Early Release since I had time.
Chapter 2
Declan's eyes fluttered open. The room she found herself in was rather large, almost like a cabin with how much woodwork she could see. The wall with a window in it was of stone however. The curtains were drawn, but she could see sunlight streaming through the edges, painting the room in a gentle light. She was in a bed covered in thick down blankets, and it was hard to not want to slip back into sleep again. With regret she lifted herself up and wiped the sleepiness from her eyes.
“I guess we got out of that dungeon,” she said sleepily. “That kid really was dependable.” She wondered how the boy had managed to get out all by himself, or maybe he'd had some help? Well, whatever. I'll go ahead and find out what's going on here first of all. With that thought she pulled herself completely out of bed. Eh, naked am I? She also noted that the stink from before was gone, he must have washed me, I sure hope he's not a pervert. There was a standing mirror near one corner of the room so Declan decided to check out what was going on with this new body.
“Holy...” she uttered almost under her breath. There she stood, a girl, maybe 16 or 17 years of age. Deep purple, almost black hair falling slightly lower than her shoulders framed an innocent heart shaped face with pouting lips. A small nose and delicate eyebrows accentuated a pair of large, almond shaped blue eyes. Her surprise was actually two fold, first off she was skinny, too skinny. Her facial features, her entire body was almost...gaunt. Not quite to the point of starvation...but this body has been through hell and back. His second surprise was that, in spite of all this, she was stunningly beautiful. Already a ten, once her body recovered and she didn't look like a skinny underwear model anymore....
“This one goes to eleven!” she chuckled in a bad English accent, “right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven, eleven!” She was striking poses as she spoke, but suddenly stopped as a thought came to her, “Seriously though, what happened to you, Winter?” Imprisonment obviously, but judging from the condition her body was in, atrophied muscles, gaunt features, she could estimate her prison time had been between 20-60 days, depending how often the girl had been fed. Still, didn't princesses usually just get locked in a tower or married off? And those guards seemed to have been having a fine time too, she thought with absolute disgust. A shiver ran down her spine. The only explanation Declan could think of was that Winter had been either extremely hated, or too dangerous to simply leave in a low security environment. If I want to survive, I'll need to find out exactly who it is I've become. It was then that she heard the door behind her begin to open. Shit I'm naked!
Quickly she darted towards the safety of the bed. Wrapping herself up in the comfy down blankets as she sat down on top of the bed with her legs crossed.
“Oh you're up!” said a grinning Lox. Obviously he had seen something, “what's with that goofy look on your face Winter?”
“Was have you see?” she demanded.
“Was? You mean what don't you?” Lox asked. She nodded. “Um, I see a girl who broke herself, and me, out of prison a day ago acting suspicious on her bed.” Declan thought she saw a flash of mischief cross the boy's features, but it was soon covered up with a sigh. “Sorry, I shouldn't get carried away after what happened to you,” he said sadly, “sorry.
Declan could guess, but the fact remained that the last thing he remembered before waking up back then was throwing an M84 into a room, waiting for it to go off, then taking point and rushing in to clear. Was there a click? I think there was a click. He seemed to remember bits and pieces after that, but it was all a haze.
“Stupid mistake,” she muttered, “Muss a claymore been.”
“Uh, what?” the boy looked confused.
Shaking her head she looked up at Lox, “Ist fine, think nothing of it.” She thought that last sentence was one of her best, but it seemed as if it had been taken the wrong way.
“Oh, is that how it is?!” Lox almost shouted, his eyes widening in understanding. “You lost your memory!” A mix of emotions seemed to be painting his features, “that's great! I mean, it's not great, but at least...you know...” he trailed off in confusion.
“At least it explains a lot,” said a high pitched voice from behind Lox, “Ignore my stupid brother Your Highness.” A small, adorable looking girl with light brown shoulder length hair emerged from behind the stupid brother. “I'm Clarissa by the way,” she stated.
“Eh, hello!” Declan stammered. She's TOO cute!
