I followed Lily as she jumped over the river, luckily my rib was healed so it was no problem for me either. We walked past several houses before she came to a stop, jumping back over the river and into a garden, the garden was full of beautiful flowers, I was astonished, but what caused further confusion was that her house was not much bigger than mine. "Not what you were expecting?" she smirked. "not entirely no", I admitted.
Lily came to my side and nudged me, "What were you expecting then? I want to know what you were thinking" She carried on. I looked around once more, "honestly, I thought there would be no flowers, a very large house just like the ones the aristocrats live in, I certainly did not think you would eat breakfast", I was always honest with her. "ouch, you think so highly of me" she joked and opened the door letting me go in first. I just scoffed at her joke.
I returned the favor and poked around her house, she definitely had more things, like jewellery, books, clothes, and ornaments. "I will be right back", she headed in the direction of her bedroom.
I decided to look at her book collection, there were a lot of books on elvish history but also romantic books about star-crossed lovers, I pulled one out, called Red Rope of Fate which follows the story of Tari and Arion, a human and an elf, as I am looking through it, Lily appears again.
She still looks like she is dressed to fight but it is more casual, she looks like she is wearing something similar to a wood elf's tunic, in green and knee-high boots.
Her hair is pulled back which is probably so she can wear her hood and hide her hair, I guess that is how she goes around unnoticed by others. "That's a good read, you can borrow it if you like", that was kind of her. "Thanks, but I have already read it", I put the book back.
I followed Lily out the door as we headed to the shop to buy some food, she had pulled her hood up just as I had expected she would.
We walked around the shop, I had gone into default mode of buying very little like I normally would, Lily noticed this, and it made her sad that this was the reality for many elves. "Gabi, that is not enough", she went and picked up potatoes, bread, and cheese to add to what I had already picked up, she went to pick up some meat but I stopped her. She looked at me curiously, waiting for me to say something. "I don't eat meat" I finally spoke.
Lily didn't understand, "I can pay for it, it's fine" she offered kindly. "I can pay for it too, but I would still not eat it, I'm vegetarian", Lily thought about it for a second. "I see" she understood now. "Is that common?", she asked, she assumed everybody ate meat, but now she realised most would not be able to afford to eat it. "sometimes, but other elves will go out and hunt", I explained.
I paid for the food and headed back to my house to put it all away, Lily helped me carry it home which was surprising.
The sky was still blue and the sun was at its highest. "Shall we go for a walk?" Lily asked. I nodded my head, "I am just going to get my basket, I normally collect berries on a Sunday" I spoke sheepishly. I grabbed my basket and exited through the backdoor, jumping across the river with ease.
I was nervous to be in the woods so I stayed close to Lily, not straying too far, she led us back to the place where it had happened which was further out than we should have been. "Lily, I don't know about this", I shook my head. "My father has given us permission, I know there were mushrooms that you did not finish picking" she pointed out.
As we neared, I was listening out for any sound of movement or something that could be near us, I was so worried we would be in danger.
This time we walked on a little further than I was before, but there were more mushrooms and flowers, I rushed over to them having a look before cutting them. I only cut a few and then stopped to pick some flowers, Lily stood watching she had been unsure of what to do.
I was going to give her some of what I had picked anyway, she had come all this way with me so it was only fair. "Let's head back," I said, I didn't want to push my luck by being out this far for too long. We started to walk back, spending most of our time looking around and not talking, before long we were back across the river and into my house, "I want you to have these mushrooms and flowers before you go", I had wrapped some up for her. "Just try them, you might like them", I further suggested. Lily took them from me, our hands brushing for just a second. "Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow", she tilted her head almost asking whether I was going to come back to training. "See you tomorrow" I confirmed.
I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and making a nice meal for myself for once, I guess it is nice not having to worry about money for once or food. I arrived early for training the next day, the guard let me go in as I knew where I was going now, I had learned my way around a little bit.
I met the Princess in the training area where we began going over the basic moves again, I felt like over this week I had been getting better and stronger, going on runs when I got home to build my fitness up, I was trying really hard. Lily and I fell into this routine, we would barely talk as I was too focused on my training and for the next couple of weeks I tried to master the moves that she was showing me, she had decided that it was time for me to learn how to shoot a bow and use a sword.
First, we would shoot at a target, I was shown how to string a bow, aim, and release, and then the same with a sword, she showed me how to stand and hold it. "You are getting much better" Lily admitted on a cold Thursday morning, Autumn had started to set in. "You will learn to ride soon", that surprised me, it had not crossed my mind that I would even learn that. "Wow", I ran my hand through my hair as I grinned.
At that same moment, some guards came over and told Lily she had to go with them immediately to a meeting with her father as an emergency, I carried on deciding to train without her as she was rushed off. Lily never came back so I packed up and made my way home just like always.
The next day I went to work, and the head trainer Damion was there waiting for me, I frowned, "Where is the Princess?" I asked worriedly. He stood tall with his shoulder back and head high, "That is of no concern to you low elf", so I guess I was back to square one being treated like this, just when I finally felt I had been getting somewhere.
