.III.

ELYSIAM

Audrey stirred uncomfortably against the solid foundation of dirt. Her muscles ached from the rigid surface she had been sleeping on, and she forced her drowsy eyes open. Through the blur of her foggy morning vision, she could make out two people hovering over a sparkling golden pile only a few feet away from her.

Small rocks and sharp stones bit into her palm as she clumsily propped herself up onto her arm. With her other hand she rubbed at her green eyes, trying to clear the mist that hung over her.

“Good morning Drey.” Joan called cheerfully. Audrey peeked through her squinting eyes and scowled at the nickname. “It’s about time you woke up. Did you sleep well?”

“Rather uncomfortably…” Audrey began to yawn, but it was cut off by a sputtering cough. A thin layer of smoke still hung in the dense, muggy air. They were surrounded on all sides by large, twisting trees. Sunlight dimly illuminated the thickly woven pattern of branches hovering above their heads, allowing only an occasional beam of light to escape through the tangled mess.

“Ah, Loxrey Forest.” Audrey whispered, treasuring the sight of the beautiful trees. Caine scoffed, turning her attention back to the two homeless farmers and her scattered gold deposits.

“Wait a moment, why are you two ransacking my saddlebags?” Audrey asked playfully, trying to hide the true fear hidden in her voice. She had just caused the destruction of their home, the burning of their crops- basically bringing an end to their livelihood. For all she knew, while she slept they might have been planning to get revenge against her or planning to steal her money. They could be planning to kill her.

“Well, while you were wasting time in dreamland, we were trying to figure out just how much money you have here.” Caine explained, shoveling the golden coins and jewels back into the leather saddlebags. “We need to get some supplies before we carry on.”

Audrey raised one fine eyebrow. “Supplies?”

Joan looked over Audrey once and laughed heartily. “First of all, you need some new clothes. You don’t honestly expect to go unnoticed when you’re draped in golden embroidery.”

Audrey blushed and stood up straight, dusting off her elegant dress, which was now tattered and dusty, as Joan continued, “We also need food, horses, and some… protection.”

At this comment, Audrey’s face lit up. “You mean weapons?”

“To put it less delicately…” Joan replied, still trying to appraise the mischievous sparkle that had entered Audrey’s innocent eyes. “Right now all we have is Caine’s hunting knife.”

Audrey smiled mysteriously as she sheepishly raised up the layers of her skirt to reveal her pale calves. Secured to one of her legs with a few torn pieces of cloth, was a sheathed dagger.

“I swear you grow craftier by the second.” Joan commended as Audrey loosened the knots and slipped the dagger free from her skin. The scabbard was engraved with twisting vines that wrapped and swirled gracefully around three emeralds. Audrey gently slid the dagger out, smooth as silk. Even in the dimly lit grove, the blade seemed to shine.

“No wonder you didn’t sleep comfortably.” Caine remarked, breaking the awed silence that had unconsciously gathered around them.

Ignoring him, Joan questioned, “How did a princess come to acquire a dagger? Seems a bit dangerous…”

Audrey sighed deeply, slipping the blade back into its resting-place. “It was a secret gift… from a forbidden ally.”

“That sounds wonderfully cryptic and noble,” Caine responded with annoyance, “but could you please get to the point?”

Audrey’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she faced him, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Once upon a time there was a knight. His name was Sir Orwin Lucklaster of Glik. He was skilled with arms and dreamed of a fair and just Kingdom. He… befriended me, and my other sisters too. In secret, he taught me anything I asked.” Audrey realized she had been slowly leaning closer and closer to Caine, who only stared back at her with amusement. She folded her arms across her chest and straightened herself up, adding, “Was that plain enough to follow?”

Caine shrugged. “Why would a knight put his reputation, even his life, at stake for you?”

“Not for me… entirely…” Audrey confessed, a dreamy expression coming across her face. “He was hopelessly and completely in love… but that is beside the point. He is one of the few allies I have, and he instructed me to meet him at the Elysiam Tournament.”

