The Beginning

Princess Training: Stage One

I woke with a start and I sat up hitting my head on wood. I rubbed a spot of my head and looked around. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was getting onto the coach back at the Castle in Vercana. Now I was in some sort of very small wooden building in the middle of a forest. I crawled out of the little room and found myself in a much larger room made of the same Cedar wood but this one showed signs of life. There was a dining table in the middle of the room, a stove with a pit steaming, the smell so overwhelming I almost lost my balance. When was the last time I had ate? "It's almost ready, child. Come sit." An old shaky voice said. I spun around so fast my hair flipped around my head and whacked me in the face. That was strange. Last I remembered my hair was pinned up. Of course, last I remembered I was in a coach and now I was here. Sitting in the corner of the room was an older women in a rocking chair, rocking slowly back and forth sewing something I couldn't make out. "Wh-who are you?" I asked. The lady shook her head, clucking her tongue. "Not off to a very good start, asking questions like that are you my dear?" She asked, glancing up at me for a moment before looking back down at her sewing. Not off to a good start? What was that supposed to mean? I looked around the room once more. I reached up a twisted a lock of hair in my fingers. I closed my eyes and tried to think, how could I have gotten here? As I was trying to think something came up and rubbed against my leg. I opened my eyes to the strange feeling of fabric rustling against skin and suppressed a squeal. Standing next to me was a soft burnt orange colored Fox. The fox quit rubbing on me and looked up at me. I met it's eyes and couldn't tear myself away. I knelt on my knees and slowly held out my hand. "Oh be careful, he bites." The old women said. I jerked my hand back and the fox cocked his head to the right as if saying "Wait, I thought you were going to pet me." The lady laughed. "Good heavens child. I was only joking, that's Moka. He's going to help you on your quest." She said. I reached out and pet Moka's head with soft slow strokes and then glanced at the old lady. "What quest? Where am I?" I asked. She gestured for me to come over in front of her. I walked over, Moka following right next to me. She stood up and threw something around my shoulders. I felt my body go stiff. "Relax, child. It's just a cloak. I need to see if it's long enough." She said. I still wasn't sure about any of this but I let myself relax as the old lady took measurements. After a few moments the women removed the cloak and sat back in the rocking chair. I opened my mouth to speak when she beat me to it. "Haven't you figured it out it?" She asked. I knelt to the ground again. My dress billowing around me. "They sent me in didn't they? I have no idea what I should be doing or where I should be going they didn't tell me anything." I said. Moka curled up on the ground next to me and layed his head on my lap.
"Yes. This is the start of Princess Training, which is  a ridiculous name. It doesn't train you to become a Princess it trains you to become someone you're not. How that will work on you, I do not know. It is already in your nature to be kind, caring and loving. You are already all the things a Princess should be so I do not even understand why you are being sent through this. But, I do know Moka is yours. He will be your guide from now until the end of your time. You will also need this," she held up the cloak she had been working on. It was made of a soft purple fabric, that shimmered when the folds overlapped. "Ah, I see you wondering, It is magical. Madame Violetta's finest work in fifty-two years. You will also be in great need of this." Madame Violetta reached into her basket of sewing supplies and pulled out a dagger that looked very familiar to me. She held it out in front of her but I scrambled backwards. Moka jumped to his feet and Madame Violetta pulled her hand back surprised at my reaction. "Wh-where did you get that?" I asked. 
"I've had it for fifty-two years, have you seen it before?" 

I nodded. It was the same dagger that was in my trunk back in Vercana. Except this one was clean and sparkling. "Oh, well take it. I have a feeling you will need it more than I will." She handed it to me. My hands were shaking but the more I inspected it I realized it only looked like the other one. The hilt was the same golden color, but the blade was so clear I could almost see my reflection perfectly. The other one was so rusted and it was covered with bloodstains. Obviously, they were from the same set. "Now, the best easiest way to get back to the castle through the Everblossom forest and over the mountains." 
"That's the easiest way?"

"Yes."
"So, what am I supposed to do? Just find my way back?"
"Exactly that. But be warned whatever path you choose it will not be easy."

"Yeah, well I guessed as much." I mumbled. Madame Violetta got to her feet. She draped the shimmering purple cloak on her rocker and hobbled off towards the stove leaving me to sit there alone with the fox. I don't understand anything that's happening. Why is me trudging through a forest and over a mountain called Princess Training? It's more like ridiculous training. Like what is this even going to teach us? I sat there thinking to myself for quite a few minutes trying to make sense of the purpose of this. Then my thoughts moved from how this could be considered Princess Training to Queen Eliana. Had it been like this when she went through it? Wait, what did I even know about what I'm about to go through? I thought about the look on her face when she said goodbye to me. It was like she was scared for me but also proud of me, like she just knew I could do this. Then I remembered she had pressed something into my hand as I was leaving. I didn't remember anything after the coach ride but I do remember looking at the charm Eliana had given me. It was a golden locket with the picture we had taken together with Luca on his birthday. I had put it around my neck but did I still have it or did they, whoever they were, take it? I reached up and felt around my neck, there was a chain there but before I could see what if it was the locket, Madame Violetta yelled for me and Moka to come there. I stood up and walked over to the table. Madame Violetta had set out two bowls and another on the ground for Moka. "Sit." She ordered. I did as I was told. She didn't seem like someone you wanted to make mad. "You seem like you don't want to be here. Why is that? Every other time a Princess Training was held the girls seemed ecstatic. You just seem sad." Madame Violetta said stirring her soup with a spoon. I looked down at the soup with looked delicious. I thought about what to tell her. Of course I didn't want to be here, wherever here was. "I just I don't want to become a princess. I just want life to continue how it was."

"And how was that?"
"Being the Queen's Lady in Waiting, being the Prince's best friend. Just being the way it's been my whole life. I don't want to go through the stupid training, and I don't really want to marry Luca." I said. After I said it, it made me think. I didn't want to marry Luca. I didn't. But if I really didn't then why did I feel like I just betrayed him by saying that. I must have been making some sort of face because Madame Violetta put down her spoon and looked straight at me. "But you still have feelings for him?" She asked. The question threw me even more off guard. Did I have feelings for him? Then an image popped into my head. Back in my bedchamber before I got in the coach and woke up here. He kissed me and I had no idea what that meant. Was that his way of saying goodbye to me forever? Or was that just his way of telling me he really loved me? Because right after that outside it didn't feel as special. "I..I don't know." I finally said, because I didn't. Madame Violetta nodded her head and then gestured to the bowl in front of me. "Eat. You have a long journey ahead of you, you'll need all the strength you can get." She said. I did as I was told and ate the soup.