The Girl in the Woods

Interrogations

Rolan looked down upon the hunched form of the girl, his heart beating with a strange mixture of emotions. Anger, fear, confusion, and that same weird flutter he got whenever he looked at her face. Her beautiful, entrancing face. As he looked closer, he realized her eyes were a gentle hazel color, with shades of green and brown that complimented her already perfect features. But in those eyes he also saw looks of embarrassment and hopelessness and shear terror, terror of what they would do to her. Was this really one of the strange warriors who had attacked his kingdom in his nightmares?
"I presume you understand why you are here," he asked, trying his best to sound intimidating.
The girl stayed silent.
     "We have many questions as to why you were in our encampment, spying on us. But as you have not shown any hostility towards us as of yet, I will assume that you have the wisdom to answer our questions without trouble. If all goes well, and you mean us no harm, we will let you go freely away from us. However, if you enjoy your current position, we will happily keep you tied up to that chair, and leave you here when we disembark. Perhaps a wild animal will kindly eat you before you die of starvation. So, are we agreed?"
      There was a long silence.
"Excuse me, who are you to disobey the king and ignore him in such a crude way?" Said General Andar. "You're lucky we are treating you so kindly as it is. If it wasn't for His Majesty, I would have had you chained to the underside of a tree branch for questioning!"
She flinched at his words, but still remained silent. And that was how she stayed for the rest of the day, no matter how many times they asked her.
Finally, in exasperation, General Andar drew his sword and placed the tip of the blade against her neck. She squeaked in surprise, but kept her composure and was quiet once more. "Alright then," he said, "maybe we have been a little too soft on you. Talk, or I'll slice through your throat, since you don't really seem to use it. Once you are no longer breathing, I will slice the rest of your body into tiny pieces for the crows to eat, and I'll leave your teeth for the sparrows to peck at. Do I make myself clear?" By this time he was leaning so close to her face that she was cringing away just so they wouldn't touch.
But still, the girl remained silent besides a few groans of pain from the edge of the sword cutting into her skin.
"Fine. I guess we'll never know your name, girl." He drew his sword back, preparing for the final blow.
STOP!!!
     The sword came to a halt inches from her neck.
      Rolan stared at the girl with his mouth open in awe. She stared back at General Andar with a scared, yet determined, look on her face. But her lips were still glued shut. In fact, they had stayed shut the whole time. She hadn't opened her mouth to even breath, and yet, Rolan was sure he had heard a voice shout out to stop.
Fine. I will tell you what I know. But I will not speak to you with my real voice. My only means of communication will be with my mind.
     Again, the voice spoke, but her mouth hadn't moved, even though the voice was clearly hers. As she had said, the voice must be coming from her mind. She was communicating with her mind.
     "How—" Rolan's voice hitched. "How are you doing this?"
     Her mind- voice filled his head once more.
With my Orielle, the silver star on my forehead. It lets electro-magnetic frequencies out of our brains, broadcast to another person's mind. Suddenly, a high-pitched squealing filled his head, and Rolan, reeled backwards, clutching at his head in pain. He looked over and saw that Andar was in the same position, apparently experiencing the same headache he was.
Sorry, the girl apologized. It's hard to transmit with this cloth over my forehead. The frequencies get mixed up by the fabric, and it's nearly impossible to focus the correct frequencies through the individual threads. That's why my voice has been muffled this whole time.
The voice was indeed muffled, now that she mentioned it. With tentative steps, Rolan approached her and undid the knot in the back of her head. It was very tightly tied, and the skin underneath it was white with the stop of the blood flow. As he stuffed the cloth in his pocket, he heard her mind voice sigh in relief.
Thank you. Now maybe I will be able to think straight.
     "I'm still slightly confused, about how this all works," he said, trying to sound calm and collected. "Why do you only speak with your mind? Why not your real voice?"
     She hesitated before answering. I don't feel obligated to let you hear my real voice. This shall be my ways of communicating with you until I see fit. Besides, this benefits you more than it does me anyway.
     "Your Majesty," said General Andar, "if we are going to interrogate her today, we'll have to start soon. The sun will be setting in little more than an hour."
     Rolan was slightly surprised. Was it really almost sunset? They had been here longer than he thought. "Yes, um, let's get started.  Now, can we trust you to give us the truth?"
I will tell you exactly what you want to know. I will tell you nothing but the truth. I figure you deserve it for actually catching me. Not many people can  do that. Her mouth turned up into a small smirk at the last part.
    "How do we know that you're not lying to us?" Queried the General.
One of the downsides to this ability is that you can only project whatever is going through your mind at the exact moment it comes to your mind, making it extremely difficult— and nearly downright impossible for someone at my level— to lie. Before you can think of a convincing lie, the truth has already come to the front of your head, and it is projected out of your orielle before you can even think twice. So I wouldn't worry about my words being truthful. I would worry more about what you are going to ask me. Time is running out; the sun is starting to set.
