Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (20 page)

“This is an example, if anybody else
ever dares to touch my fiancée, I’ll cripple them without a second
thought.” He said out loud, even the Royal Guards, swallowed their
saliva at his warning.

Ali walked over to Paramita and pulled
her close to him in a hug, “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” He
asked her.

“I’m okay, thank you.” Paramita was
surprised at his action, but suddenly the words of the thug echoed
in her ear, causing a chill to run down her spine, she
instinctively buried her head in his chest. “That was the most
disgusting thing I ever heard.”

Feeling her body shaking, he held her
tighter. “It’s okay, it’s over. You did very well.”

“Your Highness Puteri, you were
amazing!” Said one of the guards to her, the others voiced their
agreement.

“Thank you, gentlemen.” She said while
lifting her head up.

“We have to interrogate these
criminals. We need to know how they knew who we were, they were
clearly waiting for us.” Said the captain.

“Something’s not right,” Paramita said
to Ali. “Where’s the little girl?”

Ali looked around, “Captain, where is
the little girl who was taken hostage?”

“Search the surrounding for the child
who they used as a hostage!” the team leader ordered his
men.

“Sir, we searched everywhere, but we
can’t find her.” Reported one of his men.

Hearing this, Paramita looked at Ali,
“Is this all a coincidence?”

“Unlikely.” He replied. “Captain, we
should get back to the main road. Let me ask you this, have you
contacted the palace?”

‘Yes sir. We did last
night.”

“Did you contact them yourself, or did
you ask somebody to help you?”

“I contacted them myself,
sir.”

“Who’s waiting for them at the
village?

“The driver is, sir.”

“Alone?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Abang, he might be in danger,”
Paramita said with an alert tone. Suddenly she remembered
something, “Captain, why don’t any of you have a radio?”

“We did not carry any handhelds, Mam.
We only have the long distance in the car, that’s how we alerted
the palace last night.”

“Captain. “ Ali said “We don’t have
time to interrogate these people, we have to head back to the
village right away. We don’t know who’s on our side, and who’s
against us. If my father arrives with the Royal Guards, they might
be walking straight into a trap.”

“Yes, Raden. It’s better if we take a
different route back to the village, just in case.”

“Good idea.”

“Men, make these thugs take off their
pants and cut them up as ropes, along with their shirts. We have to
bind their legs, hands, eyes, and mouths so they don’t try to
escape and warn anybody.” He gave orders to his men.

“Yes sir.”

“Hey, one moment,” Ali shouted. ”Before
you start taking people’s pants off, I will take Puteri over there.
She doesn’t need to see those men naked. Find us once you’re
finished.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come on.” He said to
Paramita.

“But shouldn’t we help them?” She asked
him. “That way we can get it done faster.”

“The guards can manage without our
help. Besides, I prefer that you don’t see men in their birthday
suits, no matter what the situation is.” He replied.

“If anybody else heard you say that,
they would think that you’re jealous towards me.”

“Would they?” He answered shortly.
“Here, sit down on this rock.” He said while patting to a rock that
has a rather flat surface.

She walked over to the rock, and tried
to hoist herself up with her arms, to no luck. He held both sides
of her waist from behind and lifted her up on the rock. “Turn
around, and let me take a look at you ankle.” He said.

“My ankle is okay.” She
replied.

“I want to make sure. You threw a hard
kick back then, and you also landed on both feet when you jumped.
You didn't feel anything because of the adrenaline surge, but once
it goes back to normal again, you're going to be in a lot of pain,”
He said while taking off her shoe. “It’s swollen. Does it
hurt?”

“Not if you don’t touch it like that.”
She said while putting a painful grin as Ali moved her feet in a
circular movement.

“We need to wrap that ankle so it
doesn’t get worse.” He said while tearing off both sleeves of his
shirt.

“I’ll be fine, you don’t have to
trouble yourself like that.” She cried.

“Shhh, be quiet.” He said while taking
her foot and wrapping her ankle. “I should have done this
earlier.”

“Thank you!” She told him, “You’re very
kind to me.”

He smiled and pinched her nose. “Are
you going to cry?”

She smiled. She felt a heavy weight
suddenly fell and crushed her heart. The more time she spent with
him, the more good qualities she found in him, the more it made her
heart hurt. He was perfect. He was the ideal man she had always
hoped to find in the past. But now, he’s in front of her, but out
of her reach. She realized that she was seeing herself spiraling
down into an unrequited love all over again.

Chapter
Seventeen

“What’s wrong? Did I put it on too
tight? Is it hurting you?”

“No, it’s not that. Can you please
don’t treat me like that?” She said while removing her foot from
his hand.

“Treat you like what? Did I do
something to offend you?” He asked not understanding her sudden
change in behavior.

“No, you didn’t. On the contrary,
you’ve been great. It’s just that, I don’t think we should get any
closer, emotionally. In the future, when we go our separate ways,
it’s going to be difficult on me.”

He put his finger on her lips tracing
it gently. “Didn’t you promise me, that you were going to stop
thinking about leaving?”

“I know. But, you’re such a great
person, I don’t want to cause you to be separated from the woman
you love.”

“Just stay by my side, and you don’t
have to worry about separating me with the woman I
love.”

Paramita responded. “So, you are going
to continue to see Dewi, despite being married to me?”

“Mita, I want you to know that Dewi and
I are o…” Ali couldn’t finish his sentence when the Captain
interrupted, “Excuse me Your Excellency, Your Highness. We’ve
finished, we can go now.” He said.

“Abang, let’s go.” Paramita said as she
moved to jump down from the rock.

