Chapter Three: The Dark Forest of Sorrow

I wake up the next morning with rays of sunlight creeping inside my room. Anna is right next to my end table. She wears a smile on her face. She has her long black hair down today. It is unusual of her as she always has it in a bun or kept up and neat.

"Good morning, Your Highness. Let's get you prepared," she bows down and then makes her way to the door where she has five more maids in my room. They make their way inside bowing and not meeting my level of sight.

They escort me to the tub where they remove my nightgown. I submerge myself in the tub with a lot of rose petals. The fragrance soothes my mind and the fact that I will be confronting Father during breakfast about The Introductory.

I emerge from a relaxing bath. They rub my body with the smooth towel. After that, they started to dress me up for the day. I wear a gold silk gown. I thank and dismiss the maids after they dress me up.

"Have a lovely day, Your Highness," Anna bows and leaves me to my peace. I stare at myself in the mirror. I pick the perfume and apply some to myself. When I finish, I heave a sigh and walk out of the room towards the banquet hall.

"Good morning, Father," I curtsy as I enter the hall. He was sitting at his place early today and Kael was nowhere to be seen.

He maintains the poker face and asks, "Morning. Have you seen Kael?"

I shake my head, "No, he must be on his way here."

"Well, teach him to be more mindful of the time! I did not raise two children to slack around! I will see to it that I die in peace! The peace that my children are more than capable of ruling the land!" He raises his voice and I bow down in humility. Where the hell is my brother? And how could he be late for a simple breakfast?

I sigh, "Yes, father. I will talk to him about it." I find my way to my seat and the doors to the hall open just in time. Kael shows up unbathed and his hair a mess from the bed.

This should explain why my father has passed me the crown and not Kael.

"Good morning, Your Highnesses," he bows and starts to find his way to his seat.

I sigh, "You're late. Please be more mindful of the time, Kael. You're not a child anymore."

"Apologies, Your Highness. It won't happen again," Kael nods and bows his head down. This is so unlike him. He is usually the type to reason out and get his way with things. This time, he doesn't.

He finds his seat, and breakfast is then served. I stare at the butter and syrup oozing from my pancakes. I sip carefully from the orange juice which was too cold to drink and was too sweet for me.

"We shall announce about The Introductory soon," Father out of nowhere mutters.

Triggered, I protest, "Isn't it unfair that this was never part of our deal from before?"

"You know yourself that you will be queen and this is coming your way! How do you expect heirs to follow after generations if you are not getting betrothed?" He starts to raise his voice and I shudder.

Kael nods, "Father's right, Aurora. You have to get a King who will bear you heirs to this kingdom. You can't just rule the kingdom alone and abandon the entire kingdom when you die!"

I shoot Kael a stern look. I slam the table causing my pancakes to get off the plate and I half-shout, "You know what, you can dethrone me anytime you like! Have the throne to yourself, Kael, and marry off a wife who can bear you heirs to the kingdom! I don't care anymore!"

I stand up and find my way out of the Banquet Hall. I order one of the guards to have Anna fetch me my cape. I march towards the stables. The guards half-panicked and rushed their way to accompany me.

As soon as I arrive at the stables, Anna was already there with my black fur cape. It was thick and warm as she wears it around me. She straps the sword around the holder around my waist. She slings my arrow and its bows letting it hug my body frame completely. I put the hood on and tell Oscar, the horse keeper, to fetch my horse.

My horse is black all over. I named her, Hera. Oscar assists me as I saddle on Hera. Anna looks sad as she asks, "Are you going hunting, Your Highness?"

I nod, "Yes, there are things and worries that I want to relieve today."

The sadness in her face grim even more at the response I have given. "Please be safe, Your Highness."

"I will."

I turn my back on the stables. Before I completely leave, I look at the soldiers who have been following. I say, "I want my peace today as I hunt. Please leave me alone and don't come after me. I will be back by sundown, if I don't, then you know I am in trouble."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

I take my leave and Hera races out of Evergreen. I travel to the Dark Forest of Sorrow. The same place I killed the enraged crocodile last time.

