THE PRINCESS WHO DID NOT NEED SAVING.
I squinted as I tried to protect my eyes from the harsh sunlight that helped my war paint dry quicker than it usually would. It was brought to my notice that a soldier had stumbled into our territory and was demanding on top of his voice for some princess. The people of the tribe required my attention as the man was a strong opponent who possessed a magic weapon that killed a person from a far distance. With great reluctance, I left the tree stump that served as a seat and tightened the animal skin covering my lady parts. Upon getting to the meeting place, I heard a rather loud familiar voice that I had not heard in a very long time and it was a voice I did not miss at all. “Sir Henry, what brings you to this side of the woods” I spoke out loud as I emerged from my spot, he turned around and his eyes widened with confusion. It took him two minutes of openly gawking at me before he regained his speech and stuttered “P-princess Pandora, is-is that you?” I rolled my eyes before nodding to answer him, clearly, he had more questions, because he spent a long time asking questions to which he formulated answers, this continued till I got tired of hearing his annoying voice and interrupted him “Look here Henry, I am flattered that father found it important to send you, his most valued knight into a place as dangerous as this to retrieve me, but as you can see, I am happy and I have absolutely no intention of returning back to that place” he looked bewildered, “But the inhabitants of this place are cannibals and you were kidnapped, how can you stay here knowing your life is at risk and you can be eaten any day? You even have that ridiculous paint all over your body with these irritating things as clothes” I was beginning to lose patience, “Have you noticed that since you got here no one has attempted to eat you? Calm down, I will not go back to that kingdom where all I have to do is wave and look pretty, I will stay here instead because I actually have a job here that is important. I do not need saving, as you can see, I can do it for myself. Now please kindly leave, even if these folks do not eat humans anymore, they can cause you serious body damage. Tell father to not worry about me, I am not leaving, he should not bother trying.” Sir Henry’s mouth was left wide agape and for the first time, I had the pleasure of not hearing his aggravating voice. I signaled to the guards who escorted him out of the arena and the territory as a whole. Surprisingly, it seemed that my speech had silenced him, because he left without a fuss. I settled comfortably into my seat, it was well deserved after all the difficulties I surmounted to get there and all the things I changed in the community. Later that day, I addressed my subordinates “We have to prepare for war, something tells me this is not the last I will hear of my father, he never backs down without a fight”
©Temple Damilola