Chapter 1: A Vagrant, And A Princess

Beginning

The date is 402 A.E. The Country of Sylph is trying to invade Boreas. Boreas is a peaceful country, so it immediately surrendered the heir to the throne as a bride for the Sylph Family. The Sylph Family agreed and stopped their advance on Boreas. But, the bride has a different point of view.

"You can't be serious!" a voice rang out throughout the halls of the palace.

"Now calm down, Lanni. This is for the good of the country and I hear that the prince is handsome too," the bearded king said, looking down at his daughter from his grand throne.

"But there's got to be another way! I don't want to marry for the sake of a country! I want to marry for love!” the voice of Lanni argued.

"Look, dear, it's the only way for the Sylph to stop invading. Please bear with it, for the country… for your parents," the queen said, smoothing out her violet frilly dress. Lanni looked down and played with the fabric of her rose coloured dress that had a red bow on the back of it.

"But it's not fair," She said quietly. The king and queen looked at each other sadly.

"Your father and I don't want this either, but it has to be done or we will have no home," the queen explained. Lanni looked up angrily, her long sandy blonde hair bounced up violently, "So this is for the material things? Like a palace and money?!" she hissed. The king opened his mouth, "Now look here Lanni-" She cut him off, "NO! You taught me to be there for others, to be as selfless as possible. But here you are being so damn selfish! You call yourselves role models!?" Lanni stood there staring angrily at her parents who said nothing. Lanni turned around and rushed down the stairs behind her and out of the throne room. The king and queen looked at each other again. "Give her time, love," the queen said. The king nodded slowly, and slumped back into his chair.

Lanni walked briskly down the beautifully adorned hallway. She passed a window that showed the beautiful mountains of the Boreas country. The palace stood in between two mountains and stood so tall it took almost 200 years to make. The palace, doubled as a city in the lower parts where the boreal forests met with the foot of the mountain. Lanni took off down another hallway and entered her own room. She closed the door behind her and locked it. She sat down at her desk, and put her head down on the desk to think.

"They can't do this to me… I’ve always been a good, obiediant daughter to them… I never caused them worries, never did anything wrong… I don’t deserve this," she quietly sobbed in the confines of her arms. Then a dark thought entered her head. Run away... go seek Uncle's help. She stopped crying and brought her head back up, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes.

"Yes… I'll do that. Uncle will help me for sure!" She stood up and walked over to the giant window that flooded her room with sunlight.

"I'm going to run away tonight."

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The boreal forest is colder than most forests and held pine trees in the masses. Wildlife is plentiful and it is highly reserved for hunting most the time. Of course, being as isolated as it is, it acts as a home to bandits.

"Hey, Nall... Look at the weird looking guy!" a green hooded man said to his companion.

"Look at his hair, what kind of man has two giant white ponytails!" the man called Nall scoffed. The man moved uneasily in the tree house they made to ambush merchants going toward the city below the Boreas Palace, Properly named Borea.

"Let’s jump him now! He's already so near!" the green hooded man leaned forward, but Nall grabbed his shoulder.

"Be still for a second, look at his clothing a bit better," his voice got more serious. The hooded man peered at the man more closely.

"Isn't that... Rotheran clothing?" he asked. Nall nodded, "Rotherfolk are highly known for being fighters. Do you think we can take a guy like him on?" the hooded man went silent and then looked back at the clearing. "Wait… where did he go?" Nall looked too and couldn't find a trace of the man.

"You two should really stop talking behind my back," a cold voice said. The hooded man jumped and looked wildly around, Nall bent over and looked down at the man who stood below the tree house.

"Why? You’re down there and were up here. You pose no threat, fool!” Nall called. The hooded man freaked out, "NALL!! Stop that, he's going to come up here and kill us!" Nall laughed and crossed his arms, "Rotherfolk are scared of heights." He smirked and looked at the man through the corner of his eye.

