#Chapter 36: He’s a Person, Not a Prize

The next morning, when I woke up, I headed straight for the window to look at the sky. Fortunately, there was no cloud in sight. Today, it seemed, I would escape my punishment. One of these days, however, my luck would run out and I would be forced to kneel in the storm and hope my body was strong enough to take it. Elva and I dressed for the day, and hand in hand, we exited our room to head down to breakfast. Just outside of the room, we were greeted by Mark. “Piper. Elva.” He turned toward the two guards standing behind him. “From now on, these two will be personally assigned to you.” Their uniforms were more or less similar to other guards I’d seen, except these ones had green trim around their cuffs. “They are a part of Prince Nicholas’s personal guard,” Mark explained. “You will also find that others on this floor have been replaced, though these two will be outside your door at all times if you need them.” The two gave me soft nods. They seemed nice enough, much nice