     "Right," said Rolan. "Let's get started. First of all, you never did tell us your name."
My name is Arya,* Arya Morningstar. Daughter of Sinoa* and Galdor* Morningstar, Queen and King of Kitsing, the kingdom hidden in the trees.
     For a second, Rolan didn't know what exactly to say. She was a princess? What was she doing out in the middle of the forest, spying on them?
I didn't come out just to spy on your little party, for you information. I was going on a short hunting trip, when all of a sudden I see your tiny little troupe come stomping through the woods, scaring off a particularly large elk that I had been tracking for a few days. My curiosity got the best of me, and I followed you around for a day before I decided to find out what you were doing. And I would have been on my merry way again as soon as I knew you meant me no harm, but you just had to chase me down and capture me.
     Again, Rolan was at a slight loss for words. "How did you know what I was thinking, just now? You answered my question before I had even asked it."
     She smiled. Well, you see, I can not only communicate telepathically, but I can also hear your thoughts. I don't know if I would go so far as to call it mind reading; I can only hear the thoughts going through you head at the present moment. So, if you have some private secret, and would like it to stay that way, I would suggest not thinking about it.
     Once again, Rolan was rendered speechless. He was starting to get annoyed with how frequently he was robbed of the ability to talk. "Well, that is certainly good to know. Thank you for telling us."
Well, it's not like I have any say in the matter. You are, after all, interrogating me, and your General gave me such a nasty scare that I am happy to talk.
     "I am deeply sorry, Princess Arya," the general replied, and he indeed seemed very sorry.
All is forgiven, General Andar. I am sorry for not talking right away. I was terrified, but I should have known better. Her tone changed, and her words were starting to sound like those of a princess. Now that the secret was out, she might as well act the part. "It is all right, Princess. I would have acted the same way if I was in your situation." Rolan paused. "Tell me, do all the people of your kingdom have the same abilities as you do?"
Yes and no. You see, everyone in my kingdom has some sort of telepathic ability. Some can project their thoughts to another person. Others can hear the thoughts of those around them. Some can even move objects with their minds. Some can feel emotions. And some are even able to control other's thoughts and actions, like mind control, but that talent is very rare, and we make sure that they don't use their ability for evil or personal gain. Anyway, whatever ability they have, they only have one. Having more than one ability is extremely rare. She smiled. I am one of the only people in our kingdom to ever have 3 abilities.
     General Andar let out a small sigh of astonishment. "That's amazing."
"Wait a second," said Rolan, "you have shown us that you can transmit thoughts to others, and you can hear our thoughts as well. What, then, is your third talent?"
     As soon as the words left his mouth, Rolan was levitating a few feet off the ground. He yelped in surprise, making General Andar double over in laughter. Arya smiled mischievously, and Rolan was suddenly very scared. "Please put me down!" He cried.
In a second. You can't tell my you aren't enjoying this.
     "No, I'm really not."
Haven't you ever wondered what's it's like to fly, like a bird?
      Rolan was about to demand she put him down, but then he realized she was right. He had sometimes wondered what it would be like to fly, to have his feet separated from the ground, to be held up by nothing but the air itself. He was suddenly much calmer, breathing slower and deeper. He relaxed, and leaned back into the invisible force holding him up.
"This is incredible," he whispered, just enough for them to hear him. Arya giggled under her breath, and then rolled him over in the air. Rolan felt like a small child again, happy and content, without any worries. He felt free.
I'm going to let you down now.
     Slowly, Rolan descended back down to solid ground, landing lightly on his feet. "That was absolutely amazing. You are very strong in your abilities, Princess Arya."
Well, it isn't as easy as it looks. It takes an immense amount of energy and concentration to make something levitate. It is by far the most difficult ability to master, and even the most advanced among us have trouble holding it for very long. The longest anyone has ever been able to hold something aloft is just about two hours, and that person almost died from exertion afterwards.
     "This is all so fascinating, I cannot even wrap my mind around it," said Rolan, his mouth hanging slightly open in astonishment.
     "It truly is," said Andar, "but we are still not finished. Arya, you said earlier that you had only pried because you were curious, is that correct?"
Correct
    "So you do not mean us any harm, and were just wondering why we were here?"
      I wish you no harm, and I am sorry for the trouble I have caused.
     "Well then, I am happy to say that you are innocent, and we will not trouble you anymore."
Thank you General. But there is a slight problem. She looked down at her leg, wrapped in bandages and a splint. From what I can tell, it is badly broken, and I will not be able to walk on it for at least a few weeks.
     "Yes, I am very sorry about that," said Rolan. "It was my idea to make you fall, and I was not expecting something like—well, this—to happen. Perhaps you could use one of our horses to journey back to your kingdom."
That would be wonderful. Thank you King Rolan.
