I think I am falling

Hello everyone, here is the new chapter. Be patient with this new piece, it starts slowly, but I promise that it has a twist in the end. Please vote if you enjoyed it, then I will be encouraged to update more often( maybe every week), also let me know what you think. Thnxxxxx 

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POV Roxanne 

A days passed and I was left in my room, alone and scared. I could not sleep at night, jumping at every sound and hiding under the blanket shivering in the fear that he might come to my room to finish what he had started. He did not come though, no one did, there was only one servant girl who came in with food and tidied up the room and left without saying a word.

Fear and loneliness were driving me mad, my mind hazy with all the things that had happened and everything that was about to take place soon. I had to arrange our escape, my wedding day was in a week and our country was going to be raided by another blood thirsty king. All I wanted, no, all I needed was to sleep and wake up to see all of these was a nightmare and this was another day with my usual lessons and chores.

It felt like everyone expected me to do so much and I knew I would fail them. The girls wanted me to save them from savages, Farhad wanted me to marry Alexander and become the queen to save the country and my brother wanted me to leave everyone behind and run away with him. And Alexander... What did he want? He wanted me to marry him, that part was obvious, but while the wedding was in a week, he could not wait for the wedding night to claim me. Alexander wanted my body.

The thought brought tears to my eyes. All my life, I had seen girls in the harem, only used because of their body and I hated it. I secretly had wished for more, to become someone's wife who wanted me as a companion, someone who would see me as an equal and seek my assistance in all aspects of life, not a man who wanted me as a bed mate and nothing more. Unfortunately, men around me were all the same, they wanted only one thing and I was sure that once they got it, I would be caged in another golden harem, giving birth to children and getting ready to entertain my husband every night 

I thought about my sudden decision to join my brother and run away. Deep in my heart, something told me it was a bad idea. How could I leave my mother, Yalda and other girls at Alexander's mercy and flee? He would probably hurt them in revenge just to get back at me. I knew Darius had said that once we are safe and away from all the dangers, we would think of rescuing others but his tone told me he was not so sure of that plan. How could he run away, leaving his beloveds with the enemy?

There was the war issue too, given that I had taken off, Ravi would still attack Peria in the hope of finding me. People would die, houses would be destroyed and women and children would be enslaved all because of me. No, I could not let that happen.

Torn between leaving and staying, I finally decided to send a message to the blacksmith. I figured that if I changed my mind, I could always stay but Darius could run away. There was not much time left so at the end of the first day, I bribed the servant girl with the last of the gold coins and a jewelled necklace and asked her to deliver my letter to the blacksmith. I did not even want to imagine what would have happened to that girl or myself if Alexander found out what I was planning. The girl, however, took the gold and jewellery and left happily without the slightest sign of fear. Then again, she did not know Alexander and his wrath.

There were so many things that I needed to do if I wanted to escape. I wished I could talk to Farhad or anyone else about this but firstly I was locked in my room and aside from that I knew that no one would support this plan. My mother seemed pleased that I was going to be married to Alexander and Farhad had asked me to agree to the marriage so that I could be the queen and use my status to help others. Still, I could not leave without saying goodbye, could I?

The third morning, something happened that changed everything. I was sitting in my room, thinking that I should send someone to Alexander to ask his permission to meet my mother when the door burst open and two eunuchs walked in, announcing my mother's entrance. Surprised and pleased, I rushed to hug her. She held me tight in her arms, her deep indigo eyes filled with tears.

"My sweet Roxanne, are you alright? I have been worried sick. What have you done to yourself?" She was scanning my face closely. Her finger tips caressed the scar on my cheek. I took her hand and kissed it and smiled:

"I am alright mother. How are you and other girls? Are they treating you right?" She did not seem convinced but did not push more. 

"There are not many girls left in the harem. Alexander arranged for most of them to be married to his men and those who were not picked, now are working in the castle. There is only Yalda and four other girls left and they are too young. I heard that they are going to be sent back to their families." 

How wrong I was about Alexander! He had done the best thing possible for those poor girls. I never thought he was capable of doing something this noble. I asked quickly: 

"Did he give you permission to come and see me?" 

She sat on my bed: 

"No, I actually lost hope to see you after I heard what you did and how he sent you to dungeon. I asked him several times to forgive you or at least let me see you but he never gave his permission. Then I heard from Farhad that you were ok and that actually put me at ease a little. This morning though, a servant came in and told me to come to your room immediately and wait here for Alexander. Apparently he has something important to discuss." 

Deep down, I shivered in fear. He had found out, he knew what I had been up to and he wanted to punish me, maybe by hurting the most important person in the world to me. My mother took my hand.

