Alienation No Longer

Anew

I must be dreaming. She stood before me, barely illuminated by the light, and what a gorgeous thing she was. With a glance at her silhouette, she seems perfect, yet she still seemed adrift. The silence between us had primarily gone unnoticed as we cautiously studied one another. Her small waist was hugged by an elegant—but, in this case, eccentric—ivory gown. The color in her beautiful face was drained. The confusion and loss in her blue-gray eyes was accentuated by deep circles below them. Grime and dust cluttered her now messy, but still lovely, dirty-blonde hair. She wasn't tall, perhaps a bit over five feet, but her erect posture and expression of stern discipline granted her an air of prestige and authority. Her bare feet were blackened and worn from wandering for days, possibly weeks, to arrive here in the deepest of the forest.

Rising to my feet, I gazed into her eyes, and they widened with fear as she stepped back. This nameless beauty finally spoke with a silvery, quivering voice, "What are you?"

Confused, I was taken aback. I paused for a moment before replying, also with a slight waver in my voice. "Can you not see? I am a man."

Her smile was masked in shadow, but I could sense its presence in her voice as her expression of fear receded. "Of course you are, I am not blind. I mean, are you an explorer? A nomad? Or, a fellow hastener..? What business does a man such as you have in these woods?"

"Ah, you, too, are a hastener?" I was nearly ecstatic, but I repressed any urge to show it, I wouldn't want to appear as a fool. "My parents fled with me in this great war during an attack on the village I come from, as its people were a part of the attempted coups."

"War? What could you mean by that? There hasn't been a war in Bansholo for fifteen years!"

I froze at her remark. I had never considered that the war may have been won. All I can imagine of life outside the forest is that it would be even more grim than the darkness I already reside within. My memories of Bansholo are filled with gore and cries, could that all be over? I haven't even considered returning to society because it would have just been running back to what I was brought here to hide from. Obviously, I could easily find the way back to leave the forest, but I much prefer a life in solitude than one accompanied by corpses. So, this is all a waste? I could have had a proper childhood in happiness, rather than one in darkness?

My face grew grim as my head lowered, and my thoughts were interrupted by the girl's somewhat soothing voice, "Oh, have you really been in these woods that long? My God, how old must you be? You appear only as a teenager..."

"That's because I am, essentially; I'm eighteen years old."

She gasped and brought her hands to her mouth and shock. "You were taken here as a toddler? Where are your parents? What happened?"

I took a deep breath and returned in front of the fire to sit down, and gestured for her to come to my side. I sat up with my legs crossed, facing her, and told her my story. As I spoke, a tear streamed down her cheek, then another. And, by the time I had finished speaking, she was sobbing her heart out. Until now, it had never crossed my mind how sad it is. I'd only felt angry, even guilty. I took her hand and asked her, "Please, do not cry for me, not even I have." And so, she wiped her tears and looked me in the eye. Catching her breath, she started her story.

Hers was simple, some would even call it "cliche." I would have said the same, if I had already known her status. "I am Princess Rosetta Vulpine Polaris, eldest princess of the NeoBansholo." She said it proudly, rising only to pronounce her great title. She explained of her "boring, tiring" life as royalty, and she wanted to escape the castle walls. She considered herself a hastener for fleeing a life of wealth and comfort, but I still bit my tongue. She'd been wandering the forest for days, and, upon realizing she wanted to go back, she was much too lost to find the way out of the forest.

Oh, and just to add to the fact that I could have returned much before, the NeoBansholo (new kingdom) was named so after the mutiny succeeded, and the ruler that my parents fought for was appointed. Basically, my parents died for this girl to gain royal prominence—only for her to run away in frustration of that blessing. I still bit my tongue.

I picked up my few belongings—consisting of a knife of moose bone, a makeshift bow, a sack of extra food (meat and berries, mostly), a wooden cup of water, and a larger sack to hold all of these—and stood back up, extending my hand to help her up. I handed her a drumstick of a fowl and doused the fire. Afterwards, I began to walk. She followed me and inquired, she was hard to understand with her mouth full, "Where are you off to?"

I responded with a chuckle, "I always thought princesses knew not to eat with their mouths full?" She rolled her eyes and smiled as I continued, "We are leaving these endless trees to your 'new kingdom.' Fifteen years have passed, and I'd like to start anew."