Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (18 page)

“What are you talking
about?”

“Never mind, go to sleep.”

“Ah, okay.” Her voice barely audible,
it had been a long day.

Chapter
Fifteen

The rain had stopped, and the sky
outside the cave glowed in a red and orange hue. The stiffness and
aching of his body made Ali realize that he was not in his warm and
comfortable bed. He felt something weighing down on his body, when
he looked, he saw that Paramita was sleeping on top of him. He was
about to shake her shoulder to wake her up. But seeing her peaceful
and solemn expression, made him hesitate. Instead, he stroked her
cheek gently.

“Mita, wake up. It’s dawn already.” He
whispered softly.

She stirred a bit, she opened her eyes
a bit. “Mak, just a few more minutes.”

“I’m not Mak Noor….” He
said.

She opened her eyes widely now, staring
at the ceiling of the cave above her, “Oh, that’s right, we’re in a
cave in the middle of the Borneo jungle. Where did you get a
cushion from?”

“It’s not a cushion, it’s
me.”

She sat up almost instantly, “I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Hey, calm down, no harm done.” He
said, “Look, I’m going to check out the perimeter, I want you to
wait here for me, just stay seated, don’t try to walk or even stand
up, I don’t want you to put any pressure on that foot.”

“It’s a small sprain, it’ll get better
by itself, don’t worry about me.”

“I’m not worried about you, first of
all, your father is not going to like the fact that you went with
me to an event and ended up at the bottom of a cliff, and second, I
don’t want to marry a limping bride.”

“Very funny….”

* * *

Paramita was becoming bored. Ali had
left for almost an hour and she didn’t have anything to occupy
herself with. She regretted that she didn’t have her bag with her,
she should have brought it along, and not leave it in the van when
she was entering the restroom, otherwise she would have her pocket
flashlight to allow her to visually explore the small cave properly
or even use it to read the book that she’s currently
reading.

Her stomach started to growl, she
hadn’t eaten since lunchtime at the event’s buffet. At this moment,
her mind is imagining all her favorite food that she hadn’t eaten
since she had arrived at Jothar. She liked the traditional food
that they serve in the palace, because it is a new experience for
her as the same meal that the maids cooked at her mother’s house
were usually missing a spice or two, so they did taste somewhat
different. But at this moment, she would kill to have a portion of
good old fish n’ chips.

A combination of hunger, boredom and
solitude, was making her restless and cranky. “What happened to
Bang Ali?” She said to herself, “He’s taking so long, did he ditch
me here?”

She grabbed hold of a protruding rock
above her head, and pulled herself up with her arms taking care to
not put any weight on her injured leg. When she finally succeeded
to stand up, she leaned her back against the wall to help her
support herself. Slowly she walked out of the cave while tracing
the wall. The sky was already bright, the sound of birds chirping
in the surrounding trees made the scenery around her seem heavenly.
She took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air.

She picked up a rustling sound from her
right-hand side, she tried to see what it could be but, the thick
bushes hid the cause from plain view. Paramita looked around to
find anything that can help her defend herself. There was a long
thick stick of wood on the ground a few meters in front of her, she
hopped towards it, and picked it up. She quickly scanned her
surrounding to find an object that she can lean against. She saw a
big rock about two meters away across the bush that had rustled and
moved, she quickly used the stick she found as a walking stick to
help her reach the rock. She leaned against the rock and pinned her
eyes on the bush, to be aware of any sudden movements.

The bushes moved more rapidly, Paramita
moved her good leg backward and planted her feet firmly on the
ground, concentrating her body weight on it, she lifted the stick,
ready to defend herself.

Suddenly, the leaves parted and Ali
came out. He had a surprised look on his face, seeing Paramita in
front of him armed with a stick, ready to hit him.

“I left for not more than an hour, and
you’re already going to beat me up?” He asked.

“If I knew it was you, I would have
clubbed you immediately without a warning.”

“And risk losing your pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow?”

She looked at his right hand, “Where
did you get those bananas?”

“There were some banana trees, over
there by the river. I had to pull out the ripe bunches. By the way,
didn’t I tell you to stay put?”

“You did. However, I chose to ignore it
after waiting for so long.”

“You’re so stubborn, let me put these
bananas away first then I’ll help you to sit down, we have to eat
quickly.”

“Don’t worry, I found this stick, I can
use it to help me walk.” She said while using the stick to help her
walk over to him.

He didn’t say anything, but put his arm
around her and helped her to the dry spot where he had left the
bananas.

“The rain was so heavy last night that
it caused a landslide over where you fell yesterday. I saw that
there is a small trail to the east of here, I suspect it leads to
the village since the village is also towards the east, but I can’t
be sure.”

“Wait, didn’t you say that the Royal
Guards were coming for us?”

“Yes, but if they don’t find their way
here by late morning, we have to try to find our way back to the
village ourselves. Unless, you want to spend another night
here.”

“Hilarious…..”

Suddenly there was a man’s voice
calling from above them, “Raden…..Raden…..Raden Ali.”

Ali looked at Paramita then answered
back, “We’re here.”

“Raden, I’m Suparta the Village Chief,
the captain of your guards, asked me to tell you that, the guards
are on their way right now, they will probably take about two hours
or so to reach you, because they have to go around this cliff. Last
night’s rain caused mud to block the usual path and the main road
leading to this area.”

“Mr. Suparta, I saw a small footpath
close to the river that seems to head eastward, does that footpath
lead to the village?”

