#trwb

Fourteen Years Ago

"Mama?" The Queen started, surprised by the small voice coming from the doorway to her study. She and her husband looked up and into the bright, worried eyes of their daughter. Karra Mensa glanced at the King, sliding some arbitrary paperwork over the letter they'd been reading before straightening and smiling kindly at the ten year old princess.

"What is it my love? You should be asleep." She cooed, stepping from behind the desk and over to the doorway. Nikota looked down at her feet sheepishly and nodded, her small hands fidgeting shyly. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"I thought I heard someone outside my window." The princess murmured, blushing furiously. Probably fretting over feeling like a child, even though she was just barely ten years old. She always had tried to act older because she was the heir. The Queen knelt down in front of her and stroked a calming hand through her bright auburn hair. The curls bounced away from her fingers as she pulled them away and continued the calming motion.

"I think it's time we all go to sleep. Would you like to sleep in our room Niko?" The King asked, joining by his wife's side and onto one knee. Nikota's gaze stayed low on the floor, still ashamed but that didn't keep her from nodding. Her father shifted forward slightly and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. "Then let's go."

Karra picked her daughter up into her arms and settled her comfortably on her hip. Tonomi pulled his wife and daughter close in a hug that instantly set Nikota at ease. She always loved her father's embraces and it was no secret. She'd always been easily calmed by being held by the King. For being the ruler of such a mighty and prominent kingdom, Tonomi was a very warm and loving King. It extended past his family and showed even in the way he ruled the land. Some said that was why there was so little uprising in his time of ruling.

"Niko, what do you think about going on a trip tomorrow?" Karra asked as they strolled through the long halls of the palace. "Papa and I were thinking of taking you to see Miss Andrelia. Would you like that?" She glanced down at her daughter when she didn't get an immediate response, to see that the little redhead was tucked against her shoulder, drifting back off to slumber. When she shrugged her shoulder gently, testing her consciousness, all she got was a mumbled affirmation then silence.

"We can't ignore that letter Karra." The King murmured softly, knowing that at least a few guards would be up doing their rounds. "A decision needs to be made." The Queen shot him a harsh look that she knew he saw right through. In her eyes was hiding fear and irrational protectiveness over their daughter. As well as pain at being torn over her people and her child. Tonomi sighed. "But that can wait until tomorrow. Perhaps Andrelia would be able to help."

The two royals turned into the corridor that led to their rooms only to stop in their tracks. Both stiffened, spines straightening and expressions turning wary as they took in the sight before them. Normally the hallway was lit with sconces on both sides. Even this late at night it made it easy for the guards to do their watch without being preoccupied with watching the shadows. All the flames were out however, and there wasn't a soul in sight. Now that she thought about it, Karra hadn't seen a single guard from her study to where they now stood. A very unusual thing.

"Karra. Grab what you need and get Nikota out of here. I need to investigate this." The King ordered softly, drawing out his sword and putting himself before his wife and the darkness that held more hostility than he would like. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, rather wishing she could stay and fight by her husband's side if the need arose. But she knew he was right. She needed to get their daughter out. So she turned and fled on near silent feet back to her study.

On her way she stopped at a door and tapped her knuckles against it rapidly but softly. A small shuffle later the door opened and the small pixie that was Nikota's personal nanny and closest friend poked her head out. After rubbing her sleepy eyes and squinting, she realized it was the Queen, holding the princess. The sleep vanished from her eyes and she straightened, alert.

"Your majesty, is something the matter?" Lilony asked in her hushed, chiming voice. Karra nodded at the bedroom and the two stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

"There might be an intruder in the palace." Karra started abruptly. "Tonomi and I have had a suspicion that someone would come after Nikota for a while but we've been trying to take measures against it. Tonight…Tonight Lilony, I fear we have failed."

"What do you need me to do?" Ever diligent, no questions asked, the Queen smiled inwardly at her choice of friend. They had known Lilony for a long time even before Nikota had come along. And they had known very quickly that she would be the best influence for their daughter when neither of them were around. And the best aid if anything went wrong.

"I need you to take Nikota to Andrelia and tell her 'aspen tree'. I need you to give her those exact words and that if she doesn't hear from me before the week's end, to take my daughter to Fieldor. That we have run out of time. She'll know what to do." Lilony nodded, reaching for the sleeping princess as her Queen handed her over. "And then I need you to hide. They will come for you if they find out you took her. Hide with your farthest relatives Lilony. I can't bare to lose you."

"Your majesty, Karra, will I see you again?" She asked the woman as she gave her daughter one last kiss on the forehead before drawing her sword. The royal paused, piercing sapphire gaze not leaving her child.

"I don't know Lilony. If all goes right, I hope so. If all goes to hell…I pray not." The answer sent dark chills down the pixie's spine but she steeled herself with a nod. "May the gods grant you swiftness, my friend." And then she was gone, out of the room and hurrying to her study once again.

