Chapter 4

Princess Thalyn gazed at Camilla, who was laying on the bed, and noticed how different she was from her. Her ears are strangely shaped like half the sun, her deep tone of beige skin matches the desert sand, and her hair is as black as coal—she looked amazing in her eyes.

She couldn’t stand her growing curiosity any longer and raised her arm towards her. Her hand landed on the woman’s forehead brushing down to her hair and moving to her left ear. Her gestures stirred the woman from her sleep. It startled her when her lids lifted and found herself staring at her brown orbs. She was tongue-tied.

Camilla opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her face. She fixed her gaze on a strange woman with a doll-like face. Even though she appeared fragile and had an almost bleached color to her light gray complexion, she was nonetheless quite attractive. She can never get used to how good-looking these people are. All musing left her when she remembered how she had been abducted. She quickly rose from the bed only to collapse back on it with a searing pain in her head. She felt weak and unable to pick herself up, she instead perched herself against the headboard. The woman who had been staring at her quickly grabbed a small strangely shaped glass bottle with blue liquid inside from the bedside table and handed it to her.

Breathing hard from the pain Camilla could only look at the bottle in the woman’s hand and wondered if she should take it. She took it and drank half of its content trusting her innocent countenance for now. If she wanted to harm her she would have done it already. She watched as she twisted her hands in a circular motion while looking at her with a lovely smile, gesturing for her to do something. ‘Does she want me to drink it all?’ she pondered and emptied the bottle, the liquid leaving a fresh scent in her mouth.

“Fa–father asked me to give it to you when you wake up.” The woman spoke for the first time, she was silent for too long Camilla almost believed she was mute. She then spilled all the questions she had been itching to ask her since waking up.

“Who are you? Who… Who’s your father? H–how long have I been out?”

“I’m Princess Thalyn. I saw you this morning when one of my father’s royal guards carried you here. You’ve been sleeping for almost a day—the sun’s setting.  Ar… are you sick too?”

‘Oh, What?! Princess… royal!? She can’t be.’

“You… you’re telling me you’re a princess?”

“Yes, that’s right!” Camilla couldn’t believe what she was hearing. There’s only one princess in this kingdom that she knows of. If that is true then her father must be King Rupert, and she’s brought to the center and only city of Yvedra.

She got more confused the more she listened.

“I… I want to be your friend. I don’t have any friends and my maids—well father said you’re special so, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. ”

“I am? … Umm I…”—‘I don’t know what to say!’

“Are you feeling better now? That potion is the best, it makes me feel better every time.”

“Am fine… It’s just that I… well your highness…”

“Please call me Thalyn, we're friends now right, what’s yours?!”

“ Oh I’m Camilla…yes, yes of course… but uhh why did you… I mean why did your father’s royal guard bring me here?” He couldn’t have possibly kidnapped her just to accompany her lonely daughter, did he? And why of all people, will he choose Camilla? There’re more slave towns near the city, hers is a long way from here.

Before the princess could answer, the doors opened and the king entered the room. He’s dressed in a much more elaborate clothing than the princess, the crown on his head indicating his royal status. He strode in, his white long hair glistening. At six feet tall, and reminding her of Thandruil from the Hobbit.

“I see you two have already acquainted yourselves—if you could please excuse us for a while, my child, I have some important matters to discuss with our guest.” “She’ll be with you again shortly.” The king added when he saw the reluctance in his daughter’s eyes.

Princess Thalyn curtsied and buoyantly left the room in her fancy night robe as the king sat on a chair next to the bed. Camilla is unsure of what to do or say she could only gaze at him. “Please don’t mind the princess, she had been cooped up in this palace for so long and has never seen anyone new for a long time.” The king said as–if nothing’s amiss.

“I don’t mind… umm your majesty.” Camilla bowed her head slowly in respect while sitting in an upright position and continued, “Y–your majesty, I’m sure you’re aware that I was taken against my will. If I’d known it was you… I mean you know I wouldn’t refuse if you summoned me.” The king just smiled meaningfully. He didn’t answer her question right away but recounted his daughter’s life instead and a long conversation began.

The princess was born a month earlier than expected and suffered from complications at birth, this led to her sickly nature and to protect her she was bound to stay in the castle for the rest of her life. None outside the castle had ever seen her and so unflattering rumors about the princess started to surface; it spread so fast they couldn’t do anything to stop it. Favorably, her mother was good friends with the Movakon Empress. Thanks to their friendship, no matter how small the nation is no one dared to declare war upon them or even publicly criticize the Yvedran royal family’s status.

