Speech = ``...´´

Thoughts = [...]

ºº

Contrary to popular belief, Iris knew that outside the walls of the capital there were numerous towns, villages and hamlets where people lived away from the throne of the kingdom and the noise of high nobility and court games.

She had studied the maps that her teachers had taught her during her lessons and knew both their names and locations..., which products came from there and which were the members of the lower nobility or mayors who took charge because sooner or later she would have to establish communication or at least a snippet of appreciation of their labors before and after her coronation.

A few of the many duties that her shoulders would bear in the years to come.

Unfortunately...a few things had not going according to plan.

First, unlike in a city….in those vast fields of grass and soil, there were hardly anyone on those roads to ask for directions.

Two, Iris had never been out on her own in the open like this..., perhaps because she had never felt the need to make such an effort from the start... and now, she was paying dearly for it. Her eyes having to search for any signpost on the road they had been traversing if only to get a good grasp that they were not exactly lost.

And last but not least..., unable to see the stars now that they were hidden behind the thick layers of clouds above her head thanks to the constants downpours raining down on her... and the fact that they were lacking a proper map... it was a little difficult to know if she was on the right track.

Yes…., following a road would lead them somewhere...that was a given, but truth be told she really was not looking forward to keep wandering blind. Besides, it wasn't her problem that the wind had ripped her own little map that she had brought away from her…

And deposited it in a mud puddle..., staining the sheet and blurring the letters and drawings beyond belief.

Or when she had tried to clean it...only to break the thin now humid paper.

..

...

N-no….not her fault.

Not at all….

The paper had been old and worn down through the years and having it stuffed in her bag would not have made matters better, and with this weather so cold and stormy….

…

So….yeah, not her fault.

Sadly, she knew very well that her companion had not shared the same view as her. The incognito princess could not avoid becoming a little bit flustered as the way her face reddened at the brief memory of how the older woman had watched the entire thing develop from start to finish.

Lilac eyes shining with that natural aura of mystery they bore... yet not showing an ounce of emotion behind their depths before shaking her head in amusement….or disapproval.

Iris did not know, the elf was really hard to read.

However, in light of anything else the red haired princess had decided to think positive about it. Luckily, Beatrix had not said anything about that either. In fact, she had neither blamed her or made light of it….she just...nodded her head and kept walking on.

A gesture that had endeared the young princess to the elven warrior….

Then she came to realize as the hours turned into days that the Goddess of War was…..not precisely someone known for making banter...or speaking for long terms of time. A particular detail that been painfully made clear to her each and every time she had tried…and failed to start or get a conversation moving.

Goddess….she was bad at this.

After all, what was she suppose to speak with someone as strong and famous as her? To ask about the weather had grown really old by now.

Slowly, almost wearily….Iris stole a glance at her companion.

The elf walking just a few steps right ahead of her with her casual long stride and her pale golden mane swirling behind under the brushing winds of the night alongside the long sleeves of her coat.

Like a star, glowing with her own light with each determinant stride..while she followed behind in her shadow. Gloved fingers trying to make sure that the cowl over her head would not reveal her features as they finally strolled through the first town they had found.

Once again Iris found herself sighing, this time a little more loudly. Lips closing tightly, eyes closing, closed lids frowning, marring what was a young face as apprehension started settling in not for the firs time in her shoulders at her stream of flaws...whether real or imaginary.

If one asked her how she had envisioned her journey to the Academic city of Laugus, this surely was not it...

Cold…

Dirty...

Tired…

And hungry…

There was a menagerie of things she had never thought she would experience, ever….and yet, they were happening. And that was not the worst of all…, oh no no…..

For all their walking they had not even reached the border of the kingdom, how was that possible..!? And they were suppose to reach Laugus on foot? She hang her head low as a small cloud of depression started to hover around her.

Oh dear, what she had gotten herself into?

She missed the warmth of her room…, the steam of her bath, or just a proper breakfast.

But above all...she missed her sister. Her features softened as her thoughts started to linger of a certain white haired girl...

It had been barely a week after her departure from the capital, but she missed her already. The way Alexias eyes shone either with aggression or disinterest, the way her body tensed or eased.

No matter how her little sister tried to act aloof or just down right refuse her behind the walls she had erected around her., she was more emotional that she would like to believe. Beatrix standoffish mannerism were….weird to say the least.

