Realistic or Modern Peace Through Love

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria looked at Adrian for a moment, "I have a brother. He's considerably younger than me though and at the castle as we speak." She said as she looked at Adrian for a moment, "I however do have three uncles... I apparently look like my mothers brother sometimes... he sadly died during the war." She admitted as she looked down as she thought about her uncle for a moment. He had died during the war, somewhere near the middle of it. The body had come home and she remembered her mother weeping for such a long time. It felt like years, but it had probably actually only been months. However long after her uncle was buried, her mother wept and wept and wept until finally one day the tears just stopped coming.

She shook her head a bit as she sighed, "my uncle wasn't my favorite in the slightest... I never told mother, but he used to hit me when I would misbehave." She said as she looked down and sighed a bit.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

The first part of Maria's reply seemed to confirm to Adrian that he had killed her brother in battle. It had never bothered him greatly--prominent Holmslanders had also died in the war. However, as she continued it became clear that that wasn't the case. Or at least not quite the case. Adrian blew air out of his nostrils as if he was mildly amused, once Maria claimed that he would hit her and that she didn't like him. Not that it was amusing, but because he felt ridiculous nearly crying in front of Maria over an abusive relative. Adrian felt more composed, and turned towards the Princess so that he could speak to her directly.

"That explains it then. Well...I must claim responsibility for his death. Perhaps it doesn't grieve you so much, because of your own experience, even if it did grieve your mother. I...thought it may have been a brother. Apologies--I suppose this isn't what we came here for."

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria looked at Adrian, “my uncle was an asshole. He would tell my mother how she shouldn’t have married my father or had my brother and I. He always found something to complain about... I think he was just a grumpy old man because his wife and child passed during childbirth.” She said as she thought about her uncle for a moment. “I guess I hope that he is atleast at peace now. So, I don’t feel bad for his death. I just hope he is simply at peace now, that he got to go up and be with his wife once more and finally see the face of his unborn child.” She said as she looked at Adrian and smiled softly.

“No though, my brother is alive and heathy.” She said giggling a bit, “he’s only 9. He hasn’t even been allowed to hold a sword yet.” She said giggling a bit as she thought about her baby brother holding a sword and falling over. “Anyway, no... we came here for some reason. What reason I’m not 100% certain.” She said smiling a bit as she thought about it.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

Adrian shook his head and chuckled at Maria's comments regarding her brother. Her giggling was contagious; his fears from the minute before seemed even more ridiculous as he couldn't help from chuckling. After a bit, the laughing died down, and Maria hit Adrian with the question of what they came to the grove for. At first Adrian thought the answer was pretty simple, and twofold. It would keep them from being seen, by others, while at the same time allowing them to see each other clearly in the moonlight.

"Well, isn't it like I said? We couldn't stay on the road there or else we might be seen together. And--" he abducted her hand, "I wanted to see your face, clearly, in this place. It was worth the trip and effort, Maria. "

The Prince looked into her eyes as he said it, and smiled. He began to reconsider his attitude towards the planned marriage. Maybe it was still planned, but to Adrian it appeared that this was a much different case than some other arranged marriages. In those other cases, the two candidates might be arranged to marry and they have little to no feelings or liking for each other. But Prince Adrian didn't count himself among those disinterested grooms. Neither did he suspect that Maria counted herself amongst disinterested brides. But what Adrian really thought is that he wanted to kiss her.

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria smiled softly and nodded her head as that was very much true. The road at night was a dark and dangerous place to be, especially for someone like Maria. Anyone saw her and they would get these awful thoughts and potentially it could hurt or kill her. She obviously hadn’t thought about that before her walk. After all, she had simply been looking for a reason to piss off her parents, and not going to the feast and on top of that she walked out of the castle. What her original intention was she was uncertain, but she knew it had been to anger her parents a bit for forcing her into this situation.

However, the more she talked the Adrian, the more she realized she was being a bit childish. She had walked out and not even given a thought to the fact that she could inadvertently cause damage to their cause, to the end of this war. Now talking to the young prince she was wondering whether or not she should still be angry.

He certainly was a bit of a charmer, and cute to boot. She certainly should consider herself a lucky woman to be in a situation where she could atleast feel a feeling she had never felt before. Was this what her parents called love? “That is very true... the road can be a dangerous place, especially at night. I guess I hadn’t thought about that.” She admitted as she smiled softly.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

"Well I am glad you hadn't thought about that," Adrian grinned, "or else I couldn't have met you on my own terms--on both of our terms. It was all to be arranged, and it wasn't our will, but now if we are to be married, it is. Are we not the most fortunate Prince and Princess right now? I mean, that we are from two separate, rival Kingdoms, and yet we connect personally. Arranged marriages within the same realm often don't have any passion. No connection. I feel as if the arrangements weren't made purely on account of our fathers...maybe it was meant to be. Arranged in a different world, a different plane--bah, I'm rambling! Maria--" Adrian wrapped his right arm around her body and angled her just to the point where her eyes and face were completely illuminated in the moonlight. He leaned in and gave her a kiss.

"They say actions speak louder than words, anyways," he smiled once he drew his face back a little.

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria looked at Adrian, “our kingdoms weren’t always rivals.” She admitted before of course being caught off guard by a kiss. She closed her eyes for a moment as she blushed. “It is very true... actions do speak louder than words.” She whispered as she looked at him and smiled softly as she watched him closely. She however thought about what she said earlier, about their kingdoms not having always been rivals. It was very true, after all, they had good relations before about five years ago, when Maria wasn’t exactly sure what happened. All she knew was one day everything seemed peaceful and the next there was a war going on.

