QUEEN AMINA

CHAPTER 2 cont.

Amina walked out from her room to the hallway, making her way to the staircase area and Ariston, Hannah's son runs towards her excitedly 'Princess Amina! Princess Amina' he said happily and she turned around and smiled at him 'hey Ariston' 'my princess, i've been waiting for you to come down all day, look I got this for you for your birthday' he hands handing her a parcel 'oh thank you Ariston but my birthday's past already' 'i know and i'm sorry i forgot the date' 'it's fine,it's fine, thank you' Amina said with a smile and hugged him 'ehm I am on an errand in the palace, I think I have to go now' he says blushing and she smiles 'sure it's OK, thank you'

Amina stood by the curtain staring down at the warriors. She admired their strength and courage. They never seemed to rest, there must really enjoy doing this, she thought to herself with a smile. 'Surely there must be a way i can sneak in' she said as she walked to the mirror. She looked at her frame and shook her head, she was just 13 but her breast were quite obvious already, she sighed all of these dance classes must be doing something to them or maybe it's just natural? she made a silly face and walked back to the bed, tearing open the gift Ariston had gotten for her. A mask....she smiled, this is nice,she tried it on and walked to the mirror, it covered most of her face,showing only a snippet of her eyes'this is nice,it's....perfect, but my hair' Amina looked carefully around her room 'a veil? a veil should do'

'Amina, get back here and finish your food' her mother said in a stern tone as Amina stood up to make her way to her room 'i'm OK mother i need to sleep' 'sleep? no you don't you'll be having a new body painting today remember? 'but i wanna sleep mother,and this paint is just fine' she said showing her, her fingers. 'Amina,would you get back here? 'come on darling, the little girl is tired' 'tired of what? all she does is sit all day with you, she does nothing' 'my Queen, she is just a little child, please allow her some sleep' 'thank you father' Amina says giving her father a kiss by the cheek as she made her way to her room.

Amina throws on a black shirt and wrapped a veil around herself, she pinned it carefully according to the shape of her scalp and hid the mask carefully in her hand. She tip toed down through the back door, but is halted by the sight of the guards at the gate .She hid carefully behind a barrel, holding her breath after she had squatted for ten mins, her knees were beginning to give out. 'what to do? what to do? she whispered silently to herself before picking some stones from the floor and aiming it at the opposite direction from where the guards stood. The guards put on their torch lights going in search of the cause of the noise and giving her the time to sneak out. 'left leg' 'right leg' 'faster, faster' a man kept on screaming instructions to the warriors 'hey, you' 'yes sir' Amina replied with the best manly voice she could come up with 'why are you coming late? 'sorry sir...nature's call' 'hmm,join the line hurry'

Amina staggered out of bed the next day at noon, her whole body ached 'maybe this is not for me' she thought silently as she heard the noise of the men who were training still at the field. She sighed and looked to the wall where she had branded her father's words 'determination but i hurt...' she stood up reluctantly and unbolted her door afterwards she moved back to the bed to get some more sleep.

Annabel came in with a bowl of hot water and some herbs after she discovered that Amina was running a fever 'are you sure you don't want me to let the Queen know? 'no i'm fine Annabel,this should do,this should do' she said taking the napkin from her.

Training for the next few months twice a week at night seemed to get better each time, she had less cram and she was learning faster. She could suppress the pain,but she couldn't hide the injuries she had gotten and her mom had not taken it lightly with Hannah when she saw them Amina had claimed she had fallen during a dance class. She bit her lip, father didn't have a son to give his beads too and she was determined to get it.

As she got older, she got more skillful and much more mischievous 'maybe i was born with some greatness' she thought as she realized she was great at handling knives, aiming them that is, she imagined as she hit a tree 'ouch, that should hurt' she ran over and tried to pull it out but couldn't at the first try 'wait, my princess, i'll help you out' Asher says running towards her, but she pulls it out and he stares at her with his mouth open 'wow, i did it' she said with a sarcastic smile and moved back to her earlier position. She had convinced father to let Asher her personal guard teach her to ride a horse and whilst she learnt that, she also rehearsed shooting of arrows and knives. She preferred knives, she realized, there was something more dangerous about them. 'my princess, ehm...may i ask you a question? 'sure' 'of what use is all of this? 'all of what? she said concentrating on her tree 'the knife throwing, horse riding my princess' 'it's a hobby Asher and don't forget our little secret right? she said smiling at him 'of course, of course my princess' 'thank you'.

The more mature she got, the more developed her body became and it became harder to hide her identity. She hand crafted her face masks but couldn't find the right outfit for herself. She peeped outside the window, the men were training for a battle and as crazy as it was, she wanted to be a part of it. She heard a knock and pulled open her door, was happy it was Annabel 'my princess, i couldn't find...' 'come in, come in' she said in a whisper and shut the door behind them 'let me see' she said taking the blouse from her, she checked it out in the mirror. it was black and big, just perfect. 'thank you Annabel' 'you like it? 'yes, it's fine' 'my princess, it's shapeless' 'yea, but it's fine' 'oh OK' Annabel says with a confused expression.

Amina  sneaked off for training as usual and trained for a while but no matter how hard Amina had tried to subdue the pain, when she got hit on her head, she gasped and blacked out. 'soldier down, one soldier down' the commander said running to her aide, the men gathered around her and lifted her up, pointing torches at her 'is she? Princess Amina?? 

chosen4real23@Elia-Jays