It was not like it was a bad thing! N-no! It was that Iris just….wished that the Goddess of War would be...a little less stoic.

Iris sighed for a third time, opening her eyes as she slowly tilted her head back, gazing at the horizon….or at the heavy mantle of greys and blaks that still hung above her head. Her legs finally stopping their march.

[No…]

She rose a gloved hand, dirty and covered either in grime and soaked with rain water that had yet to fully dry…..an clenched it.

[I should not be fretting over this…., not after already taking so many steps...or was my determination back home a lie?]

…

…

…

No, it was not.

It was a sobering thought as it was bitter.

Red wine eyes closed again briefly as she switched her attention to the people wandering on the streets. Hearing the way the children played with one another, seeing their parents calling them or chatting while vendors tried to draw their attention.

She may not have known back then what she wanted, or where she would go….with the way she had decided to leave her home on what most would call a whim. But, deep down…. , she knew for certain that giving up at the first sight of problem was not the way to do it.

For it would not do her any good if she did.

Her hand clenched even more tightly, a warmth spreading through each of the finger tips as she remembered the distant whiplash sound of a slap echoing in her skull.

She chewed her lip though not before she lowered her arm and let it limp to her side, shaking her head weakly as she placed a hand over her chest before a pained smile warped around her lips..

Yes...that was right, what had she been thinking?

Now was not the time for despairing thoughts to plague her mind, for fear and dread to freeze her will. She had just said that herself, hadn't she? She had started this…..and if she was meant to fail, she would rather do so seeing this to the end.

It was not much…., perhaps a foolish girl having an even foolish dream. but it felt...nice-

``Princess, catch...´´

The sound of a familiar voice brought Iris up from her own thoughts, prompting her to turn around almost on instinct as she tried to find the owner of said voice….

Only that she did not found a person, but the shadow of a shape that was alarmingly growing in size as it flew for some reason through the air at her immediate direction.

[Wait..flying? Why is it doing tha-]

WHACK…...!!

POOFFFFFFF…!

Never mind that….it seemed that she had better things to worry about as Iris found herself landing on her ass now as her head erupted in pain when something sturdy struck it. A hand already raised and rubbing her forehead to ease what she was sure was going to leave a bruise.

``Auch….was that a rock..!?´´

``No, it was an apple..´´

Iris shot her eyes wide open….and the first thing that her eyes found was Beatrix standing over her, a hand extended to her while lilac eyes glared down at her with...a shred of confusion in eyes? She then tilted her head to the side and found the now shredded form of an apple that had seen better days...

Her brain took a few seconds to register what she was looking at, before a realization struck at her.

Why did you throw that thing at me….!?´´

To be honest, perhaps snapping at a seasoned warrior that had lived surely for centuries and was many times the senior of any great warrior was not a good idea.

But….well, it was not like logical reasoning was on the menu right now.

It only became worst when Beatrix took a few sweet moments to answer back before giving a weak, awkward shrug back at her.

``I thought it was a good idea…´´

`Clearly not…!´´

``Ah, yes..you are right...are you ok, princess?´´

Iris could only look baffled at the older woman...though this time she allowed to herself to grab onto the offered arm, pulling her up from the ground, only after a few more seconds did the red haired princess reply back.

``I...think you are suppose to ask that first, then the other questions...´´

She muttered under her breath, a little more harshly than someone of her age would be expected to, but quiet enough to not warrant any more attention onto themselves. At least Beatrix tried to look away in what could only be considered mildly embarrassment at the scene, a hand scratching the back of her head.

``Ah…, my apologies, is just that I thought that you would catch it. I didn't intend in the slightest to cause you any harm..´´

Even before the last apologetic word ended slipping through Beatrix lips, a myriad of thoughts were already going through the young princess head. And most of them were not very mature to say the least...

She wanted to scoff, to shake her head in denial, to chew her lips and just pick up the damn thing or what was left of it and throw it back at the sender even though it was certain she will miss.

To spat out or just curl into a ball because goddess how it was even possible for her head to throb like a drum by something so minor as an apple..!? It made no sense! It was madness...!

Iris wanted..

She wanted….

..

..

..

Iris closed her eyes as she tried to tak a deep breath.

She wanted to do so many things at once that she could not decide, her hands already clenching and inadvertently drawing the attention of the woman before her who could only nod with silent understanding.

