THRONE'S HEIR ✧ ROYAL! DENMARK[✔]

[7]

"What?!" [Name] said sharply, paling and turning to the the two children. 

"Yeah." Allistor said, shaking his head. "It's a shame for Hildebrand, but they should have seen it coming." 

"Yeah!" Alice said, giggling. "I heard the attack was so cool! They shot up the whole castle." 

[Name] felt sick to her stomach. How could the residents of her own kingdom be entertained by such barbaric actions? 

"The king of Scarnia is in his castle, am I right?" [Name] said, forcing a smile. 

"Yes, of course! King Oxenstierna is in his castle right now making battle plans!" Alice smiled. 

[Name]'s fist clenched. Being connected to nature and Earth elements, she understood that violence was sometimes needed for protection and to avoid death. Self-defense was in everyday life. The fish protecting itself from the bird. The wolves fighting over mates. The gazelle running from the cheetah. 

But [Name] never believed in fighting for gaining power, land, and money.  

Everything had to be balanced by power. Animals didn't kill for fun. They only killed when they were hungry for food, not hungry for power. Even then, the animals would sit down in front of their kills and be grateful for their food, thanking mother nature for the meal. [Name] knew this because she had been surrounded by the habits all her life. 

[Name] quickly ran off after gathering everything from a stall. She couldn't think about talking with the king now. First of all, he wouldn't even bother to see the insignificant forest-dwelling girl. Although [Name] wasn't a peasant, she wasn't one of the rich townfolk. Besides, [Name] had something more important to take care of. 

She traded money for the ingredients, trying to knock off the prices. Finally, pulling the scroll out of her bag, the girl went over the ingredients that she had collected. 

"I have everything!" She breathed a sigh of relief. 

Once again mounting Macadamia with the basket tucked safely in her saddle, [Name] rode back home. 

___

When the healer quietly pushed the plants that were covering the cottage aside and opened the door, the first thing [Name] heard was the crackling of a fire. Dropping her bag near the door, [Name] walked to the main living room. 

There, in front of the fire on a couch, sat Matthias.

"You're back!" His face lit up as he leaped to his feet, then winced and fell back down. [Name] reprimanded him gently, but ruffled his hair and smiled. 

"Yes. I have everything I need to make the medicine." She said, sitting down next to the blonde. "I have to freeze some of the ingredients, so I'll start in the morning." 

"Okay." Matthias said and snuggled a little into the girl. Matthias had grown fond of the girl, seeing her as a savior or guardian angel of some type. She blushed slightly at his actions and stood up. 

"Wait," [Name] said, exiting the room. The girl came back with a huge, fluffy blanket. She put it around his shoulders and extended it to her shoulders-an act that required her to scoot closer to him until the two were cuddled together like lovers. 

As [Name] breathed in, Mathtias's scent of fresh evergreen and sparkly snow filled her lungs, as expected of a resident of such a cold kingdom. Scarnia was cold too, but not as much in the forest.

"I have a question." Matthias said boldly. 

"Yes?" [Name] asked, still staring directly at the fire.