Perspective of Blade
"I've told you this before. She's not someone we can work with. We sent you to talk to her because you said you knew her. You said she was compassionate and kind and would make a better ruler!"
"I do, and she will. But she's angry, and rightfully so. It was too fresh. When I talked to her she was emotionally distressed, but the Princess I know is still in there. She's still kind and amazing and completely, irrevocably good."
"If I didn't know better, I would think you like the princess," Rampart said. He was our next chosen leader after Capo's death. He was a thin older man, probably in his thirties, but he was incredibly witty.
"She's hot, what can I say?" I lied. "But she isn't a terrible person."
"'Not a terrible person' isn't exactly what we're looking for. We sent you in to find our comparable values and all you did is enrage her, from what I hear. Then, she went and blew up all the entrances to our bases. Why should we care if she's trapped?"
As of now, our people were doing their best to excavate our formal tunnels. It was long, tiring work. So for now, we were all stuck in a creepy abandoned hotel. I looked around and cringed internally. The whole place was rotten and dusty. I sneezed all the time and could always smell the dust in the air. I hated every minute of it and could not wait to get back in the tunnels. I tried to pay attention to the conversation, but it was hard when I feared the rotten floorboards would fall out from under me at any given moment.
"Because. She's good and she cares about the people. She always did," I argued.
"How did you know her? You must truly be close, considering we've had this conversation every day for weeks," he grumbled.
"We were close. Answering that question would compromise my identity. Let's just say I've been a close friend of hers ever since she was a mini Queen Corliss."
He shook his head. "I knew the woman, and trust me, the Princess is still a spitting image."
"Remember how kind the queen was? Guin is like that. She deserves a chance. But Ralphus... he is exactly the same as the last King."
"Fine. We continue your plan when the time is right."
"When the time is right? How much vaguer could you possibly get?" I groaned.
"I've already given you more time than you deserve. Remember who makes the decisions here. Now leave my office."
Since that was the best I was going to get, I nodded and left. I did not care for Rampart. Scrap and I were both more skilled and more intelligent, but considering the fact that we were two seventeen year olds and she had not shown up in weeks, no one wanted us in charge. I wondered why she was gone. I hoped it was not because of my rejection, but I feared the worst. If she did not come back, the Magia would be losing a valuable member.
Even though the Magia always said it valued skill over age, there were limits. There had never been a leader under thirty years old. I was sure there had to be more qualified leaders, but I did not know many people outside of the Department of Weapons. One day, I would be the leader of this entire joint.
I did not feel like sticking around, so I headed back to my house. It was a terribly cold day and there were not many on the street. I had my gloves and my coat, so I was already better off than most.
On my way home, I stopped in a shop I went to regularly. I stepped in and a bell chimed above my head. It was actually hot in here, and so I stripped off my gloves and stuffed them in my pocket. "Hello? Galeron?"
A man stepped out from around the corner with rounded goggles on. "Oh, hello, hello. It's you, Alix. Always a pleasure. Come in."
The room was stacked up in tall piles of mostly junk. This was a treasure trove of useless items, but Galeron always said that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Stacks of furniture went up to the ceiling in leaning towers. There were chairs, tables, random pipes, blankets and tablecloths in my line of sight. "What can I do for you today, young man?"
"Can't a boy just want to get out of the cold?" I teased.
"A boy can, but not you. You always know what you want." Galeron tinkered with some tiny contraption, hammering with his tiny hammer.
"What are you making?" I asked, peering at his contraption suspiciously.
He held up his mess. "What does it look like I'm making?"
"Um...a piece of junk using metal you've welded, nailed, and tied together?" I guessed.
He laughed heartily. "I like you boy. You're blunt. You're honest. At this point, that's pretty much what I'm making."
I peered around his stacks of furniture and other random things. "Got anything new? Anything good?"
"I bought a shipment of ribbons just for you. They're on the back counter." He waggled his finger towards the back counter.
"You know how much I like looking pretty." I laughed, shuffling to the back counter. I picked through the box. "You've got some nice ones. Thank you. Codie will love them." I picked out some pieces, wrapping them around my knuckles. "But I didn't just come here to tie ribbons in my hair."
"I assumed," Galeron said, placing his hammer on the table. "What can I help you with?"
"People come in here all the time and gossip. What do you know about the princess?" I asked, jumping onto a table and sat cross legged.