“Here, it's not much but I brought you some stew,” she said holding a steaming bowl. Declan's stomach growled. “We got some clothes from one of the female adventurers for you too, I hope they fit.” Smiling Clarissa set the bowl of stew onto the nightstand. Turning to her brother the girl raised a finger, “just WHAT do you think you're doing in here anyways Lox? You get out now before I go grab Birdy from downstairs and tell him you were peeping!”
Lox's face turned white as he stammered, “I-I only wanted to get my-” but the small girl wouldn't let him finish.
“OUT! NOW!” Flashing one last smile back in her direction, Clarissa herded her brother out of the room, with force. As they exited and the door closed, Declan realized her jaw was still hanging open. It was obvious the little one was in charge.
Chuckling to herself she decided to eat first. The stew was still warm, with large chunks of potato and what looked like carrots and onions. I guess fantasy food isn't that fantastic, where's my meat anyway? The room she was in looked wealthy enough to be able to afford meat, well, whatever. After a time she realized she was already scooping out smudges of broth with her fingers.
“No way, gone already?” She must have been hungrier than she thought. Setting the bowl back down she got up and walked over to the clothing that lay over the back of a chair. As she started getting dressed she noticed something however, I have no idea how to put any of this on! It definitely looked like some kind of medieval cosplay garb, but for the life of her she couldn't figure it out. T-time to act like a princess for real I guess. She was so embarrassed. HE was a (former) CIA agent, with field experience from two separate military campaigns, and as a she, she couldn't figure out all these buttons and ties and belts! Definitely peculiar clothing.
Wrapping herself with one of the bed sheets she made her way over to the door, opened it, and poked her head out to look around. It looked to be a great room. There was a kitchen with a small table by the window, wooden flooring, and then a sitting area with two couches facing each other in front of a small fireplace. Lox was sitting on one of the couches with his back turned to her, and Clarissa was in the kitchen cleaning. What a lazy man, why doesn't she make him help her? She wondered absently.
In a meek voice she called out, “Um, Clarissa?” Her face reddened as she and Lox both turned to her. “Willst you to me help givingk?” Her face was burning at this point, but Clarissa didn't miss a beat.
“Oh, I'm so sorry!” The little girl rushed over to her, “I forgot, royalty must do things like this! Let me help you!” She seemed just as embarrassed as Declan, though obviously for different reasons. Lox just shook his head as he turned back around. Yeah, screw you buddy. I ain't never done this before! His old Texas drawl barely registered in her mind. Why do I care what he thinks anyways
In a matter of a few minutes Clarissa had her dressed properly. It was hard for her to take in. The outfit seemed to fit adequately enough, a few loose areas here and there, but all in all it was a good match. She just wasn't sure how she felt about wearing thigh high stockings with knee high leather boots. They were supple and soft though, and nicely complimented the light cotton shirt with a leather corset looking thing that most likely would protect her vitals. The short skirt was a bit much though. She stared blankly at the mirror and tried to let the image sink in. I've got to adapt if I want to survive, gotta adapt, adapt...”Maaaaa!!!” Grasping her head and blinking Declan, no I have to adapt or I'll go crazy. Winter straightened herself up and smiled into the mirror.
“You look amazing, Your Highness!” squeaked Clarissa. Apparently she had missed Winter's little melt down. Or not, her eyes shone with a little uneasiness. I guess I shouldn't underestimate her, even if she is this adorable.
“M-many thank yous Clarissa.” She was starting to get tired of this language barrier, but it was getting easier, maybe studying from books would help. Even if the letters were different it would be no more difficult than all the code breaking he had done in the CIA. Might take some time anyway, maybe this little one would be willing to help me learn. “Clarissa, this one speaking lehrnen wants,” she began while Clarissa waited patiently. “Do the reading von books mit this one, yes? Please?”
Clarissa's eyes dawned with understanding, “that's a great idea! Maybe you can get your language skills back that way!” The girl was beaming, melting Winter's heart, “come on! There's a small library downstairs in the guild hall. Mostly books about weapons and monsters and armor and weapons and magic and, did I mention weapons? Anyways, it's mostly adventurer things, but it should...”
