The Realm of the Sun

PART TWO: A Stranger in the Wood

A warm breeze that tasted almost of spring thrilled her as it passed her by. She delighted in its heat as though she had never experienced this season before. The girl ran to chase the light, which glimmered through openings in the treetops. The cascade of her orange hair formed a luscious wake behind her as she ran. Her bones and her very core had been chilled for so long, unable to shake the impenetrable cold that had long exceeded her expectation this year. The freshly picked berries flew like water droplets out of her basket as she leapt over tree roots and lilies and weeds sprouting up between them in order to reach that tantalizing hint of winter's end. Each spring had always brought new beginnings for the flowers, the animals, and the leaves. But this time, there was an undeniable feeling that something was going to happen for her.

The girl began to slow down when she heard something besides the rustling of her bare feet in the grass. She walked very slowly now with caution, wondering what large creature would be out to hunt in broad daylight. It had to be large, she thought, for the rustling in the shrubbery was just as loud and as steady as her own, the noise of footsteps caused no doubt by a creature with two legs. She had known deer to be barely audible as they leapt with elegance through the wood and birds' wings always had that sound of distinct hurried flapping. She was nearing the pond, so it very well could be a bear, she thought. Her heart nearly stopped altogether when she heard a tremendous splash. It sounded like a tree hitting the forest floor compared to the constant trickle of the waterfall into the pond. Startled, she froze against a wide oak tree, her back straight against the rough bark. Summoning all the courage she had, the girl took a deep, slow breath and peeked the top of her head out from behind the tree.

It wasn't a bear at all, and she would have laughed at her own foolishness had she not been so entranced by what was swimming around in the pond instead. It was a young man, her own age, whose muscles on his bare back relaxed and tightened again as he swam peacefully around the pond. Never had she seen a man up close before, only vaguely sometimes in the distance, passing by the edge of the forest on horseback. She thought she had never seen anything so beautiful and fascinating and terrifying in her entire life. Too enchanted to be self-aware, her foot fell loudly into the shrubbery beside the root and the boy turned around in the water immediately at the sound. His ears were as keen as hers and he had spotted a flash of her auburn hair as she quickly recovered the misstep and hid behind the tree once more.

"Who's there?" he demanded, nearly as afraid as she had been moments earlier, "show yourself."

The girl stood frozen, deciding between running away as fast as she could or confronting this strange young man. She had navigated this wood every single day since she could walk, and not once had she seen this boy or any other creatures that looked like her. For all she knew, his splash in the pond could have meant he was dropped from the sky. Her widened eyes narrowed and fixed on his strewn shirt—a uniform of sorts with a faded symbol on the front—and his satchel resting in the grass closer to the tree than the pond. The sun caught a glimmer of something shiny and sharp—a weapon, she thought—sticking out of the leather pouch. Thinking quickly, she ran with all her might to the satchel, grabbed the jagged dirk from within it and held it defensively in the air in his general direction. His dark eyes widened as they looked up at her and did not know whether to laugh or make an effort to retrieve his weapon. Standing there in her plain bodice and skirts, the slight, unassuming girl seemed a complete contradiction to her intention as she held a weapon half the size of her body.

"What in all of—" a little laugh escaped his unhinged jaw before he could think to say anything else, "Who are you, then?"

"I—I could ask you the same question," she retorted, her bended knees trembling and clapping as she turned awkwardly holding the heavy weapon, ankles turned in and arms lifted unnaturally to compensate for its weight, "What are you doing here?"