The Dead Princess

Royal Liars

Kaaza and Lythienne woke with the sun's rays well in the sky and a burned-out fire. Lythienne bundled the food they had foraged into a part of her dress that had somehow stayed clean and they started walking again, smoke from chimneys coming into view through the treetops.

"Do you know which village this is, Kaaza?" Lythienne asked her tiny guide.

"I believe it's Revas," She answered trotting in front of her adorably.

"What are we going to do about my clothes? Someone will report me to the guards like this," Lythienne said with her brows creasing. Her new scar crossed her mind. "And what about this? Someone is bound to have questions about this. This wound should have killed me."

"Calm down, Princess. We're going to swipe a cloak for you to cover your dress, the scar... I'll figure it out when we get there. Hopefully, they have a market." Kaaza said, sounding decidedly confident for someone who didn't have a complete plan. Lythienne would have been more frustrated by it if the guardian wasn't so freaking cute.

"Do all guardians look like you?" Lythienne voiced her curiosity.

"It depends," Kaaza answered vaguely.

"Depends on..." The princess trailed.

"What they are a guardian of." Kaaza finished for her, sensing that the princess would continue to push for answers if she didn't tell her something to placate her curiosity. "We're here. You were right before, you can't go into town looking like that. It'll raise too many suspicions and questions."

Before Lythienne could question her, a woman stood where Kaaza's small form was. Still, the women's features were somehow similar to Kaaza's, with large eyes, a lean gentle face, hair the color of honey, and a petite frame. Someone who wouldn't stand out much, but still was beautiful in a way you didn't have words for. "Woah... I know you said you could change your appearance but that was not what I was expecting!" Lythienne exclaimed in amazement.

"I did try to explain but I suppose nothing compares to seeing it with your own eyes," Kaaza told her, for once a mouth moving with her gentle voice. "I'm going to find you a cloak now. Wait here for me to return, Princess." Lythienne crossed her arms and sat down as she watched Kaaza's human appearance walk into town. The sounds of trumpets sounded from the direction of the square where Kaaza disappeared from. A voice distantly reached Lythienne's ears and she tried to focus on the words from her place on the ground to no avail. Lythienne debated staying in her place and waiting. She truly honestly did. But then she got up and moved closer to the voice, inching towards the town and its buildings that blocked her view of the square and the echoing voice.

"-If anyone has seen this man, be warned he is armed and extremely dangerous! Notifiers with information about the Princess's assassin will be heavily rewarded by the royal family!" The voice became clear. Lythienne's heart beat loudly in her chest, becoming a pounding pulse in her ears. The air restricted in her chest.

A voice hissed in her, "Liars..."

So this was how her father and brother would explain her death. She hadn't given any thought to how they would explain it but of course, they couldn't claim responsibility for her death and say they had killed her. They would lose control if the commoners revolted. An assassin was the perfect person to blame, who would believe a murderer was innocent? But which assassin did they pin her death on? She supposed it didn't matter, but part of her felt guilty for them. Despite being a murderer who would certainly be killed if caught anyway, to kill a member of the royal family, let alone the heir... She didn't want to think of the consequences her father and brother would make the accused suffer to convince the people that justice for her death was carried out. All to keep the appearance that she was murdered by someone else and convince their people that she had run away before she died. A way to convince the people she had betrayed them as the heir before she was killed to try and persuade the people's love for her. Who would mourn a princess who had run from her people?

She felt nauseous and it took everything in her to force herself not to throw up. Her vision blurred with tears as they began to fall down her face. A figure moved into view and placed a warm cloak around her shoulders. She held a jug of something sweet smelling and warm to her lips and Kaaza's voice encouraged her to take slow sips. The liquid tasted of lavender and honey. It soothed Lythienne's throat and the tears flow slowed, beginning to dry on her cheeks. She wiped away what was left of them and pulled the cloak tighter around her shaky shoulders.

"Thank you, Kaaza." She muttered, taking another sip of the warm jug in her hands. The drink helped relax the muscles she had tensed in her shoulders and she stood to her feet, reaching to Kaaza's outstretched hand.

"We need to go, Princess. The ship leaves tonight and we still require supplies." Kaaza urged quietly, her "fingers" curling inwards as if she remembered what her true form was. And that it didn't have a hand for Lythienne's to hold onto.

