TRIAL AND ERROR | short stories + snippets

To Be A Princess, pt 1

The elf hesitated. "Devdan."

Gnak's focus snapped away from the ships. "Are you okay? Did so-someone hurt you?" She peered wildly into the trees behind Devdan. "They say you've b-been kidnapped. We need to get you to the castle–"

"I wasn't kidnapped," Devdan interrupted.

He stared at the reeds flattened beneath his feet. In hindsight, Gnak felt like an idiot for not recognising him. His picture had been on the front page of the newspaper for the past three days, staring at her while her mother read.

Besides, the tunic and trousers he was dressed in were patterned with gold thread and he wore several pairs of gold earrings. The average being wouldn't go on a mountain hike dressed like that.

"I... ran away."

"Oh... Well, your parents are really worried. It's your declaration in three days. You really should get back in time for that. The whole kingdom—the whole world, really—has been waiting for you to officially be announced a prince. What's wrong?"

Devdan had frowned at the mention of the celebration in his honour.

"You don't wanna go home?" Gnak asked.

He shook his head. "It's not that. I miss home, but... I don't want to be declared prince."

It was a day that everyone had counted down to since his birth and though he had been born as a prince, it was the tradition of the kingdom for each royal child to be formally bestowed their title when they turned eleven.

"I'd much rather be named a princess."

"Oh... Well, can't you?"

"Appa says only girls can be princesses."

Gnak waded to a cluster of cordgrass where several of her boats had ended up. "My mum says I can be anything I want and that it doesn't matter that I'm a girl or a goblin or have a s-stutter. I think you can be a girl and a princess if you like."

Devdan settled on a boulder. Slipping off one sandal, he tried the water with his toe and flinched from the cold. He forced his foot into the marsh to wash it of mud. Then he repeated the process with the other foot.

"I don't have a gift," he sighed.

All the princesses of all the kingdoms Gnak knew of had a gift, or as it was called in some places, a power. Princess Nsegi of Runyaterra had the gift of earth and clay and could construct an entire house with the flick of a wrist. And Princess Uin of Kaminosei could use her music to heal most wounds. Devdan's sister, Princess Idisha, had the gift of the sky lights. She could paint stories into the night sky to comfort those who could not sleep.

Despite this, Gnak said, "I don't think aaaall princesses have a gift. My mum isn't a princess and she's still really good at cooking and at construction—even without magic. You can still help others, which is all princesses have to do."

Having collected all her boats, Gnak clambered out of the marsh. "Have you asked a fairy?" she asked, dropping the fleet onto the bank.

"A fairy?"

"Yeah. F-fairies can see the truth in your heart and help you when you need it."

She opened the lid of the boat box she had built with her grandfather at the root of a willow tree. Carefully, she placed each ship to its named spot: Estella, Seabiscuit, The Great Voyager, and so on.

She explained as she did this. "Like, my m-mum asked a fairy about what she should do when she found me. And the fairy told her that even if she leads a humble life, and even if she's a troll and I'm a goblin, that the love she has would make her a great mother. And that's why she didn't take me to the orphanage."

Devdan picked up one of the bark boats and rotated it in his hands. "Where do you find a fairy to ask?"

"You have to go into a fairy circle and then you have to ask politely. There's one if you go past the Ravine of Whispering Doubts and into a clearing in the Pink Meadow."

Devdan looked in the direction she pointed.

"I'm not meant to go on the other side of the stream.... But we can get there and back before my mum notices anything. I'll take you."

Devdan's wide eyes locked on her. "Really?"

"I'm at your service, Prince Devdan." She saluted him, then crumbled into laughter.

Before getting up, Gnak plucked a yellow flower from the edge of the marsh and tucked it into Devdan's long black hair. "There. Now you already look like a princess."