A Tale of Crown and Country

Lea

"Arlan?"

"Yes?"

"Doesn't your family miss you? I mean–I don't want to intrude or anything–but, you just kind of, ran off when I asked for your help. They don't know where you are."

"Does yours?" Arlan asked in return.

Lea looked away. He was right, of course. But the difference was she already knew her father's response to her disappearance.

They'd found a small ridge to set up camp under. Open plains beside the main road left little to the imagination and offered even less protection from the elements. Lea had wanted to stay off the main road, but she couldn't very well offer up an explanation as to her request without explaining everything to Arlan. She was keeping her mouth shut on a lot of things. She resisted the urge to complain at their impromptu camp. Apparently she had been right: there weren't many places to stay outside of Aldira. Maybe she'd bring that up with her father, if and when she returned home. The thought of his anger made her want to stay away longer; he'd also grow angrier the longer she was away. It was a vicious cycle.

Arlan still had his satchel filled with jars and boxes of all sorts of things. Somehow he'd managed to scrounge up a small meal. He'd rejected her proposition of a fire; it was dangerous in such dry environs and drew unwanted attention. And anyways, the air was still warm though the moon had risen long ago. Lea had sat out of the way as he set up a sort of camp. She'd felt useless but was sure she'd just make things worse if she tried to help. Besides, Arlan seemed content to do everything his own way.

"Why do you think I took you up on that offer?" Arlan said again when the silence became a slight bit unbearable.

Lea looked at him across the cleverly placed candle Arlan had produced from his bag. It provided a meagre amount of light and cast shadows across their faces. Lea could imagine seeing it across the flat landscape, flickering in and out of sight distant, welcoming, mysterious.

"So you were running away?" she asked cautiously.

Arlan grinned, "Isn't that what you were doing, your highness?"

Lea's eyes grew wide. Had he known who she was all along? Arlan looked away from her shocked expression. She was sure her mouth was open a little, but she was trying to figure him out. Somehow he managed to hide behind a cloud of smoke; she couldn't quite grasp his character, how he reacted, what he was thinking. She couldn't predict anything he said or did.

"I'm sorry–I meant to say something earlier, but, well..." Arlan shrugged and looked out at the dark grasslands surrounding them. He didn't finish his thought.

"You knew who I was the whole time?" Lea managed to ask, having recovered from the shock. She wondered why she was the one most shaken up by the revelation.

"Not at first," he admitted. He sat up with his knees to his chin, arms wrapped tight around his shins. Lea looked at him but he only eyed the candle as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "Around the time you asked for my help I began to suspect. The coins gave it away. And your apprehension around the guards."

"Your wonder about the number of soldiers," Lea asked, "was that real?"

"Mostly. I had my theories."

He didn't elaborate.

"And you still agreed to help me," she wondered aloud, mostly to herself. "Didn't you worry what would happen if we were caught? They'd arrest you for sure."

"Well what's life without a little adventure, hm? And besides, that'd only be a problem if we did get caught. Which we didn't." He grinned playfully.

Lea shook her head at him. "Unbelievable," she said quietly. She watched as he swept his finger back and forth over the tiny flame that barely illuminated each others faces. "Now what?" she asked.

"Now what?" he repeated, confused.

"Now what do we do? I thought you didn't know who I was. This changes... things."

"Changes what? I'm still coming with you. I don't care that you ran away–"

"You don't know that–"

"I want to get out too. I'm in this with you. One hundred percent."

Lea was only partially offended that he knew she'd run away. The most pressing things on her mind were that Arlan had also run away–from what, she didn't know, but she presumed it would be hard to pry out of him–and that he was still going to come with her. Her heart and cheeks glowed at that; she was glad the candle gave off as little light as it did so he couldn't see her blush. She'd never had such a loyal friend. Reike came close, but he was closer to Zuryn than to her. Besides, he was her brother. No, she'd never had a friend like this, and in so little time no less.

Arlan lay down, shuffling the grass underneath until he'd found a comfy spot to sleep. Apparently the conversation was over. Lea copied him, though with less ruckus. She stared up at the night sky. This was the first time she'd seen the stars outside of the city. Without the dominating castle glow nature's twinkling lights shone brightly down on her. There were more than she could count, and more kept appearing until she gave up entirely. Arlan had snuffed out the candle and when she looked over at him, he too was staring at the stars.

"Arlan?" she whispered.

"Mhm?" came a reply from inside the dark.

"Thank you."

"For what?" came a soft response.

Lea thought for a moment. She didn't really know what had prompted those words. They'd just felt... right.

"For helping me. For... believing in me... For being my friend."

"Friend?" Arlan asked lightly. "I've never been friends with a princess before."

Lea smiled in the dark. She knew he was doing the same. If she didn't know much about him at least she knew he had a sense of humour.

"There's always a first time for everything," she commented.

Arlan didn't reply. Eventually she heard his breathing soften–he was asleep. She remained awake for some time, watching the stars. Every once in awhile a snore erupted from Arlan's side of the candle, reminding her that she should be sleeping. She'd need a lot of energy tomorrow. But the world was so new, so exciting, so invigorating, that she couldn't make her brain slow down. It spun in circles, jumped from thought to thought, refusing to settle down. Lea closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings, on the wide sky above her, on the itchy grass beneath her, on the fabric of her dress and the occasional rustle of wind on her skin. Finally she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of wild adventures, of pirates and mountain expeditions and evil wizards.