"Ahh, so he can't even touch uuuaaAAHHH!" the hooded man and his companion screamed as the tree house crumbled and fell to the ground. Nall shook his head and took a nail out from his arm, he gritted his teeth as he did so. His partner watched the man sheath his sword and walk toward them.

"Do you pathetic people have food?" he asked, his voice was light but still dangerous. They both shook their heads. The man shrugged and took his sword out, and walked toward Nall. Nall began to sweat as the man's shadow loomed over him. The man poked at Nall a couple times and then licked his lips.

"Ahh, I think you will do just fine," giving Nall a rather hideous look through his sharp, red eyes. Nall yelped and dug through the wreckage of the tree house. Eventually he produced a bag from the debris.

"Here! Take it, it was money for later on today, it's all yours!” he tossed the bag at the man's steel boots. The man lifted the bag with his sword and grabbed it with his free hand.

"Thank you. You’re spared today. But I, Angel, will be back someday. Perhaps you will have food then." The Rotheran sheathed his sword and turned back to his path. Nall gritted his teeth again.

" Angel... I will remember that name.."

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"The princess is gone!"

"Find the princess!" are all sentences repeated many time this night. Lanni hid in the darkness of the night, hiding from guards. She has already made it out of the palace, but now she must make it down to Boreas. Lanni sighed as she slid down the side of hill. "At least I'm not wearing that frilly dress…"

Lanni now adorned a white slim dress with white arm warmers. She stood up and began to run down the hill, "But this… running and exercise is… a little hard on me…" Lanni never had the privilege to be included in any enduring activities. It was always studying, books and literature. She recalled sitting at her desk all hours of the day, taking notes of the fight for Varyn. She shook her head and smiled as she reached the foot of the mountain and took in the wonderful site of Borea. She walked forward and smiled. She played with her long hair, as she watched the various people walk around and children play.

"Where is the princess!", Lanni looked over to the left, seeing she hadn't lost her pursuers yet. She began to run into the forest, toward a small building.


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"Thank you for letting me stay here, monk," Angel mumbled through a mouthful of food. The aged monk nodded. "Well, at least you paid for food," he said gingerly.

"Yup, it's lucky I found those wannabe bandits," he admitted before he   took swig of alcohol. The monk left his mouth open, "You took care of Nall and Kix?" Angel stopped eating and looked at the aged man. He smiled, "With ease." The monk smiled, "Maybe I was wrong about you, you might be a good person after all."



Angel scoffed. The monk stood up and left the room, "I'm going to visit a friend, I shall be back soon." Angel grunted and he heard the door click behind the monk as he left.

The Rotheran put his drink back down on the table and laid back, "Ahhh now I'm happy." He heard a window open and sounds of movement from the next room. Angel narrowed his eyes and grabbed his sword, "Back for revenge, bandits?" he whispered. He motioned quietly to the door and grabbed the knob. He put his ear against the door and heard hard breathing.

"You die this time!" Angel yelled as he swung the door open and lunged at the person. He brought the person down and was ready to strike but he was surprised to see it was a young girl. Angel stared at the girl who was knocked out from the hard drop to the floor.

"You’re kidding me. A girl? In a temple? That old man has some odd secrets. I mean, look at her," Angel touched the soft fabric of the clothes the girl wore. Then he moved his hand toward her face, "A girl like this… soft, seductive clothes… smooth skin… young…" He stood up and crossed his arms.

"Can only be a prostitute!" he decided. There was a knock on the door. Angel walked across the room and opened it. Guards from the palace stood in the blue armour of the Boreas Military.

"Have you seen a princess around? We think she may be kidnapped," a deep voiced soldier said.

"Nah, but I got a prostitute, any takers?” Angel backed up from the door and let the soldiers see the girl on the floor. The guards gasped.

"Yeah, I know, she's a looker. Anywho, I'll take payment." The guards drew their swords, Angel stepped back from the door and put his hand on the hilt of his own sword.