Once she was in the room with the door locked and a chair set against it as a barricade, she set her sword back in its sheath and grabbed her side bag. While keeping what attention she could on the door, she used her time to fill the bag with ledgers and notes she and her husband had been keeping.  What she knew should never fall into the wrong hands, she threw into the still burning fire of the fireplace. Outside the door she heard shouts, fighting that had finally broke out. The missing, possibly distracted, guards seemed to have noticed something amiss. Which meant her time had run out.

The Queen glanced above the fireplace where her most precious item sat. It was a painting of her, Tonomi, and Nikota. It had been while they lay in a field during the twilight to watch the stars. Tears burned at the edge of her vision and regret over not taking more time to say goodbye to her daughter nearly overwhelmed her. Until she drew in a harsh, hissing breath and stood tall again. She would not doom her daughter to death from succumbing to her emotions. Though in a few years time she might learn to hate the King and Queen, at least she would live.

A harsh racket against the door alerted her that her time had come. She strapped her bag closed and heaved with all she could against a trigger in the stones where a small compartment opened. Not an escape, but storage for the bag. If she didn't make it out, someone trustworthy would come back for it. She just had to hope she didn't need someone else to come get it. Once the heavy stone was back in place she spun on the door and drew her sword again. The golden jewel at the pommel glinted in the firelight, winking at her, giving her courage.

The door finally heaved open and in came five men, based on their build, all dressed in dark cloaks and armed with daggers or swords. The one in the middle stepped forward and pulled his hood back. Unsurprisingly, she didn't recognize him, though she could guess his heritage. She'd know those delicately pointed ears anywhere.

"Queen Karra Mensa. Come with us quietly and handover your daughter and I swear no harm will come to her or your husband." He lied very cleanly, she thought, bringing her sword up in front of her. The men around the one in charge did the same and the stranger smirked. "There are five of us. Come now, stop this nonsense."

"My daughter will be no slave." She snarled with a venom she hardly recognized in herself but embraced wholly. "Long live Tonomi." And with that she swung, charging him before he could even think on his first move.

Because she was Queen Karra Estonya Mensa, and she would drag these men to hell with her by her teeth.

One Week Ago

"People of Elyxtra, I call to you seeking your courage, and your compassion." The King, or rather, the cousin of the once beloved King Tonomi Mensa, Lord Atlas, spoke on the balcony positioned at the front of the city square. Below him gathered a crowd that was satisfactory for his purposes. He'd sent out word the day before that he would be calling an assembly of the city for an announcement. Non obligatory but of great interest to everyone. He was a clever man, though many had their suspicions of what the gathering was for, the lack of detail pulled at any busy body's curious side.

"The time has come, the seasons are changing and the ice has melted through the pass. I know many of you know the tragedy of my dear cousin Tonomi and his beloved wife Karra. During this season many of you are focused on the crops of the year and getting land ready for the spring rains and growth. However, I make this plea that you also keep Princess Nikota in your hearts and minds. With the opening of the pass, I will be sending out willing men in service to attempt to rescue her from her prison." He drew a breath and lowered his voice while also keeping it loud enough to be heard. His voice mimicked something much more solemn.

"You all must be tired of my request of you to save her. And I beg your patience as we continue to try to reach her. With each continuing year I worry we may be too late. But to honor the late King and Queen's memory, I will never give up. And I hope none of you will either. Gods' speed, to our noble men." And with that his speech, his well practiced and very familiar speech, was finished.

It was a speech he gave every year. Every year with the melting of the ice and snow in the mountain passes, the city capitol could expect the speech to come. Many came anyway, to gauge the response. To see if there was any news. Knights and service men, soldiers from other cities, towns and kingdoms even, came across the land to aid the rescue in Princess Nikota Mensa. Some for the glory, some for the challenge, but every one of them was drawn by the idea and promise of the grand reward. Treasures and riches so plenty that it would keep a man fat until the end of his days.

"It makes you wonder, if the princess is dead by now, ya know." A female voice murmured to her companion who nodded in agreement.

"'N if she isn't, how she could still be alive. Or sane. Poor thing, being trapped away for all these years. She could ne'er possibly adapt to the way things are now." The other reasoned. Silence took the two as they watched men and women in the square, some leaving, some mingling, some gathering into tighter groups. There were several groups of knights and soldiers. Some baring the deep violet and silver of the kingdom, some striding in other, foreign colors of neighboring lands. Though one thing was the same among them, aside from their goal.

They were all in groups.

All except one who stood to the side, who watched alone as the socialites mingled and the men of service planned. They stood with their arms crossed, clad in a suit of black leathers and thick fabrics resembling a lion's hide. In small, strategic places chainmail shown through where it was thickest, particularly around the shoulders and chest. A small line of it peaked out at the bottom of the knight's tunic to suggest it left no area vulnerable. The knight wore no colors, no distinguishing markings. Their face was covered by a hood and mask, leaving only their golden eyes to be seen.

If one was to pay attention to the lone knight they'd notice these things about them. They'd also notice that they stood a bit smaller than the average serviceman. That their eyes were remotely feline in the way they watched people. However, the mystery knight didn’t stay long in the square before departing to ready for the upcoming adventure.

Currently.

