Chapter 11

Daniel ordered his guards from the palace to follow him. He sent for Steve, the chief of the guards. Meanwhile Nick was by his side, ready to protect and serve him.

Steve entered the hall where Daniel had summoned him, accompanied by George and Adrian. None knew what this was all about, wondering what Daniel had in mind. They didn’t have to wait long. As soon as they bowed before him, Daniel addressed them in a grave voice.

“Steve, I want you to take 10 of your best men and follow me, Nick, George and Adrian to the orphanage. We have an arrest to make. There are four trouble makers there who need to be taught some manners. You will put them behind bars for a month. Then depending on their behavior, I will decide what to do with them. But they are to stay in prison for at least a month, got it?”

“Of course, your Highness. The men will be ready in 10”, said Steve, bowing again as he was already exiting the hall to gather his best ten men.

“We will meet in front of the castle gates then”, Daniel said examining Nick's face. By what Nick had told him, these boys had to be locked away. They were a peril for everyone else. But they were still young. Maybe a month in prison would make them reconsider their lives. He was willing to offer them a second chance. If after a month spent in the dungeons they were willing to change, to give up their old lifestyle, he was willing to help them, even offer them jobs in his army, as soldiers. But first they had to pay for their deeds and a month in his cells would be their punishment.

One hour later Miss Eveline saw the Prince and his guards in front of the orphanage gates. She knew something was wrong so she almost had a heart-attack from the panic. But then she decided she had better go out and see what it was all about. She put on her most humble look hoping that whatever this was all about, the Prince would take pity on her. She thought he had come to arrest her for feeding the kids only scraps and taking most of the money for herself. She swore to herself that if she got out of this, she would never steal the money destined for the kids' food. She would be better, she would feed them better food, she would even buy them chocolate once a month, she would… But her thoughts were interrupted when she got in front of the Prince and his men.

She bowed before him, trembling, shaking, almost fainting with fear. She didn’t dare address him, she waited for him to give the sentence that would change her life, turning her into a prisoner into one of the cold dungeon cells. Cold sweat was running down her face, along with guilt for all the years she had only fed the children from the orphanage scrappy meals while she took the rest of the money for herself. She was prepared to promise anything to avoid prison. She fell on her knees in front of Daniel even before he had a chance to speak. Then as she looked up at him, she saw Nick, one of the boys from the orphanage, standing right by Daniel's side, nicely clad and armed. Now she was sure, they had come to arrest her. Nick must have told the Prince, he must have complained about the food. But she had no idea how he got to stand next to the Prince, as it was obvious as daylight that Nick was working for him now.

“I have come to make an arrest, in the name of the King!” Daniel said in a clear and powerful voice.

The moment he said those words, Miss Eveline could bear it no longer. She was ready to admit it all, to beg, to promise, to do anything to avoid prison. She knew she wouldn’t make it in prison, she would die there. She tried to utter something, but the words froze on her lips and she just mumbled something unintelligible. Not even she could understand what she had just uttered. She decided to make another try, to speak up. In vain. Words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. It was as if her lips had been glued to one another. Finally, she fell to the ground, unable to speak.

“What’s wrong with her? Pick her up!” said Daniel while looking at Miss Eveline and wondering if she was sick.

Nick unmounted his horse and helped Miss Eveline up. She was conscious, but he could feel her body shivering although it was pretty hot outside.

“I’m sorry….”, Miss Eveline finally managed to babble in a low voice, hardly audible at all.

“You should be for not turning in trouble makers like Clark and his friends! They are under arrest, we are going in. Follow us, Miss, and explain to the other kids what's going on. Also tell them to behave if they don't want to end up like Clark, ok?” said Daniel, while he was unmounting his horse, followed by Steve and the other guards.

Miss Eveline couldn’t believe her ears. They hadn't come to arrest her, but Clark and his gang! She couldn’t believe it, this was just great, she was going to get rid of them without having to fear their revenge. A minute ago she almost had a heartattack and now she was so happy. Life at the orphanage would be a lot quieter without those boys, her life would be a lot better without them, they were always bringing trouble wherever theywent. She was so glad to get rid of them. But the fright, the possibility of being arrested, that was something she didn’t want to go through ever again. So as she was following the Prince, she made a promise to herself that she would serve the kids better meals and that she would indeed be a better person.

