Royal Reintroduction
Logan and Anastasia were walking through the woods, moving rather slowly, when suddenly a pressure crashed down upon them like a wave. The spiritual force knocked Logan to his knees, and he had to strain to avoid collapsing completely. Then, just as quickly as it arrived, the spiritual flare ended and the pressure upon Logan released. He looked over at Anastasia, and realized she was still standing looking up at the sky in thought.
“We have to go back.”
With those words, Anastasia turned around and started walking the opposite direction. Logan was so befuddled, it took him multiple seconds to process her words.
What?
“How is that the conclusion you drew from whatever the heck that was?” Logan almost shouted. The idea of turning around seemed preposterous.
“That was my father’s Presence. If he’s still alive and we can free him, we have a chance to survive this upcoming battle.”
“Lady, nothing you just said made any sense to me. I’m going to need a better explanation than that to willingly run back into a war.”
At this, she looked back over her shoulder, Anastasia cast him a disparaging look.
“Then don’t.” She said as she kept walking away.
Logan just stood there for another couple of seconds, sputtering. He had gone through all that effort to rescue this girl when he didn’t have to, then she wanted to go back in the middle of a war! What was her problem?
“Hey, who are you to talk to me like that? I just saved you!” Logan exclaimed.
“Who do you think I am, to talk to me like that! Watch your tongue before I take it.” Anastasia retorted right back.
Her words made Logan think. Back when he had first met her, Logan had noted that she had a refined way of speaking, but now he thought about her circumstances a bit more. She had mentioned her father when that weird spiritual pressure had happened, and the Prince had left her alive, even though he had shown that he was more than willing to kill his prisoners if they had no use. All of this together could only mean one thing.
“You're the enemy leader’s daughter aren’t you? Did I rescue an evil princess?!?”
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Gregor had been escorting the princess to a small bunker to the south when the Presence had filled the sky. Or at least that's what Gregor assumed it was, based on what he had heard. It was enough to shake his bones, like the stories said.
Even though they must have been a good distance from the epicenter, many of the Princess’s other guards fell to the ground or dropped to their knees, speaking to what must be an unbelievable source of power. It dwarfed anything else Gregor had ever seen, although he suspected that Major Frear and the former Major Micah could emulate such a thing to a lesser degree.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Surprisingly, the Princess herself appeared even more unbothered than Gregor by the powerful Presence pressing down on them. As the spiritual force swiftly faded, Gregor supposed that she might have more experience dealing with such things, as it was said the King possessed a rather powerful Presence himself, although not quite to the level of Grecia’s Aegis.
“Your highness, are you alright?” Gregor asked.
“Indeed Gregor, I am fine. Such a power does not spell a good omen for the battle, however.”
“Yes, it is worrying. I have faith however, in the Prince’s abilities.”
Gregor did not in fact, have any faith whatsoever. However, he considered it the much wiser option to veer towards being overly polite to the Princess, considering their current arrangement. Then the Princess harrumphed.
“We will see.”
Gregor felt she was being entirely too cavalier about the possibility of an Austenian loss, but if Gregor had learned anything about the Princess, it was that she always had more than one plan. He doubted that she hadn’t even considered the possibility of their defeat and planned accordingly. Instead, Gregor’s thoughts turned to his friends, Amar and his Squad members preparing for the battle, and Logan, somewhere out there in the woods.
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“You dare accuse me of being that filth’s daughter! I have nothing to do with that cursed High King, I take offense at the very implication! I am a noble daughter of Grecia, one of House Zeres. You may kneel.”
“Yeah, no shot.” Logan said as he waved his hand.
Continuing on, Logan asked, “So if you aren’t the daughter of this ‘High King’, who is your dad then? Because that thing from before scared the daylights out of me, and I don’t want to do something to piss someone with that sort of power off.”
“Keeping me from him is the only thing you could even do to get his attention. So either come with me or leave me alone, regardless hurry up with the decision.” Anastasia said as she continued to walk forwards.
Or really, it was in Fort Errstile’s direction, so it was backwards for Logan. He just couldn’t understand why it wasn’t backwards for this girl too. Scrabbling along, Logan kept up with her, although the pace was straining his injured back.
“I don’t know, I managed to piss the Prince off pretty quickly without even doing much. I’m just worried, because you won’t tell me anything and are walking back into a war front.”
Finally, Anastasia stopped, her head tilted down leaving her staring into the dirt. Suddenly, instead of just seeing an annoying companion, Logan realized how thin she was. He had just thought she was slender, but Logan now saw that she likely hadn’t been getting enough food and water in the prison, and had been wasting away. The rise and fall of her chest looked labored, and Logan could tell this wasn’t an easy thing for her either.
“My father was the Aegis, the protector lord of Grecia. Every score of years, all the warriors of the Kingdom would gather and compete for the right to become the next leader of the country. I… I thought he died in the battle against Harth. If he’s here, I need to see him. I have to.” Anastasia said softly, the bluster and facade nowhere to be found.
“I understand. Let me help you.” Logan offered.
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“Why would you do such a thing?” The… First Daughter of Grecia asked, half managing to compose herself again.
“Why not. Why did I save you in the first place? Honestly I haven’t had reasons for most of the things I’ve done for a while now. But it's worked out pretty good, when I have the feeling it could have gone pretty terribly. So why shouldn’t I?”
“...”
“That wasn't a rhetorical question, by the way. Is there any other reason I shouldn’t help that you haven’t told me yet, beyond the obvious war thing.”
“No, you idiot. The ‘war thing’ is enough.”
At that, Anastasia started laughing. A really strong laugh, like it was the result of emotions that had been building on the inside for a while, and been waiting for some sort of release. It brought a smile to Logan’s face, and an end to their conversation.
The three of them continued walking back towards Errstile, the sounds of far off combat growing ever louder in the distance. Remy hadn’t said a word about the sudden change of plans, rolling with Logan’s choice to help like it was only natural, and Logan was again thankful for the loyalty of his companion.
As they continued to draw ever more near, Logan tried to psych himself up. He had trained for this battle, even if he thought that his recent problems with the Prince had put an end to that. Still, Logan felt woefully unprepared, between his injured back, and his lack of experience, he was terrified about the upcoming fight.
“Don’t worry, I’m a fairly competent fighter. And if we make it to my father well, there are only a handful of people stronger than him anywhere, so we should be relatively safe.”
Logan looked up. He hadn’t realized, but he had been staring into the ground as they walked back, and Anastasia had picked up on his nerves. Even though he was slightly embarrassed, her words reassured Logan, and he felt some confidence return. Maybe he would find a way to survive this after all.