“Perfect!” Joan cried, gathering the saddlebags and getting ready to set out. “That was just the place I was hoping we could make a stop at, now that you no longer have any reservations about attending-”

“What about the farm?” Caine managed to cut in.

Audrey cast her eyes guiltily to the ground. She mumbled, “They burned it, and your house, entirely to the ground.”

Both of the bickering siblings were silenced instantly. Joan closed her eyes and shook her head, whispering a barely audible prayer while Caine clenched his fists and turned away from Audrey’ view, collecting his emotions.

Suddenly he whirled around, piercing Audrey with accusatory eyes, a dash of desperate hope burning within him, “How would you know?”

“Sir Orwin…” she fumbled to articulate, “he was one of the ones ordered to start the fire… he saved us, but he said… they had to burn the house, it was inevitable, but it covers our tracks, and-”

She stopped her rambling excuses, aware that Caine was no longer listening to her words. His dark eyes were focused beyond her, at his ruined home, his ruined life… his ruined future.

Caine kicked the dirt in frustration and stomped off into the trees. Audrey bit her lip and searched Joan’s expression for an answer. Joan just continued to shake her head, and as if answering Audrey’s thoughts, reassured her, “Don’t worry, he won’t go far. He hates Loxrey Forest.”

“I have a feeling that is not all he hates.”

“Oh, hush!” Joan exclaimed, rolling her eyes and setting a comforting hand on Audrey’s shoulder. “He sees this as the end, but really, it’s only the beginning. With every fire comes new growth, burning away the old and clearing room for the new.”

Audrey realized she was smiling at Joan’s words. “You really are quite profound, on occasion.”

“It happens.” she admitted with a shrug just as Caine reappeared, his appearance composed although his expression was still pained and his mouth was set in a deep frown. Joan nudged Audrey in the ribs and added, “I hope you like my profound bits of conversation, because you’ll be hearing a lot of them on the way to the village of Abord.”

DEZOLTERAY

Alexandria paced anxiously across her chamber, glancing at the hands of the ancient grandfather clock every few seconds. It was torture waiting for the midnight hour to creep closer.

To keep her hands occupied and her mind busy, she grabbed her wooden brush and began to pull it through her long brown hair. She had already smoothed it out a few times earlier, but she embraced any distraction that might make the time pass faster.

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard a light knocking drift from the large wooden doors across the stone room. She soared to the doors instantly, her silk nightdress carelessly trailing behind her. She threw open the doors and found no one. The stone passage was still and silent in her wake.

A muffled giggle escaped from around the corner. Alexandria had not realized she was holding her breath until she gratefully exhaled. The unseen girl skipped out from her hiding place, racing into Alexandria’s room before she could stop her.

Alexandria closed the wooden doors as softly as possible. She turned around just in time to see Lauren jump onto her bed, ruining her perfectly arranged blankets. Alexandria sighed, glanced one last time at the clock, and breathed, “What has brought you here at such a late hour in the night?”

Lauren giggled again, patting a space on the bed next to her and indicating that Alexandria should join her. Alexandria took a seat next to her, and without warning, began mercilessly tickling Lauren. Her bed was already so disheveled that she might as well finish the job.

Lauren giggled and squirmed, wriggling beneath Alexandria’s thin fingers. When she began to squeal, Alexandria remembered herself and the late hour, so she let her sister go free. Lauren huffed, dramatically flattening her nightgown and pressing down her tousled red hair. Alexandria could not help but notice the resemblance to Audreyandra. Lauren’s fiery determination gave her the same air as Audrey; Lauren was just a bit cuter and a whole lot younger. And possibly more reckless, although that was debatable.

“Tell me a story!” Lauren whined, curling up against Alexandria and flashing her sappiest smile. Alexandria looked briefly at the clock- only 18 minutes until midnight- and turned back to her sister.