"Don't you work with her, boy?" Galeron chuckled. "You know far more about her than I do."
"I need to know about her situation now. I haven't been back to the palace since the attempt at the royals' lives. It didn't seem quite safe, and...honestly? I was ashamed. I couldn't face her, because I couldn't save her family."
"You could go back now. I'd assume you wouldn't run into her, considering her position," he offered.
I shook my head quickly, picking at a thread in my pants. "No. I don't think it's safe there with Lord Ralphus either. I have a feeling that some of the other guards were only too happy to share exactly how friendly I was with the princess." I felt my face grow hot, and I tried to keep from blushing. I looked in a nearby mirror covered in a coating of dust and saw my cheeks were red.
Galeron started rummaging for something on a shelf, so he did not see my face. "I'll trade you. That's how I get my information. An answer for an answer. I'll tell you what I've heard if you answer a question for me."
"Okay," I said hesitantly. Galeron would not hold back with his question, but I owed him a lot for being a friend to me throughout the years. I would have answered any question he posed without a trade.
"I've heard a lot of things about Princess Guinevere. Queen, actually. She has such a princess disposition, so sweet that it's hard to think of her as a queen," he started.
"I agree. She'll always be my princess," I said.
He gave me a look. "What do you already know?"
"Nothing, except for the harsh rules Lord Ralphus has set in place. And Guin hasn't been seen since the wedding." I gulped, drumming my fingers against the wood beneath me.
"I hear snippets. None of it is confirmed, but you're not going to like it. I hear he married her and then locked her away. Her room has been empty. The suspicious ones have started calling her Princess Rapunzel because of the resemblance and the fact that she has been locked away. Overall, though, people aren't too concerned. She could be sick, she could just not have anything to say to the public."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "But the castle staff worries for her. I know a maid and she says she's deeply concerned for the princess. She's locked in a tower and Ralphus is drunk on power. He would never let her take power away from him. It's said...that he wants an heir, and then will have no more need of a wife."
I chewed on my lip, still tapping away with my fingers. "You're saying that he could...dispose of her? Could Queen Corliss' tragedy be repeated?"
"Yes," he breathed. "But, he does want an heir, which means you have some time to liberate her."
I shuddered. "An heir. I truly don't have time. I don't have any ideas, either, but I would slay a dragon to get to her."
"To save one you love, people are capable of impossible, valiant acts." He smiled hopefully at me. "If anyone can do it, it will be you."
I just sighed deeply. "Thanks. I'm nothing if not determined."
"As for my question," he said. "Lots of people come in this shop and talk to me about a lot of things. But you're quite the topic, young man. No one truly knows what your relationship with the princess is."
"That's not a question. I didn't know I was a common story," I said with a chuckle.
"It's quite romantic when told right. How about I tell you the story?" he said with a spry smile.
"Alright. And I'd better be impressed by the end," I joked.
"It's a common folktale now. Hard to get wrong. Alright, here goes.
Once upon a time not too long ago, there was a beautiful princess who lived in her tower. She has locks of spun gold and eyes of blue sky. Many admirers came to her gate to win her hand, but none made it past her father. He was a cruel man who kept her under watch. She spent her days quite alone, and after years of solitude, she got lonely. The princess became sad, staring out her window and watching the common people, wishing that she was one.
But one day, she noticed she was never completely alone. A guard around her age was stationed outside her door. He was new and terribly shy."
"That's not true. I knew her since I was a little kid," I interjected.
"I'll tell the official story writers in charge of altering children's fairy tales," he said sarcastically. "Where was I? Right. He was shy. But he thought that this was the most beautiful girl in the entire world, if not the entire universe."
I nodded. That part was very true. Even if we had been young, I remembered when I met her. I remembered thinking she was the prettiest girl I'd seen. She was missing a tooth and still I was awed by her smile and curlicue hair. I remember reaching out to tug on a curl just to watch it stretch and straighten out before bouncing back. It was mesmerizing.
"But he couldn't get up the courage to talk to her. She would never notice him, he thought. So he tried to blend in, he didn't talk to her. He stayed the quiet guard. But she noticed him every time she walked in the room. She made excuses to call for his help. Yet he still said nothing."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Wow, they really have a good opinion of me," I said sarcastically.
