The Runaway

Chapter 9

The next day is upon me. I'm so nervous.

I got the pants and shirt on, but I don't know how to put the boots or gloves on. The boots are knee high, and the gloves go to the middle of my upper arms. I don't want to scrunch the clothes.

How did she make all these so fast? It takes me a long time to write a word pretty, let alone make complicated outfits.

The belt is confusing too. She mentioned some part of it wrapping around my leg. There are a bunch of clips on it to hook weapons onto.

How does mystery guy do it? I have to find him. I don't know enough about him to find him. Luna would help me. I take the boots, gloves and belts with me.

The door is unlocked. To be fair, it wasn't locked last night when I came back. The maids must have left it open after they changed the bed. It was beautiful last night. Now. not so much.

I venture through the hallways, passing a few elvins on the way. They seem busy.

Once I get to the door, I knock on it. After a moment the door is opened. It's Darian. He bows, I bow back, and he smiles. Everyone here is adorable. He steps out the way and I walk in; he closes the door.

Luna isn't here.

"Where is Luna?"

He points to an arched doorway with dark purple, velvet curtains over it. He sits on his chair, crosses his ankle on his knee and grabs the paper that was reading on the console table besides the chair.

I venture through the curtains to a small room with many more rolls of fabric. She has another paper, resting on a piece of wood on her arm. The quill in her other hand. A smile grows on her gracious face.

"Good morning, Vivi."

"Hiiiiiii. I need your help."

She turns to face me. "With what?"

I hold up all the things. "I don't know how to put any of these on."

She walks over to a corner and pulls out a stool.

"Sit here."

I do so. She takes the boots from me. Oh, there were zippers on the sides. She shows me how to do the button on the top that stops the zipper from going down, how to re-lace them so they fit better. She shows me how to put on the belt and take it off and what all the little buttons and straps were for. The gloves were the most confusing. They had about 6 straps each and many pieces.

I should have written notes. This is so complicated for no reason.

"Thank you."

"Of course, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything else."

She's so sweet. I love these people. They would definitely help me run away. I leave, waving to Darian on the way out.

My nerves are a mess. I know what to do, I know how to slow down the process but he's intimidating. Hasn't said anything to me, looked at me once and we've seen each other twice but I'm so scared.

I get back to the room and wait. Wait for a long time, it feels. All I've been doing is wait during my stay here.

I fold up my poor dress. It isn't a light beige-pink anymore. It has dirt on it, the edges are torn. It was such a beautiful dress.

These pants feel so tight, so constricting. How do people wear these? Don't they like freedom? Do all pants feel like this? I've only ever worn gowns my whole life.

After the longest time there are knocks on the door. I get off this tiresome bed to the door. The fabric rubbing between my legs are weird, the boots are loud. This shirt is super loose, these gloves are tight. I can't feel anything I touch.

On the other side of the door stands a guard. One I've never seen before. He has more armor than the others, still looks lifeless.

Here goes nothing.

I follow the guard through the hallways, same direction as the throne room but beyond. He takes me down a side hallway to a singular wooden door that stands alone in the wall. It leads to outside. A new area.

There are many trees. It can't be the forest; this is the opposite side unless my sense of direction is wrong. These pants made me lose my brain.

There is a narrow path between the trees. Through the path there is a bridge over a strip of water. The river was far away. This place is so confusing.

On the high point of the bridge is a silhouette that seems familiar. The guard stops walking at the beginning of the bridge, bows and leaves.

Oh no. How dare he just leave me, completely ignoring me.

If only I was a small child. I would cling on the guard's leg and demand him to take me back and lock me in the room so I'm safe.

Realistically, I can't get killed here or they can't take over my kingdom. The foolish king would get brutally murdered instantly, no matter the size of his army.

He lifts his hand in the air and signals me to come over. I walk on the bridge. It is awfully beautiful here. The water is calm, the trees and grass are quiet. I stop a little away from him.

He hands me a sword. I hold it with the cross guard facing sideways and every other possible wrong way to hold a sword.

"You know, this sword is extremely heavy. My fingers are going to break off."

He furrows his brows and takes the sword from me. He holds his hand flat in front of him and all the other steps to hold a sword. I do as he does but overextend my wrist. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"You look like you don't want to be here. I don't want to be here... how about we go our separate ways and tell the king whatever you were going to as if this worked out?"

He stares at me, exasperated before walking to the other side of the bridge. I follow him. All the jewelry on his horns and ears make noise.

The path goes on a little longer before fading into a clearing filled with flowers. So many daisies everywhere, as far as I can see.

He grabs another sword from the casing strapped to the side of his leg. He holds it up to me and points to the one I'm holding, me and himself.

"I'm not fighting you."

He nods. I slowly hold it up, sideways, making my arm shake. The more I drag this out the better. If he gets annoyed enough, he will give up and I'll get out of here. He looks so easy to annoy.

He walks next to me and readjust the sword in my hand and fixes my posture by slapping my back and using one foot to push one of mine back. I almost fell over. Is this fencing or training?

"You don't have to beat me up. It's rude."

He rolls his eyes and holds the sword at me. I smack his with mine. It makes this horrible, loud ting sound. Within half a second, he is standing next to me and the sword at my throat. He shakes his head before going back to his spot.

"You should let me know if you're going to do something so I can properly defend myself and not die. You should explain mor-"

He's making his hand talk and mock me. I try to smack his hand with the sword, but he grabs the end of the sword and pulls it out of my hand.

"You are being very rude right now. Did you skip breakfast?" I pick a flower from the grass and hand it to him. "Eat this, mister grumpy."

He blows it away. It floats away in the wind. I turn around to leave but all the trees blend in together.

I pick 2 random trees and walk between them. I have no idea what I'm doing but it's too late now. Footsteps follow behind me. I walk through random trees till the soles of my boots hit rock.

Another strip of water that flows in from one side and disappears under matted bushes and vines hanging off low tree branches. The stone leads to stone steps in the shallow water. The water floor is drenched in leaves.

Every part of this kingdom is breathtaking. Absolutely gracious.

There is a poke in my back.

A/N: First impressions on Sylvian??