>>6004250She continues knocking the stone gently against the glass.
“What’s all that racket!?” The guardsman standing outside of the guest room bellows beyond the doorway, and she must’ve heard it too, as you see the rock tied to the pink lace suddenly get pulled back up to its origin.
“A bird pecking on the window, I shooed it away already!” You lie.
“Mhm, good, I don’t want any trouble from you…” He buys it.
You feel like you should probably wait for her this time around. She’s made a habit of helping you visit her every day, but last you checked, it was the knight who’s supposed to be throwing the pebbles against the window, not the princess.
Soon, a sturdy rope is cast from the upper floor. There’s a wide balcony below, it’s not a particularly dangerous climb, but you still wonder how this girl managed to grow without an ounce of a fear of heights. How young was she pulling stunts like this?
And then, she descends, and you see the face of your main benefactor.
Elyanora Hayner is a far cry from her father. Kind, gentle, and willing to understand your simplicity. She’s been visiting you at least once a day for almost your entire stay. You’ve become good friends. But it’s been a week since you last saw her beyond incidental looks from across rooms. The last time you spoke, she made you a promise:
<span class="mu-i">“I’m going to take you across the city, I know the best spots to watch the tourney from, you simply can’t miss it, Sir Cecil! Simply can’t!”</span>
You know she’s a fan of reading fairytale novels and birdwatching. She keeps a journal, that you’ve been playfully reprimanded for attempting to peek into. She’s one year younger than you, twenty-three years old. She has never left the borders of her father’s regional holdings. She believes that fae and holy magic are real. You have not had the gall asked if she believes that dragons and black magic are, too. You can’t help but get the feeling the act of innocence is hiding something more, the sadness in her eyes when she speaks of your situation, she has contemplated the deeds of her bloodline for quite some time, it seems.
You put a finger to your lips to warn her to be quiet, pointing to the door to signal that a guardsman is standing outside of it this day. She nods, and undoes the window latch slowly, pushing the dual glass windows inward and pulling herself through into your domain.
Once safely inside, she greets you, as always, with a small and graceful bow that you return not-so-gracefully. Then, she turns and gently closes shut the window…
<—>CONTINUED<—>