To strengthen their bond, the two women promised each other they're first born in marriage—Prince Fazan and Princess Thalyn. The emperor of Movako disapproved of it at first because of the rumors around the princess, but the empress was able to persuade him. Unfortunately, before the princess could reach maturity the Queen had passed from an illness, and not long after the Empress followed. With their deaths, the promise was long forgotten and no one ever spoke of it again.

Even after listening to the whole story, Camilla still had no idea why the king is telling her all this. The king couldn’t miss the confused and impatient look on her face. “I sincerely apologize for—well I hope Sir Ebron handled you nicely. I didn’t mean to bring you here in such a way, but this must be kept confidential.”

What! “Handled me”? What am I, an animal?! She felt slightly annoyed but didn’t voice her thoughts. Besides, a king apologizing to someone lower than him isn’t something you get to see every day.

“I need your help.” The king finally blurted out his purpose. “Me! I… Y–your majesty what could I possibly help you with? I’m just as good as any slave around here” said Camilla, greatly taken aback.

“You’re too modest. I know all the fuss about your town is your doing. I’ve spied on you for a long time now.” The king said without shame as if it were a normal thing.

“The prince of Movako will soon reach his hundred–twentieth year age and will be crowned as the sole heir. All nations are invited to attend this celebration and we’ll use this opportunity to build a relationship with the empire—You will represent Yvdera in this gathering.”

“But that’s a royal’s duty!” Camilla exclaimed. The idea was absurd that she forgot to address the king. “Only royals and nobles can attend such–”

“You will be… You’ll go as princess Thalyn. I can’t send my only daughter knowing she’s—you’ve seen the princess, she’s not strong enough to carry this burden. She’ll die the moment she leaves her nest. They called her a monster, they said she was a hideous creature when they had never seen her. With you, they won’t suspect a thing. With your talent, they might even appreciate you.”

Camilla did notice how Princess Thalyn’s shade was quite different from the rest. Her complexions match that of faded shirts. But that’s all there is, she finds nothing unpleasant about it.

“I don’t know where you're from, I’ve never seen anyone like you and surely not in any place I know of. There was no record of your birth from the slave hall. You’re slave leader only informed me of how you’ve been found… are you perhaps from Medithra?

“Medithra” in their tongue means “inexplorable land”. It’s in the southern part of the Devian world; sailors and explorers who ventured to the small unchartered island never returned hence the little information on it.

“Y–yes, your majesty—I think I was. But I lost my memory and didn’t know what happened then.” Camilla lied not wanting to explain further.

The king had given her two whole days to think it over. And it took her a day to arrive at a decision. Though she wasn’t confident, she finally agreed. There are lives at stake in whatever she decides to do. She imagined scenarios of how things would end up from both of her options and thought hard about what all the king had said before leaving her in the room.

“This castle, this city took years and years of hard labor, of careful planning and organizing from my father and forefathers, and I barely made a difference.  Yet here you are and a woman at that, have done in months what I can't achieve in years. I’ve no idea of how you have accomplished much in a short time, but I know how great it influenced our people.”

 “You’re majesty, all I did was to try to make living better and more comfortable for us.”

Camilla responded matter-of-factly.

“And you succeeded. No person born a slave in this kingdom had ever thought of change. All of them lived out their simple fate, they only know how to be a slave and would’ve never thought of living better. It has always been that way and It’ll always will be––until you!” the king replied pointing at her as he continued. “Until you came along. But then with your stature, you must be a noble yourself or even a royal where you come from.”

'No, I'm just born in a more advanced world than you. Your's is centuries too late.' Camilla thought to herself. As the king continued to flatter and persuade her almost to the point of begging.

“The queen was so much like you. She’s the smartest person I’ve known, she’d always find a way to resolve our troubles with other nations. When she died, I didn’t know what to do. I’ve tried my hardest to keep up with the other kingdoms. I’ve sent them our best slaves, supplied them amply if they needed our stones hoping they’d return the favor. But I was a fool to even think they’d bother. They’ve abused our slaves and demanded more of our resources without giving us anything. So I stopped. But now I fear Endra or even Rendor will come for us." 

He paused, rising from his seat with his hands clasped together.

“I’m not forcing you. You can go back if you wish, I won’t stop you. I feel terrible sharing you this burden but times are changing, and the peace we enjoy now might not last.”