“I am terribly tired, perhaps another time?” Lauren glared at her with fierce green eyes, and Alexandria knew she had no choice. With a sigh of defeat, and a hint of acting, she said, “Oh, well, I suppose I could manage just one…”

“Yay!”

“But it is going to be short.”

“Awww… then I have to make it count…”

She glanced back at the clock. 15 minutes left.

A wicked smile curled across Lauren’s face. Alexandria internally grimaced, understanding what her plotting expression usually entailed. “Tell me the story of one of your suitors!”

“Oh Lauren, be reasonable!”

“I am perfectly reasonable!” she cried, sticking out her lower lip in a dramatic pout. “My favorite is the one with the crocodile, but I know that story takes a bit of explanation, so maybe you could just recount the one with the archery competition accident…”

Alexandria sighed in exasperation, remarking, “You are going to have nightmares! And then what will mother say?”

“She will say, ‘Oh dear, more nightmares from that stupid girl. Could we please get someone to muffle that screaming sound, though? It is interrupting my precious sleep!’”

12 minutes. Scouring her mind for the shortest tale, Alexandria made a conscious decision not to waste another minute, and began, “There once was a lovely princess named…”

“Relexandria?”

“How original.” Alexandria laughed dryly, and then continued, “Relexa, as they called her, was very beautiful, like all princesses should be. She dreamed of true love, and knights in shining armor, but of course that was not her destiny. When she turned sixteen, her parents decided it was time to make her a wife, no matter how vehemently she protested.” Alexandria glanced at the grandfather clock from the corner of her eye. Lauren would probably not notice if the details were a bit scarce.

“Her parents tried to arrange her into many marriages, all of them ending in disaster before they could start. One suitor was a prince from the Kingdom of Aubergine, named valiantly, or her perhaps tragically, Prince Braveliver. He wanted to whisk her away to his northern lands, but on his journey to meet her, he fell through a frozen lake and never completed the journey. The end.”

“Well, that was uneventful, and rather boring.” Lauren protested as Alexandria began to nudge her off of the bed.

“Good, it should have made you sleepy, now, off you go!”

“I think I deserve a better story!”

“Next time, you should specify which suitor.” Alexandria nervously peered at the time. Only six minutes until midnight. In one last attempt to get her sister moving, Alexandria coaxed, “If you leave now, tomorrow night, I will tell you the story of Prince Matarim.”

“Ooooh, that one has so many gory details!”

“Where have you been hearing all of these?”

Lauren looked away, trying to avert her guilty expression from Alexandria’s gaze, as she admitted, “Audrey told me.”

“The little traitor.”

“Sir Orwin says she is dead.” Lauren suddenly stated, staring deeply into Alexandria’s eyes with a newfound seriousness. “Do you believe him?”

“I-I do not know!” Alexandria answered, taken aback. “Sir Orwin has only ever reported the truth-”

“Well, I bet she is still alive.” Lauren proclaimed assuredly, even though sadness still lingered in her voice. “She already ‘died’ from the plague. If she can do it once, she can do it again.”

“Possibly.” Alexandria provided, the seconds suddenly approaching midnight with alarming speed. “We can dispute it later. Good night!” She shut the doors swiftly behind Lauren, worrying more about the time than the loud sound of the wooden doors falling into place.

Only one minute until midnight. Alexandria unsteadily hummed to herself as she gathered up the heavy sheets of her bed, tucking them back into place and restoring the bed to proper order. She folded and refolded, aligning every crease and pleat into her impeccable pattern, when there was a sudden knock.

It came not from the wooden entrance, but from the rocks beneath her. There was another singular knock, sounding clearly from below the red rug that fell across the dank floor stones. Bounding up from the bed, she flew toward it, shoving the heavy carpet aside and revealing a hidden wooden door.

She grabbed the iron handle and pulled with all of her strength. The trapdoor gradually budged at a tortuously slow pace on its ungreased hinges, but with the combined force of the person below, it finally cracked open enough for the figure to slip through.