"You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Lanni Boreas! Place down your weapon at once!" A guard shouted. The man turned and looked at the girl. "Princess?? Nooo. This is all a mistake!" he turned back around and met the hand of one of the guards. The hand grabbed the collar and threw Angel outside.

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"Uhmmm, ohh my head hurts," Lanni said sitting up from the floor. She looked around wildly, "Where am I? And what's that clanging noise?" she stood up wearily and stumbled across the room to an opened door. She focused her eyes and saw a couple guards on the ground and one more in battle with some white-haired Rotheran man. The man had his sword still sheathed though, is he an idiot? The guard lunged at the man, but the man tapped the sword just enough that the guard went off balance.

"You’re too heavy. Less armour means more agility, and more stamina. You’re already tired, fool," the man said, but it rather sounded like he was instructing the out of breath soldier.

"Shut up!", the guard swung his sword around. The man ducked and thrusted his sheathed sword into the soldier's chestpiece. The chestpiece bent inwards and the soldier fell to his knees.

“Armour like this restrains movement and can cause your downfall easily. So next time, less armour," The Rotheran said, giving a boot to the guards head. The guard fell to the ground with a loud clang. The man turned toward the princess and gave an evil eye. Lanni was shocked on how the man's eyes seemed so… evil. He walked over and stood in front of her.

"Princess Lanni, I presume." Lanni nodded. He took a deep breath, "Will you do something for me, since I saved you from these idiots?" She nodded again. He put his sheathed sword back into the side of his belt and took a deep breath.

"GO AWAY!" he yelled in her face. She stood there dumbfounded as he walked inside the building. Lanni turned and watched him as he sat down at the table in the other room, and began to drink a bottle of something or other. I need him… I can't walk all the way down to Sotha myself, she thought. A Rotheran can help me a lot in this endeavor. She walked slowly into the room and sat on the other side of the table. The man still drank. They sat in somewhat silence as sipping noises was heard occasionally from the white haired guy.

"Umm... Hey thanks for the save back there," Lanni quietly said. The man grunted. Lanni narrowed her eyes. "That was a compliment!" she said more boldly. The man looked up at her and put the glass down. He looked back down and sighed, "I am grateful that I was able to assist such magnificent... blah blah. Don't worry about it." Lanni put a frown on, how rude! But nonetheless, the frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile, "What's your name?" she asked nicely. The man replied, "Angel."



The girl kept the smile on and asked, "Wanna escort me to the Sotha province so I can take refuge under the Duke so I don't have to marry the leader of Sylph for my parents who want to keep their nice palace?" she said quickly. Angel dropped the cup that was in his hand.

"Wow, rather fast for a spoiled brat."



Lanni twitched a little but her smile didn't fade, "You know, they're not going to stop chasing you. They know your face, so every guard in Sylph and Boreas will be after you. But if I get to Sotha , I'm sure they will stop." It was awfully apparent Angel didn't like what he just heard.

"Everyone, eh? With that creepy smile of yours, I s’pose I have no choice but to aid you in your little uhh… quest?" he sighed. Lanni nodded. He leaned his head back. "Oad save me," he mumbled. Oad was the warrior god of the Rotherfolk, sometimes such sentences are said in place of "God save me." He looked back down and held his hand out, "Angel Leradine, at your service ‘till I get rid of you in Sotha." Lanni's smile grew bigger and she grabbed Angel's hand with both of hers, "Lanni Boreas! Happy to have you!"

Angel groaned.

Reviews

[Justin Robben]

Overall this opening chapter held my concentration, which is a good thing these days, hehe.
I was a tad disappointed with the dialogue (it seemed childish, unrealistic...almost anime-like) and somewhat distracted by the errors in spelling, grammar and tense, but all in all it entertained.
And that's what a story is supposed to do, first and foremost.
Given the time, I will read on.
Bravo!

[Solilokiss]

Excellent plotting so far!

[Nicole]

You switch tenses, which is a little annoying. But, besides that, it was good.