WARNING: SPOILERS!!! ~A Watty's 2019 Submission!

Saved for A Sister's Quest

"Aunt Rosella!" Rosella jumped at Gwendolyn's voice, dropping the apple she was carrying.

"Gwendolyn!" She smiled, a little red in the face. "You startled me!"

"Sorry, I just had to ask you something." Gwendolyn told her, taking a deep breath. "What can you tell me about Great Aunt Hova?" Rosella's face paled, and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Aunt Hova?" She murmured, suddenly awful quiet. "I don't have much to tell."

"Tell me anything you know." Gwendolyn said, crossing her fingers.

Rosella took a deep breath, and leaned against the wall. "What do you want to know?" Gwendolyn nearly did a dance of joy when she heard that.

"What was she like?" Rosella let out a sigh, falling back against the wall as she thought.

"Hova was brilliant." She murmured. "You have to understand that I was always a Daddy's girl, so I was normally with him. But of course, there were plenty of things that your grandpa couldn't teach me. So, Hova used to teach me the things she knew."

"Like what?" Gwendolyn leaned forward eagerly, and Rosella smiled.

"Well, she used to teach me tricks that even your grandpa couldn't pull off. Swords and knives were her specialty weapon that she chose to you, rather than a bow and arrow. She was the one who gave me my first dagger."

"Really?" Gwendolyn's eyes went wide, and Rosella chuckled as she reached back into her skirt.

"Yes, when I was about your age, actually." She then pulled out a small holster made for a knife, and pulled out the sharp object to show her niece. The dagger's handle was gold, gleaming with only a few scratches on it from Rosella using it. There were shining blue sapphires along the handle with a gold bulb at the end. The blade itself was also clean, a shining silver, the tip pointed as if it was brand new. "She told me it was always a good idea to keep a dagger hidden beneath the skirt or the pants leg." Rosella explained. "No one would dare search under a lady's clothing. It's one of our advantages." Gwendolyn looked up at that one.

"Our advantages?" Rosella nodded.

"Oh, yes. Hova was big on keeping things fair between men and women. We of course hardly have such a problem like that in Daventry, but sometimes, it's hard to forget a time when women weren't seen as anything much. Addendum 48677 always bothered her most, always bothering your grandpa about thinking of making me queen since Alexander wasn't around." Gwendolyn looked at her lap. That was an addendum she could never forget. Gart was always reminding her of it. The king of Daventry must pass his crown down to any worthy male heir. Gart was always saying how it was the one way he had a hand over her when it came to their grandpa.

"What did Grandpa say about that?" Rosella sighed, her smile fading.

"He was always too worried about finding Alexander to even think about it. He wasn't worried about finding an heir, he simply wanted him back." Gwendolyn hung her head.

"Oh." Then she took a deep breath, preparing for this next question. "Do you know why she left?" Rosella shook her head.

"No. She wouldn't tell me. I didn't even see her again until Gart was born." Gwendolyn looked up.

"Huh?" Rosella nodded.

"Yes, she appeared the night your cousin was born." Rosella looked around the hall, and crouched to Gwendolyn's height. "Now, I'm trusting you, Gwendolyn. You can't tell anyone this. Hova made me promise not to tell." Gwendolyn nodded.

"Of course! I won't say a word." Rosella took a deep breath.

"Well, the night Gart was born was a flurry. Nursemaids, your uncle, your grandparents, everyone was running in and out of the room constantly, wishing to help me and the new baby. It was a lot of fuss."

"I can imagine." Gwendolyn commented, letting out a small chuckle. Her dad had said that she was born back in their kingdom, and she had come a little early, so it took everyone a little while to come up from Daventry to see her. Though he always mentioned how glad he was that they they hadn't arrived yet because of all the fuss it would have brought.

"It was near midnight when she came." Rosella continued, fiddling with her fingers. "I had woken up to feed Gart. I had just sat down in my chair, when I heard a tapping at the window." Gwendolyn closed her eyes, trying to picture it, having a more clear vision in her head now that she knew a little about what Hova looked like. "I went to the window, confused, and I saw her. She looked like she had been through war and had tried to clean up."

"How so?" Gwendolyn asked, trying to get a more clear picture. "Grandpa never really told me what she looked like." Rosella leaned back, furrowing her eyebrows as though she were trying to remember herself.

"Well, she looked an awful lot like your grandpa." She admitted. "She had the same blue eyes he did, and the freckles that went across his cheeks. Her hair was much longer, and she wore it in a braid normally, with a headband she had made herself from twigs. She said that it was her own version of a crown that made her a queen of the forest." Both girls chuckled at that, just as a low sound of thunder rumbled softly from outside, as if they were  transported back to that night. "And of course, she was wearing her green cape. I let her into the window, and we sat together, speaking softly as I fed Gart."

"What did you talk about?" Gwendolyn asked, her hands in tight fists as she listened eagerly.

"Nothing exciting." Rosella told her, sorry to disappoint. "She wouldn't answer any of my questions when I asked her about where she was or what she had been doing. She asked me plenty of questions about what everyone else was up to and how we were all getting on without her. It was almost as if she had just been out for the weekend. But she wouldn't say a word about where she had gone."

"Did she give any sort of clues? How long did she stay that time?"

"She didn't stay long." Rosella sighed. "Only a few hours. I'm not sure when she left exactly. I had fallen asleep while she was holding Gart. When I awoke, Gart was sleeping, and she was gone."

"Did she leave a note or anything?" Gwendolyn asked, and Rosella shook her head.

"Nothing. It was as if she had never been there at all. I can only assume she had went to visit Alexander."

"You think she went and saw Dad?" Gwendolyn stood straight at that.

"I would almost hope so." Rosella admitted. "Your father and Hova were so close. When he had returned, she showed him how to use magic in a more graceful manner, though Grandpa never liked it. He was always worried about what would happen."

"Do you think Dad might know something?" Rosella shrugged again.

"Perhaps. Like I said, she and your father were closer than I could have ever been with her. Especially once your father and her got him into adventuring." Gwendolyn pumped her fists.

"Thanks, Aunt Rosella! That all really helped!" Then Gwendolyn took off running down the hall, Rosella smiling a small, sad smile, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Oh, Aunt Hova." She murmured. "If only you could see what a fine, strong young woman Gwendolyn is turning out to be. She's so much like you, its almost uncanny."