The Princess's Guardian

9

The royal couple's Guardians seem to be unimpressed with me as they continue to scrutinize me. I want to so badly hide behind Sunny, but my instincts refuse to back down. 

"So this is the Earthling who saved you from the Hellpod?" the Queen asks her daughter, glancing at me. 

Sunny nods and smiles joyfully. "Yes, she's Jordan. You met her a few years back when you visited me during the summer."

I try to remember the said event. Sunny's parents rarely visited her when she was on Earth and I thought that they were Alex and Annie's close friends who were busy travelling around the world for business. It appears that they're actually Sunny's parents from a whole different planet and work as rulers of a freaking kingdom.

I cannot believe I've met royals when I was 14 and had absolutely no idea. While the Queen asks Sunny more questions about her former life on Earth and the King listening onto their conversation, I study my surrounding which involves the the palace that Sunny constantly talked about.

Many Gueses work as the Royal Guards who are stationed almost in every part of the palace. All of them have a stoic look, yet bow when the royal trio walk past them. A cat Animus approach the Queen to inform that lunch is being served as instructed. It took me a while for me to get that the cat Animus named Jared is a butler.

Portraits of royal members of the family is displayed all over one of the hall we walked through. While most of them were probably past kings of the Earth Kingdom, there are a few queens who look equally as stoic as the kings. I also can't help but notice that the portraits include some sort of animal who is always within the reach of the ruler. Somehow, the animals seem to be a part of the ruler's personality. A chubby past king with a rhinoceros. A timid but smart looking past Queen with a meerkat. 

Oh, the animals in the portraits are past Guardians.

Gosh, I feel stupid taking some time to come up with that conclusion. Yet proud that I did. I can only guess that once Sunny becomes Queen, I would probably also have to be painted as a form that describes Sunny as Queen. I wonder what kind of animal fits Sunny's true personality.

"Princess Sunderlette's father is of royal blood and true King of the Earth Kingdom. That's why his portrait, not the Queen, is displayed in this hall," a feminine voice tells me. I flinch in surprise at the unfamiliar voice and turn to look at the eagle who's landing next to me. I didn't realise that I have been staring at the portrait of Sunny's father and his lion Guardian while the royal trio continue to walk ahead. 

I glance at the Queen's guardian, wanting to ask her questions regarding the portraits. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to receive my mental questions.

"It will take a few weeks for you to gain the mental link," she says, tilting her head at one side. "I'm assuming you know almost nothing about Guardians and therefore, Yousef and I will have to train you everyday before the Princess is expected to perform her duties."

I'm guessing Yousef is the lion Guardian who grunts at the eagle Guardian's statement. 

"Why can't we just send her to the Royal Guards for training?" Yousef grumbles, glaring at the eagle Guardian. 

The eagle Guardian ignores his glare and transforms into a sparrow, using my back as a perch. "You remember the fact that young Guardians have fragile bonds with their royals, right, Yousef? Remember how protective the King was over you when he was still a prince? Sunderlette's Guardian will have to go through the same process and can't stay too far away from Sunderlette for the next few weeks. Besides, you can finally get over the fact that she's a non-Oppenheise by knowing this girl."