Thorns and Promises

The Princess’ Past

{Adriel’s POV}

“We’ll be back to check on her later Hettie.” I said, as my brother and I turned, leaving Hettie’s home. I sighed, my blood boiling. “What happened to her?” I asked, leaning back against Hettie’s door. “She’s small, jumpy, unemotional.. and apologetic even when she hasn’t done anything. I don’t get it.. she’s the daughter of the Untouchable King Aegall Nymanthis, she’s the princess of the largest kingdom in Lerran. She should be spoiled, fun loving, temperamental..”

Aelarian nodded, running his hands through his hair. It was a habit he had when he was stressed, or frustrated. “I don’t know, but it can’t be good. The fact that her father is throwing another ball instead of looking for his kidnapped daughter tells a lot though. The whole reason we took her was simply because she was his only heir, and now, he doesn’t even seem bothered.” He looked over at me, the gruffness in his voice making it hard to believe that his words were so kind. That’s the kind of person he is, he seems scary, his size doesn’t help. He’s 6’10, muscular and bulky, he looks like a brute, but one conversation with him and you’d know that he’s a big softie.

“I intend to find out, one way or another.” I seethed, my chest ached and I couldn’t figure out why. When I saw her so broken down, sick, and bleeding, it felt as though my heart completely stopped. Now, something inside me was so shattered that I can’t figure out how to piece it back together.

Aelarian nodded. “Just don’t get too distracted brother, we have a war to begin, and win!” He sighed, as he straightened out his button-up shirt and vest.

“Of course brother, I’ll keep on task, you just worry about finding a way to get Aegall’s attention.” I replied, turning on my heel and heading back for the Knight’s Training Grounds. I could hear steel hitting steel before I even crossed the threshold. The guards here were always training, my brother made sure of that. Though I was in charge of the guards and knights within the kingdom, my brother was always pressuring us to train for a war we all knew was coming. Myself, and my brother, even our younger sister Anora, had been fed up with the way King Aegall had been treating us and our kingdom. Like we’re just trash that needs to be removed.

“I’m sorry..” her voice echoed in my mind, I paused for a moment taking a deep breath. I had to completely stop in my tracks.. I have to get her out of my mind.. I have to focus. I walked into the training grounds, seeing my first in command Sir Roderick LeCroft running drills, he was my greatest, and most trusted friend.

“There you are Adriel, I was beginning to worry that you found yourself so tied up with a pampered princess that you’d forgotten about us!” He laughed. His hair was long and silver, his eyes grey. He was tall, about 6’4, with a long scar that went all the way across both of his cheeks and his nose. A scar from his time as a spy in the Kingdom of Eldarin.

A joke, a simple joke.. no one knew anything about the Princess except that she was here.. that’s all. We’d been keeping it under wraps for now, but his joke, it struck a nerve with me. I rushed him, gripping the back of his neck and pushing him into my office. As we made it inside I slammed the door behind us. “She’s not pampered, or spoiled!” I snapped, venom oozing from my voice. “She was injured, and had to be tended to, that is all! I want no jokes, no.. no mention of the princess whatsoever!”

He chuckled, turning back towards the door and leaning against it. “You’ve fallen for her? Already? She’d pretend that she’s anything if you’d give her the chance just so that she can escape! She’s been trained just as you, your brother, and even your sister had been!” He snapped back. “Do not fall for her lies and treachery!”

I rushed him again, ready to slam his head into a wall before shaking my head. “Follow me!” I sneered. We walked for a while before we reached Hettie’s, I stepped inside, and it was then that I heard voices in the other room. We began making our way towards the voices, we both paused in the hallway listening.

“Child, come on now, we’ve got to get you out of that corset, it’ll squeeze you to death, and it will make it hard to get comfortable or breathe properly.” Hattie said, that same sweetness in her voice that I was used to.

“J-Just leave it on.. please.. don’t touch it..” I heard Lilliana’s voice softly, she sounded weak, and exhausted.

“I normally wouldn’t fight with someone about this, but you’re sick, and you need to bathe, and change into more comfortable clothes. I’m just going to undo this, and you’ll feel better, I promise.” Hettie sighed, I heard rustling before a cry escaped Hettie. “Child.. who did this to you?”

The sound of someone falling onto the floor caused me to rush in, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. A large scar on her back, the part that was now bare where Hettie had loosened her corset. A rune that translated to “Soft-Spoken.” She heard me coming and pulled her blanket over top of her, covering herself with it. “Who did that?” I asked, my voice cold, dark, cruel even.

“It’s nothing.. please forget you saw that, it’s embarrassing that you’ve seen me in a state of undress and I..” she began saying, her voice slipping into something indifferent, as if it truly didn’t matter to her. Then I caught a glimpse of something else, her eyes, they snapped behind me as she tried hard to cover herself, she was dressed only in her corset and under skirt, and as I looked over my shoulder I could see Roderick behind me, his eyes wide as he stared at her.

“It’s you..” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “The girl that saved me..” he looked to me, breaking his eye contact with her only for a moment. “You remember, when I told you about the girl that found me in the woods near the castle. I was caught in one of their traps, and she helped me out of it. It’s when I got this scar, she led me to a cave, and left, bringing back a needle and thread. She stitched up my face and used a piece of her gown for a bandage to cover up my wound for me. It’s her.. she’s the one that saved me. I’d have been killed that day if not for her.”

She looked away, gripping the blanket tighter around her. “T-Think nothing of it sir, I was glad to help..”

“Why did you help him?” I asked, my voice looming over everything else in the room. “I’m sure you knew what he was.. an elf, a possible spy.. and yet, you freed him from a trap that no doubt your father set.”

“No one deserves to be trapped.. especially with how my father is.. I didn’t want this poor man to be tortured and killed for information.” She sighed, turning back towards the bed. “Now as for today, please, pretend you didn’t see anything.. I was in a state of undress, you could easily ruin my reputation just by speaking of it.”

“You have a rune that has been carved deep into your skin, and you want me to forget about it?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Yes.. please..” she whispered.

I shook my head, turning on my heel and practically dragging Roderick out behind me. “This conversation isn’t finished Princess!” I snapped.

“Lilliana.” Her voice was soft, careful, and low. “My name is Lilliana.”