The Princess and The Bandit

TWENTY ONE

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Camila has been berating herself for not noticing early on. Distraction is not an excuse for failing to see the obvious. The blue and gold markings on Laura's arrows aren't just the basic Arcadian colors. It has the distinct markings of an eagle's head between a shadow of wings upon close inspection. An intricate craft made by the artisans of ancient times.

An eagle's head that is known to be the sigil of the imperial house of Jauregui.

Word on the street outside has spread. Word that travels faster than a plague. The great emperor Michael of Arcadia has been killed and his sole heir is missing. There were varying accounts of how he was killed, but one thing still remains, the great empire of Arcadia doesn't have a rightful ruler sitting on its golden throne at this very moment.

That is one brewing disaster that can affect every other nation.

There were several speculations circulating about the death of a beloved leader of the greatest empire in all the known civilization. But that isn't what stood out and piqued Camila's mind.

Her thoughts revolved around the emperor's only child. How can the princess be missing? Shouldn't she be taking her father's place and rule the world? Taking her pick among her countless suitors by now to be her husband and secure the future for her throne? Or has she been abducted, held hostage somewhere? Did she ran away? If so, why?

Camila never met the Arcadian princess but she has heard of her many times. The general public from far and wide adores her, just like her father. On any random occasion, she has always been the center of topic amongst many creatures, young and old, human or otherwise. The princess have countless admirers and the children looks up to her example. And all of them always talks about how beautiful is.

Now, looking up at a sleeping Laura on the tiny bed, looking every bit ethereal and graceful even when her eyes were closed, Camila is starting to piece together what little information she has. Hands down, this girl is the most beautiful creature she has ever seen. From the moment Dinah brought the girl home leading up to this moment right here, right now, things start to add up.

First of all, her name.

Laura.

The princess' name is Lauren. It's one poor attempt at disguising a very popular name.

But for the past few days it did work. Camila didn't realize it up until now, did she?

Then, the circumstance of how she met Dinah. It was quite a coincidence that they met just as griffin hunters were doing their business around the same time as serpentina bandits were also roaming the area. It's a possibility that those hunters were either a target for the serpentinas or they're working in their behalf.

And for as long as Camila knew her father, leader of the serpentinas, he has always been irrationally jealous of the emperor. He always wanted, coveted, what emperor Michael had. It is not far fetched that Alejandro has something to do with the emperor's death.

It is not impossible that his little serpents might be going after the princess' trail on that particular night as well, if indeed the princess was actually on the run.

Then, there's the connection with Simona. The older woman has always been tight-lipped about her life before she became the woman that she is now. All that she has ever mentioned was that she grew up in Arcade city, and that she loved her family too much to bother them with her situation.

But when Laura arrived in their doorstep so unexpectedly, Simona became anxious. The kind of anxious when a ghost from the past has come to haunt and claim you. And Simona was just a little too willing of a victim to that ghost of the past, so much so that she even allowed herself to slip up Laura's real name back in the tavern.