"𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞?" "𝒏𝒐, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚." |𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚡 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜

✪Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏᴜʀ✪

The shadows in the library started to disappear, being pushed back by the bright sun that called upon the arrival of the early morning hours. The castle was still asleep, most of the rooms looming in deep shadows still, because the sun was just starting to rise. In the lingering shadows of the deepest corner of the library, the youngest princess sat, reading through the history of Esynia, consuming the knowledge as her eyes took in every letter in the book she held. Two days had passed since she showed Xander her private spot, and she hadn't forgotten about it, but she had to learn more. She remembered her grandmother telling her that this kingdom fought wars so big that they were mentioned in history books of other kingdoms far away. And she had to learn, her brain was begging for that information she yearned to take in, even if it meant not leaving the castle for longer than anticipated.

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔, "𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒊𝒂!" 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍. 𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎, 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅. 𝑩𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑨𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒊𝒂, 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓? 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒔𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚.

As Allice's eyes scanned over the papyrus she had found in one of the old books, her eyes widened. Her grandmother had told her about it before, she had heard it all before, had read it all so many times, but seeing it written on this paper, by a person of that time, it felt different. More.. real. She looked at the back, gasping as she read the date. "This war... it was 200 years ago...?" As the realisation set in of how long her bloodline truly reigned over this land, her elder companion entered the library with a smile on her face, "darling, it's time for breakfast. Your family is awaiting your arrival." Her voice was soft as always, and the princess looked up as she was pulled out of her studies. "Yess, miss Maldow, I'm coming... my apologies.." the young girl stood up, looking at the papyrus before putting it back, closing the book and walking towards the old woman, who put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Oh no worries, sweetheart, now come, you can read later." "You're right... later..."

Allice had eaten breakfast with her family, exchanging some blatant chatter or some appropriate teasing, but after it was finished, her mother took her aside, wanting to have a talk. "Allice, my love... are you okay?" Allice looked up, looking at her mother, the queen. They weren't on best terms, since she always told Allice her grandma was crazy and wanted to keep Allice away from her, but Allice still loved her. She was her mother, after all. "No mother, I'm fine... I just found an old papyrus from the time of war and despair that reigned over this land two-hundred of years ago.. mother, tell me, did this land really undergo a season of ash?" The Queen's eyes widened as she hugged Allice. "Oh, my dear, yes, yes it did.... your fathers parents, and his parents parents, and so on... they all tell the same gruesome story... of how ashes rained from the sky, how that casted sickness over many people, and even death upon a few unlucky ones..." Allice nodded, hugging her mother back. "Allice, promise me you won't tell your siblings... they shall learn once they are ready.... I couldn't protect you from the reality of this world, so let me protect them..." Allice could feel how her mother started crying. She always blamed herself for failing Allice, for failing to raise her in a way that wouldn't expose her to reality, but she couldn't. "Mother, please don't cry... I won't tell, I promise..." she hugged her mother harder, not even disagreeing that she had failed her. It was the truth, after all. Allice wasn't like her siblings. She knew about what this kingdom went through, that it wasn't immune to rebellion or war. But she also knew of the love stories that blossomed, of the live that was created through a loving and neutered relationship. And she wanted that. "Everything will be okay..."

As night began to fall upon the kingdom of Esynia, one certain princess decided to sneak out again. She silently hurried down the stairs, professionally evading any human soul that still wandered on castle grounds. As she excited the big gate in front of the castle, she saw a big bonfire in the village middle. She walked over, smiling as she saw the village kids, teens, adults, and elders all gathered around. She also saw a certain someone stand on the sidelines and decided to join him for this beautiful occasion. As she made her way towards him, she heard the towns people sing, dance, play, and tell stories. Today was the monthly town bonfire, where the towns people got together to just spend time and relax, to have fun and be free, even if it was only for one evening. As she reached him, she already saw him looking at her. Xander smiled as he saw the princess walking over to him, extending his hand to hold hers, before embracing her in a gentle way, basking in her warmth and smell. The world was cold and cruel, but the princess could make him forget all of that, even if just for a moment. He let go of her, admiring her face. "Hello, beautiful. What brings you here at such an hour, hm?" As she laughed, his heart skipped a beat. Her laugh, oh her sweet laugh, it made him happy to hear those sounds escape her lips. "Oh, Xander, what a jokster you are! The monthly bonfire, of course! I always come to enjoy this bonfire with the towns people...." she leaned against him, and Xander's eyebrow shot up in interest. "A monthly bonfire, you say.... interesting."