Zoe Reed - Breaking Legacies

Had I been more comfortable with her, I might’ve joked about her fortune at there being no lack of religions in the world to practice. However, seeing as I was far from at ease, I simply smiled and rose to continue my chores. The first thing I did was clean the wolf pelts. Originally I’d been planning on using them to trade, but I figured it was more important that Princess Avarona was properly dressed. It seemed she was comfortable enough at the fire and with Albus’s added warmth, and it didn’t appear she was in a hurry to get to the inn. So I spent almost the entire day crafting better attire. I whittled a sewing needle out of a bone from the rabbit Maddox had brought, and after tearing out the soles from the boots I’d purchased from the villager, I shaved them down to size and created fur boots that fit the princess’s feet. The plain tunic I’d bought for her wasn’t nearly warm enough, so with the remaining pelts I made a pair of gloves and a hooded cloak to throw on over it that would do a more thorough job of keeping her warm.

The princess was pleasantly surprised with my first presentation of the boots, and later on, when I gave her the cloak and gloves, she was so grateful that she bestowed on my cheek another kiss. I thought to tell her she needn’t reward me, and that I was only doing what was within my power to keep her safe, but I far from minded how she took to rewarding my efforts. I also didn’t mind making efforts because, while I’d been gone, I noticed she’d torn some cloth from the linen I’d wrapped her wrist in, and she’d done what she could to clean the wound on Albus’s muzzle.

Needless to say, this princess perplexed me. So much so that while I walked along at Brande’s side as the day approached sunset, guiding the horse while she sat on his back, I kept peering at her out of the corner of my eye.

“You haven’t talked as much today,” she pointed out as we journeyed toward the village. She was right. I’d hardly shut my mouth when she was the wisp, but now I was afraid of saying the wrong things. “And why do you keep looking at me like that?”

This time I met her gaze, and my cheeks flared as I tried to think of how to explain myself. “If I’m honest, Princess, I’m not sure what to make of you.”

“What to make of me?” she repeated with a chuckle. “Do I intimidate you? You hadn’t seemed frightened of me this morning.”

“This morning I was worried enough that I forgot my wits,” I told her, and added while my cheeks tinted, “and my station.” I glanced up at her awkwardly. “And you’re awfully comfortable in the presence of a traitor’s kin.”

“Are you a traitor?” she asked, but that ringing playfulness never left her voice.

“No,” I answered, trying not to be upset that she’d even ask.

“Well then,” she said, “why should I be uncomfortable?” I didn’t have an answer for that, and when she spoke again, she finally sounded serious. “We are more than the legacies of our fathers, Kiena, remember that.” I met her eyes, and it was so encouraging, such an extent of trust that I couldn’t help but smile gratefully. “And you won’t offend me,” she added, but I offered no reply. “If I act helpless,” she started saying, regaining the amused tingle to her voice, “or if I fall off Brande and pretend to be hurt, would you forget my title and speak freely again?”

She seemed to sincerely want me to be more at ease, so I gave in, and tested the waters by saying, “Not now that you’ve told me you’re a faker, Princess.”

“Ah, touché!” she laughed. “Though I don’t think you should keep calling me ‘Princess.’ If someone were to hear, it could get us in trouble.”

“What would it please you to be called?”

“Ava,” she said readily, and when I looked up at her, she had another smirk on her face. “I also happen to think Little Will-o’ has a nice ring to it, don’t you?”

My cheeks burned a bright red, so that I was almost tempted to pull my hood up and hide my face. But, growing more comfortable with the princess’s light humor, I couldn’t help but smile. “I happen to think you’re a relentless tease, Ava.”

“I can’t help myself the way you color, Kiena,” she responded, copying my tone exactly. She’d taken to giggling at the way I blushed again when she said that, but too soon her smile faded, and her eyebrows scrunched unhappily.

“Is your wrist beginning to hurt?” I asked, squinting through the trees to see if I could spot the village. A small sliver of a cabin was visible between the breaks.

When the princess answered in the affirmative, I picked up my pace, leading Brande more quickly toward the village. We reached the inn shortly after, and I made sure the fire was going in the room so Ava would be comfortable while I went back out to secure Brande in the stables. I took my sleeping furs and saddle back into the inn with me, and before returning to the princess, I got a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a cup of wine from the tavern. I carried all this back with some difficulty, the hardest part being not spilling the drink. The princess was sitting under the covers of the bed when I returned, and she flinched with surprise at my opening the door.

“It’s just me,” I offered, dropping my furs and saddle onto the floor so I had a hand to close the door with, and I made sure to secure the latch. Upon turning around, I saw that Albus had made himself comfortable at her side, and, of course, my cheeks turned rosy. “I’m so sorry,” I mumbled while I set the rest of the things down on a small table in the room. “He’s used to sleeping on the bed with me at home,” I explained. Albus was treated like a king at my house, when I knew most people didn’t even let their dogs indoors. “Albus, get down.”

The wolfhound began to rise, but Ava put her hand on him in protest. “It’s fine,” she said. He resumed his comfortable position, even going so far as to put his head in her lap, and I tried not to chuckle at the gloating look in his eyes. “I feel safe with him here. And more so, now that you’re back.”

I took off my coat and vest to settle in for a comfortably warm night, and then carried the food to the bed and handed Ava the cup of wine. “For your wrist,” I told her when she glanced into it. “To take the edge off.” Then I ripped off a piece of bread and handed it to her. “You’re truly afraid for your life, Princess?” At my question, her lips curved into a frown, though I couldn’t be sure whether it was her fear or the fact that I’d called her ‘Princess.’ In case it was the latter, I added, “There’s no one around to hear it.”

“I wish you wouldn’t say it at all,” she sighed, picking at the bread and putting a tiny crumb into her mouth. “Now that you don’t treat me like a Will-o’-the-wisp, I feel as though I’ve lost a friend.”

My eyes dropped gloomily. It hadn’t occurred to me that the princess might be lonely, and I couldn’t imagine what it was like feeling as if no one was on your side. Even I had Albus and Brande when things got lonely. In an attempt to cheer her, I nudged her chin up so she’d look at me. “Are you royalty, Little Will-o’?” I asked in feigned surprise. “By the gods, I’d hardly noticed.” It was bold touching her like that, and even as I did it, the action made me nervous. But then she grinned, and I was instantly put at ease.

“Will you tell me another story?” she asked, avoiding my question about the danger she was in. “I rather enjoy your stories.”

“What kind would you like?”

Ava took another gulp from the cup of wine, and smiled gratefully when I offered her a cut of cheese. “Tell me one with you. I want to know what kind of a place you come from, or what your family’s like.”