The Last Princess

Chapter 52

"Yes!"

Arden clapped, Maple squealed, and Aiden looked bored. Birch grinned. "Finally." I sighed. After days of practice, they'd gotten me to shake the leaves of a tree- small, but progress at least. The effort against my mother had also progressed, with soldiers from the palace coming every day to join us.

It gave me hope. Maybe we could actually do this. It would still be hard, of course. But maybe, maybe...we could actually do it. That didn't mean I didn't have my reservations, of course. No one was telling us anything, so it wasn't our fault we were being doubtful.

"So, what's next?" Aiden asked, pushing away from the tree against which he had been leaning. "What's next is you go and have lunch while I go and make plans with the Leaders." We burst into protests. "No!" "We want to go too!" "Why aren't you telling us anything?" "Don't you trust us?"

Birch raised an eyebrow.

"No arguments. You're where you need to be. If we have to tell you anything, we will." "But-" Birch cut Aiden off. "I know you want to know something, and I will tell you soon. For now, go and eat lunch."

He turned the other way and walked off, leaving us to stare at his receding figure. "We can't do anything. Come on, guys." Maple said, ushering us all to the small clearing where we moved our sleeping bags, grabbed some food, and sat in a small circle with Grove and Meadow.

I noticed I was between Aiden and Arden.

Arden, Maple and I talked, while Aiden was silent. I knew him well enough by know to know that he wasn't so much angry at his father, but frustrated with the lack of information. "There's nothing you can do." I said quietly.

He glanced at me once, then turned back to his food.

Soon, after lunch, we re-met with Birch. He finally had something to tell us. He was smiling, though he seemed a bit sad. "I have good news. The four of you have to come with me." "Where?" We all spoke at once.

"Our old camp."

I coughed. "What?" Aiden seemed to have been rendered speechless, for the time being. "Why?" Arden asked breathlessly. Maple just glanced between us. She hadn't lived there, hadn't seen how Ivy had attacked a camp full of innocents.

"We- they- want to see the damage she can cause. And we need to go back to retrieve some items." At least we were doing something. Better than sitting around in this camp. "What if the Queen has soldiers waiting there? What if it's a trap?" Aiden said, eyes dark.

Birch's mouth tightened. "We don't have a choice." "What about Elvina? We can't risk the Princess." Arden said. My eyes widened. "It's fine. I'm coming." I said before I could think.

With everything going on, I'd actually almost forgotten I was the Princess of the Forest. Princess of our Forest. The title added weight to me, an extra tension on my shoulders. I hadn't ever felt like a Princess though. My whole life I'd been more like a prisoner.

But if we won, I wouldn't just be Princess, I'd be Queen. Sitting on the same throne as Ivy. Ruling our Forest. How would I handle it? The thought chilled me to the core, like I knew I couldn't do it.

"-so let's go." Birch was saying. I snapped back to attention. Those thoughts could be dealt with later, after we defeated Ivy. If we ever would.

"How are we going? Surely it's too far to walk?" Maple asked. Birch grinned wickedly. "Ask Elvina. We're going the way she came from the Palace."

I groaned. "Mape, brace yourself. This isn't exactly going to be fun."