Anniya
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Chapter one: the girl
That morning in Frell was a peaceful one. Morning dewdrops rested on delicate flower petals. The forest's silent beauty hung over the land. The only sound was the occasional cry of the mocking bird. The rest of the birds lay asleep, and even the insects hadn't awoken yet. It was so quiet that in fact, a Unicorn and her foal stopped by a stream to take a drink without being worried of a Ogre, or worse, a hunter. It's horn gleamed in the sunlight, a radiant rainbow shining from it. There was a rustle in the bushes. The Unicorn's ears pricked up. An arrow whistled through the air, narrowly missing the foal. The Unicorn and her foal broke into a run, fleeing the stream.
" Dammit." Prince Robert swore.
" Your majesty, I really don't mean to question you, but the King did say," Sir Rector began. " that the Prince should cut down on his excessive use of foul language because one brought up in the royal court should not be swearing like a heathen Ogre. I know, Rector, I know." Robert said wearily. The fifty year old knight looked surprised.
" Why, yes. That's exactly what he said."
" Aye Rector, just leave Robert be. I'd swear myself, he was only a whistle away from hittin that unicorn." Sir Frederick spoke up.
Robert grinned at Sir Frederick.
" Alright, gentleman. Precious time is being wasted, and if we plan to eat tonight it would be the best idea to get a move on it."
The knights quickly split up and rode off in different directions, Robert heading off in the direction he had seen the unicorn. He was a tall, handsome young man, bordering 6'1. He had dirty blonde hair that could be called golden in the light, and like his father, had blue gray eyes. At 21, he was the crown Prince to the throne of Kellia, a country bordering Frell and Ayortha. Robert clucked his tongue, and Night, his black stallion, quietly sped up. Checking on the amount of arrows he had left, he grimaced. Two. He would have to make sure his shots counted. Unicorn horn was high marketed these days as medicine. After galloping through the woods for a quarter of an hour, he stopped. The Unicorn and the colt were resting peacefully, a serene light shining on them . For a moment, Robert felt a stab of guilt. Maybe he should just let the unicorn's get away. Deer meat was more tender, anyhow. But remembering on how meat was getting scarce in this part of the forest, Robert loaded the arrow, and aimed precisely at the Mother Unicorn. He was a prize shooter, the best in the nation. He would get the unicorn this time. Pulling the arrow back, he released it. Just then, a shape hit him, catching him off guard. The arrow went flying into the trees, and the Unicorn, sensing him there, ran off once again. Not worrying about the unicorn, he threw whatever had jumped onto him off him. A petite, dirty girl glared at him. Robert stared in disbelief. This was what had caused him to miss a prize unicorn? An unkept, filthy girl?
" Dammit! Did you see what you just did?" he spat. The girl's eyes narrowed, a blazing forest green.
" Ja Kes Sluede toi puetama de!" the girl snapped back in Elfin. Robert glanced at her. She didn't look all that Elfin. He switched to Elfin, since she obviously didn't speak English, and didn't understand it either.
" What I was trying to do was shoot a prize unicorn that's horn might save a hundred people!" he told her angrily. Her eyes widened in surprised as he spoke her tongue to her.
" What you were trying to do is kill a mother and her foal. Even the dimmest dwarf that plunders along here knows that the hunting of unicorns is illegal! Especially foals and colts! But you, of noble birth, most likely thought in your little noble brain, that all this must be fine, because your family makes the rules." He didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice.
" And do you suppose that every hunter that comes along abides those rules, milady?" he shot back .
" No......but that doesn't mean that it's perfectly alright to come along and kill a unicorn!" Robert had enough. " Well, milady, it has been nice meeting you, but I do have a unicorn to catch, and my apologies if you find something wrong with it." He got back on night and started riding again. No sooner then he did, he was knocked off his horse.
" Leave them be!" the girl said angrily. She held a broken arrow threateningly at him. " It was you who messed up the first shot as well!" Robert exclaimed, angry now. She nodded curtly.
" Oh for- give me that." He reached for the arrow. She dodged, and tackled him. Robert, due to years of training, reacted quickly. He grabbed her arm, twisted it, and threw her off him lightly. The girl was used to this attack as well, for she grabbed his ankle and knocked him off the ground. He snatched a dagger out of his boot and held it to the girls neck. She froze.
" The arrow, please." she handed it to him. Robert broke it into several more pieces, and grinded them into the ground.
" Let me go!" she demanded forcefully.
" Not yet. You're coming back with me." he told her.
" Just let me go!" she made a move to bite him, but he tightened his grip on her.