..

..

And yet... Iris just...shook her head.

Weakly at first to the point that she had trouble believing she had in the first place before she put more strength to it. Cocking her head up instead of down so that she could glare back at those lilac eyes.

Why..?

The reason was rather simple..or perhaps, it had once been…her features softened ever so slightly at the passing thought.

Responsibility...was not something to take lightly...fifteen years old or not. She could already hear the voice of her father or her teachers.

"A ruler is meant to be perfect no matter the circumstances"

"A ruler was be just..."

"A ruler must held themselves above petty things like anger or rash decisions and lead by example..."

"A ruler must win… no matter how the odds..."

..

..

Well, she already failed at three of those four...but who would have thought that which she found bothersome was not calming her…. and besides, was this not just a simple and innocent mistake? The fact that the apple seemed to have been thrown hard enough to turn it into paste conveniently shoved into the back burner. And so she did the very next best thing she could do.

Change the subject

``I-I….look, it doesn't matter, it was not that of a big deal anyway….´´

She tried to put her best smile, even though it almost faltered when she tried. Earning a confused, perplexed look in response.

``No? Are you sure? It looked like a pretty bad hit, please...if I incon-´´

`` No, no.., still alive...see?´´ [Though if you had thrown it a little more harder...] ``So where did you got that one?´´

It was not a good attempt...but Beatrix seemed to buy it for now.

``The apple?´´

``Yes..´´

``Found it…´´

Iris rose an eyebrow.

That...is a quite quaint reply if there is one…] ``Found it?´´

``Yes, right there..´´

Beatrix said laconically while pointing a hand somewhere else in the street, a hand that Iris followed..until she found a seemingly vacant table with fruit on display in the open like any other place that could be found in a market.

Something that was completely normal and mundane in a town stree-…and just like that her train of thought came undone on the spot as she seemingly crashed onto an invisible wall.

[Wait! Hold up! Right there? Did she just said….right there?]

It was a rather inoffensive word …., so why? Why for some reason the more she thought about it…. the more she sensed something unpleasant take root in her chest. Something that she had unfortunately felt before and had no plans in doing so again..?

Comically, her eyes switched back and forth from Bea to the vacant table….

[Oh no...please, please tell me you didn't!] She thought with a sense of apprehension that started to devolve into panic. Her eyes looking back at the blond elf, hoping that the intensity of her glare would be enough to communicate what thoughts she had.

To be honest, normally there would be no need for alarm…., not whatsoever. However there was just a little problem. Which one? Well...perhaps the fact that the vendor was missing and there did not seem to be any sign of him or her?

If they were not there... how on earth she had bought that apple?

Also, did the woman even have a purse..?

Iris had never thought of it until now, not like she had the need of since they had been on and about on the road. Already too many things in her head to worry about than to question the elfs earthly possessions….

Not with the fact that most of Beatrix clothing was a loose trench coat that did barely nothing to hide the skimpy outfit underneath and the amount of exposed fl-….a source of heat started to spread over Iris cheeks when her thoughts went where they should not.

Perhaps it was better not discuss anything related to the lack of modesty of her senior companion. No matter whether it was an elven custom or not.

``Beatrix…., the apple came from there?´´

``Yes..´´

``And you…, well, how do I put this.. took one like that, right..?´´

``Yes..´´

``But... you bought it? Right..?´´

``Bought it? No….I don't think I did´´

Normally Iris would praise someone for their honesty, but this time she could not help but rise a hand and pinch the bridge of her nose.

Was this really how they would start their stay in the first town they found?

´`M-may I ask…. why?´´

``Is something wrong with the apple..? ´´

[Why? Why do you go back to the apple..!?] ``N-no, not quite….I think´´

``I see, well…, I don't think there is much to say. It was free….so I caught it´´

``You...caught it?´´

``Yes, wanna see?´´

``Wanna s-wait No! There is no need for you to-´´ She started to say once she realized what the elf meant, but it was too late...Beatrix had already walked back to the empty post and picked another fruit from the basket much to her dismay.

As if one was not bad enough….

``This is how I picked the apple...there is nothing wrong with it, right? At least...I believe I did not broke any cultural norms of Midgard by doing that, no?´´

Iris wanted to grab her hair and yank it...this made no sense.