This is a place named for the many mishaps that took place here. The bloodshed here from countless wars and hunting. The tears streamed from loved ones witnessing the death of those dear to them.

The reason why I ran to a place like this in a mood like mine is because of the weight it lifts from me. This place had been where I snuck up to ever since I was a child. This was my training ground as an assassin. This was where I brutally slaughtered countless beasts. This had always been my comfort zone.

I unmount myself from Hera and position her on the acacia trees where she always waits for me. I do not tie her or reprimand her from exploring because of the relationship we have both formed. She is a high-class thinker for a horse and she knows how to protect herself. It was as if she was the horse version of myself.

I start the venture deeper into the woods and just like that, I felt safe.

Odd, right?

This forest is the darkest and bloodiest place on the land. How can one like me find this the safest?

I hear a few twigs on the ground snap and some leaves crackle along with some bushes moving. I stop in my tracks to listen. I take out my dagger and arm myself.

I am not alone.

I watch the bushes rustle and know that there really is life behind trying to scare or attack me. As soon as a shape emerges from the bush I strike forward but halt halfway until I recognize those ocean eyes. They weren't the lightest this time. They were deep and dark. Like the depths of the deepest waters, I've ever seen on the horizon.

An Aether.

Never in my life have I crossed paths with one here in the heart of the forest. Whatever is his reason, I have a feeling it is not a good one as the likeliness of crossing paths with their kind is highly and closest to never.

Despite halting halfway, I recover quickly and make sure I grab the Aether's arms and in one swift movement, I dash behind so to immobilize and threaten my dagger in position to slit the neck. My grip tightens and I whisper, "Who are you and what are you doing here?

The Aether is neither man nor woman as I couldn't see past the cape and the hood that covers him or her. Judging the figure, he was a man for the muscular build and the tall statuesque.

"Evergreen must feel so protected and lucky to have a queen who is very much connected to her weapons. I must say, I am impressed, Your Highness," he replies with cool words that send me shivering just a little bit. His voice sounds so familiar and right away, I could tell he is Ezekiel.

I remove the dagger that is nearly choking him and in another swift move, I remove his hood. Ezekiel's platinum hair glows in the darkness of the forest. I ask, "What are you doing here?"

"How do you find yourself around this dark forest? It sure is giving me the creeps!" He exclaims.

I release him and cross my arms, "How should I answer you when I asked first and you have never even answered my question?"

He chuckles, "Fine. Let's just say I was venturing around the area. You?"

I was not convinced with what he just said. He says he gets the creeps in this place and now he tells me he is venturing around. He was up to something. I raise an eyebrow in disbelief, "That's another question now. This is basically a comfort place for me, and that would mean I would get around pretty well." 

"Oh, by the way, when are you announcing it?" He asks.

Skeptical, I ask, "Announce what?"

"The Introductory."

"So, is that what you are here for?" I contain my anger and keep my cool. How could the place of my peace even follow what I was trying to escape earlier? I came all the way here to be faced by a prince who reminds me of that?

He shakes his head, "No! No, that's not why I am here. As I mentioned, I was ven-- "

"I am now taking my leave, Your Highness, Prince Ezekiel. Now, if you excuse me, I best be on my way and we can both part," I turn my back and take a step but he grabs my wrist. He pulls me closer to him and I can feel my own heartbeat.

"You insensitive brat," he hisses.

I shove him and loosen his grip on me half-yelling, "What is your problem?"

"My problem? I walk on this Dark Forest of Sorrow with puzzling thoughts of how I am becoming attracted to a queen I have just met!" He yells and spats those words right away. No hesitation. Nothing to hold back. This prince must be crazy.

His pale porcelain skin becomes red. He catches his breath, but still-- he was damn straightforward with the way he felt.

I turn annoyed by it and wished he never admitted his true feelings. It changes the impression I have had of him being a reputable prince from up above who is dumbfounded and falling for an above middle-class queen like me.

