested it."
I looked at him as he surveyed the room. It was smaller than my room as it was originally made for a body guard, just never used. I took the time to really look at him. He was tall, muscular. His sandy blonde hair was cropped short and his jaw line was smooth and cut spectacularly. I could see a few tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves. Overall he was extremely handsome. I looked away when he turned.
"Thank you. I know you're not happy about this but I will try my best to make it easy for you." He said.
"I appreciate that." I said, honestly. "Well I'm going to bed so I'll let you get situated. Goodnight."

. . .

The next morning, there was a knock on my door after I got dressed. I opened the door and was immediately confused. There was no one there. There was another knock and I turned my head. I went to the other door and opened it. Beckett was standing there with a welcoming smile.
"Sorry I forgot you were in there." I said.
"Dang forgot about me already?" He said, laughing. "That hurts a little, princess."
"I told you that you don't need to worry about formalities." I said, beckoning him in.
"It wasn't really being formal. Just joking." He told me. I didn't know what it was like for people to joke with me. Only my father. I watched as he looked around. My large four poster bed sat on the far end of my room a few feet from my balcony doors. This room was huge. There were two doors on either side of my bed that led to my walk in closet. The bathroom was on the opposite side, adjacent to the balcony.
"What are you looking for?" I asked. He still walked around, like he was searching for something.
"Well I'm your body guard now. I should know the lay of your room. Is that your closet?" He asked, pointing to the doors.
"Yeah those doors lead in there." I told him. He nodded.
"Is there anything else I need to know about this room?" He asked. I didn't move. He couldn't know. Could he? When I didn't say anything, he turned to look at me. "There is, isn't there?"
I stayed silent. It was my secret and mine alone. But I guess I needed to trust him.
"Yeah. Come one." I said, as I walked into my closet. I went straight to the back wall and pushed some clothes away. The hidden door in plain sight now.
"Okay I'll admit I didn't see that one coming." He chuckled. "Where does this go?"
"Just about everywhere. I could show you later." I told him. "I wanted to show you the aeries today after breakfast, if that's okay."
"That sounds good to me. I just have to follow you around." He said with a shrug. I shook my head and tried to fight the smile. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. We walked out together and went down to breakfast.