“Wait a minute, let me help you.” He
replied while lifting her by the waist and helping her to the
ground.

She thought to herself. “Mita, you have
to prevent yourself from getting hurt. You have to protect
yourself!”

* * *

Raden Hamza felt restless. Last night
as he was leaving the Sultan’s office after the meeting, they
received a call that Puteri Paramita and his son, had an accident
while attending an event in a remote location. He had a bad feeling
when Pangeran Bashir had volunteered Ali and Paramita to go to the
event.

He knew he shouldn’t have kept his son
in the dark about the political strife that they’re currently
facing and is threatening his family.

In the wake of the economic crisis that
hit South East Asia, although Jothar had not been directly affected
by it, but the waves of political unrest has reached the nation.
People are starting to feel un-conformed with the monarchy. Not
necessarily with the Royal Family and the Sultanate, but the public
are beginning to demand representation in the government. And the
Sultan is not ready to release his absolute control over the
country.

They had suspected that the popular
demand to form a parliament was actually orchestrated by
intellectual actors moving behind the screen. The investigation
performed by the Central Intelligence Bureau had discovered that a
key member of the Royal Family was an active player, the prime
suspect was none other than Prince Bashir, the current Sultan’s own
elder half-brother from the previous Sultan’s concubine. What they
can’t determine yet, is where he got the funding for such an
ambitious political movement.

“Your Excellency, we are thirty minutes
away from the village,” The Commander of the Royal Guards said,
interrupting his chain of thoughts.

“Thank you, Colonel.” He answered.
Raden Hamza took a deep breath.

Their envoy was quite a big one, three
trucks and a van in total. They not only consisted of the Royal
Guards, but also the army’s elite squad. As they still do not know
what the size of Pangeran Bashir’s forces are.

The car stopped, “Your Excellency, we
are not going to enter the village by car, we do not know if there
are any hostiles waiting for us. We are leaving the cars here, with
the drivers and four heavily armed men on guard. We will spread out
and proceed by foot towards the village. There is a chance that
your son and the Princess are not there, so I have instructed my
men to keep a look out for them, they will radio us if there are
any signs of them.”

“That sounds like a good
plan.”

“Your Excellency, you can wait here,
until we clear the perimeter.”

“No, by no means. I will come with you
Colonel. Even though I’m an old man now, but I still remember some
of my military training from back in the day.”

“As you wish, sir.” He said.

They split up in five teams of four men
each carrying an M16, only Raden Hamza had a standard revolver in
his hand. They walked through the woods carefully, scanning the
area around them. The dense woods was making it difficult for them
to push forward.

“Sir, look, there are traces of people
recently walking through this area. The branches are freshly cut.”
Said a soldier who was part of the Raden Hamza and the Colonel’s
team.

“We have to be cautious, this shows
that they’re armed with machetes.”

“But please don’t be trigger happy, we
don’t know if it’s my son’s party or not.”

“Sergeant, alert the men that there
might be another armed group out here, but we don’t know if they
are friendlies or hostiles.”

“Yes sir.”

They continued to push forward. When
the trees suddenly sparse, and they reached a small clearing,
several men were standing there. Hearing the rustle of the trees,
the group was alerted, and jumped behind the big trees in front of
them, sounds of gun cocked rang through the forest.

Raden Hamza’s team ducked to take
cover, “This is the Royal Army, put down your weapons and surrender
yourself!” The colonel shouted a warning. “You are surrounded,
surrender immediately.”

“Wait don’t shoot.” A man’s voice
shouted from the other side. “I’m Raden Burhanuddin Ali, son of
Raden Hamza the Minister of Finance, Her Highness Puteri Paramita
is with us and also the Royal Guards.”

“Put your guns down, it’s my son, it’s
him.” Said Raden Hamza.

The group came out from behind the
trees, with their hands in the air. Raden Hamza saw his son,
holding the Princess in his arm helping her walk back to the
clearing.

He walked out from behind the tree.
“Ali, are you alright? Ananda Puteri, are you hurt?” He said while
approaching them.

“Father, we are okay now.” Ali replied,
his face reflected relief. “Mita is slightly injured, she sprained
her ankle.”

“Thank Goodness, you both look tired
and dirty, but I can see you are over all well.”

“Yes we are Ayahnda.” Paramita
answered.

“Your Excellency Raden Hamza,” The
colonel interrupted them, “I have radioed the rest of the men to
reconvene here in this place. I will talk to Captain Bagas of the
Royal Guards in charge of protecting the Princess and your son to
understand the situation. I suggest Your Excellency take your son
and the Princess back to the vehicle, I will have three of my men
escort you back there, and accompany you back to the
capital.”

“Yes, yes, Colonel. You are right, we
have to get back to the capital immediately. Ananda Puteri is
injured, it would be best if she can rest in a safe place and have
a doctor check her condition.”

“Colonel.” Ali said, “After everything
that happened, I suspect, that this was an attempt on the
Princess’s life, please make sure you get to the bottom of
this.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.” He
replied.

“My son, let’s go back to the truck,
there is something that you don’t know about, and I think this is
the best time than ever to tell you about it.”

“Yes, Father.” Ali replied. “Come on,
Mita. Just a little bit more, and we can give that ankle of yours
the rest that it deserves.”

“Don’t exaggerate.” She told
him.

Raden Hamza was unhappy seeing his son
holding Mita by her waist as she walked, and that she also had her
arm around his neck. But there was nothing he could do, she was
injured, and needed help to walk, and the only appropriate person
to do that was her fiancée. Though they were not married yet, but
at least they were already engaged. He decided to dismiss the
inappropriate behavior because of her injury.