A servant knocked on my bedroom door, waking me from my nap.

"Your majesty," he said. "Your mother requests your presence in the Royal Hall."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

He stood there, silently.

"Go on, I know where it is. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir," he said, leaving the door open as he walked away.

I was still groggy but forced myself up and worked my way towards the mirror to make myself semi-presentable. One look at my face and I realized it wasn't worth the effort. I threw on the first outfit I could find, then made my way to the other side of the palace.

"Finally," my mother said when I arrived. "Our guest has been waiting patiently. Show him in!"

I stood beside her as she sat on the throne, this time petting what looked like a Pug-Chihuahua mix. I was hoping to get this over and done with as soon as I could. The doors opened, and a shadow of a figure stood in the entrance way. A bulky figure, with wide shoulders and a firm build, holding two large duffel bags as if they weighed nothing. Each step he took was deliberate and solid, planting himself before taking another. This caused him to move forward slowly, but with an unstoppable quality, like a locomotive.

He came into the light and I saw he was not just some ordinary person. He was a man built entirely of perfectly defined muscles.

"He's a former marine," my mom whispered to me. I could tell. Or, rather, I knew he’d been in the army, from the way he was built, I wasn't sure if he was a soldier or a tank. One thing was for sure, if anyone was going to guard my body, I was glad it was him.

He stepped into the light, making his way to stand in front of us, his features slowly coming into focus. He wasn't just a pile of muscles, he had a distinct chiseled jaw, smooth olive skin, and dark brown eyes.

In short, he was absolutely beautiful.

My mother stood and gestured towards him, speaking in her royal tone. "Welcome to Aldonia," she said, "I am Queen Windfra and this is my son, Prince Beau."

"An honor to meet you both," his voice was deep and strong and gave him an added sense of power. He knelt down in front of us and bowed his head.

My mom laughed and shook her hand at him. "No, sir, none of that is necessary. We're very happy you could join us here. Mr. Thomas, I'm sure you're very tired so we'll go over the specific details of your job once you're rested, but for now, your job is just to keep an eye on my son. He is not to leave the palace without you, do you understand, Beau?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes."

"And you understand your duties, as well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Of course..." Kurt said. He trailed off. "I'm sorry, but how do I refer to you?"

"You can call me Windfra if you wish."

"Queen Windfra?"

"Given the nature of our relationship, it's perfectly acceptable for you to drop the label."

"Understood."

"Now," Windfra said, "I apologize, but I should have told you this before you agreed to being here. We don't like wasting space in our palace, so we don't have a formal guest room. Instead, you'll be sharing the room. I hope that won't be a problem." I rolled my eyes. My mother did this to all the guests.

"It shouldn't be," Kurt said.

"You'll still have plenty of space, I assure you."

"Who will I be sharing it with?"

"A Labrador retriever named Foofer," she treated her dogs as if they were people. The dogs had servants taking care of them throughout the day, pampering them. We didn't just adopt the dogs, we provided them with a spoiled existence.

He smiled. "I love dogs. That sounds great," he looked at the dog in my mother's lap. "May I pet him?"

"Her," my mother said. "This is Princess Patricia. The daughter I always wanted."

Kurt walked forward and gently rubbed his hand across the dog, whose eyes closed in response, delighted by the attention.

"Wonderful. Beau, would you be so kind as to show Mr. Thomas to his quarters?"

I looked at my mom, who gave me the royal smile. Of course, I had the right to tell her no, though the way things worked in the palace, it was a lost cause and I'd end up having to show him there anyway. My mother used language as though she was asking, but it was always a command.

"Come with me," I told Kurt.

"Have a wonderful evening, Mr. Thomas and, please, if there's anything we can do to make you more comfortable, don't hesitate to ask."

"Ma'am, err, Windfra, I've slept on rocks in a frozen desert. I think your accommodations will be more than enough to suit me."

He followed me out of the room and through the halls of the palace, full of portraits of past relatives that I couldn't even name. I wouldn’t exist were it not for these people and yet, I walked by them without a moment's thought.

I assumed I was expected to make small talk with Major Muscles. "How was your flight?" I asked.

"Wonderful, thank you," he looked around the halls. "This is quite a place you live in."

"Yeah," I said. "I'm a prince. It's a palace. They don't generally put us in low-rise apartments."

"I get it," Kurt said. "You don't want me here."

"No, I don't want a babysitter."

"If I'm doing my job, you won't even know I'm with you."

"How is that even possible?" I asked. "You're a goddamned mountain. I'm supposed to pretend that there's isn't some six-foot-four, two-hundred-and-eighty-pound guy on my ass everywhere I go?"

"Look, Beau," he said. "I don't want to fight with you. I've got a job to do and part of that job is being as invisible as possible. I'm not your babysitter. I'm not going to tell you what you can or can't do."

No, he wouldn't tell me what I could or couldn't do, but who would want to sleep with me when they’d have to worry about some 80's action star wannabe keeping an eye on things?

On top of that, he'd given me more competition. I was a good-looking guy, nobody could argue with that, but with the right clothes, in the right light, at the right time of day, to the right person, Kurt might, again might, appear to be better looking than me.

Okay, fine. Objectively, he was more attractive than I was. I could offset that with personality, but I still didn't like it.

"This is your room, Kurt," I said, opening the door. Foofer was lying on the bed but perked his head up when he saw there was a new person in the room. He jumped up and ran over to Kurt, putting his paws all over him. Kurt reached out and started petting the dog, who then rolled over onto his back for belly rubs.

The tough military action star Kurt disappeared, replaced by a playful and relaxed man-boy wrestling with a dog. "Who's a good boy?" he said. "Who's a good boy?"

Foofer barked in response. Kurt rubbed his belly and Foofer started twitching his legs.

"So it looks like you two got off on the right foot," I said. "Do you have any questions before I leave you two?

"Where do you sleep?" he asked.

I sighed. "Right next door."

"I need to check to see if it's secure."

I shook my head. "That's not the deal. You're in charge of watching me when I leave the palace. As long as I'm in here, you're on break. My room is plenty secure."

His face turned red. "Oh, sorry."

"If you need anything, there's a bell next to the bed. Ring it and someone will come to help you. I hope you have a wonderful stay," I rolled my eyes and walked away.

"Wait, Beau," he said.

"What?"

"You'll give me a heads up before you leave, right?"

"I won't need to. I'm not allowed to step foot outside the palace without you. Go to sleep."

"Gotcha," he said.

I closed the door and walked to my room. He seemed almost eager to do his job. Almost like he wanted to jump in front of a bullet for me or something.