"What happened sweetheart? You are so pale, are you alright? Tell me what is wrong, you are..." 

A servant cut her words as she ran inside and announced the entrance of Alexander. I rushed to get my veil and fix it on my face. I still was not comfortable to be without it, even though I knew he would want me to take it off. The door opened and he came in along with his friend Cleon and another one of his men. Farhad was also with them walking slightly at the back. Shocked and surprised, we curtsied.

He bowed his head slightly and looked at my mother. 

"Thank you for coming my Lady." 

He eyed me quickly but did not acknowledge my presence. My heart skipped a beat by remembering the last time I saw him. A sweet sensation filled up my body and a sudden rush of hotness attacked my face. Thank gods for veil! 

He then turned to his men: 

"You see, there are two doors in this room, one to the garden and the other to the castle. There is not much chance if they want to use the castle door since then they have to go through soldiers and guards. That leaves the garden which probably is their choice. We have to put in as many soldiers as we can to block their entrance."

I looked at them confused as they walked out to the garden to have a look. What was going on? Mother turned to Farhad who was still standing by the door with a serious expression on his face. He was staring at the ground, avoiding eye contact with us. 

" Farhad, what is this?" 

Farhad lifted his head and looked at mother, his dark eyes were filled with concern and worry. Before he could answer, Alexander and his friends came back so he shut his mouth and dropped his gaze. When she saw his silence, mother rushed to Alexander. 

" has something the matter My Lord?" 

He gave a heart warming smile. 

" We received a new report from our spies that Ravi has hired a team of assassins to kidnap princess. He has also sent a new messenger to me with a letter threatening that he will not stop until he gets what he wants." 

He paused as he saw the colour fading from my mother's face. Gently he took her arm and helped her sit down on the bed. 

"Do not worry yourself my lady. We are ready to defend the princess and will not allow anyone to harm you or her. Meanwhile, I believe it is the best if you stay here in her room. I will also arrange for soldiers to guard this room all the time." 

My heart was beating so fast that I thought I would faint. Assassins! I knew about them, they were despicable soldiers who were loyal to no one but the one who paid them. They were the cruellest militia who were skilled in doing the dirtiest jobs, killing, stealing and kidnapping and would not stop at anything in order to get the job they had been hired to do, done.Their crimes were often conducted in full view of the public, often in broad daylight, so as to instill terror and intimidation in their foes. Now they were coming for me!

Darius used to say that if he wanted a job done without it being traced to him, he would use assassins. I knew that no amount of guards could stop them, and no matter where I went, if I ran away, they would find me and bring me to Ravi. Good thing I was escaping that night. Mother's voice brought me back. 

"But you said if we announced the wedding, there was a good chance that Ravi would stop." 

She sounded upset. This time Farhad stepped close. 

"That did not seem to work, my lady. In the message Ravi has sent, he officially declared war unless we handed him princess Roxanne ourselves. He has actually dared to say that even if princess married his majesty, Ravi would murder our king in her bed and take her. That man has no moral or respect for ethics so the marriage is not going to be a barrier for him. My guess is that he is not only after princess, but also greeds after our country. He knows that our lord's army is not ready for another war and thinks conquering this land will be really easy. But I assure you my lady, our lord is most definitely capable of keeping you and our princess safe. Those assassins have no chance of harming you or kidnapping princess." 

Then Alexander was in danger himself, assassins were not only coming to take me, they were going to kill Alexander. I looked at him carefully, he was still avoiding my eyes but I could see no sign of fear in his movements. He was as certain and confident as ever. I felt someone's eye on me and slowly tuned my gaze, just to be met by Cleon's fiery look . My heart beat increased, remembering his shocked eyes on my face when I was rushing to Alexander's room.

Alexander was still discussing room's security with Farhad and his other friend. Another thought came to me. Maybe I could stop this war, Ravi wanted me and if I went to him willingly, I could stop this war and save people and Alexander. What was I thinking? Why did I care what would happen to Alexander?

Alexander was explaining to my mother that his soldiers would start guarding my chamber from tonight. He then turned to his men. 

"I want 15 soldiers to guard this room all the time. Another 20 to stay on the other side of the garden wall and none of them should leave their posts. Understood?"

Cleon paused a second and then replied cautiously:  

"My Lord, I should remind you that our remaining guards are not prepared for a big battle. We have already sent most of soldier to our camp to train and it takes 2 days for them to return. We have around 500 guards left but they are mostly tired or wounded and I do not think they can do the task."

