Mated to the Alpha Knight

“Sheika Naya, Sheik Harun and his family have arrived,” Cora, her daya, told her.

Naya looked down, as if trying to protest against what that day held for her. “Daya Cora,” she muttered, almost on the verge of breaking down. “I don't want this,” she uttered, voice cracking along with the trembling of lips.

Cora served as her daya or nanny, she had been with her ever since she was three. Cora watched her grow, she knew all her heartbreak, hopes, and dilemmas.

She moved closer to Naya, took her hands and pulled it closer to her heart. “I could only wish I had the power to change the course of your life, Naya,” she sighed, while fixing Naya's burqa.

“Harun is just like my father, even if he is taking me away from the corners of this palace, I am sure that he is just going to give me the same world— probably even worse.”

“This has been happening in your culture even before you were born. Even up to now, women are only expected to do what men would ask them to,” she explained, tears flowing from her eyes, as she softly caressed the sheika's face.

“Help me,” Naya begged while keeping a strong grip on her daya's wrist.

“How?” she quickly replied, wondering about the strange possibility that she can do for the princess.

“Help me escape, Daya Cora, please.”

“How can we do that?” Cora curiously and worriedly asked her, feeling sure that no escape plan could ever outsmart the strict ruling of Sheik Rashid—- Naya's father and the ruler of Kingdom of Azhamir.

Naya frowned, allowing her tears to start falling from the outer corners of her eyes.

“Death,” she hissed, turning her head towards the direction of the window. “If it is the only way to get myself freed from all of these.”

“No!” Cora growled, and then covered her mouth with her hand as she started to tone down her voice. “I am not letting you do that,” she added.

“What kind of life is this? I don't have freedom, and I can't even make my own choices.” She sneered, moving her gaze around her room that was luxuriously designed with real gold and everything royal.

Her duvet was soft, filled with fine feathers that went very well with her cushion. Her sheets were a mixture of satin, silk, and velvet. The whole area is filled with the sweet woody fragrance of uod that was exclusively created for her.

“Sheika, please….”

“Stop calling me sheika or princess!” She demanded, allowing all the heavy emotions to take over her mind. “My life is far from being one! This is slavery!”

Cora moved to hug her, calming her as she had broken down already. “You know that I spent my entire life serving and loving you, and I am willing to do everything for you to see the world that you truly deserved.”

In their tradition, a woman would wear a burqa during engagement. It's a garment worn by the Azhamirn Women that covers the entire body with only a thin sheet of mesh to cover the eyes.

“Take it off,” she ordered Naya as she was taking off hers too.

“What?” she wondered, but quickly did as her daya said. “They will kill you!” she exclaimed,, realizing that her daya would switch Burqa with her and pretend to be her.

“If it is death that will set you free, then be it!”