A/N:- Guys I'm so, so, so, so, sorry forgive me for not updating. first my iPad crashed. It had the document in it. Then I got writer's block while attempting a re-write. And I've had schoolwork. Been drowning in it, actually. But the next chapter will be up in a few weeks. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER:
Elf: Well, guys, today I introduce to you a brand new form of disclaimers.
.Godric: *whispering* Psst, elf, is it time to come in yet?
Elf: *also whispering* Shut up Godric! You weren't even supposed to be in this chapter! *turns back to the readers* I present to you, Lady Rowena Ra-
Godric: And Godric Gryffindor
Rowena: Excuse me! We ride to your castle, so you are important enough. Just like a normal male, you suppose that you may appear in MY disclaimer as well?
*Rowena and Godric start bickering*
Elf: Hello? Guys? Don't spoil your 'wise and composed' image!
*no-one replies*
Elf: Oh well, since the revolutionaries of the magical world are not very helpful today, all credits to J.K.R. the Queen! Now, on to the chapter...
HELGA
Helga spurred her horse on to gallop beside the princess's. The two had been on the run for over a moon cycle and Helga was impressed by her strength and acceptance of this sudden change in her fortunes. She had also begun to respect Rowena a lot.
Still, a long time had passed but there was still a journey of another one or maybe two moon cycles. They would have to keep this up for much longer and their horses too were getting tired. Well, her horse. Midnight, Rowena's horse was one of the most resilient creatures she had ever known. Rowena had refused to let go of Midnight but Helga had changed horses at least ten times.
The two had become very good friends and now trusted each other completely. Rowena had helped Helga learn how to wield a bow for self-defense and had attempted teaching her how to hunt. Helga, however, had refused the offer firmly. She hated the thought of lives being lost just for their food, even though Rowena tried to tell her that they were just animals. But years of honing her arguments had made her the first to ever out-argue Rowena, convincing her to stay off meats until they reached the castle at the very least. She felt that she had earned the other girl's respect with that.
In return, she had helped Rowena with her magic. She was certainly not the most powerful magical person around, but her strategies compensated for almost all her weaknesses. She had beaten Helga five times in a row when Helga had finally asked her how. Rowena had replied by telling her that she carefully mapped the battle-field and assessed her enemies strengths and weaknesses in the first few minutes. Later, she simply started attacking the weaknesses.
"Hello Helga." greeted Rowena simply, as Helga drew up beside her. Rowena had cut her hair short and had tied it back. She had her sword strapped on her waist and she looked every bit the great warrior she was. Helga felt very feminine and a bit delicate when she compared herself to Rowena. Her friend's strong constitution had let her survive out in the wild, despite the fact that she had almost certainly never experienced it before, having been subject to a life of being pampered, however much she had been against it..
"Hello." Said Helga in reply. Rowena smiled quickly and pointed at the plume of smoke rising above the treetops.
"We approach the next village." She said, "Do we go in or go around?"
Helga took a quick inventory of their supplies. As much as they could forage in the wild (Rowena had read a LOT about plants and she remembered almost everything she read.), she did not know if her share of the supplies would last.
"Well?" asked Rowena. The only faults that Helga could find with the princess was her impatience, temper and impulsiveness. Her seemingly enhanced brain allowed her to think through things very fast, almost to the extent of a genius. Still, despite or maybe thanks to that very brain, she felt that everybody should move with life faster. In fact, she had confessed that she had an idea of a machine that could fly. She knew that it was far beyond her time so she decided to leave the endavor of building it,but kept her plans meticulously recorded in a journal. That journal had been packed into her bag by Sir George, who had aided them in their escape. The Wesley's were a wizarding family who watched on the royals of their areas to find magic in them. All magic was immediately reported to the nearest wizarding family, who passed it on. That was how Sir Jeremy had got the news only years later and had come with Helga. This method was crude. She knew that if Rowena knew about it, she would immediately get around to improving it, then subsequently all the stuffy families would get angry with her, and the end result would have her in deeper problems than ever before. After all, with the magical world, however undeveloped, pursuing her ALONG with the non-magicals... Well, there was only one way put of things. And that was death.
"Helga?!" Called Rowena. "Please, do not get lost in your thoughts. We are fast approaching a village. I do not know this part of the country, for map-work bores me. Now, Helga, your reply would be very nice, for if you do not reply, you will crash into that fast-approaching tree."
And thus was revealed the rather sarcastic side to the princess of Ireland.
"What?!" asked Helga distractedly, yanking the reins so that she just missed the afore-mentioned tree. What was with her and musing nowadays? It seemed to have become her favorite activity...
"Just take inventory of our supplies, Rowena. that will help us decide our course." She said.
