A Tale of Crown and Country

Lea

  "Keep your head down," Arlan hissed from underneath his own heavy cloak. He and Lea were disguised as scholars, Jayaki monks. Lea didn't know where Arlan had gotten the disguises, but seeing as they seemed to be working, she didn't complain. Underneath she wore a simple light blue dress with green details on the sleeves. She had had to compromise with Arlan, who'd insisted she wear brown and beige. He might have been leading the escape, but she was the one with the money.

"Why are you wearing a cloak as well?" she asked. They walked slowly towards the gates, following the ebbing crowd who likewise wished to leave the capital city. Despite the growing late hour there were at least a hundred people in the wide avenue that led to the western gate. She couldn't figure out why so many people would leave at such an hour. Surely darkness would fall before they reached any sort of comfortable resting place.

"I've had a few... run ins, with the local soldiers," he admitted. "By the number of them around here I'd say they're looking for any excuse to arrest someone. I wonder what happened to cause this," he mused.

An escaped princess, Lea thought to herself. But she wasn't about to admit that to Arlan. It came as a surprise to her that he didn't know who she was. It was probably for the best anyways. He probably didn't need to know that helping her was a sure fire way of earning a one way ticket to a four by four cell.

They approached the guards at the gate. Lea sent a silent prayer to Erayd that they'd make it through undetected. They marched slowly forwards; Lea could see the sprawling expanse of land beyond the city walls: yellowed grass crunched beneath the sun, crawling white clouds, distant trees. A wave of excitement came over her. This was it; she wasn't just about to have an adventure, something she'd craved since Reike had put a copy of Hyrild's Pilgrimage in her hands at the age of eight, she was about to be free for the first time in almost 16 years. And it was something she had never realized she wanted until this very moment.

She and Arlan passed under the unsuspecting guards noses without difficulty. Lea's hands had been shaking under her cloak, but she kept her head down and put one foot in front of the other. Most people in Allriya were at least a little wary of Jayaki monks; Arlan's disguise was foolproof.

"Wherever shall we go?" Arlan asked, smiling as he pulled his hood off, revealing a mess of dark hair.

Lea did the same; the stuffy hood made her new-found freedom even sweeter. She looked around the country with new eyes. They were far enough away from the capital that the great crowds that had pressed for their own freedom had dispersed in every which way, headed for new cities, new countries, new landscapes. It was exactly what Lea wanted to do. She didn't know where she wanted to start, but she wanted to see everything. She couldn't contain her excitement. A wide grin spread across her face and stayed there; her eyes gulped in everything in sight. She'd felt warm breezes before but none like this. Everything was clearer, sharper, smelled stronger and tasted sweeter. Now she could taste the wind, hear the sun, and see every blade of grass. It was like putting a pair of telescopes in front of her senses. The sensation was so overwhelming she drowned out everything but the intoxicating sounds of the natural world.

"Lea?" Arlan was asking. He touched her arm gently; it shook her from her bubble in time, but her smile never wavered. If anything it grew larger. "Are you alright?"

"I'm more than alright," she said excitedly. "I feel–I feel amazing!" She laughed with the wind. Adrenaline coursed through her body. If this was what freedom felt like she never wanted to go back. "I don't know where to go," she returned to his original question. "Anywhere–everywhere!"

She tilted her head back, taking in the ever-setting sun's glowing rays. It felt wonderful to be alive.

"Wait," she said, snapping out of her trance, finally focusing on Arlan's words. "You don't have to come with me."

"What if I want to come with you?"

Lea smiled. "I would be honoured to have your companionship," she said brightly.

"Well then, any suggestions on where you would like to go?"

"South?" she asked, the unspoken reason being there were less major cities there. Less places for her to be recognized by a passing soldier or duke. She was sure her father had sent word of her escape to every reach of the country.

"Than south we shall go."