He trained me hard every day until 10 days had passed and there was still no sign of her. I missed her, my days were tiring and gruesome now, I had always looked forward to seeing her at work, it made it worth it. But not with this trainer, he was pushing me to breaking point with my fitness and training, it felt like it was not worth it anymore, anytime I had tried to find out where the Princess had gone somebody shut me down.
I had gotten a lot better with the weapons, my favorite to use was a sword, "you need to be faster" Damion shouted. "Pick those feet up, this is hopeless" he sighed shaking his head as he knocked my sword out of my hand.
He had years worth of training on me and he knew it, I thought myself to be a quick study seeing how I had come on in just a few weeks. "You know I am doing well since I had never picked up a sword a few weeks ago", I smirked. He lunged forward, "doing well will not keep you alive" he spoke sarcastically.
Damion was slowly becoming a friend in my eyes, even if he tried to act like he hated training me, we seemed to be able to find some common ground.
He gave me the Saturday off as he had other meetings and business to attend to, but reminded me that I needed to go running each day I was off. After the market, I headed home straight away to go for a run through the woods, I had put on a little bit of weight now that I could afford food which helped my energy immensely.
That night I had been invited to go for a drink with Kira and Avy at the local cavern, I needed to catch up with them. I put on a pretty green dress that I saved for occasions only and headed straight there after I showered. "I missed you both", was the first thing I told them when I saw them. "we missed you too" they hugged me.
"How is everything going with training?" They both asked in unison. I chucked at them. "It's okay, I'm sure you've heard the Princess has been gone for the past 10 days, so I've just had the head trainer train me instead". I answered.
They both looked at each other and then back to me. "Do you know where the princess has gone?" Avy asked. I shook my head, I still wasn't sure what was going on, "no, she just disappeared and no one will say where she is", I sighed. I just hoped that she was okay.
Kira placed her hand on my wrist. "I'm sure she will be back soon" she must have seen my worried expression. "The banquet is on Saturday, maybe she will be back by then", Avy smiled warmly. I was very conscious of the banquet as it meant I had to find a dress to wear, I was still getting paid every week but managed to save enough so I would be going shopping for a new dress, tomorrow evening.
I smiled back, "who knows" I shrugged my shoulders. "We heard there is some conflict going on in another city but also there are rumours of other beings growing in numbers which isn't good for the kingdom" Kira spoke wisely. Kira always knew more than she let on, she was smart.
I eyed her, wondering what else she knew and where she had heard it from. "More gnolls?" I questioned her. There can't have just been that one that I stumbled into. Kira lowered her voice and indicated for me to do the same. "I believe that's where the Princess is, her expertise is other species and if they are growing in numbers, there will be a war" she spoke in a hushed tone.
We only stayed for one drink as it started to get quite lively and I had training tomorrow, it would be Friday, I still had Saturdays off whilst the Princess was not here.
I headed home to get some rest before the next day.
Friday was not so bad, Damion was quite impressed with how training was going now. I was able to fight back with him more than usual and even knocked his sword out of his hand once. He told me I would be fighting the other elves soon once he felt I was ready. My strength and endurance had increased a lot since I first started, but we had only ever practiced in the training ground, the real test would begin when I was out in the forest or somewhere else that was more unpredictable.
"Well done Gabi, I'm sure the Princess will be very impressed with your progress upon her return" At the mention of her my ears flickered up. "Will she be returning soon?" I asked a bit too eagerly. "That I do not know", he turned around and began to walk off now training was over. It made me question what everybody knew and brought my thoughts back to the conversation last night with Kira.
I made my way straight over to a clothing shop to look for a dress, whilst still dressed in my uniform. Sometimes I heard the others whispering about me, "That's the low elf the Princess is training" Most of the time I just ignored it, this day was like no other.
I had a search around the shop before I came across a purple dress with golden embroidery, it was one of a kind and I knew I had to have it. Luckily I had enough money and so I bought it there and then, "I bet you will look ethereal in this dress, just like those high elves" the shopkeeper told me. He flattered me and made me feel worth something just by those small words of acceptance.
I smiled and ducked my head, returning home to relax before tomorrow's events. I washed my hair and had a bath, I couldn't believe how far I had come since the start of my training, I could fight and I was only going to get better the more I practiced. Doubt clouded me over my future, I thought I knew what my future would look like, but not so much anymore.
Would my future include the Princess? Guarding her, or the King or would I just be another foot soldier?
The next day I got to sleep in as I did not have training, I sorted out my garden somewhat as it has been neglected a little and then I headed to the market, which was as lively as ever. I found Avy and Kira straight away, we always met up at the same spot. "Looking strong Gabi", Avy noticed the apparent change in my physique.
We walked around as usual, Kira had wanted some fruit so I bought it for her because I knew she wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise.
Avy and Kira wouldn't be attending the banquet, I only had an invite because I was being trained by the Princess, normally I wouldn't attend things like this, which is why I was so worried.
"How are you feeling about the banquet tonight?" Kira asked sincerely. "I'm not looking forward to it, everyone just sees me as a low elf so I haven't even made any friends" I replied shrugging my shoulders. "Just don't take any stick from them, you can fight back now" Avy pretended to throw a punch. "Oh that would go down well in front of his majesty" I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I have to go now," I said goodbye as I rushed off. Since the Princess had been gone I found myself withdrawing away from everyone and everything, I just wanted to be alone.