"Have you ever wondered how we all got here? why we are where we are right now?"

"They're coming , they're coming" , The maids yelled as they ran across the palace. Mailee , a maid of the T(h)ao Kingdom , along with 5 other maids , ran into the Princess's room. She opened the curtains and sat down to the princess.

"child , wake up , the Shang Kingdom is coming today." , She whispered to the princess who was slowly gaining strength to wake up. Princess Payang slowly rose and looked around. She saw a line of cheery faces in front of her. She quickly jumped and walked to her changing room. The princess took off her clothes and put a robe on. The princess walked around her big room admiring the characteristics of the room. 

"Your bath is ready , your highness." , a maid quickly bowed to the princess .

The princess smiled , "Thank you." , The princess walked to the tub that was the imperial bathroom. She untied her robe and lift herself into the bath tub She close her eyes as she sat in the bath was chest high. Her hair was still dry so she rn her wet hands through her hair. The bubbles and flower petals covered the surface of the water and she inhaled the moment. Suddenly , she heard foot steps, but they were like her maid's footsteps. They were heavy and rushed. She was startled and opened her eyes immediately.She saw a silhouette through the thin wall. 

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" , She asked tried standing up. She walked out the bath tub and threw on her silky robe. She walked closer to the paper thin wall with the silhouette. As she walked closer a boy , about her age fell on his face.  She jumped back from him but then quickly helped him up.

"Are you okay?" , She asked him as she looked up at him. He was handsome , He had a strong bone structure and big brown eyes. 

"Oh , yes , i'm fine , thank you , I'm sorry ." , He quickly brushed himself off. 

"what were you doing there?" , She questioned him suspiciously as she glanced at his face.

"I'm sorry , I forgot my manners.", He bowed , "I'm the crowned prince of the Shang Kingdom."

"oh , sorry ." , She bowed back ,"I'm Payang , the princess of the T(h)ao Kingdom. " 

"oh , yes , well , If only our princess were this beautiful ." , He said to the princess who was startled by the compliment.

"Thank you?" , She smiled at him behind her , she could hear foot steps. One of the maids suddenly ruined the moment opened the door. She immediately pushed the prince to the floor hiding from the maid who was coming in .

"Oh princess , are you ready? the other royals are here." , The maid said as she walked in .

"Oh yes , Please give me a minute though. please . thank you.", She asked the maid with a gentle voice , The maid bowed and walked out. The prince looked up at the princess who seemed to play it off well.

"I'm sorry for pushing , just didn't want you to get in trouble with the staff .", She apologized at the prince who was surprisingly smiling.

"It's okay , thank you though, ", He smiled at the princess and brushed himself off again. 

"Well maybe you should get going before you get in trouble , prince.", She told him who was staring blankly at him .

"Yes , yes I should.", He said snapping back into reality, She smiled at him and directed him to a secret passage way.

"This is a secret passage way , it leds to a garden , just keep waking and there will be a door , open it and the garden is there. ", She said to him ,"Don't get into anymore trouble  and take care of yourself." 

  The prince rubbed his neck walking into the dark passage way. He smiled to himself drawing the princess's face in his mind and feeling her warmth. He was led by the bright light of day time. He finally made it to the garden. He admired the scenery of the garden and reached into his pocket. He searched his pocket looking for a ring. 

"it's not here.", He mumbled to himself , "aish , I probably dropped it." 

The prince was about to run into the passage way again until he was stopped by some guards , "Prince Xia , The Kings are expecting you. Come with us."

The prince was frustrated but figured he'd come back for it later that night. The prince walked with the guards to the royal dining room and sat with the kings. He saw his father with the king of the T(h)ao kingdom along with a son of the T(h)ao kingdom.

"Oh , prince Xia , you're here. come , sit." , The king of the T(h)ao kingdom said to the prince. The prince bowed and sat down quickly with the others. They talked about exchanging cultures and all the politics which the prince seemed very interested in. Suddenly , 2 women walked in , it was the same princess he had met earlier , she was wearing a white and gold chinese robe . Her hair was elegantly tight up in a bun with jewelry symbolizing her kingdom's strength. The other woman was the queen , she wore her queen with a high head in a blue and gold chinese robe. The two kings and two prince stood up and bowed as the two ladies made their way to the tables. They ate breakfast together then the younger ones were dismissed. Prince was invited by Prince Komeng to do a little fencing in the court yard. Princess followed them to the court yard minding her own business. She sat in the audience watching them along with the staff there. The boys were fencing and shooting arrows for a while until it go dark. Princess eventually got tired and walked back to her . Seeing her leave , Prince Xia excused himself. As the princess went to her room , she walked to the bathroom , she took the robe and changed into a night gown. As she changed something pinched her foot. She jumped then bent down to see what it is.  She stared at the diamond that glistened on the floor. She picked up , it was ring with a princess cut diamond. Inside the ring , it had "Forever I will love you." engraved . She smiled and held it as she walked through the passage way . She opened the door to the garden and sat on the beautiful bench that was in the garden balcony. She played around with the ring that she held and stared up at the sky.She was happily admiring the stars that comforted her.

"Knock , knock" , the prince said as he surprised her. He walked towards her slowly. The wind blew her hair softly , and she shyly smiled.

"This must be yours." , She asked him who was walking towards her.

"Yeah , it is mine . Or my mother's actually , she gave it to me before she passed away.", He told her as he sat down next to her . She handed the ring to him. He took it and put it in his pocket and they watched the stars.together. Talks about the future , life and having a normal life occurred  The two had a strong bond. They talked and laughed until the sun came up. 4 days passed and time with the T(h)ao kingdom was amazing for Prince Xia. But everything changed within moments. It was a dark and rainy night. The whole week the shang king had been trying to persuade the T(h)ao kingdom to give up their traditions for the chinese culture and name finally the T(h)ao kingdom refused. The Shang kingdom was furious and declared war. Princess Payang had fallen in love with the enemy and Princess Xia had fallen in love with their enemy. Two worlds apart , The princess was torn. She cried herself to sleep in her bedroom . She was banned to see Prince Xia ever again and as her father's wishes , she obeyed them. But suddenly as she cried , there was a sudden rush through the door. She looked up and it was prince Xia. She was startle. He wiped her tears and began to speak.

"It wasn't suppose to en like this. From  the first day I met you , I had fallen in love you. So , Will you marry me? Run away with me and we can start a family and have a noraml life , like we always wished. " , He begged her on his knees. She was hesitant , leaving her family , leaving the kingdom , it would be so wrong if she left. but she agreed and she stood up . The princess quickly changed into comfortable traveling clothes and informed her most trustworthy maid and she told her mother about what she planned. Her mother was hesitant also but agree , that it was the best. She packed a bag , it had all her precious belongs in their 6 gold & jade bracelets that were charmed , her crown and everything that meant a lot to her. With a sack of food and a bag the Prine and princesses ran of together , far away from the war . 

After almost 18 years of the war  the T(h)ao was defeated and have migrated down into South East Asia. And for the Prince and the princess , that year was both joy and happiness. Although Princess's kingdom had lost , the couple had been expecting their first,child , soon after , the family was complete , because they had had given birth to 5 more daughters.