"It gets better. Don't interrupt if you're going to judge your own life story. So, she noticed him and he didn't talk to her. One day, she found a pink rose on her vanity. The next day, she found one on her pillow. The next day, there was one on her balcony. Every day, there was a new rose. It made her feel special, loved, and noticed. The guard never said it was from him, but she liked to think it was. She collected her flowers and before long had a beautiful bursting bouquet always on her desk in varying states of liveliness.
She started talking to him in bits as she passed by. She asked how his day was, and he answered in short sentences at first. Slowly, he warmed up to her and they became friends. The roses kept coming, and the princess became gloriously happy.
But then, one day, she was betrothed to a Prince across the sea. He was more handsome, richer, and he was a prince. Both the guard and the princess were sad now.
The guard admitted to giving the roses. He enjoyed giving something to her. At first it was because of her beauty, and later because of her kindness. She incredibly happy, but there was nothing she could do.
She married the man, but on her wedding day, with the guard on duty, she fell into a deep sleep as soon as they kissed man and wife. No one could wake her. The king of the castle locked her away in a high tower to keep her safe, guarded by the guard, and said that only true love's kiss would awaken her.
Every eligible young man of the kingdom came. She stayed deeply asleep. The people despaired. But one day, the guard walked in the room with her bouquet of flowers. He arranged the flowers all around her but couldn't bear to kiss her for the first time while she was sleeping. He imagined kissing her in a thousand romantic ways but didn't want it to be like this. It couldn't be true love's kiss anyways. He was just her guard.
After so many young men tried to wake the princess, she was locked away in her sleeping state. The guard eventually moved away. The end."
"What?! That can't be the end," I said. "And that's a very, very loose interpretation of our story. Not factual."
"I don't think your story is quite over yet. That's the ending we have but not the ending that has to stay," he said. "So. How do you feel about the Princess?"
"Um...It's kind of complicated. Guin and I have been friends since we were kids. She always saw me as a friend and I saw her as more. I've always respected her boundaries, but she never knew I loved her until extremely recently. Like... after she was engaged, recently.
She always set what we were, and for a while it was always changing. One day we'd be friends and the next I could believe we were be on the verge of something more." I flushed. "We use to test the boundary a little more than we do now."
Galeron shot me a suggestive look and I said nothing. He only laughed.
I looked at him sheepishly. "Yeah, well... the other guards aren't completely wrong. But we're just friends, and I love her from the bottom of my heart. I'd do anything for her. I have two important people in my life and she's one. She's kind and smart and beautiful, and I'm going to save her."
"Thank you for your honesty. Your secrets are safe with me." I was worried he would tell the world before, but I trusted him to keep secrets safe. Even if he was a terrible gossip.
I sighed deeply. "Well. You've been good to me for a long time now. If you would excuse me," I said. "I have another princess in a tower waiting for her prince to come home. Codette awaits me." I tossed him a copper coin, took some ribbons, and left.
I headed home, swinging my arms at my side. The streets were nearly empty, but I saw a few people, especially women, hurrying through the side streets to avoid notice. Occasionally an officer would walk past and I would slip past unbothered.
I thought about Guin more than I should have. I had been so angry when she got married, but I never blamed her. Marriage was a stupid move, but I knew her, and I knew why she thought it was her only choice. She felt trapped and afraid and alone. I had to save her. I did not have another choice. She had been mean to Blade, but that was not her. She needed me, now more than ever.
My house was within view when I saw a form at my door, hanging onto the ladder. Oh no. Did an officer search my house? I couldn't be convicted of anything, but Codie was home. She was too fragile to answer intrusive questions. I walked quicker, hustling along to comfort my sister.
Staring at the person climbing down the ladder, I realized the shadow was too small. I smiled. I did not know why Codie was leaving, but I was happy to be home. Talking to my little sister always brought me back to that sense of childish wonder. She saw everything in such a positive light. It was too bad this world contained so much pain and torture.
The next few moments I saw in flashes. It happened like a series of photographs in my mind. In the first frame, I saw her form, hanging off the ladder by one hand. The second, she was halfway down the ladder, parallel to the ground. Both of her arms reached up to the sky like there was someone up there who could save her. I wanted to call out to her, tell her...tell her what? That there were no hands in the sky to save her? To hold on? It was too late for that. It was too late.
The third frame. I felt like time paused before she hit the ground. The world was holding its breath for this little ten year old, for every injustice in this world that led to this very moment. She wouldn't have fallen if..If we didn't live in that room. If our parents didn't die. If I just worked a little harder.
I ran.