"One step ahead of you, my friend. We need water, but streams are plenty in this area. We passed at least half-a-dozen before I fully emptied my water-skins. We have a bit of food, but without hunting we cannot cross the more barren, unpopulated lands ahead." came the reply.
"I though map-work bored you?" Asked Helga amusedly.
"Yes, but that did not stop my tutor from teaching me. It is considered 'lady-like' to know such things, though the reason is beyond me, as these ladies dare not venture within a meter from their homes and it's grounds by themselves. Still, I am impatiently awaiting your answer."
Helga hesitated, thinking through the decision. They needed supplies, but this town was practically in Sebastian's kingdom. However, it was unknown how the news spread, wether or not Rowena was known here. The alternative was crossing with no supplies. She bit her lip in thought, and finally arrived at a decision, one that she hoped she would not regret.
"We will go in, but pull the hood of your cloak up. We cannot alert them to our presence. If anyone asks, we use our other names." She said, somehow keeping calm despite the tension she felt.
She remembered how they had coined those names. they were riding into a city at that point..
.
They had debated long and hard over entering the great city of Sligo, but then they realized that going around it would mean braving the mountains. It hd been a long argument, but finally Rowena had won and they were going to enter.
"We cannot go in as Rowena and Helga. We need new names." Helga had said.
"You are right, of course. Something common... What say you to Helena?"
"Helena..." She said, feeling the name roll of her tongue. It was foreign to her, the name was not common in Sweden, which was where she hailed from. She sighed. This was someone's name that she was bearing and Helga would have to bear the name with honor. She nodded grimly.
"You can be... How about Rose?" She said. Rowena bit her lip seriously, then nodded. So it was decided. They would be Helena and Rose, two sisters who travelled to meet their brother. They would use that name till they reached Gryffindor's castle, but if they ran into trouble, they would change it again.
As they rode out, rain began to fall. They pulled their hoods up, shivering as they drew closer and closer to the village. Rowena was quiet, and Helga wondered how she fared.
For however strong a person was, they could not be without reacting to such a change. Rowena had always been Rowena the princess, the warrior. Then she became Rowena the first discovered magical person in the royal family, then Rowena, the princess on the run. Now even her name had been ripped from her, for they had began calling each other by those names. Now she was Rose, common girl. It would not be disgust that filled her like it would fill most ladies, disgust at being common Helga knew, but shock.
Rowena always had a sense of identity. She gave herself a title and a character, someone you would immediately think of when the name 'Rowena' was mentioned. Without the identity, could this beautiful, clever magical person survive?
The questions remained unanswered, but after Helga shot Rowena yet another concerned look, Rowena glanced at her. "What is it that you want, He- Helena?"
"Why, nothing, Rose!" she said, feeling strange using the unfamiliar name to talk to her friend.
"Then explain to me why you have shot me over half-a-dozen glances when you felt that I was not looking." Replied Rowena.
She sighed. Rowena was too clever. "Jäkla! How is it that you found out!" She said, using the word for damn in Swedish. "Still, my friend, I was just concerned for you." Rowena opened her mouth, most probably to protest, but Helga held out a hand. " 'Tis not that you are weak, I would be stupid to doubt your strength. It's just that anyone will react at least a little when their lives change totally. You have not at all reacted, and now that your identity has been taken away from you, I did not know what would happen." She spoke in a low voice, afraid of being overheard.
A few minutes passed as Helga pulled her cloak tighter around her. The rain had thickened and it grew late in the evening. However, though the town drew closer, they had at the very least half a league to go. She could only hope that they would reach before it got any wetter.
"Rose! Let us move faster!" She called. "We will have to reach the town before nightfall. Otherwise, we will be stranded in the rain."
Rowena nodded silently. She seemed to be thinking still about Helga's earlier assortment of concern. She was very proud, Helga knew, but not accepting the truth would be bad for everyone.
The thing was that, despite the fact that she was mostly a genius, Rowena was impulsive. It could be said that she thought of more things in a short time than others, but she could not think things over thoroughly. One day, coupled with her pride, this would land her into great trouble.
Helga knew, despite what went against every fibre of her body, that she must do what was right. Then she began to wonder what her flaw was, like Rowena's impulsiveness. She decided on pity. She wondered if she would have the capability to fight the dangers they would meet.
Her magic told her something, that there would be an unimaginable bond. She somehow knew that there would be trouble, lots of it. Also, she knew that the others could kill. They would all be deadly. Could she measure up? What did she have to measure up to?
Helga realized that she was musing again, and internally sighed. She pulled her cloak around her. The rain had not lessened, and she was feeling very wet and uncomfortable indeed. She wished that there was some spell to keep her impervious to rain.