Alexander shot him an angry look. He did not seem pleased with Cleon's answer in front of us so he said: 

"Arrange a big feast tonight for all the men we have here. There should be dancing, drinking and enough food for everyone to enjoy themselves. My men will have a great night and after that I will accept no excuse from anyone. Tomorrow morning I want the guards to be ready at their posts. Am I clear?" 

Cleon nodded and bowed. Alexander took mother's hand and kissed it. As they were about to leave the room, I could not stop myself: 

"But what about you?" 

All eyes in the room turned to me. For the first time since entering the room, Alexander faced me. 

"What do you mean princess?" His voice was strong and warm. 

"How many soldiers will be guarding you? I mean they are coming to kill you, so you will need protection as well." Something was definitely wrong with me, I had lost the control to my tongue.  

He smiled and walked towards me until he was only a step away. I immediately regretted what I had said, what business of mine was it to know how he would take care of himself? He slowly took my chin and lifted my head a little, looking directly at my eyes which were hidden behind the veil. 

"Are you worried about me princess?" 

There was a chuckle in his voice.  

"I am not worried, I just do not want anyone to be hurt because of me." I explained quickly, not wanting him to take this a wrong way. 

His smile widened, he slid his hand behind the veil and caressed my cheek, then slowly moved his fingers to my lips, touching the skin and flesh with his warm hand. 

"Look at me princess, I swear to my honour that I am not going to let anybody harm you or take you away. And do not worry about me, I know how to look after myself, although it feels great to know you care about my safety." 

I looked at his eyes for a moment and my heart skipped a beat. A sudden warmness was poured into my belly and a feeling of safety and security hugged my body. His deep blue eyes were telling me that he would do anything for me. He drew back then and left with no other words, leaving me missing his warm touch.

I was left with my mother who started talking about this new turn of events. I was not listening though, I was thinking about my great escape that night, the guards would be at the party and I could easily get to dungeon. When they found out, I would be so far away leaving behind my beloved mother, my people and two deep blue seas. 

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The time was not passing at all. Mother was busy managing her move to my room with Yalda but first they had to arrange for the girls left in harem to be transferred to somewhere safe. I did not know how I could escape them and get to dungeon.

The night came and my anxiety reached its peak. I could hear laughters and hails from outside, the feast had already started. Soon they would be so drunk that they would either black out somewhere or fall in a deep sleep. My perfect opportunity to get away.

I was thankful that at least on my last day here in castle, I was able to see my mother, to hold her and tell her that I loved her. I finally decided to write her a letter explaining that I was going with Darius and the first opportunity we got, we would come back for them. I asked her not to let Alexander know about my escape at night, so we could have enough time to get far. Now in the small time that she was gone to get the last of her stuff, I would run to the dungeon.

In the exact moment that I was ready to leave my room forever, the door burst open and Farhad walked in. I cursed my luck but waited impatiently to see what he wanted. He bowed and rushed to take my hand. 

"My dear, your presence is needed immediately," 

"My presence? Where? Wait, what are you doing?" 

He dragged me out of room quickly. 

"I do not have much time to explain, what you need to know is that Alexander and his men are going to plunder the town and set fire to everyone and everything and you are the only one who could stop them." 

I stopped with my mouth open. 

"Wait, what? What are you talking about? How is that possible?" 

Farhad took my hand and dragged me behind him again as he was running down the corridor. 

"I said we do not have much time. There is this woman that provided tonight's entertainment for feast with some other girls. She is a vindictive shrew and I thought Alexander had already asked her to leave but it seems she was asked to provide tonight's entertainment before she leaves. All night she danced for Alexander to seduce him, and when she was not successful, she started deceiving him while he drank into thinking that you are marrying him by force and the only reason you may take him is because of this country and people, that you want to become the queen to rule them. Unfortunately, she was successful in getting to Alexander and he and his other drunken men are heading towards town with torches and swords to burn it to the ground." 

I was gasping behind him as we were running to get to those angry soldiers. My hazy mind could not process our situation well. I was really angry, how could that man do this? How could he be such a fool that he would burn down a city for such a naive reason? How could I stop him? He was drunk and was not going to believe me.

At that moment, I had totally forgotten that Darius was waiting for me in dungeon, all my focus and energy was on the task ahead. As We got closer to the castle door, I could hear Alexander's voice followed by drunken hails from his men. 

"We took mercy on them the day we entered this land. We did not take their possessions or their women but we were wrong. This is who we are, this is what we do, we fight and when we win their lives and property belong to us. Go my men, go and get what is rightfully yours." 

"Long live the king" shouted men in response. By then we had reached the angry mob. I gathered my strength and shouted: 

"No, wait." 

Everyone went quite for a moment and turned to see where the voice was coming from. I did not stop though, I walked straightly to where Alexander stood with his drawn and ready sword. He looked at me shocked as if he could not believe his eyes. He waited until I reached him to make sure what he was seeing was not a dream. 

