Little Town of Torriden (rewriting off Wattpad)

16 ~ The Woods

Memories of the ball played in Estelles head on repeat as she tossed and turned, desperate for a minute of rest. Looking back to the time when Aranya hugged her and spoke softly, she noticed Aranya had a smooth voice, one of which one could listen to for hours. Just by listening to the soft flow of Aranya's voice, Estelle could feel a sense of ease and a pleasant feeling filled her chest. Memories of times her mother would read her stories before bed appeared in her mind. More specifically, a time when the soft noises of candles burning in the background and rain outside created a cozy environment, going along with the warm, fluffy blankets that engulfed little Estelle.

Her mother read her a different story than usual, and it happened to be about the dangers of the forest. Looking back at this time, Estelle didn't take in everything her mother said, but she remembered that day. It was a nice, but damp day from rain the night before. Her and Aedra wanted to explore, but being so young, were required to have an adult of some sort escort them.

While the two mischievous sisters walked across the field, arms intertwined, they whispered a plan to get away from the guards. Little giggles coming from the girls made the guards somewhat suspicious, but decided to ignore it. As the forest drew closer, this was when Aedra's role in the two's plans would commence.

Purposefully tripping, a loud cry came from the sister, causing the two guards to rush over and see what was happening. Using this time to her advantage, Estelle ran off discreetly into the dim forest. Sounds of twigs breaking and small creatures running away were heard as Estelle ran to hide. Crouching between two rocks, a huge grin was plastered onto the girl's face as her heavy breath seemed to be louder than anything around her.

Little bugs crawled around the rock, some popping in and out of moss patches, and Estelle used these as her entertainment in anticipation for her sister. Her breath eventually slowed, and Estelle grew impatient for her sister's arrival. Placing her hand on the slippery surface of the rock, Estelle began to get up, but as the metal clanking of a nearby guard came closer, Estelle retreated to her hiding spot.

"Estelle, please come out!" the woman pleaded. "We don't want you to get in trouble, so just reveal yourself and we will play in the field!"

For a moment, the girl considered this offer, but pushed the idea out of mind, waiting for the guard to pass. When the opportunity came, the mischievous princess took this chance to check and see where her sister was.

Past some trees, she could see Aedra standing next to the second of two guards. Giving up on their plans, Estelle decided to run up to her sister, planning an excuse for her short disappearance.

Running past a cave with many rocks scattered around, a sudden jolt of pain passed throughout her legs, the source being her right foot.

The girl let out an agonizing scream, looking down at her foot, which had a pool of blood forming below it. Estelle didn't know what happened, but she lifted up her foot thinking it would somehow ease the immense pain.

A strong flow of blood came suddenly when Estelle removed her foot, and revealed a sharp, rigged rock with a faint glow.

Just moments later, guards rapidly approached the bleeding child, fear in their eyes. Not risking any time for more blood to escape, the second guard immediately crouched down and grabbed Estelles to wrap it up. Thankfully, guards always carry some sort of wrapage, so it was not long until the blood was absorbed within the cloth.

Constant cries came from Estelle, and Aedra soon started crying in fear of her sister.

"Is Estelle going to be ok?" Aedra sniffled as she talked, tears wetting her face.

"Your sister will be ok, but this is why you don't run away from us behind our backs."

Little did they all know, the damage had already been done.

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Rushed back to the castle, Estelle felt a presence of one she could not describe flow through her body, starting at her foot, then making its way up her legs to where it eventually was collected evenly throughout her body.

Because of Estelle's royalty, she got taken care of quickly, and had the best doctors help perform procedures on her injured foot.

"There is something we must report to you that seemed strange to us about your daughter's injury." The leading doctor talked to Roselle and Vivian in the hallway.

"Go on." Vivian hoped for the best in the upcoming response.

"There was a... glow, from her injury- it's quite strange. Maybe it means something, maybe not. With your standing, you may know more about this town's history, for I have heard about that kind of hue before, but it may be nothing." The doctor looked like they were trying to find the right words, but had difficulty saying what they were thinking.

"A glow? That's ridiculous. It's probably something from the woods that has a glow-like illusion. I thank you for your concern, but we are not worried about that. We are only worried for our daughter's health." Vivian spoke with full confidence.

A slight disappointment was shown in the doctors expression, but they ignored this feeling because of their place compared to the royal family.

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In short, Estelle was ok, but the forest took in the first person whom's blood encountered it's, when in direct contact. Although Estelle haven't meant it, she had performed the necessary steps in order to take in a part of what the cave had to offer her. She entered the cave's radius, encountered one of the magical stones, and connected her blood with it's essence.

If the princess knew of the power that flowed within her veins, maybe she would have had a better understanding of the messages the magic was trying to send her, or maybe she would have learned how to harness the power for herself, making it stronger and adapting to the unique skills she would have obtained, but unfortunately, this was not how things had played out.

Sometimes the smallest amount of knowledge could have made your life unrecognizable compared to the current reality.

1067 words