“It does, Raden, but if you use that
path, you’ll have to eventually cross the river to reach the
village, and that’s not advisable because of the
current.”

“Mr. Suparta, which way should we go,
if we want to meet the guards halfway?”

“Raden, you have to walk towards the
south, then when you reach the bottom of the cliff there, you’ll
find a footpath, follow the path towards the left. Just follow that
footpath, and it will take you to the main road, I think it would
be a good idea to wait for your guards there, if you do not want to
wait here. You shouldn’t go further because that side of the forest
is dangerous, there are some illegal loggers that do their
activities there. They can be violent at times. They’re likely to
avoid people traveling in groups, but if they see only a man and a
woman, they wouldn’t hesitate to harm you.”

“Okay, thank you Mr. Suparta. Do you
know if the guards have contacted the palace, to inform them about
us?”

“Yes they have, Raden. Last night. They
said that His Majesty Sultan has ordered the commander of the Royal
Guards to come here personally to head the rescue mission, His
Excellency the Minister will also be coming here.”

“Rescue mission?” Paramita asked. “Do
they really need to go to that extent?”

“You are the daughter of the Sultan.”
Ali replied.

“Well, I guess that’s one
reason.”

“Mr. Suparta, we are going to head to
the main road, since Her Highness Puteri is injured, we will be
proceeding slowly.”

“Yes Your Excellency.”

Ali turned to Mita, “Let’s eat first.
We shouldn’t go on an empty stomach, it’ll be dangerous if I can’t
tell the difference between the growl of a wild animal and your
stomach.”

“You’re such a clown.” She smiled
playfully.

After they finished eating, Ali helped
her to get up and walk to the direction given by Village Chief
Suparta. The ground was soft and muddy because of the rain the
previous night. This made Paramita’s make shift walking stick sink
every time it hit the ground.

“Here, lean on me.” He said to her,
“It’ll be faster than having to pull that stick out of the mud
every time you take a step.”

“Amazing, for once you’re actually
saying something that makes sense.” She replied while putting her
arm around his shoulder.

Ali stopped, and tickled her waist,
“What did you say?”

Paramita laughed and wriggled around, a
leaf under her feet moved due to the pressure, and caused her to
slip. Ali quickly threw his other arm around her to prevent her
from falling. As she straightened her body, their lips accidentally
touched. Paramita immediately bowed her head, feeling
embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, it was an accident.”
Whispered Ali.

“No problem.” Her heart was pounding so
hard, she couldn’t hear anything else.

“Okay, let’s continue, otherwise we’ll
never get out of here before dark.”

They continued walking together,
Paramita felt restless, that they haven’t reached the bottom of the
cliff yet. “Are you sure we’re going the right way? I mean in this
dense forest, how do you know we’re actually going north or not?””
She asked him.

“Of course, look, here.” He showed her
his watch. “Since we had an event in a remote location, I wore my
watch that has a compass on it. See, I’m not as useless as you
think.”

“Who would have known that you’re
actually my type?” She said in a serious tone. “Too bad you’re
taken, well your heart at least.”

“Taken?”

“Yeah, too bad you already have someone
you love, otherwise you are my ideal type of guy.”

“Ideal? In what way?” He
asked.

“Well, you’re very smart, mature,
far-sighted, understanding, and I have to admit you are handsome.
Too bad you’re the wrong kind of Arab though. But still you’re a
very good catch. Dewi is a very lucky woman.”

“What wrong kind of Arab?”

“Yeah, you know, the kind in romance
novels, a sheik or sovereign prince from an exotic desert
country.”

“Ha...ha…ha….” He laughed. “Yeah, don’t
you remember that I’m going to marry up the social ladder to get
the title prince? So you think that I’ll make a good
husband?”

“Oh yes, you will.”

He smiled, “You’re quite blunt. So how
can you compliment a man without even blinking or feeling shy about
it?”

“I’ve decided to not see you as a man.”
She said frankly.

“Umm…., and what does that supposed to
mean? If I’m not a man, am I an orangutan or something?”

“No, silly. I mean, you already have
someone, so I need to see you in a platonic way, you know, kind of
like a big brother.”

“Big brother in law?” He
asked.

“No, no….I don’t see myself with
Hafiz.”

“So who do you see yourself
with?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t found my Mr.
Right, yet.”

“Maybe you have, but you haven’t
realized it.”

“I don’t think so. One of the criteria
that Mr. Right should have, besides being my type, is that he
should love me. So I still have to wait for him to
appear.”

“How would you know that a man loves
you? Does he have to come up to you and say it?”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with
saying: “I love you” once in a while.”

“You know in most cases, actions speak
louder than words, especially for a man. A man can say I love you
to a handful of women. But sometimes he doesn’t really feel that
deeply for her. I mean he could easily let go of her and forget her
because he doesn’t feel the emotional need to be with her, have her
by his side and make her only his. But when a man really loves a
woman, no words can describe how she makes him feel.”

“Oh? And what feelings are
those?”

“Well, good feelings. Like, wanting to
protect her, to be by her side every day, to see her smile, to talk
to her and listen to her jokes. There’s also some not so good
feelings, worrying if she thinks about another man, not matter who
that man may be. He’d also feel passion and desire for her and only
her, more than he had before.”

“Yeah, well unless he is in love with a
psychic that would be difficult for the woman to know what he feels
for her.”

“If she wasn’t so stubborn, maybe she
could tell by the way he behaves towards her and by the things he
says to her. But then again, her stubborn nature is perhaps
something he loves about her.”