The Royal Contract

She finally fell asleep on the bed after her meal. She eventually succumbed to her fatigue body from her sleepless night. But it was short-lived when she was awoken again by a terrible dream.

She quickly crawled to the edge of the bed, clinging to the bedpost for support. After a few heavy breathing, the air finally reached her brain and cleared the fog that prevented her from thinking clearly.

"It is just a dream." She mentally told herself, unable to make any sounds. She still felt that her voice was caught up in her throat as she still gasped for air, trying to calm her trembling body.

After a few more minutes, she finally looked up and checked the window. It was still daylight, probably in the middle of the afternoon. Still, no sign of Nick. 

Nick gone meant good news for her and Alex. Maybe Samson was telling the truth. Nick must have some problems with his company that he had to attend to.

She believed that besides loving himself, the only thing Nick loved was his company and making money. Because it symbolized power. 

"Come on. Snap out of this." She told herself as she stood from the bed and peeked at the window. 

It was probably hot outside, just like Samson said. She barely saw a guard on the ground exposed to the sun. They were probably on the side of the house, sheltering away from the blazing heat.

Thankfully, despite being an old house, her room was fully air-conditioned. She did not have to suffer the heat outside. But her thoughts quickly shifted to Alex, who probably was suffering from shortness of breath because of the heat.

A tear again dropped in her right eye, but she abruptly wiped it away. Crying would never solve her problems, remembering what her father always told her when he saw her sobbing in a corner.

"One, two, three..." She counted, trying to distract herself from her thoughts. Then, she saw a movement in the far corner of the house.

A group of men was moving with their guns pointed at the ground. They seemed to be relaxed but moving fast. She wondered where they were going. But they were gone when they turned on the corner.

She counted at least seven men with heavy rifles in their hands. She began to think of all the men loitering around the perimeter during the day. But hid during the afternoon away from the sun.

"That was it." An idea came to mind. Well, not a full-proof escape plan, but it was a start. 

If she would convince Samson to take her out, it should be during the afternoon when the heat of the sun was in full force. In that way, the men would either be idle on the side, sleeping or playing.

It was too ambitious for her to hope that they might be drinking while on the job. But who knew, mice did play when the cat was away. It could help her case if some of them could be intoxicated on the job.

Then, a knock came through her door, startling her in the process. She quickly stepped away from the window. She did not want to get caught spying outside.

"I am sorry to disturb you, your highness. One of my men is about to go to town. I am wondering if you need anything. I can ask him to buy it for you." Samson spoke as soon as he entered the room.

He knew that women needed a lot of stuff. He had two sisters that bugged him all the time to buy them different kinds of hair care and another one for the body. Then, there was the assorted female hygiene that he did not want to think about.

Anyway, so far, the only things he was able to give her were oversized clothes that he bought in a flea market. He did not realize that his boss would kidnap her without preparing the basic stuff.

"Oh!" She was surprised by his offer. Come to think of it, she did not even think of those things. "You will do that for me." She asked, finding it sweet that he could be that thoughtful.

It only confirmed that her gentle giant was indeed a good man who only acted tough out of necessity. This was her opportunity to explore her chance to get out of here.

"It is the least we can do for you since we are keeping you out here, in the middle of nowhere." He said, understanding her situation.

He looked around the room and noticed she had nothing of her own. Nothing she could use except for the clothes that she wore at the moment. 

He mentally noted to ask his buddy to buy another set of clothes. She would need to change, he thought. Suddenly, he felt terrible that he was a part of this mission to keep her here.

"Well, I will definitely need some things." She spoke up, buying her time to make a list. 

She had to come up with a plan asap. Use this opportunity to seek his help or use him if he would not cooperate willingly with her idea. But what was her idea?

She ran her fingers in her long, wavy, tangled hair, thinking deeply about what she should do. She asked for a pen and paper to write down the items, delaying the time.

"Just put them on the list, and we will try to find them," Samson said to her, assuring her that it was ok.

He suggested, stepping further inside the room to hand her a piece of paper he found inside his jacket and a pen. That would do for now.

"There is actually one thing that I want to ask of you." She began, dropping her arms at her side, forgetting about writing anything.

If she kept waiting for an opportunity, it might never happen again. Fate had already presented her with one as she faced the giant man before her, alone in the room.

"What is it?" He asked, eager to help her in her need.

He did see her as a sister that he had to take care of. Not a prisoner that should suffer in this condition. If she was his sister, he would never allow anybody to treat her like this.

But he had a job to do. Although he did not sign up for this, it was the job given to him. He needed the money to pay for the bills. 

He was never good at anything, but his size did help land him this opportunity to earn. He would be damn to compromise his income, but it did not mean that he had to be cruel to their captive.

"Well," Dani closed her eyes, gathering some strength and guidance on how she should proceed with her following sentence.

She had no idea how he would react to what she was about to ask of him. She would be a fool to assume that he would agree to her plan that easily.

"What is it?" He looked at her with curiosity written on his face. He wondered what she needed. It seemed that she was shy to tell him. He could think of several things in his mind, but he might be wrong.

"Will you help me escape with my husband?" She spilled the question out of her lips before she changed her mind and lost her nerve to say it.

She knew it was a big ask, but she had to try. She had asked him to betray his boss and teammates to help her. She had to find a reason why he should choose to assist them.. Because, as of now, it was their only hope.