"Rose? Are we there yet?" She asked, hating the way she sounded like a small child on a long journey. Rowena was just so... Mature.
"Yes. We are drawing closer and closer to the gate." Replied Rowena.
She noticed now the lamps of the village shining like beacons through the rain and felt extremely happy to have a place to be dry in.
They reached to the gate and gave the necessary introductions to the gatekeeper. They also learned that there was a big tavern, the Red Dragon.
"Ye can try the red dragon, 's the best foh miles!" The ageing gatekeeper had smiled toothily when they had asked him about places to stay in. The place was big, and noisy. The two entered and saw a huge place, filled with people drinking and with a bunch of musicians playing a few instruments in the corner. Some people were singing raucously to some bawdy songs. Helga heard Rowena sigh. They hurried to the bar keeper, where Rowena started off, calling out over the small crowd, "Excuse me?"
Helga sighed. She knew that talking like this would get them caught before they could say 'magical world'. "She nudged Rowena and had her stand aside. "'Scuse me!" She said, speaking in her best local accent. "Sah! 'M calling ye here!" She shouted after a few unsuccessful attempts. She elbowed her way through the crowd.
"Sah! Will ye reply!" She said at the counter. The man took one look at her and said "Ye'll want the barkeep, miss. 'M the bet-keeper."
"Ta." She said, walking back to Rowen! Who looked very out of place in this environment, so she had on her most regal look.
"Rose?" She asked. "Are you okay?" Rowena nodded, again.
"Sorry, but wipe that expression off your face. People here are wary of outsiders. A slightest misstep can place us in danger, and we have made many."
A confused expression appeared on Rowena's face. "What?" She asked.
"Y'see, we are both girls traveling alone. Also, with your face, one would expect you to have a husband. And... They would have heard about Sebastian. EVERYONE would have heard about Sebastian. So.. No speaking classy and act a bit at home in this place. "
Rowena sighed, glanced at the singing men, sighed again and nodded. "Yes, so, what'd 'e say, 'elena?" She said, almost able to sound comfortable in the strong accent. Helga grinned.
"'E said that we need ta talk to the barkeep. She's that-a-way." She spoke fast, and whispered to Rowena when she fell into step beside her, "First lesson:- no talking slowly. Act like you are an expert of the dialect."
"Okay..." Said Rowena, a bit hesitantly. "And He-"
Helga placed a finger on her lips. "Later." She said.
Rowena looked like she would have protested, but she did not, as they had reached the counter. The bar-woman was standing there, so Helga approached her."we need rooms, miss." She said.
The barkeep came forward, drying her hands. "Wha', girl?" She said, not unkindly. "We are in need of a room, for two, please." She said.
Helga nudged her. She was speaking too formally, as usual.
The barkeep didn't bat an eyelid. "That'll set ye back by three gold." She said.
Helga nodded and forked over the money. They were running low. "'Tis daylight robbery, it is." She said, clenching it in her fist. "Either ye bring it down to two or we leave."
The barkeep looked over her once, then grinned. "You've got spunk, girl. I would've bin like you meself, only I got stuck in thi' job."
Helga grinned at her, then said, "So two it is, then?"
The barkeep shook her curly head and the argument went on fir a few minutes. Finally, they settled on a price and were escorted into their room.
Helga saw Rowena look around the room, her face somehow not reflecting the disgust she should have been feeling, for the room was dirty and had not a few cobwebs. The barkeep nodded at them and left.
"So, Rose, wha' d'you think of our room?" She asked, motioning to Rowena that they would most probably have eavesdroppers outside the room.
"I've seen worse, 'elena."she replied, simultaneously signalling that if had to be cleaner by making wild motions like she held a broom. Helga nearly had a giggling fit, but stopped when Rowena shot her a Look.
Rowena's Looks were a cause for fear. In fact, it was rumoured that she had defeated a tiger just by glaring at it. Helga, had of course, laughed at the story along with everyone. Now, however, she began to wonder. Rowena's looks could make ANYTHING scared.
However, the two of them continued talking lightly, until the rain stopped and night began to fall. When the moon shone in the night sky, the two went to sleep, happy in each other's company. For after all, they were best friends, and both formidable. Who could stand against them?
Far away, Lord Sebastian the first surveyed the land. At this time next year, they would have won a war with Ireland. Soon enough, this kingdom would be his, and he have revenge on this dratted "royal" family for the death of his precious son.
A/N:- Sorry for the hell of a long wait. And the short chapter. I find Helga's POV a bit tough, so just let me know what you think! The next chapter will be up by next week, hopefully. And it should be fairly long. And know that this chapter was totally filler, so it didn't make much progress in the plot. Except for the two paragraphs in the end. So please leave reviews. If there are typos, know that this chapter was NOT Beta-d.
