In the morning Evanna woke up early and had breakfast at her table in the living room, once she was finished, she asked for only Maggie to take on all the tasks required of her and her room for the day, needing privacy from gawking eyes. She walked over to her wardrobe and opened one of the drawers to reveal a black outfit she hardly wore. She stepped into the black breeches and called Maggie over to help her with the corset, she held her hands on the wooden bedpost while the maid pulled on the corset to make it tighter.
"Not too tight Maggie, I still need to move easily."
"Of course, your highness. Will you be training today?" the maid questioned.
"Something like that.." Came Evanna's cryptic response.
Once the corset was securely on, Evanna continued to dress herself. Putting on a black shirt along with her boots over the top of the breeches and placed two scabbards behind her back. She then sat down in front of the dresser that was across from the bed, looking into the mirror she saw Maggie approach to do her hair.
Although Evanna herself can do her own hair, she let the maid do it as she knew how much she liked to brush and play with it. Unlike some royals, she was very close with her maid, sometimes she was the only person she could speak freely to without any reprimands, she also gave great advice when she needed it. Evanna also gave up on trying to get her to stop calling her by her title and just by her name, but Maggie always refused.
Her raven black hair was now securely pulled back in a long plait, she thanked Maggie before standing up and placed both swords into their allocated slots in the scabbards. Raising her leg onto the stool she just used, she strapped a dagger around the bottom part of her leg which was hidden underneath her boot. Maggie looked at her appraisingly.
"I believe any man would fall at your feet before taking you on milady," she praised, Evanna chuckled.
"Men are too prideful for that."
Grabbing a bag, she stepped outside of her room and made her way towards her mothers. The only people to see her were the servants who were used to her dressing up in men's clothing and weapons on her back. Approaching her mother's room, she knocked on the door lightly before opening the door and stepping in. Evanna looked at her mother's bed to find it empty and neatly made, she walked further into the room to find her sitting down in the living room dressed and drinking tea. The chest she had previously gone through was on the table; she nervously walked round and sat down watching her mother's face.
"This tea you make is really nice," Loraven said.
"I am glad you think so mother. You look better today," Evanna smiled, her mother nodded then looked at what she was wearing and grinned.
"I am so glad to see my swords are out to play. I hate to think of them collecting dust in the corner," Her eyes glistened.
Evanna poured some tea for herself and brought the cup and saucer towards her face, holding the handle of the cup she raised it and paused.
Before taking a sip, she asked what was on her mind, tilting her head towards the chest she said,
"*Why did you not tell me the story was true? *" She saw her mother shake her head about to deny it before Evanna continued "*I found the scroll, mother. It is clear that the gem is real. I do not know how you came about it and I do not care. Why did you keep this from me? *" She barely uttered the last words as tears came to her eyes once again at the thought of her mother's health declining in the time that she could have been getting the cure. She took a sip from the tea, calming herself before placing the cup and saucer back down on the table and looking back at her mother.
Loraven placed her hands on her daughters, holding them firmly and stared intently into her eyes, saddened by the grief she caused her. She already guessed the night before that her daughter would be leaving the palace soon, all in expense to her being ill. She wanted to keep her hidden and protected from the poison of what this land would offer her. To this day she still did not know what was worse, the creatures that lay beyond the kingdom or the humans.
"* You are so precious to me. I cannot bear the thought of losing you. If you take on this quest.. you will never be the same again, *" She emphasised each word slowly, hoping to get through to her daughter the severity of what she may be getting into.
"* I cannot simply sit by and do nothing. Please, let me do this for you. *"
"*You will do it with or without my consent darling. Promise me, you will see me before you leave.*"
"*You will alert the guards..*"
"*Promise me Evanna,*" The desperation in her mother's voice tugged at her heart. She nodded her head.
"*I promise,*" Loraven felt the truth behind her daughter's words and visibly relaxed, accepting her reply.
For the rest of the morning, the mother and daughter duo kept their conversations light-hearted and were happy keeping each other's company. Not long before midday Loraven started to feel exhausted, Evanna noticed and took her leave, asking for a maid to see to her mother before making her way towards the servant's quarters.