[Why there would be a cultural norm about picking apples!? Why are we even talking about the apples!? Urgh my head….all this thinking is killing me….] Iris thought to herself as she tried to hold herself steady.

``M-miss Beatrix….please, there must be some sort of mistake. Nothing is free...if there was such thing I would doubt we would find it in this place of all things?

``Why?´´

``Because these poor people would earn no zeni for their troubles if that was the case.., I mean, I don't want to be patronizing, but I don't think they would be that well off to sell without a return..´´

A thoughtful expression warped around Beatrix features, a gloved hand giving a few soft strokes at her own chin.

``That….actually makes sense..´´

[YES! I did it! She gets it!]

``But it does not explain why it was free…´´

Iris almost fell on her back to the ground at the dreaded reaffirmation.

No…

Not this again…

Why was she stumbling against a brick wall here of all times?

Iris tried to speak yet she could only blink at the series of answers she received. How could someone sound so innocent, so shamelessly innocent after telling her that they had stolen something? Worst, how could they not see her point...?

Surely someone like the Goddess of war was not a mere crook under her stoic mask, that could not be, right? Right? After all….wasn't the woman in a crusade to search for someone they seemingly cared for from the clutches of slavery?

It would be uncharacteristic for such a noble goal….be accomplished through petty crimes, even if it was something as unimportant ass a mere fruit. And so, like any little girl her age, refusing to see someone they looked up to in a bad light, Iris started making hypothesis about the matter.

Only for her to come out empty handed, why? Simple….none made sense.

One: Was this some sort of cultural shock? No, that could not be the case…., why? Because if it was that she would have certainly heard of this as a princess one way or another.

Two: Was an action led by a tinge of hunger? Possible, perhaps she thought that since there was no one attending the post..it would matter little if there was one less apple from the pile, it was not like there were restaurants on the road to eat when they got hungry, but she had never seem her bothered by that...

Third: Was thievery…. not thievery the same anywhere else in the world? Like well..., she may not know anything about the laws of the elven kingdom, but she was sure that there were things that were the same here and there.

..

..

Urgh, it was no use! Why could she not get the answer? Why was it so hard? And now that she had been a witness to it she could not just look away and ignore it unless she wanted to be considered as an accomplice to the crime.

Crime..

Accomplice…

Please, this had to be a bad dream. S-she was not a criminal! It was her duty to uphold the law...and she always had!

Ok, lets say she decided to do that, then what? Detain the woman….?

If she tried the elf would clean the floor with her, no doubt about it while adding to that souring their already strange relationship furthermore.

If Bea did not show resistance and showed compliance...then what was the point on trying to convince her to tagging along?

A thick cloud of depression started to morph its way back over her head as she knelt into the ground, her legs too wobbly to held her up.

What a rotten luck. There was nothing she could chose that would feel any-less wrong.

Uphold her moral views and get herself in Beatrix shit list...or ignore everything she had been taught, no matter how painful such betrayal was and hope no one would ever know of this shame.

Another to add to her robb-borrowing the relic blade from the capital.

Her cheeks flustering at the reminder of what she had done was perhaps even worse than simply taking a meager apple from an empty stand.

..

..

[Oh god...what I have gotten myself into….? This is a disaster!]

If anyone caught wind of this she would have to live off the land far away from home, dress in black leather with a spiked collar in her neck and a whip in her hand while laughing manically under the moonlight saying "huehuehuehuehue" at the end of every sentence…...like the villains that some of the nobles of the court spoke about with one another when they were through a few too many drinks.

With her mind elsewhere...it took her a while to realize that something was hanging barely above her head, something that Beatrix was holding now that she didn't before.

When Iris rose her head in the end..she realized what it was.

Not the perfect, albeit emotionless elven face that greeted her, but rather an ugly, plain wooden board.

But what truly caught her attention where the two simple, crudely written words written over it.

-Free samples-

…

…

…

…

``Miss Beatrix…´´

``Yes?´´

``I think we got a communication problem between our hands...´´

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A/N

Here comes another chapter, Feel free to comment to give some feedback. Any commentary will be appreciated.

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Iris is going to need all the patience she can muster to get through this adventure of hers. Forget the cult and otherworldly conspiracies, Beatrix is the real menace here.

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I was first planing to make a dual episode with the two sisters, but I have fallen with fever, so this is the part that I could only finish, besides...I think that I may be able to use the other for another date.