My father's body lay pale and gray in his bed. He had never been a good person or a good father but watching his dead body changed something inside me. It made me more humble. How fragile humans were. Within a couple of months I had lost both my brother and my father, and my mother was but a whisper of her former self. The regal woman was gone, she was a frail and weak copy of the woman she once was.

My life had turned upside down again. Yesterday I had been playing around with swords, enjoying myself in the sunlight with my knight. Now reality had hit me hard and responsibility for my new duties were heavy on my back.

The church bells were ringing all over the city, telling everyone of the news. The king was dead, long live the king. Me. My coronation was going to take place this afternoon. There was no time to wait, they'd said, the land was in need of a new ruler. If I had loved him I would have asked for a moment of grief, but I never loved the old man. Actually I felt relieved he was gone.

"Are you ready?" a voice mumbled behind me before I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"To be king?" I snickered at Randy, my eyes still lingering at my fathers body, "no, I'm not."

"They're waiting for you," he said gently and I could feel his hand squeezing me gently, a signal that he had my back.

"Thank you," I whispered before I drew a deep breath to ready myself to face the men of the council but before I left the room I stopped and turned to look at the much taller man.

"Why did you take this job Kendrick?"

"It's an honor to serve the future king," he said like any one in his position would.

"Cut the bullshit," I frowned, "this is a downgrade to what you did before you came here, we both know it. You were a general and now you're a babysitter."

"Does it really matter?" he asked, "You know you can trust me."

I sighed deeply, giving him a desperate look. "Yes, I know I can trust you, I just wish I knew you better."

Surprised by his action I followed him as he pulled my arm to sit me down in one of my fathers bedroom chairs. "You want my story? Fine, but it's nothing special about it," he sighed and sat down in front of me. "I grew up in a small town, enlisted in the army and moved up the ranks." He began. "I had nothing back home so I took chances, worked hard and realized I was good at it."

"That I know," I said with a smile, "I did my share of research, and you've been busy."

He nodded a few times. "I was appointed general and fought on the north border under your brother's command back when Faria was revolting.

It hit me that I had forgotten all about that, people never called it a war because the small country Faria had never stood a chance against us and their attempt to attack us had failed miserably. "Why did they fight us in the first place?" I asked thoughtfully.

"You don't know?" he asked and looked surprised.

"No, I wasn't involved much back then," I answered truthfully.

"Your father had cut off trading with them because he disliked their ways, traditions and religion. Called them barbarians I believe," he muttered.

"So they got mad and wanted revenge?"

He sighed deeply and tilted his head to the side, "Adrian, they starved, the people in Faria live miserable lives because of your father. He told them to convert into our faith or do without our grain. Their country is mostly woodlands and for centuries they've traded wood and pelts for grain and other produce only to be greeted with hate."

I leaned back in my chair and studied him for a while, "I had no idea."

"The border is secure now so people forgot about it," he said with a shrug.

I licked my lips and closed my eyes, "maybe I should go there and speak to them, change things."

"I'm on your side here Adrian," he sighed, "but take my advice, your people won't be ready for too many changes at once."

I rose from my seat and shook my head, "How do you know that? Maybe they long for it just as much as I do."

"Because they're simple folk, with simple needs. Trust me, I know from my own experience."

"Is that why they kicked you out of the army? You had too many new ideas?" I asked curiously.

"Something like that," he said but I could tell the story had more to it and I waited for him to continue. "That wasn't why I left though, I left because I wanted to."

"So you weren't forced?"

"No," he stated plainly and seemed reluctant to tell me why.

"Fine then, don't tell me," I said with an eye roll, "some things are private I guess," and started walking towards the door.

"I fell in love with the wrong person," he said as I was about to open the door. "That's all you need to know."

I turned to look at him, his answer surprised me, he didn't seem like a person who'd chosen love before work. "So you left her and your soldiers to work for me," I said with a bit of humor in my voice to change the mood in the room. "Aren't I the lucky one?"

He sighed and shook his defeated head, "yes, my lord. You are," he chuckled before he followed me to the grand hall and towards my new fate.

My feet moved slowly, with a sense of dread in my body. This was all happening now and I felt unprepared, a bit panicky and nauseous. "I'm not sure I can do this," I whispered.

"One step at a time," my bodyguard comforted as he took a step closer to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're going to be fine."

I sighed and gave him a quick smile, my eyes traveling over his manly features, his jawbone, the short stubble and lingering on his lips for a moment. My hand suddenly reached for his cheek, my thumb gently caressing his chin. "Guess I am the lucky one," I said and winked at him, knowing he was the only one I could lean on right now, and I was thankful for the friendship we had, but was suddenly awakened from my haze as I could see him stiffen from my touch. "I couldn't ask for a better friend," I added quickly and moved away from him.

"You shouldn't call me that," he muttered and closed me off. "I'm your servant, nothing more."

His words made my heart freeze for a minute, because there was an undertone that told me so much more. There had been flirting, a lot of it, and he had been playing along. He never encouraged me, keeping his distance and brushing it off as a joke. It had been a fun little game, but the truth was I liked him. A lot. And somewhere deep inside I had started to wonder if he actually had started to enjoy my flirtatious moves, until this very moment. These were words of rejection, clearly stating he would never be anything but a bodyguard to me. Not even a friend?

"Kendrick," I began, but he cut me off.

"You shouldn't call me that anymore, Lord, you are about to be crowned king," he said as he took another step back. "We should go back to how things were."

I bit my lip and let my eyes fall to the floor, "even kings need friends," I muttered.

"It doesn't matter what you need anymore, Lord," he said gravely, "you need to keep an appearance, and do what's best for the country."

I was flabbergasted by his sudden moodswing, this was not the same man as the one who'd told me his life story mere moments ago. I was raging and trying my best not to show it, but I should have said something more, but I couldn't. Instead I welcomed the interruption when mcGregor approached us.

"My Lord, we're at the finishing stages of the preparations, please follow me and I'll update you on your schedule."

I gave him a firm nod then turned to my guard with a stone cold face and aching heart, "Sir Roland, I won't be needing you any more," I said with an unfamiliar and commanding tone, "go make yourself useful," but instantly regretted it when he simply nodded and walked off. He'd been my only source of sanity to the madness I was weaved into, and I had ordered him to leave.

"It's normal to be a bit nervous," McGregor said comfortingly as he interpreted my mood as bad nerves.

"I'll be fine," I whispered as my eyes followed Kendricks back as he was walking down the corridor, and I kept telling myself that for the rest of the afternoon. I'll be fine. I'll manage without him.