Winter let the girl ramble on, unable to interject, as she lead her by the hand out the door into the main room of the apartment. There was another door leading to what she thought must be Clarissa's room on the other side of main room, she assumed she had taken over Lox's bedroom. Small wonder he had gone in without knocking.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Amnesia must be a terrible thing too,” Clarissa was still going as they passed by Lox, “but I bet you'll be back to normal soon Your-”
“Ah wait Clarissa!” Lox was able to break in. Good job Lox!
“What is it, stupid lazy brother?” she shot back annoyed. Oh, she added lazy!
“Well, just this,” he began, “if you're going to take her down where there are other people, you might want to drop the honorifics.” Clarissa looked mortified while Lox hurried on, “it's just that she stands out you know? I'm sure there'll be a huge reward for finding the escaped Third Princess.”
“Hmmpf, for once you make a good point brother,” Clarissa said while putting a finger to her lips in thought. “That royal hair too, it stands out too much.” Did all the royalty have dark purple hair?
“Can you do it sis?” Lox asked. Winter tilted her head to the side giving both a questioning gaze.
“Mmm, no sweat!” She then led Winter around to sit in the sofa across from Lox, then stood on the coffee table between them.
Hey don't stand on tables kid! She opened her mouth to say, but Clarissa suddenly started speaking, in English no less!
“Oh spirit of change I beseech thee, alter the thing which I most desire! Fade to black!” Winter was startled by the language to be sure, but the small girl had a slight glow around her as she spoke the words of the spell. As she finished she lightly touched Winter on top of her head. A blinding flash emitted, and Winter's instincts took over as she dove for cover. A flash grenade? No, wait, I'm getting too jumpy. Is this magic?
“Wagh, look you scared her sis! Why'd you make it flash like that?” Lox asked
“I-I didn't, I think she must have some kind of magic resistance,” Clarissa replied. “Look her hair is even different from what I wanted,” she motioned towards Winter as she emerged from her 'cover.'
“Whoa, what did you do?” Lox said incredulously. “I liked the dark purple, at least make it black!”
“I tried you dummy,” she shot back.
Winter pulled a few strands in front of her eyes so she could see for herself what had happened. Golden blond fading into white tips. No, this might actually be perfect, but first:
“So wait a second, you guys are telling me you knew English all along? What gives?” Winter asked becoming greatly annoyed. “That other language you guys use is too troublesome, I mean, I wish I could learn it to be nice, but if you already know this language why don't we just speak normally like this? I mean, what the HELL!” With that her body started to feel slightly warm. Looking down at herself Winter began to get nervous. She was glowing just like Clarissa had a moment before, and the two siblings were staring at her, mouths agape with shock. “What-what is going on?”
And then she knew. Energy seeped out of her just like it had during the escape from the dungeon the night before, but this time something else happened. Pressure exploded outwards from Winter, knocking down chairs, throwing Lox and Clarissa to the sides, then absolute chaos. Another explosion ripped through the entire building creating cracks in the stone and wood of the building, only to then begin to reassemble themselves just as suddenly. Chairs, tables, dishes, anything not bolted down flew around like a crazed poltergeist had awakened. She could hear screaming and yelling as people downstairs panicked.
Winter stood there in the middle of the maelstrom, completely untouched by the raw fury surrounding her. Then, reality itself began to twist around her. She was eye of the storm.
“Winter! You have to stop it!” yelled Lox in a panic. He was shielding Clarissa who was trembling with her head down in her knees. “Do you understand? You have to stop it!”
Something about the way he said stop instantly clicked in her mind and she yelled with all her strength, “STOP THIS NOW!” It seemed as if time itself stopped for a moment, and then everything floating in the air fell back to the ground. Winter could only stand there staring at the scene before her with hands covering her mouth in shock.
She felt incredibly drained for some reason, she would surely collapse if she tried to move even one step. So she just stood there. “What happening was that?” she uttered to no one in particular. Clarissa was on the ground quietly sobbing. On instinct Winter reached out to her, but Lox was already holding her.