     "King Rolan, May I speak with you for a moment?" Blurted Andar.
     "Oh, well, yes of course." They stepped outside the tent. "Why is it General?"
     "Rolan, you know as well as I do that we have no idea where we are going. It's nothing short of a miracle that we haven't stumbled across anything that's threatened to kill us as if yet. You know as well as I do that not all of the stories of the forest were fairytales."
     "Well, you're not wrong. But what are you proposing we do about it?"
     "If we supply her with a horse, so you think she would be willing to guide us to her kingdom with her? We offer her safety as her leg heals, she leads us to her land so we can make peace with her kind."
     Rolan pondered. "Well, I guess we could ask. But we aren't forcing her to do anything, agreed?"
     "Agreed."
      With that, they reentered the tent.
      What sort of favor?
      Rolan almost tripped over his own feet.
     "Have you been listening to our conversation from the beginning?"
      No, I just heard you thinking about a favor you were going to ask me when you walked back inside. I figured I would give you a little privacy while you were talking outside.
    "Oh. Well, you see, the whole reason we came into this forest in the first place was to find your people and make peace with them."
Make peace? Arya looked confused. Over what? We didn't even know about your kingdom until recently, when reports of strange people in the forest started coming in. They weren't reports about a group as large as yours, just one or two every once in a while.  We didn't see you as a threat to us, and we still don't.
    "Well, I have been having these strange dreams—or more accurately, nightmares— every night for the past month or so, and they have all been the same—a powerful army, bearing cloaks on their backs, with the same silver. . . orielle, as you called it? Anyway, they all have the same silver shapes on their foreheads, and every night is the same: they come in and destroy my kingdom. They level buildings with a flick of their arms, take down a dozen soldiers with one swing of their swords. So, I want to prevent this from happening, and have decided to find this strange and powerful army before they find us, and destroy us.
    "So, I was thinking you could guide us through the forest to you kingdom, where we could make a treaty and become allies. In return, we will give you a horse to travel on and a bed to sleep in, as well as protection while your leg heals. All we ask is that you lead us back to your home with you."
     Arya mulled it over in her head, thinking through the pros and cons, and Rolan was starting to worry she would say no. But then she looked up and told them, Alright, I'll do it.
     Rolan sighed in relief. "Thank you, Princess Arya. We appreciate your assent."
I couldn't exactly just leave you out here without some guidance, now could I? You would have been blundering around here for months looking for our kingdom if I left you alone. That is, if something hadn't eaten you first. Her face turned grave. There are some dark, evil things in this forest. Things you wouldn't be able to conjure up even in your nightmares. And we are not the only people who inhabit it. There are some provinces that would give anything to have one of us on their side, someone with powers. There have even been a few kidnappings, no doubt by these same evil people. That's why we live so deep in the forest, and why we preferred to stay hidden from you until we knew more about you motives. However, since you are willing to escort me home, I'm sure there will be no quarrel between us.
     "Thank you for the warning, Princess. And we do hope that we shall have a peaceful relationship with your people.
You're very welcome. Besides, you're going to need my guidance for this journey: one person alone would not be a problem, but with a group this large, you'll need to keep your wits about you. I was planning on trying to help you anyway, once I was sure that you posed no threat. But nevertheless, we will all need to stay on our toes for the journey ahead.
     "I will make sure the troops are aware, sir," said General Andar.
     "Thank you, General. That would be much appreciated. We will leave you now, Princess Arya. Get a good nights rest, and we will set out in the morning."
Thank you, King Rolan.
    "Please, just call me Rolan."
As you wish.
      "You there," cried General Andar, beckoning to a guard on the outside. "Untie the Princess and escort her to her tent." The soldier came in and did as he was told. With that, Rolan stood up and and walked out of the tent with General Andar.
     "General."
     "Sir."
     "Make sure the Princess is properly attended to, and that everything is arranged for us to set out tomorrow morning."
     "Yes sir."

       With that taken care of, Rolan went back to his tent, for the sun had already set, and the light was beginning to leave the sky. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his racing heart. Things had gone extremely well, and he couldn't believe how charming and likable Princess Arya had been. Perhaps it was just a dream, he thought. Perhaps they weren't ever planning to attack us. With this comforting thought in mind, he drifted off to sleep, and his head was filled with dreams of flying through the air, above the clouds, side by side with the birds.

*Arya is pronounced uh-RY-uh, Sinoa is pronounced sin-O-uh, and Galdor is pronounced GAL-der. Kitsing is pronounced exactly as it looks.

AT LAST! The curse of the wretched writers block has lifted! 😅 But seriously guys, there aren't words that can express how sorry I am for not updating. I haven't had a decent idea for the story line in months. I really got the writers block bad. Anyway, hope I fulfilled all of your hopes and wishes with this chapter. Please forgive me!
 
-flowergirl895