"Tie him up!!!" Maia ordered her guards to seize Prince Anders and tie him up again because she is already fed up with his presence and constant meddling!

Beatrix intercedes for Prince Anders. She glared at Prince Anders giving him a look of 'I know what I am doing. Just watch and learn!' Prince Anders worriedly stared at Beatrix and Leader Maia as the two are happily talking to each other like real sisters. He is not being unreasonable! He feels that an impending threat is coming so soon...

Did Beatrix forget that we still need to cross the border before we will become safer from being easily caught and sent back to the capital?

The day of the mating festival finally arrived. Prince Anders and Beatrix did not expect that it will be more lively and interesting than any festival that they previously attended. Since there are a lot of men to choose from, the group of women happily and excitedly cheered! The events are more like tournaments between these women gladiators and their prize is a man of their choice! The rule is simple, a man will be shown to the crowd of fierce women and those who want to spend the night with him will compete! The winner will take the prize!

The first game is horse racing. After the winner was announced, the winner excitedly dragged her crying prize to her own place! The second game is archery, the winner got her prize and placed him on her shoulder like a bag of rice then proceed to her private dwelling! The third game is sword fighting, the winner also got her squirming prize away to her own haven! The fourth game is hand-to-hand combat and soon the winner yanked her screaming prize inside her own comfortable place!

There are fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth up to seventy-ninth games. There are seventy-nine games because there are seventy-nine healthy and good-looking young bandits out of more than two hundred bandits that they successfully captured that night. The mating festival started very early in the morning and all the tournaments ended in the late evening but every second is never a dull moment!

Beatrix and Prince Anders were assigned to sleep in separate huts but their assigned huts are just close to each other. They finally decided to sleep after all the tournaments are finished. They need to rest properly because they will resume their journey to the border early in the morning. As Beatrix sleeps, she dreamed of her first lifetime when she was only a child...

The seven-year-old Beatrix is playing with the eight-year-old Prince Andrew. They are playing chess but she got bored when she only won once and he successfully won thrice!

"I do not want to play this anymore! This is boring!" Little Beatrix complained to Little Prince Andrew.

"What do you want to play?" Little Prince Andrew curiously asked her.

"I like role playing..." Little Beatrix smiled at him.

Little Prince Andrew thought in the meantime then asked. "Do you want to play house? I am the husband and you are my wife?"

"No, I do not want to be a wife! I want to be Empress!" Little Beatrix cutely said.

"And I will be the Emperor!!!" Little Prince Anders who showed up out of the blue immediately shouted.

"Dummy! Why would you be the Emperor?" Little Prince Andrew strongly refused.

"Because Beatrix is the Empress so I will be the Emperor! The Emperor and Empress are meant to be together! I want Beatrix and me to be always together!" Little Prince Anders innocently reasoned then went beside Beatrix. "Beatrix, I will be your Emperor, right? We will always be together, right?" He cutely asked Little Beatrix but he immediately received a severe smack on his head by his twin brother!

"Nonsense! A dummy like you can never become the Emperor!!!" Little Prince Andrew condescendingly told his brother.

Little Prince Anders cried heavily while rubbing his head...

"I will tell Imperial Father and Imperial Mother that you hurt me!!!" Little Prince Anders cried and run away.

When his annoying brother is away. He immediately noticed that Beatrix wore her customized crown made out of several colorful flowers.

"Beatrix, do you want to be my wife when we grew up?" Little Prince Andrew asked.

"No! You want to be a husband but I do not want to be a wife! I want to be the Empress!!!" Little Beatrix proudly declared.

"You really want to become Empress?" Little Prince Andrew asked again trying to confirm if she is serious.

"Yes! I want to be the Empress!" Little Beatrix excitedly confirmed.

He remained silent in the meantime as he considered something in his young mind. Finally, he smiled and hugged Little Beatrix.

"If that is the case, I will be Emperor and you will be my Empress!!!" He seriously vowed to her.

© 2021 Jezel Mandin Sapata-Gentiles. All Rights Reserved.