“Orwin!” she cried, throwing her arms around him the moment he was free. He was no longer in his characteristic armor. Instead, he wore a light tunic, emblazoned with the crest of her father, King Thorin. His bright blue eyes lit up with the sight of her, and he fondly stroked her long brow hair as she buried herself in his arms.

“And how are you, dear Alexandria?”

“Mmmmm…” she mumbled, breathing in the smell of him and treasuring his return. “Why must you be a knight? Always leaving me…”

“And why must you be a princess?” he whispered into her ear, his breath causing her to involuntarily shiver. He stroked her long brown hair, holding her for an inescapably long moment.

Reluctantly, he broke the silence with a deep sigh. “I have to leave for a Tournament in Elysiam…” Alexandria nodded against his chest, refusing to free him from her arms just yet. “I am going to meet your sister there…”

Alexandria stiffened noticeably in his hold. There was only one person he could be referring to, but at the same time she knew it was impossible. “But… she is dead…”

“I burned down the house to make it look like they died in the fire.” Sir Orwin explained. Alexandria broke free from his grasp and sat shakily down on her bed, cautiously computing each word. It was difficult to hear that her sister had run away, was dead, was actually alive, was then killed, but was actually alive, again. Her head was spinning and Sir Orwin took a seat by her, wrapping one arm comfortingly around her shoulders as he continued, “I instructed her to meet me at the Tournament. I think I need to talk some sense into her…”

“Bring her back.” Alexandria begged, looking up into his bright blue eyes. She knew he would not resist her pleading stare. “She is only a child. A foolish child.”

Sir Orwin focused on some distant stone in the wall, trying to sort out his thoughts. “What if her actions are right? Maybe she was wise… to escape all of this. The future she wanted was not waiting for her… not here, at least.”

“Running off to another kingdom with no means to survive is a better option?” Alexandria challenged. “I do not care for my destiny either, but I learn to live.”

“Wouldn’t you like to live differently?” Sir Orwin whispered, raising her hand and delicately kissing the back of it. Alexandria sighed as he kissed her wrist, slowly moving up her arm, each successive touch causing her heart to flutter. As he kissed her shoulder, slowly sliding down the opening of her light nightgown, her eyes snapped open and she tried to catch her fleeting breath.

“See? We learn… to live…” she tried to say as he kissed her neck. “Orwin… I cannot… think… under these… circumstances…”

“That is the point.” his lips murmured softly against her pale skin. She groaned and cupped her hands around his face, pulling his dirty blond head up the same level as her own. She shook her head at his sly smile.

“Promise me that you will bring her back to me.” Alexandria said as seriously as she could manage. Sir Orwin straightened, giving his full attention to every word. “Bring her back to me, back to safety, before she hurts herself.”

“Do you really think that is best?” he asked one last time, and Alexandria nodded, leaning down and brushing her lips against his forehead.

“Swear it to me. I know you always keep your word.”

He hesitated for a moment, and pulled out the sword stationed against his hip. He balanced the tip against the stone floor, leaning against it and clasping the handle gravely. “I swear to you, Alexandria, that I will bring back Princess Audreyandra to Dezolteray.”

Sheathing the sword, he sat back down onto the bed, the playfulness still absent from his face, his eyes a slightly duller shade of brilliant blue. Alexandria stroked his hair, pulling him forward and kissing his lips lightly before whispering, “You should be off. If anyone found you here-”

“I know.” he replied, cutting off her thought. He had heard it many times before. “I leave in the morning, and I will return with your sister from the Elysiam Tournament.”

“And do not forget with many trophies.” she tried to add playfully. He feigned a smile and kissed her forehead.

“Yes, and plenty of golden nonsense and useless trophies.”

A/N – Quite a bit of dialog in this chapter, which might have been why writing it went by so quickly! I guess that I don’t have much to say, except that this story has nothing to do with the Disney movie titled Princess of Thieves. I’ve never seen it, probably never will. Just thought I’d stick that disclaimer in there now.