Annoyed, I shrug, "I am definitely out of your league, so don't even think about it. I best be on my way now."

I start marching away from him. From a distance, I can hear a couple of leaves and bushes rustling. My feet tingle at the vibration of some footsteps coming from the same direction as the rustling. Right there and then, I knew we had company.

Ezekiel crosses his arms, "Seriously, you are considering The In-- "

"Shhh," I shushed him right away. I send a signal to listen and that we have company right away. I don't know if he would understand, but he would be dumb if he didn't. He nods and dismay in his face becomes evident.

The rustles become louder and more terrifying as it grows closer. I arm myself back with my dagger and wait patiently. I try to focus on the sound and the footsteps. At the same time, I can hear the trembles from Ezekiel.

The rustling stops. This should mean a change of direction from whoever it is. I stoop lower to get closer to the ground and establish a connection with the ground to feel the footsteps of our company. I listen harder and I turn annoyed with Ezekiel's trembling. It becomes more and more distracting. There is a shift of direction. Identifying the company to be around a hundred kilograms but has a weight-shifting balance practiced to shift weights and walk around like a ghost-- weightless.

The shift goes behind me, 7 o'clock. I turn as whoever he is, seems to be taking advantage of the situation thinking that he can catch us off guard. I take my position as the rustling gets back in the exact direction I suspected it to be in and as he lunges, I meet him halfway and pin him down right away.

This has been my latest challenge and practice work for the past five months. Fighting against heavier opponents. Those whose weights are at least tripled to mine. This will be a perfect practice dummy.

The monstrous boar wiggles trying to slip off me but I quickly stab him in the area of his heart before he would toss me away. With that, it would be a missed opportunity. The boar's roar echoes throughout the forest. Different birds from different directions fly up above the dense trees.

The boar uses its last energy to try and scratch me, but I do a front roll just in time for him to miss. With him losing so much blood and energy, I regain my balance and sprint once more to tackle him. Successful, I pin him down to take my killing blow.

I stab four more times on his heart just to make sure that he was surely dead. Gushes of blood splurge in directions off to the ground and parts of my skin, robe, and face. His painful roar falters and I watch the life drain out of him.

When I am sure that he is dead, I abandon his body and pick myself back up. Ezekiel looks at me with his mouth wide open, "That was something else. So you are the mysterious female assassin they were all talking about."

I cross my arms and shrug, "What mysterious female assassin?"

"Didn't you hear? Word has it of a mysterious woman who fights better than men who has trained more than half their lives would venture these dangerous places and manage to survive!" Is that what he came for? Is that why he idly walks the woods?

I ask, "And would this be the reason why you are venturing the woods, too?"

He nods, "Partly, but I have never encountered the rumors, so I was thinking it is best to set it aside.  After seeing all that today, I will definitely be one to believe such a rumor. That is definitely something you do not see every day! How do people from Evergreen manage to hide such a secret when you are of royal blood? And Evergreen is known for its women who make excellent homemakers! I would have believed if the mysterious woman was from Echoing Roars or from No Man's Land, but you--!"

"That is enough talking! You are saying too much, my head hurts!" How can this prince have so much to say? It is annoying me this instant, and I am growing out more hate towards him.

"Sorry, should I send you home, then?"

"No, thank you!" I start walking away and he starts to follow me.

"What should I do, then?"

I stop in my tracks and turn to face him, "Your Highness, with all due respect, chivalry is dead for me. There is no way you can charm me with such chivalrous acts if that's what one would call it. I am not a fan of that, and I do not fall easily for such moves. You can leave me alone and we can go our separate ways from here. Okay? Please, have a good day, Your Highness!"

I walk brisk steps away from him. Surely, he stands in shock from what I have just said. It was not my intention to offend him in any way. Had he stopped being so pushy and all, I don't think it would have come to a point like this.

Without a word or stops, I walk away from the prince and left him to his solace.