Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 7

After two more days of travel, he had finally reached his destination. Kylin breathed a sigh of relief as he dismounted, surveying the cottage before him. Nestled in a little alcove in the trees, the cottage greeted people coming out of the woods with a faint dirt path to its door. Grass with various flowers and weeds were to either side of it. A well covered in morning glories sat to the right. The cottage itself had many creeping plants, just as Kylin remembered it. To the left of the cottage was a lean-to, where a couple of goats stood outside of it, watching him with curiosity. A sweet smell came from the cottage, wafting over to where Kylin stood. The sound of chopping wood could be heard.

Such a welcome sight after dealing with the Harlofelp soldiers.

Reins in hand, he made his up the path, calling for Amelia as he got closer.

A young woman stepped in the doorway of the cottage. Her light blonde hair was tied in a braid, slung over her left shoulder. Her faded green dress had patches here and there, an apron tied around her waist.

Recognizing him, she launched herself down the path and flung her arms around. She hit him with such force that he stumbled back a few steps, hitting the side of his horse. She also gripped him so tightly it took a second for him to breath.

When he had taken a second to recover from the surprise, he wrapped his arms around her in return.

"I am so glad you're here!" she gasped. It sounded almost like a sob.

Confused, he gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her back so he could see her more clearly. Tears streamed from her light gray eyes. She wiped away some from her cheeks, only for it to be replaced with a fresh stream.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "What happened?"

"I made a very big mistake," she choked. "I don't know how to fix it without . . . without . . ." With that, she began crying even harder, burying her face in her hands.

He pulled her back to him, letting her quiet herself before inquiring further. When she had regained enough control, she straightened herself, and took a deep breath.

"I thought I could help things," she said. "But I'm afraid I've just made things worse!" In danger of breaking down again, she took several more deep breaths.

"Alright," he said, as patiently as he could. "Alright. Let us not assume the worst just yet. What is it that you did?" Surely there wasn't anything she could have done that couldn't be fixed, or worked out. All sorts of expectations of what she was going to say was already running through his head, from accidentally destroying a part of her cottage to getting into an altercation with a soldier. All which could be worked out.

She stared at him with wide eyes. "I kidnapped a prince," she said in a terrified whisper.

To say he was not expecting that was an understatement. His mind came to a complete halt and every muscle in his body froze in place, refusing to move even slightly. All he could do was stare back at her with the same wide eyed expression. For a minute, nothing was said. Not even his horse made a noise, as though it recognized the severity of the situation.

Before any thought could come back to his mind, she added, "I panicked."

His muscles were able to move again, but his mind was still blank. "You . . . panicked," he repeated slowly.

Another wave of tears poured down her cheeks as she nodded.

"You panicked . . . and . . . kidnapped a prince," he said. So perhaps it wasn't something that could be so easily worked out or fixed.

She nodded again. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!"

"With all due respect, Amelia," he said weakly, "it was not my son you kidnapped."