Sometimes I dream about the past, I close my eyes and return to when I was a child… when I had it all… the safety of a family, friends, no responsibility, and zero accountability for my actions, I lived in one of the safest and calmest places in the world. It doesn’t mean bad things never occurred, they obviously did, after all, misfortune doesn’t care about hierarchy.

Even so, I sincerely enjoyed every day to its fullest.

Nowadays, I understand life doesn’t quite manage to keep the colors of youth, the greens of the forests, the blue of the ocean, the yellow sunsets. It is mostly blacks and grays now.

Before all the noise woke me up, I was having a dream, a dream of the day when everything started.

I felt my feet get cold, and a gentle breeze touch my body, I languidly opened my eyes and realized I wasn’t in my room anymore.

I’ve always had been a heavy sleeper, hell, who am I kidding? Even now, I’m still infamous for it. But to think I could be taken half a city away, pass through every guard post in town hidden inside a cart.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead,” I was greeted by Eleanor’s tender sunny voice, sometimes I dream of her, and I get this strong feeling of nostalgia, she was my personal maid back in Ezohr, the one person who truly cared for me, it may be rude towards my real mother, but Eleanor took an even higher place in my mind.

She may not have looked anything like me, what with the small antlers and big green doe eyes that couldn’t quite distract you from her furry ears.

She was the one who taught me how to read and write, the one that read bedtime stories to me while patting my head, and the one who healed my bruises even when everyone knew it wasn’t necessary, she cared for my every step as I tumbled my way through the halls and gardens of the palace. To say she was my favorite person in Escilax would be an understatement, she was my grandma, my nane.

“nane where are we?”

She looked at me, the leaf green in her eyes shone brighter than ever when she said this to me, the words she knew I had been expecting for a long time, just maybe not like this.

“His excellency says it's time”

I was shocked, it must have been very noticeable because she laughed, and Elizabeth laughed with her.

She was more like an older sister than a grandmother, she would probably be mad at me if I ever implied her to be old, one of the few Zafrir I’ve ever met and she’s the one that taught me the bases of magic as well as some “womanly knowledge” that I only got to use sparingly.

She was also the most interesting person I knew; Elizabeth had the best of stories and would tell them to me every time we were alone, she had been a ship captain before she was my maid, she sailed the scale sea and even saw Garganomr and lived to tell the tale, what made her change professions? She never told, but I think it was a waste, why would you change a life of adventure for one of servitude? It makes no sense to me even now.

“Excited kid? You’re finally going to play outside,”

“Yeah!” I remember the sheer glee in my voice, it was time, I never thought it would come so quickly and, in this way, but who cared about that. I would get to go on the king’s path like every other Zafrir does, that was my only concern.

Furthermore, I was meant to partake in a sacred event, “the king’s path” or also called the king’s journey, king’s travel, king’s whatever-you-may-call-it.

The important parts to me were that they never called it the “Queen’s something” and that every pure Zafrir that wishes to become the ruler of Ezohr gets to leave Escilax on a journey through the world, they get a hundred years or until the death of the king, to travel and hone their skills, to make names for themselves, and once the time has passed, they all come back to participate on the “King’s” Passing, a tournament to decide who is the strongest amongst all the claimants to the throne, the strongest amongst the clans, and of course the strongest amongst the Zafrir which in and of itself decides who is the strongest in the world as well.

“I am going to become the first Queen of Ezohr!” That’s said that to my father as soon as Eleanor taught me all about it.

I ran straight to the throne room where dad was doing his “kingly things” I looked at him, the man standing at the top of the world, the strongest being alive, Nero Agron who sat upon the throne of the night, ruler and commander of the strongest army, I looked at him straight in the eyes and declared my intentions.

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“Very well, child, but you will have to wait until I tell you to leave on your journey for that to happen,” He replied with no delay as he ignored everyone else in the room.

I should have said something cool like “keep it warm for me old man” or the like, but I didn’t, I was very young and as soon as I realized everyone was looking at me, I got flustered.

“Young lady, you still haven’t changed your clothes!” I got totally embarrassed once Antoinette ran inside, making me realize I was still in my pajamas.

Father said nothing, he only smirked as I ran away.

That was the start of my ambition, I wanted to become the strongest queen of the strongest kingdom, I counted every day that those words weren’t said to me… “It’s time” I longed for them, I wanted to see the world, from the floating islands to the diamond desert, the Ostaran Winter, and the Green Sea. Hell! I would have entered the War Lands if I was given the chance.

I was a child, I couldn’t have known where life would take me, so I got excited once the chance was presented to me.

Finally... it was time to begin my journey.

“Are we heading to the border?” I asked because It’s a normal custom for every candidate to start their journey at the same time on the border of Ezohr, after a speech from the king himself or an advisor, everyone leaves in different directions, one last look at their home as they depart for a hundred years.

“No, I’m afraid his majesty had a different plan for you, princess,”

“Different?”

“Yes, I had been told to explain it to you once we reach the place”

Maybe father wants to say goodbye before I leave

“Will my father be there?” I asked her, she grimaced.

“I don’t think so, he’s very busy right now,”

“Yeah, I get it, don’t worry, kingly stuff,”

“Yes princess, kingly stuff”

The journey to “that place” was a short and sweet event that came and went in the blink of an eye, but it left an impression on me, I was able to bear witness to what Elizabeth always called.

“gaga-nette, and a serious case of it, look at how she throws herself to him, she’s about to squeeze her boobs on mister flowers arm” She whispered to me so that Annette wouldn’t hear us “remember kid, you should never let a man mess with your brain like that, you have to keep them at arm’s length at all times less they turn you into… that”

I nodded.

“Don’t teach weird things to the princess! She doesn’t need to be a shrewd woman like you, and my brain has most certainly NOT been messed with”

she was so desperate to make mister Henry fall for her, I laughed out loud every time Liz made fun of Annette,

Antoinette was of humbler origins, but that only added to her story, rising to the top on skill alone, she was the youngest of the three and while I still saw her as an older sister, it was barely so, I remember her getting scolded more than me, and every time she got an earful from Eleanor, she never stopped smiling, not because her spirit was unbreakable, but because she wanted to get under her skin, she didn’t allow mistakes to eat away at her, at that’s the thing I respected the most about her, if anything.

I still don’t know what happened to Annette and Mister Henry, but I hope it went well in whatever time they had to spend together.

Eleanor scolded us for making a ruckus and my memories become fussier after that, I remember playing tons of games with Liz and Annette until the cart stopped at Eleanor's behest, in the middle of the road.

“From this point onward only I and the princess can continue” Eleanor commanded “Princess you should say your goodbyes now”

I looked at them and understood what she meant, I wasn’t going to see them again for a hundred years, Elizabeth should still be alive, but she never told how old she was, and Annette was young, she still had more than a hundred years left, this was only a brief absence for our kind, not goodbye forever.

“Goodbye, Elizabeth, Antoinette, I will see you two again once I’m queen,”

“I’m sure you will kiddo, I’ll be waiting for you to come back, maybe we can knock back some when you return, you should be old enough,”

she said to me while leaning onto the cart in her usual confident manner.

“Goodb-” I didn’t get to finish before Annette embraced me.

“G-Goodbye princess I will be awaiting your return, I will have taken over Granny’s position by then”

Even if I couldn’t see her, I imagine Eleanor rolling her eyes at that.

I hugged her back and held back my tears, I waved them all goodbye as Eleanor and I disappeared inside the forest.