Shaking it off, the pair headed down the road that turned into paved stone towards the markets. As a port town, Revas had more than the average village in terms of shops and goods. Not to mention types of people. A blend from all approved trading nations and kingdoms filled the village, making it bursting with activity, food, and music Lythienne had never heard of. Shops lined every corner of the market and signs beckoned customers with coin to their doors. Merchants with stands and stalls filled the empty spaces in walkways and courtyards. Lythienne didn't know where to look first, until a gem caught the light in a shop window and she found herself being pulled towards it. Her eyes glanced at the placard with the price tag. As a princess, it would have been as simple as blinking to buy. As a runaway, dead princess... Not so much. Kaaza tugged on the edge of Lythienne's cloak to get the princess's attention and pointed a finger towards some shops more targeting travelers and Lythienne felt a wave of disappointment pull at her. Right, They only had enough for supplies and the trip.

They walked across the courtyard into the first shop, maps and compasses, dried meats and herbs, books on travel and how to navigate the stars, language books for far-off places... Anything Lythienne never would have touched if she were home. But she wasn't home, she reminded herself. "What do we need from here, Kaaza?" Lythienne questioned as the guardians' eyes darted to the shop owner, a small old lady who sat with a needle and thread over what looked to be a dress.

"A map of Druica would be helpful. A long-sleeved shirt for you, it's cold at sea. Some trousers. A good pair of boots, not those thin-heeled contraptions you're wearing," Kaaza listed as they began to walk through the small shop and she piled things into Lythienne's arms. "Some meat. You won't like what's on the ship much but the crossing will take a month or two and you have to eat."

"A month or two- What on earth am I to do for a month or two on a ship?" Lythienne asked, astonished. She had never been in a situation that could make her so bored and trapped for so long, seeing as the Avanni's never left Aelatus for more than two weeks.

"We'll stop at a bookstore. You can pick up something to read between your lessons. You won't get better without practice." Kaaza said firmly and Lythienne felt like a child. Granted she was sixteen but she had spent her life in lessons. She was a fast learner. It couldn't possibly take her an entire month to learn magic. Kaaza moved to a counter where the old lady sat and motioned for Lythienne to set their things down. "Pick out a pack. A large one." Kaaza told her, motioning at the wall behind the counter.

Bags hung on hooks, with many shapes and sizes and colors. Lythienne pointed at a light gray one that would fit what they needed and dropped the gold nuggets into the old woman's hand. "Nuggets?" The woman questioned holding one up between her pointer finger and thumb.

"My father worked in a gold mine, this is what they paid him for his work." Kaaza answered without hesitation. The women looked at them both, the worn cloak around Lythienne's shoulders and Kaaza's imaginary clothes, simple but not overly cheap or expensive. Just in the middle. What you would expect from two gold miners daughters.

"How long did he mine?" The woman questioned.

"Forty years, until his lung gave out." Lythienne answered this time. Kaaza's 'fingers' gave a twitch of approval at the lie. The woman nodded, seeming to accept the answer, and the gold as she handed Lythienne her new pack and the pair grabbed their things from the counter beginning to fill it.

Kaaza waited until they were out of earshot and headed to a bookstore Lythienne pointed out before commenting, "That was a very good lie about the lung, a detailed response that goes with mining for long periods." Lythienne shrugged her shoulders as they headed into the door of the book shop.

"I read."

"That you do, Princess."

The two didn't speak again until the boat departed, Lythienne cursing the small cabin they had to share with a pair of cots mounted to the wall and cockroaches on the floor. The slight sway of the boat made her nausous and she sat down on the cot with her hand over her mouth. Kaaza held a piece of candied ginger up to Lythienne who shook her head.

"Ginger helps with nausea. Take it." Kaaza said a bit more sternly. "I do not want to smell your puke."

"There's no bathroom?" Lythienne asked incredulously. Kaaza only responded with a pointed look at a lidded bucket in a corner and Lythinne shook her head. "Oh, absolutely not!"

"We're at sea, Princess. While it may not be what you're used to, it will have to do. There is nothing else and we've already left port. It is too late to turn back." Kaaza explained as Lythienne begrudgingly took the candied ginger pieces from her.

"This is so not how I saw my life going," Lythienne muttered as she stuck the candy in her mouth and the sharp taste hit her tongue when the sugar dissolved in her mouth, making her scrunch her nose up.

"Me neither, Princess but here we are, we must make the best of our situation." Kaaza replied dropping her human form and laying with her legs tucked under her small body. The boat rocked and nausea rolled through Lythienne again, making her put the back of her hand to her mouth to try and hold back her lunch from coming back up.

The candy didn't help as much as both had hoped, still, Lythienne popped another in her mouth and used her tongue to stick it in her cheek. It didnt make the sharp bitterness any better but her stomach steadied just a little. Lythienne laid back on her cot and felt the roughness of the blanket that covered it. It wasn’t very thick and there was no pillow for her to rest her head on so she sat up and shurgged off her cloak and bundled it up under her head. Just comfortable enough she drifted off to sleep.