"What are you doing here? Who allowed you to come out of your room and the castle?" He said in a trembling voice as a result of him being drunk. I was not scared this time, I was just thinking of those poor people. 

"Why are you doing this your majesty? Those are your people now, you are their king, why would you want to do that to your own people?" 

He shook his sword angry and hurt and shouted: 

"Those are not my people, this is not my land and that is not my castle. Just like you who would never be my faithful wife. You only want me because of these worthless people and this land but I am not going...." 

He was wobbling around, not being able to keep his balance. I tried to calm him down: 

"You are wrong, you know that once I am your wife I will be loyal to you. And I do not only care about people, this morning I told you I was worried about your safety.." 

A female voice from the crowd yelled: 

"Do not believe her, lets go and finish those people." 

Other men shouted in her support. I was hopeless. A wave of rage came over me, once again others were going to pay because of me. I stepped closer to Alexander and took his arm. 

"Look at me, I care for you and this is the truth, but if you do not believe my words, maybe you believe this." 

With a single move, I tore the veil off my face, stepped on my toes to become level with his foggy eyes and before he could move, kissed him full on the lips. The smell of alcohol filled my head and his bitter taste danced on my tongue, but I did not care. I had missed his soft full lips and his warm breathe against my skin. He hesitated just a second but then took control and dropped his sword, pulling me hard into his hardbody and kissed me back passionately. I did not care that I was unveiled in front of all those people nor did I mind that they were witnessing our kiss. I was safe with Alexander, no one could harm me as long as I was with him.

A familiar cough brought me back, it was Farhad. The reality hit me, I was kissing a man unveiled in front of 100 drunken men. I broke the kiss with a gentle push, grabbed the veil and ran inside. I was so embarrassed that I could not stay for a moment longer. I was happy though, people would be safe now and deep down my heart, I had enjoyed feeling his lips against mine, my guilty pleasure.

I rushed to the dungeon with all my energy, I had to tell my brother that he needed to leave without me. I was going to stay here to be with Alexander. There was no guard in the dungeon as they were all outside. There was a man waiting for me in the smelly corridor of dungeon.  

"Come on princess, the king has been waiting for you for a while." 

He was the blacksmith I assumed so I followed him to one of the cells. There was a big hole on one of the walls showing a long tunnel. Darius was waiting there impatiently for me and when he saw us approaching, he said in an angry tone: 

"Where have you been? Come on, they are coming any moment." 

Like always, I was intimidated by him. I tried to remain strong: 

"I am afraid I can not come with you my lord. You should leave without me, it is better for your safety and here I can make sure that you are not followed." 

His eyes widened in anger, he took my arm in his tight grip and shook me hard. 

"What do you mean you are not coming? Did I give you a choice? Have you forgotten that you have to obey me? You think just because I was down in this dungeon, you could disobey my orders?" 

I was in an excruciating pain, I sobbed as he dragged me to the tunnel. 

"Please my lord, you are hurting me, please let go of me..." 

He did not listen though. 

"You think I would leave you here for that dirty barbarian? I would prefer to kill you rather than.." 

"Let her go Darius!" 

We suddenly stopped and turned to face the voice. Darius still had my arm in his grip. Slowly, Farhad came closer. 

"I am afraid I can not let you take her my lord. Please let her go and then you can escape." 

He looked stoney and serious. Darius was really displeased now. 

"Get out of here Farhad or I will spill your worthless blood. This does not concern you." 

Farhad remained cool. 

"But it does your majesty, I swore to your father that I would take care of her and that is why I can not let you take her. At the moment she would be safe anywhere except with you." 

What was he talking about? Why would I not be safe with my brother? Darius took a sword from blacksmith and faced Farhad. 

"I do not want to kill you because of your loyal service for years so get out before I change my mind." 

Was he really going to kill Farhad? I struggled to get my arm out of his hand but it was no use. My energy was running out from all the running and excitement of that night, there was also not enough air in the tunnel and I was feeling light headed. Farhad still did not move. 

"Let her go or I will call the guards." 

My eyes widened in fear, what would Alexander think if he found out I was planning an escape? Darius was in rage, roaring and cursing Farhad and then in a sudden move he dipped his sword in Farhad's shoulder. Farhad moaned quitely and fell, his blood gushing out and colouring his clothes. I screamed as loud as I could but Darius put one hand over my mouth and with his other one, grabbed my waist and dragged me down the tunnel. I was fainting when I heard Farhad's weak voice calling behind me. 

"Beware of him princess, he is not your brother!" Then everything went black.