Clark, Chris, Dave and Greg were having lunch at one of the tables. All the kids were in the canteen, having lunch. Angela and Rose were in their usual spot, in the corner of the canteen, enjoying their lunch when Daniel entered, accompanied by his men. They were all so shiny, so distinguished, in comparison to everything else that was surrounding them.

Angela almost choked on her food when she saw Daniel there, in the canteen, at the orphanage. But it was obvious he wasn't there for her, he was surrounded by too many men. She put down her fork and looked, wondering what was going on, wondering if he saw her there…

Then she saw Daniel's men arresting Clark and the other three. Which was a good thing. Who was she kidding? It was a great thing, but it wasn't enough. What about her? Was he going to ignore her now that he saw her with the other orphans? Yesterday she seemed good enough for him….

The guards were already departing with their catch. But Daniel, Nick, George and Adrian stood behind. Miss Eveline started trembling again, thinking she wasn't out of the woods just yet, thinking that maybe now it was her turn to be arrested. All the children and a few nurses were watching the scene, wondering what was going to happen next, but a sense of relief was on everybody's face as Clark and his gang had just been placed under arrest.

As Miss Eveline was about to plead for mercy, Daniel saw Angela in her corner, next to another skinny girl whom he realized was her roommate, Rose, the one that Angela had spoken of.

Daniel went right past Miss Eveline who swooned as he passed by her, hitting her head on the way down against one of the tables. The nurses rushed to her help. He saw that she was attended to, so he went straight to Angela and Rose's table, to everyone else's amazement.

All the kids in the orphanage had dropped their forks and spoons, witnessing this once in a lifetime scene. The Prince in their orphanage, making an arrest and heading towards a girl from the orphanage, who was just as poor as themselves, just an orphan, like all the other kids there…

“Hello, Angela”, the Prince said, smiling his sweetest smile at her. “This must be Rose, nice to meet you”, he went on as he shook Rose's hand. Then, he addressed Angela again, just as Miss Eveline was coming to her senses.

“Would you like to meet my parents, Angela?”

Miss Eveline almost fainted again when she heard that and she had to take a seat at the table to avoid it. No one in the canteen could believe what they were seeing and hearing. Then, all the kids started applauding and cheering. Angela blushed, not sure that this wasn't just a beautiful dream. Then he kissed her in front of everyone else, her, a poor orphan….Nope, this wasn't a dream, it was as real as she was, this was really happening, the Prince of Green Valley had just kissed her in front of witnesses. So he really liked her…

“I would love to meet your parents, as I haven’t met mine” she said smiling and crying at the same time.

Daniel took her hand and they mounted his horse, followed closely by Nick, George and Adrian.

One year later, she was the Queen of Green Valley, next to Daniel, her husband, as the old king had died, leaving the throne to Daniel. Daniel was King now, ruling the kingdom with her.

Rose became her maid, as she already was her friend. She never had to starve again.

Miss Eveline kept the promise she made to herself and she never again starved the children.

As for Igor, that's another story. He was out there, somewhere, free, waiting for an opportunity to take her ring. But now, Angela wasn't alone anymore, she had Daniel and his army at her disposal. And she told him all her secrets, about the ring, about her costume and about the mysterious stranger. Daniel realized it could only be his uncle, Igor, but it didn’t matter. He wasn't going to let Angela out of his sight, he was going to protect her for as long as he lived. But as he knew her, she might be the one protecting him and Igor had better think again before attacking her.

Green Valley was a better place. Angela still used her leather costume to protect her identity and roamed the streets looking for anyone who needed her help. The fact that she was now

Daniel's wife didn’t change that, she still wanted to use her skills to help those in need. With time, Daniel got used to this and didn’t try to stop her anymore. She had proved him more than once that she could take care of herself and at the same time be useful not just with good decisions regarding the kingdom, but also being out there, among the people, helping the helpless…