The Snow Princess

Chapter Five

Lily was one of the first to wake , it was almost six in the morning , no one else had woke up yet. She lifts Ryan's arm off of her and lays it to the side , she did not want to wake him. Everyone had a rough day and she wanted them all to get as much rest as they could. Lily crawls out of the tent very quietly so she did not wake anyone up , she grabs her pail that was next to there belongings. She walked away from the camp site to find some fresh water for her and her family , oh and also the beast man who they had just met yesterday. She sighed softly as she followed the soft breeze and the moisture in the air. She had walked a few minutes away till she found a flowing creek. She smiles softly to herself as she knelt down and dipped her pail into the water. As she filled the pail she heard something walking up from across the creek. She slowly lifts her head to find a solid white fox with a pink nose and sky blue eyes. Her face softens, "hello little one" she says gently. The fox just looked at her then turned and walked away. Lily shrugs it off as she lifts the pail and walks back to camp where she finds Ryan up. He walks over to her "where were you?" He asked before he noticed the pail of water. He sighs "next time let me go get the water, it's not a great idea to have you walking about by yourself with everything that's happening". Lily nods "yeah, you're probably right. I just wanted to help out." Ryan smiles "I know you mean well, I just worry about your safety" he said as he took the water pail from her hands to put it where it needed to go. Lily looks around, she was not feeling herself. In less than a day she has lost everything that her and her family have worked for all because of one stranger. All because of who or what she is and that made her feel terrible. Ryan turns back to look at her and notices she was looking rather down, "are you okay?" He asked her. She looked back towards Ryan and shakes her head "no but I will be eventually. Just trying to absorb everything that's happening. I feel like I've ruined everything for us." She said as her eyes started to tear up. Ryan saw her tears building, he then grab her arm and pulled her into his embrace. He held her for a short while then moves her to where they could make eye contact "this is not your fault Lily. Do not ever feel like you have caused any damage to this... our family" he said. She gave a soft smile "thank you Ryan, I needed to hear that" she said as he wiped her tears away.

     Soon after Ryan and Lily started to prepare breakfast Clyde wakes. He walks out to the where the other two were "good morning Princess and the fellow she's been traveling with" he yawned. He was quite exhausted, "I know this all must very strange for you Princess Lily, I hope you are not frightened. There are many people who with to take down the king and free the lands from his tyranny so you are not alone" he added. Lily looked at him, she did not wish to fight but it must be her duty to do so. She needed to find a way to restore her kingdom. She smiles lightly "good morning Clyde, you can just call me Lily and this fellow is Ryan" she laughed softly. Ryan shook his head "good morning strange beast to appeared into our lives out of thin air" he chuckled softly. Clyde smiled, he was glad he had found the Princess and wanted to start gathering up a task force to bring the king to justice. He didn't want to push to much because he knew that the Princess most likely needed time to adjust to her title.

   Soon Dawn and Kira wake after the others. Both were concerned for how their Lillian was feeling about everything but were sure that Ryan or the beast man named Clyde have spoken to her about it and neither of them wanted to create anymore tension than their already was within the group. Kira walked up to Lily and kissed her forehead, "good morning our sweet girl" she said softly. "Good morning Mama" Lily said in return as she stood up and hugged her. Dawn walked over to Ryan "how's she holding up?" He asked him quietly. Ryan shrugs slightly "she seems to be handling everything well, she was awake before me and had already gathered the morning water" he told Dawn. Clyde stands up "we all need to eat then gather up what we need and move on. I know we just settled but I'm sure King Jonathan already has heard of Lily still being in 'his' kingdom" he said. Lily nods "you're right, we need to keep moving and start planning" she said as she finished up the bird eggs she had saved from the other day. Everyone ate their breakfast and packed lightly with only the things they absolutely needed.

  As the small group moved Lily had covered her head and anything else that would give away her identity like her silk hair. She felt as she did when she was a child expects maybe worse because she knew the truth about why she needed to hide her identity. Though she was relieved on knowing but know has only created more questions to rise in her mind. Her thoughts also drifted to the white fox she had seen earlier. She couldn't figure out why she felt stirred about that creature, it just seemed strange.