" That is an excellent example on why I am not letting you go. For one reason, I'll probably have an arrow, or whatever weapon you generally use, in my back, or one of my mens. Who are you, anyway?" he asked her.
" Someone that's going to kill you if you don't let me go." she spat.
" Nice to meet you. Prince Robert of Kellia." Robert told her with good humor. " Kellia? Isn't that where Ogres originated from?" the girl snapped back.
" Get on the horse." the girl glanced at it. Night stood menacingly taller then her, at 14 hands tall.
" I'll walk." she told him darkly. He shrugged.
" Suit yourself." After walking for awhile, the girl began to tire.
" Are you sure?" Robert asked out of politeness, wishing she wasn't a Lady so that he might tell her off. The girl glared at him.
" Oh, I'm sure."she said bitterly, and kept on walking. By the time they reached the camp, the sun had set over the Frellian forest. Robert greeted them.
" Look what I caught instead of a unicorn." he told them. The girl, not understanding what anyone was saying, suddenly looked frightened and scared, something in the short time Robert had met her had thought she was incapable of doing.
" Does she talk? Dear Lord, I do hope she's not another one of those shifting wraiths again. Those things are such a terrible bother." Sir Rector asked. Robert just laughed.
" I'm not really sure what she is. She doesn't speak English, she won't tell me her name. She speaks Elfin, and that sums up my knowledge of her. She attacked me when I had a clear shot of the unicorn again, and wouldn't let me follow it." The girl stared intently on all of the Knights and Robert, unsure of what to do. Then she spoke.
" If you do not let me go, every single one of you will regret that you ever laid eyes on me." there was no doubting the sincerity in her words, but also no doubting the fear. Robert translated for the Knights who did not know Elfin.
" Your Majesty, I do not mean disrespect, but how is keeping a dirty girl going to help us?" Sir Percival demanded.
" For one thing, she's threatened to kill me. For another thing, we don't have the time to figure out which animals are on her no hunting list."
" And for a third thing, it's hardly chivalrous to leave this young Lady out in the woods on her own." Sir Rector spoke up. All of the Knights stared him in surprise.
" Rector, this girl may be young, but the last thing she is, is a lady." Sir Rector was the oldest of the Knights though, and stubbornly insisted " The reason that she is not acting like a lady right now, is perhaps because she is surrounded by men with chunks of dirt for brains that are deciding her fate in which she cannot have a decision in at all. If you are not her father and you are not her husband, then you have absolutely no say in this young Ladies fate. Now leave her alone and go about your duties!" Sir Rector exclaimed.
Robert stared at him in surprise. Rector hardly ever got upset enough to yell at the other knights. They looked at Robert for orders. " Leave her be with Rector. On now. We need to patrol the area for Ogres."
As the days went on, the girl became incredibly quiet. She didn't talk or listen to anyone but Sir Rector, who refused to tell anyone what little words she did say. He did confine in Robert though.
" She's an orphan. Still refuses to tell me her name. Refuses to eat anything but soup, and she sleeps in a hammock." Robert laughed at this.
" A hammock? Why does she want to sleep in a hammock? Only the Elves do that."
" Apparently your majesty, the girl claims to be part Elf. It would explain a lot, like why she only speaks Elfin tongue, and why her ears are slightly pointed."
" Perhaps. Why does she talk only to you, anyway?" Rector laughed at this.
"She's a little lady in her own right. She insists that the lot of you are all spoiled, rich boars with nothing else to do but wave a bow around for status, and if you cannot speak a, as she puts it, " a decent language", then there is no point in answering you." Robert rolled his eyes.
" If she continues to be silent for much longer, we should just call her trouble for short. Try and talk some sense into her Rector." Rector just chuckled again.
" She makes a lot more sense then the lot of you do sometimes. She doesn't understand why none of ye try to use honey slick words on the Ogres back when you sight them, instead of just putting wax in your ears. No your highness, I think it is you who should try and knock some sense into yourself sometime." With that, Rector left Robert's tent and went to go help with the fire.
I'd sooner understand my fiancé then I would her, Robert thought wearily, but grinned at the prospect of going home to see Princess Adria of Ayathora. Yes, he could understand the dark haired, violet eyed princess of Ayathora quiet well. She wasn't like the typical Ayathorians, who were quiet people. Oh, she was quiet enough in court, but once she was in Kellia, if anything, she was excitable and happy. Nothing at all like the stubborn girl he was dealing with now. All that he had to do was meet up with the Prince of Frell, who was also scouting for Ogres, scout of half a year, then go home, free of the responsibility that he had to deal with the girl. But what Robert and the girl didn't know was that only 3 days later, Ogres attacked.
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Whew! Done with Chapter one! Hope everyone likes it. Please review!