The Tristesse princess

2

I am Ira of the land of Tristesse. I had to leave my home four years ago. Why? For my own sake and the future of my land. I must find someone to help. Since I left, I have been disguised as a commoner. I have traveled many places in the Hope's of finding someone of power willing to help. So far, I have found no one. There is still hope to save my homeland and the caring innocent people there.

I sat under a large tree in the forest with my eyes closed. Meditation is key to maintaining oneselfs proper health. Hearing a voice nearby, I opened my eyes and looked around. There was no sign of anyone. I sighed and closed my eyes. I must ignore it. From the distance, I heard running coming my direction. They were running fast. I grinned as I opened my eyes and picked up my sheath. I pulled out my sword and ran to the other side of the tree, clashing with the metal of Aaron's sword. "Not bad, Miss Ira. Not bad. Yet... not good enough!" he said, using force to push me away. I used that energy to spin to the right, avoiding hitting the tree. I took a step back and braced as he  swung his sword at me. I struggled to keep him from gaining ground on me when he swung his leg, causing me to fall to the ground. I rolled to the right as he got up, and grabbed my sword. I looked behind me as I was getting up, and froze. Someone had came from somewhere, holding a sword to his neck! It was then that Suzie and Nick appeared with crossbows pointed at the man, "Let him go" Suzie said. "No way in hell! I'd die rather than let you hurt an innocent girl out here!" he said. I stood up and looked at him, "Did you.. did you think I was in danger?" I asked. "What else could this be, Miss, are you okay?" he asked. I smiled at his good intent. "I'm okay. I was never in any danger. Please let my friend go" I said kindly. "Friend? You mean you know these people!?" "Yes. They keep me safe. And Aaron there was in the middle of training me. Please release him" I said. The man seemed a bit hesitant, but he released his sword from Aaron. I watched Aaron as he walked over to me, and I wrapped my arms around him, "Don't leave me yet" I whispered as i buried my face in his shirt. "Miss Ira, don't worry. I will never leave you. You're stuck with me for life" he said, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my head.

"Those four were strange. You saw it too, right Chloe?" "Ash, please stop. So they care for her, what's the big deal?". "You don't get it! They treated her like royalty! Like she was a princess! She is obviously anything but that!" Ash said. "She could be that important to them. Now come along. We must return soon" "Okay. Lead the way" Ash said as they stood up and headed to the carriage.

"Nick, where are we?" I asked as I looked at our surroundings. He looked down at the map in his hands, "Weeell...ummm" "You got us lost again, didn't you?" Suzie said with her hands on her hips. "N-no I didn't!" he said in response. I smiled as I walked up to him, "Where are we on the map?" I asked. He looked at me, then back at the map, "Right here" he said. "Then if we keep going this way, we should come across a village. We can get supplies. Does that sound good?" I asked. Nick nodded his head vigorously, "It sure does!" he said, grinning. When we reached the village, Aaron looked back at me, "You should stay here. There might be trouble" he said. I watched as he looked at Nick, "Stay here with her" "Of course" Nick responded before Aaron and Suzie walked into the village. I saw Suzie look back at us befor sighing and sitting down. "He always does this. No matter how much time passes" I said, looking down at the dirt path that led into the village. "Aaron only wants to keep you safe. That has been his job since your father hired him. Of course, things were different back then. We are here to serve you. The day will come when you take your place at the throne. Things will have changed for the better when that happens. Never lose faith. We will forever be by your side" he said, lightly petting me on the head. I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around him, "Thank you" I said quietly, "I don't think my father could have hired a better butler to attend to me" i said, "He kept all that money to himself. It had to go somewhere. Your mother would be happy knowing some of it was spent on you" he said. Upon seeing the two return a few minutes later, I stood up. "Find anything good?" I asked, "Some. We should get moving though. We ran into some trouble" Aaron said. I nodded and put my hood up, "Let's go then" I said.

As we traveled, it got closer and closer to sunset. "It's going to be dark soon. We should find a place to start a campfire" I said. "I know. It's just too uneven of land here to do that. Hopefully it'll flatten out soon" Aaron said. I nodded my head in recognition as we continued to walk. When we did find flat land, I sighed as I sat down, "Finally" I said, closing my eyes and laying on my back. I heard Aaron chuckle as he walked away from me. I was glaring at him through my eyelids. When it had gotten dark and we had eaten, I rested my head on my arms. Walking is always exhausting for me in terrain like this.