“There there, it's over sis,” he cooed, “it's all over, nothing bad is going to happen.” He rocked the small girl back and forth in his arms as he tried to comfort her, and in a few moments she was able to regain herself, if only a little.
Sniffling she raised her eyes to her brother, “I still hate it,” she sobbed, “it's too scary, I hate magic!”
-*-
After about an hour Clarissa had recuperated enough to where she wanted to take Winter down to the library. It was decided that the young woman would learn the local language, Rumic, as quickly as possible. She had found out that Tendetric, their name for Declan's native tongue, was actually the language of dragons, or rather magic. Dragons hadn't been seen for over a thousand years apparently.
It was also decided that Winter would start magic lessons as soon as she was able to speak normally again. At first Clarissa had been against this, but with Lox's warning that another incident could occur out of ignorance she gave in rather easily. That was still in the future anyway. As they descended the stairs into the main hall however, a scene of chaos awaited them. Even though it had already been a whole hour since her accidental spell misfired, the entire Adventurer's Guild looked as though someone had kicked an anthill.
Everyone seemed to be doing something, from simple repairs to cleaning, all under the direction of a large bear of a man. She thought bear because he had not only a large build, but a full brown beard occupying his rough angular face. Despite that though, he had bright brown eyes, and though they were now organizing the mess around him with sharp gazes, Winter thought she could see a kindness within them. Clarissa called out to the man.
“Hey Bertram,” the small girl yelled over the din, “Is the library okay?”
“Wha-? Oh Clarissa!” he shouted back, “Yeah, for some reason nothing happened in there.” He looked at Winter then, “Who's your friend there? Is that the one Lox picked up the other day,” he asked eyeing her up and down.
Oi! Don't stare like that! She could feel her cheeks turning red. “Yeah, this is Winter,” they'd decided to keep her name, it had become rather popular in the city after the third princess was born after all. “Need any help,” she inquired.
“No, we're fine here, almost finished up,” the big man heaved a sigh probably thinking of all the other things that would need fixing in the future. “You go enjoy the rest of your free day little one.”
“Thanks Birdy!” Clarissa then skipped ahead motioning for Winter to follow. Birdy? The now blond haired beauty let out a snort, but decided to hurry up as Bertram noticed and gave her a dark look.
“Mein guess is only Clarissa Birdy uses,” the said in a low voice to the skipping nine year old ahead of her. “Others would only pain erlangen,” she chuckled.
“Erlangen?” Clarissa raised her left finger to her mouth in thought, “do you mean to receive?” she asked. “I still don't get it, Birdy is Birdy!” But you did call him Bertram once. Ah well.
The library was down a long hallway deeper inside the building, behind large double doors. Indeed it seemed that the destruction hadn't extended this far, and it was quiet here since most everyone was helping the clean up in the main hall. It was also smaller than she first suspected, the walls were covered with shoulder height bookshelves and there was only one table in the middle of the room with a few chairs around it. Either books were expensive, or adventurers generally weren't all to interested in them.
Winter sat down as Clarissa went around and gathered a few books. All right, all I have to do is get her to sound out the letters and I can begin making a cipher. She didn't look forward to it, getting out of the cryptology department and becoming a field agent had been the happiest day of her life. His life. Shaking her head, they set to work. Once she had the cipher down (Clarissa had been particularly interested with what she had been writing), she asked the girl a few questions regarding sentence structure.
All in all, they ended up spending hours together as Winter slowly came to grasp parts of the Rumic language. As she helped Clarissa put away the books they had used, a stray thought came to mind. How come all the other times I spoke English to myself nothing strange happened? Why can I think in English even without blowing up a building?
“Clarissa,” she said, “Tomorrow, I can learn magic yes?” She had already made tons of progress, but it seemed an accent still remained.
“I think it will take longer than that, but yes,” the small girl shivered slightly, “the sooner the better for you I think.”
“Alright, looking forverds to eet,” she replied.
“I'm hungry too!” Clarissa said her face brightening with a smile. In her mind, Winter face-palmed herself.