An Eminence? No, I am just a reaper (OC story)

A comunication problem

Speech = ''...''

Thoughts = [...]

ºº

Contrary to popular belief, Iris knew that outside the walls of the capital there were numerous towns, villages and hamlets where people lived away from the throne of the kingdom and the noise of high nobility and court games.

She had studied the maps that her teachers had taught her during her lessons and knew both their names and locations..., which products came from there and which were the members of the lower nobility or mayors who took charge because sooner or later she would have to establish communication or at least a snippet of appreciation of their labors before and after her coronation.

A few of the many duties that her shoulders would bear in the years to come.

Unfortunately...a few things had not going according to plan.

First, unlike in a city....in those vast fields of grass and soil, there were hardly anyone on those roads to ask for directions.

Two, Iris had never been out on her own in the open like this..., perhaps because she had never felt the need to make such an effort from the start... and now, she was paying dearly for it. Her eyes having to search for any signpost on the road they had been traversing if only to get a good grasp that they were not exactly lost.

And last but not least..., unable to see the stars now that they were hidden behind the thick layers of clouds above her head thanks to the constants downpours raining down on her... and the fact that they were lacking a proper map... it was a little difficult to know if she was on the right track.

Yes...., following a road would lead them somewhere...that was a given, but truth be told she really was not looking forward to keep wandering blind. Besides, it wasn't her problem that the wind had ripped her own little map that she had brought away from her...

And deposited it in a mud puddle..., staining the sheet and blurring the letters and drawings beyond belief.

Or when she had tried to clean it...only to break the thin now humid paper.

..

...

N-no....not her fault.

Not at all....

The paper had been old and worn down through the years and having it stuffed in her bag would not have made matters better, and with this weather so cold and stormy....

...

So....yeah, not her fault.

Sadly, she knew very well that her companion had not shared the same view as her. The incognito princess could not avoid becoming a little bit flustered as the way her face reddened at the brief memory of how the older woman had watched the entire thing develop from start to finish.

Lilac eyes shining with that natural aura of mystery they bore... yet not showing an ounce of emotion behind their depths before shaking her head in amusement....or disapproval.

Iris did not know, the elf was really hard to read.

However, in light of anything else the red haired princess had decided to think positive about it. Luckily, Beatrix had not said anything about that either. In fact, she had neither blamed her or made light of it....she just...nodded her head and kept walking on.

A gesture that had endeared the young princess to the elven warrior....

Then she came to realize as the hours turned into days that the Goddess of War was.....not precisely someone known for making banter...or speaking for long terms of time. A particular detail that been painfully made clear to her each and every time she had tried...and failed to start or get a conversation moving.