"Nikota, are you up there?" A lilting feminine voice called up the spiraling staircase to the tower library where the princess certainly was. Soon after, the owner of the voice appeared in the small library's doorway and looked curiously to the princess sitting in the window. "What're you doing dear?"

"Daydreaming, I supposed." The princess sighed, looking in her caretaker's eyes through the window reflection. Andrelia wasn't a tall or filled out woman. She really didn't take up much of the doorway with her wiry frame. But the way in which she watched her ward, taking her in with those wise and well knowing jade eyes made her seem like so much more than she appeared. The older of the two chuckled and shook her head slightly, knowing that the girl would come out of her head when she wanted to. "Did you need something?" She asked, turning to face the older woman finally.

"I was going to ask if you'd like some lunch. And to see how you were feeling. Next week is your twenty-fifth birthday."

"And in two days it will be the anniversary of the day I was sent out of my home in the middle of the night. The last night I saw either of my parents." The words were spat out bitterly, giving Andrelia a good gauge as to an answer towards the princess' mental state. Fourteen years. Fourteen years they'd sat hiding, waiting, in this tower. Only Andrelia was ever allowed to leave. Not that Nikota hadn't tried. But after the situation had truly been explained, she had realized what staying in the tower meant.

It meant that her parents were likely dead. That maybe someone was coming to save her. That maybe someone sent by her parents would come and finally give them the signal that it was safe to leave. But it had been fourteen years. Many people had come, many knights, treasure hunters seeking to "rescue" her from her prison. To slay the legendary dragon and save the princess. Whether for glory or for her hand in marriage, she didn't know or care. They all came, and none of them were the right ones. None of them were there for the right reasons, baring what sign Andrelia was searching for in each of them.

"And if your mother could see you right now she would be so appalled to see her daughter sulking in the library before her birthday." Andrelia taunted lightly. "Why don't you come down and eat then we can spar and you can take out all this mood with some swordfight." And with that she turned back in the doorway and started back down the stairs to the levels below, her long graying blonde locks swaying with excessive attitude.

"Maybe I'm moody because of my cycle." Nikota muttered crossly.

"No." The caretaker sang in reply. "Your cycle was a week ago. C'mon princess. Time to get off your window perch."

The princess couldn't help the small smile that tugged on her lips as she stood and brushed herself off. Andrelia had been around as long as she could remember, even before she had fled from her home. And as long as she could remember, the woman had never treated her like a privileged royal. She'd refused to raise the young girl to be haughty and high browed. Instead they'd trained over the years, studied and fought so that if the time ever came, Nikota could provide and defend herself like any seasoned soldier.

"You say that like you've never had your share of mood swings." She continued as she entered the kitchen, seeing Andrelia work on something that looked like it was going to be pasta salad. Sharp green eyes darted up from the task at hand, a smirk following not far behind.

"Not at all. Actually your mother had some of the most dramatic mood swings I've ever seen in her younger years. Even more so while she was pregnant with you." Andrelia recalled, deft hands chopping carrots up finely on a wood block. "Sometimes I would visit and find your father hiding in the farthest, darkest sections of the library to find peace and quiet if only for just an hour or so." A softer smile now replaced the other on her lips. "Though it was obvious how in love with her he was, he bent over backward for her whenever he could."

"I wish I could remember more of them." She lowered her sapphire gaze, a color that looked so much like her mother's, she'd been told. She remembered them, her mother's eyes, remembered the love they'd held every time they'd looked into her own.

Andrelia put a soft hand on her shoulder but said nothing, she let the younger female have the moment in silence. There were no words she could say to make this better, none she hadn't tried already in past conversations and late night confessions.

-

Nikota loved the peace that silence in the tower brought along with it. The ancient stone bricks absorbed sound both from the inside and outside. Some might think that could be isolating, but she'd grown to love it. Loved being able to sit in her window seat at midnight and watch the stars and the clouds outside. The moon had just started its new cycle, hovering over the valley little more than a sliver. Lower on the horizon a new spring storm made its way closer. Good, she loved the rain too.

A movement near one of the trees caught her attention, drawing her gaze to focus in on that area. There was a cluster of trees on one side of the valley that she supposed constituted as a forest but when she was so high up and could see all the edges of the trees it felt too small to be a forest. The trees were tall with thick trunks and branches that reminded her of a willow except the leaves grew like a maple. The motion she saw was just against the closest border of the trees.

It was a small shadow, or at least smaller than the trees. At first she thought it an animal until she saw that it was too tall, and bipedal. It moved with a purpose, that much was similar to an animal on the hunt. She wondered what it was, it looked humanoid, but so did the fae and pixies in the surrounding area. Nikota narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look when the clouds suddenly lit with a flash of lightning, illuminating the area and the figure before shrouding it in darkness once again. A gentle hiss against the window pane alerted her to the rain, the downpour the storm clouds had been heavy with, along with the rumble of thunder. Even in the brief moment she knew what she'd seen.

A dark figure clothed in blackened cloth, hood over their eyes and mask over their face. It was a person. Someone was coming for her. And they were nearly at the tower.