The Meaning of Words Unsaid
Diera didn't have a solid boarder between it an Camelot. It was a small kingdom south of the Maze of Gedred. Someone traveling from Diera would have to cross two different kingdoms to enter Camelot. This means, of course, that there is no climactic and emotional moment of stepping across the boarder from your home, to the place you never wanted to see again. If it were truly up to Aria, she would not have come.
So as Aria continued north towards the famous gates of Camelot, with no idea of who or what to expect, the reality of what she was doing hadn't set in. The fact that she had left everything that she had ever loved behind her didn't hit her. That is, until she saw the Citadel.
The towering spires and high walls of Castle Camelot were said to be the only place in the Five Kingdoms that had never been overtaken. It was supposed to be a sanctuary. To be safe. In that moment, though, Aria had never been more afraid.
The Citadel was impenetrable, and it was equally as inescapable. None conquered it, and none left. If Aria's plan failed there was no leaving that place ever again. She began to imagine what it'd be like to spend her life in that castle rotting away. The fear was already pulsating through her began to wither away all the remaining strength and willpower she had left.
Aria's once steady pace slowly trickled into nothing until she stood stock still in her tracks. She had thought that coming here was a good idea. At the time Aria believed that her plan was clever, but now she understood why people ran away from their fears. There was no other place in the world that Aria feared or loathed more than Camelot, but it was precisely those feelings that made it so unlikely for her to take shelter within its city walls.
The knights and guards of Diera who undoubtedly would be sent to pursue Aria would know of her grudge against Camelot's king and of where she would be sent when she was caught. Camelot is the last place in the world she could ever call her home, so it was also the last place she would be looked for.
Despite all plans and logic, Aria still stood motionless. She had been born in Camelot, but it had been a very long time since Aria had called the city her home. Her last memory of this kingdom was a painful one. She was only a child when she was sent away, no older than nine when she was torn away from all she knew. Now, almost ten years later, Aria faced the walls of Camelot once again, and she remembered things she wanted to forget.
The knock on her door rang sharp and clear. There was a guard behind it and he was to take Aria away. She had been given two days to pack her things and to say goodbye. She had packed nothing and said goodbye to no one. Aria had spent her two days either crying in her room or pleading to her father to let her stay.
She did not want to leave, she was only a child, and the thought of being separated from all she knew petrified her. Aria's green eyes had not dried once in those two days, but on this third day her small face was set in a mask of maturity and indifference. This was the face of someone far beyond the nine and a half years of this child. It was the face of someone who had been forced to grow up because of one mistake.
The grip on her shoulder was not tight, Aria could have run at any moment as she was lead away from Camelot, but she didn't. She was no longer wanted there, and she knew that.
Her father stood only a short distance away, he watched his small daughter being lead away without a word to stop it. He showed no emotion, made no move to say goodbye, and did not seem to care whatsoever about the small blonde girl that had his eyes. When those eyes turned on him to wordlessly beg him one more time to let her stay, he turned away. Aria had spent her whole life believing her father didn't love her, but this was her proof.
Aria wanted nothing more than to turn and run away from Camelot once again, but another memory crept upon her. The boy with blonde hair and blue eyes that stood behind their father and was left standing alone as her father walked away. Whose face was not hidden behind the same mask of indifference as Aria. Aria remembered him. She took one step towards Camelot.