Upon arriving she went towards a barrel that was used as a table in the corner. Next to it was a dirty cloak that she has used plenty of times to hide her features with. Grabbing the cloak, she placed it around her tying it up at the front and bringing the hood on top of her head. She reached inside her bag and grabbed a pouch full of coins to give to the servant she paid handsomely to every month to keep his mouth shut and to help when she needed it.
There were plenty of escape routes she used but seeing as she already used the main entrance the day before, she knew she needed to take the servants route this time. The servant put the pouch of coins away into his pocket and bowed his head before showing the princess the way to the horse and cart. He pulled the blanket back to reveal a few empty barrels. As she climbed up onto the carriage with the help of the servant's outstretched hand, she sat behind a barrel and crossed her legs then told the man where to take her.
The cart rocked and swayed as it was pulled along the hard surface of the bumpy ground, Evanna had to stop herself from peaking outside of the blanket when she heard the hustle of the busy village. Her body immediately relaxed after hearing the sounds of the market, the further she got away from the palace the less chance she had at being spotted. She felt a bit guilty as it was only the night before where she told her father she would go with an escort outside of the palace walls.
The cart stopped and she heard the servant drop down from the front and walk towards the back. The blanket was pulled back revealing how bright the day was, she blinked a couple of times before standing up and getting out from the cart. She walked off from the road and towards the forest where Ger was sitting down on the ground, his legs outstretched and his back and head leaning against the tree with his eyes closed. Evanna approached him slowly and upon hearing her footsteps he opened his eyes and stood up.
"Let's go," Evanna said, walking past him and making her way towards the opening in the thick forest. She stopped to take her cloak and bag off, placing them next to a tree, when she turned back, she noticed Ger staring at her.
He took in her appearance, trying and failing not to notice the breaches clinging on her legs and the curves the material showed off. He cleared his throat and his eyes then rested on the two swords behind her back, he raised an eyebrow at her, looking at her quizzically. He had only been gone two years. And she turned up with not one, but two swords, she could not possibly be a dual wielding swordsman in that short amount of time.
"I have something to show you before we begin," Evanna interrupted his thoughts.
Intrigued he walked over to where she stood. Rummaging through her bag she brought out a leather tube and handed it to him. Evanna removed it from her mother's chest earlier in the morning when she was preoccupied, she knew she needed to look through it without the suspense of someone else seeing it.
"What is this?" He asked then opened the tube to reveal the old parchment. Opening it slowly, he looked down at the writing, the only text he could read was in the right-hand corner that showed the date it was written. "I cannot read this."
"That's okay, I thought I would show you the parchment I told you about last night, and if you look on the other parchment, that has a picture of what the gemstone looks like" She said as she leaned forward to get another look at the scrolls.
He opened the smaller paper to reveal a painting of a bright blue stone forming in the shape of a curved triangle. Ger closed the scrolls again and put them back in the tube as he glanced over his shoulder, although it appeared it was just the two of them in the forest, he still did not want it to be out on show. He gave the tube back to Evanna, who in turn put it back in her bag.
Ger unsheathed his sword and got into position.
"Ready?" He asked.
Evanna grabbed each sword behind her back one after the other and turned onto her side, widening her stance and bending her knees slightly. She held both swords facing her front, her hands relaxed around the leather tips. She nodded her head once in response. Ger narrowed his eyes then lunged towards her bringing his sword down, which she quickly deflected with her own and then twisted bringing the second sword down to slash across his front which he blocked just in time. He pushed away her sword while the other one came towards him again, he swerved out of the way as he noticed he was starting to sweat. His eyes glistened; she was incredibly fast and agile.
Just as Evanna lunged forward, she stopped what she was doing immediately on hearing the sound of hooves. Ger had not yet heard the approaching horses and took advantage of her misstep bringing his blade towards her which she still blocked easily. He glanced at her face and saw that she was too distracted from their fight. He pulled back from their crossed swords and turned around to see 12 horses trotting at the other end of the woods. At the front of the group was Sir Hugh and next to him was the King.