The Varyan Princess

Yve

"Are you sure you know where you're going, Sir Yve?" Godart asked once more as they trudged in the woods. The sound of the alarm slowly becoming distant. "I feel like we've been here before,"

"It's dark out! Of course, I wouldn't know it that well, but I know we're going the right way. My father's forge should be up ahead." She says.

"Are you sure your father is going to take us in, Yve? You've told me stories..." The princess said. Sir Yve gave the princess a glance before looking back into the woods again.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen him in years. But it's the only place I know that is somewhat safe."

As they enter the shop, Godart studied the knight carefully. She was stiff and tense. He could tell that this was difficult for her.

"Sorry lads, we're clos-" A man emerged out of the back with soot all over him. He was a short fellow with a curly beard streaked with grey and a belly the size of a barrel. This was Sir Yve's father? "Son?" Her father says. The knight composed herself and clenched her fists tightly.

"Father," she said stoically.

The corner of the blacksmith's mouth twitched before looking at the mages behind her. "Who are you?"

"Sir Godart of Mirstone, sir." He introduced. The blacksmith's eyes shifted to the princess who quickly tensed up.

"You must be Yven of Sisne," Valencia quickly blurted.

"Yes, I am and you are?" The princess began to open her mouth until Yve answered for her.

"She's Sorceress Leota." Sir Yve intervened. The princess gave the man a faint smile.

"Why are you here?" Her father asked.

"We seek refuge for only tonight. We'll be gone before dawn." She said.

"Hold on now, I haven't seen you for... for-"

"Eight years." She answered for him. The silence fell in the room.

"Then we have a lot to talk about," he said breaking the silence.

"Father, save the formalities for your brothel." She said coldly. "I have 50 Kerma." She tossed her coin bag on the smithing table. "As I said before, we'll be out before dawn."

She marched her way to the back and shortly followed the knight and the princess. The room was small and quaint. Only a small cot and a nightstand with only a small lantern.

"We surely can't fit in this room." Sir Godart comments.

"There is a spare room just beside. Valencia and I can stay in this room and you can stay in the spare room."

•••

"Is everything alright?" Yve asked as both women prepared for bed.

Valencia stopped and sat down on the cot. "Do you think... commander..."

"Commander?" Yve began to wonder, then it popped into her mind and sat beside the princess. "No, you did not kill commander Farwaters."

"You said it yourself, Yve, I can not control my magic. What if I did?" Yve took hold of the young princess's hand.

"But you did control it, Val. Before we left, I looked back to see the commander standing up. You were able to control it." There was a glint in her eyes.

"Are you sure?" She assured,

"Yes, I'm a hundred percent sure." The princess shoulders dropped as if the tension in her body had drained away. She gave the knight a warm smile.

"Truthfully, I've never felt so liberated in my whole life." She states. "Even going through the woods, feeling the leaves on my skin, it's something I've never done before. Even going through the road, I felt like a bird flying through fresh air." Valencia closed her eyes as if she was trying to trap her happiness like catching smoke with her bare hands.

"I'm glad that you finally feel free, Valencia." She smiled back at the princess.

"How are you faring, Yve?" Valencia asked back. The knight took a deep breath and gripped her knees.

"I'm fine." The princess studied Yve and she saw troubled eyes.

"You haven't been to this place for eight years, Yve." The princess states.

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel. My father is still a ratbag and still not cognizant of my gender."

"I'm sorry, Ratbag?"

"He's just a disagreeable person." She stood up from the cot.

"I understand," Valencia said. "This must be very terrible for you."

"You know, the whole time I was a recruit in Yamore Dimia, I sent letters to him. I told him about everything even when I finally became a knight. Honestly, those letters were much more of a father than he was. Not a single time did he write a letter back."

"Maybe it got lost?"

"I sent him 136 letters in total, all of them lost?" Valencia stayed silent. "I don't feel terrible, honestly I don't feel any ill will at all because he's much more of a stranger to me than a father."

"I feel so bad now, I named my bow after him." the princess said looking back at her pack, as she had brought her bow with her before they left the castle.

"It doesn't bother me. Yven is just a name to me now." She shrugged.

"In any case, we are under the man's roof. We best not talk about him while we are under."

Yve kept to her word. Just before a ray of sun could touch the ground, the group packed their things and began their travels.

"Wait!" Yven said before the group could walk out the door. "Yve, please, talk to me."

"I have nothing to tell you, father." She said coldly.

"Eight years, son. I haven't seen you for eight years, the least you can do is have tea with your old man." He said with a grin. Yve walked up to her father with her head held high.

"Like I said, there is nothing I have to say to you that I haven't already said."

"Yve..." he protested once more but the young knight turned her back and ignored his calls. Her eyes, not even watering. The princess and Godart followed along.

"Yve... he seemed genuine." Valencia added.

"He wants me to stay and look out for his shop while he spends his nights in houses of ill-repute." The princess stayed silent. She knew it wasn't her place to defend a stranger. As the tensity grew in the air, Godart broke it.

"Where are we going next?"

"We need horses, there's a stable just a couple miles down this road. I know the owner so it shouldn't be too bad."

"I beg to differ, look," Godart pointed to the sky. It was nothing Yve has ever seen, it was a glowing message across the dark sky with the princess' name with a bounty of 100,000 Kerma and in capital letters "ALIVE" and a clear depiction of her face like northern lights. "Everyone in Mirstone is going to see that. There is no way we can go anywhere without anyone knowing who you are."

Yve couldn't stop staring at the princess in the sky. She had a plan and it was ruined. Surely she knew a spell or even an elixir to fix this. Maybe a memory washing spell? But she can't wipe out the memory of a whole town. Maybe a way to disguise her features? But what kind of magic is able to do such a thing? She looked at the real princess beside her with concern in her eyes and Valencia gave the knight a faint smirk.

"At least everyone knows I'm not a myth anymore."