“I’m sorry, it must seem silly... as of yesterday we hated one another and now we’re sitting under the moonlight.” She said giggling a bit as she shook her head. “It’s nice to get to talk to you though... after all, I prefer to talk to my future husband than to be caught off guard.” She said smiling softly.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

Adrian took Maria’s last statement as a bit of a dig against his sudden advance. He slowly released Maria and frowned as he turned away. He plodded over to the stone, where he sighed and worried that he overstepped. It didn’t seem like he was worrying pointlessly like before. Indeed, “I prefer to to talk...not be caught off guard,” sounded like he had overstepped.

But just as Prince Adrian spun around to speak to Maria again, he saw a dark figure, almost like a silhouette, rush in towards her. Even with the bright moonlight, they were a black void. Adrian tried to warn Maria, but they already pounced and knocked her over. Adrian clearly saw a knife come to her throat.

“What—who—Maria!” Adrian blurted out.

“Go through with it and she dies!” The figure barked. And just like that, they dashed away. Adrian rushed to Maria. All of it barely seemed to take a moment.

“Are-are you okay?”

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria felt embarrassed when Adrian turned away. She had probably worded something wrong, it was probably her last statement. She hadn’t meant it as an insult to the kiss he had given her, but at the same time she had been speaking the truth. She loved talking to someone before anything, getting to know them. While the kiss some how didn’t seem to make her uncomfortable, she got the feeling that he got uncomfortable at her statement.

She was going to say something before her face suddenly met the dirt of the ground. Some getting in her mouth before she felt a cold blade against her throat. She spit the dirt out as much as she could and promptly ended up back on the ground.

She rubbed her head a little as Adrian lifted her back up. “What the hell was that?!” She yelled as she spit more dirt out and coughed a little.

“I-I’m fine... I’m fine!” She said as she got up carefully and placed a hand on her throat and pulled it away and noticed some blood. “It’s just a nick.” She said as she looked at her hand which didn’t have much blood on it, just a small amount. “Ahh, gods that hurt.” She said as she placed her hand on her neck again and pressed to try and stop the blood.

“Well, that’s not the first time I’ve had a Knick to my throat.” She admitted as as a Princess she had been threatened many times, it was why she had many guards around her most of the time, other than the fact that the princess suffered from bouts of illness, which was common knowledge.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

"Oh!" Adrian exclaimed as he noticed the blood on Maria's neck, as well as the dirt. He produced a handkerchief and put it in Maria's hand, so that she could use it either for her neck or face. Adrian did use his sleeve to wipe off a bit of her face. But his main concern was for their safety, so he glanced around the edges of the grove clearing on instinct. He expected that the assailant was gone, and working alone, though he still couldn't help but keep his head on a swivel for a bit. His knife was in his hand. Eventually the Prince turned more of his attention towards Maria.

"Not a matter of what that was, but who. I think I have an idea of who it might be...we're lucky they didn't nick you more seriously. We need to get out of here right now, and get you some protection...or...nevermind."

It struck Adrian that it was out of the question to alert her family and their protectors; neither of them could speak about the evening, because neither of them were supposed to be outside of their quarters in the first place, let alone the castle. He did have at least a couple suspects in mind, although the fact that neither he nor Maria could report the encounter, or suspicions, discouraged Adrian. Clearly it hadn't been a simple thief or bandit, but a more politically driven assailant. That prospect frightened Adrian.

"We should still go."

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria looked at Adrian and took the handkerchief and and place it against her next and sighed a bit as she pulled it away to check the blood. “We have a lot to worry about. My parents will flip seeing this.” She said as she pulled the handkerchief away one last time to see no blood flowing anymore. “They’re going to know something happened.” She said as she took in a deep breath, “why would someone attack me though?” She asked for a moment and then paused as she sighed a bit.

“Never mind, that was a pretty dumb question.” She said as there were many who wouldn’t agree with the marriage or the end of the war. Many would want it to continue and would do anything to make it continue, even if that meant killing the Princess.

“Yes, let’s get out of here right now.” She said as she handed the handkerchief back carefully and sighed a bit. “I’m scared now.” She said as she looked down.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

"As am I--I'm scared this won't end well. Come on, stick to me," he motioned as he began moving back towards the entrance of the clearing.

At first he ignored the handkerchief, but finally took it and stuffed it away on his person. While the Prince led the Princess to the edge of the clearing, he thought about the potential suspects and their motivations. At the forefront of his mind, there was Gunnar, one of his trusted army commanders from the war. He made it clear to Adrian what he thought of the Triliarn dignitaries and the marriage arrangement when they arrived at Konnugshvall castle. It was a logical correlation, Adrian knew, but he also had trouble jumping to such a conclusion based on his valued service and dedication. They were about to exit the grove and arrive at where Adrian left his horse, when he wondered why Gunnar would do it--he was brash, but not stupid enough to risk his head at the hand of the King over it. Or was it more than just Gunnar--

"Britta? Britta?" Adrian swung his head around. His horse was gone. Thanks to the assailant, he assumed.

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria looked at Adrian for a moment and then followed him closely. After all, she couldn't risk someone coming out of no where and hurting her. So, she stuck close while they made their way to the entrance. She paused when she noticed the horse wasn't there and looked around for a moment. "Adrian, chances are she made her way back to the castle. Horses when scared will go to familiar territory." She said as she looked at him and took in a deep breath. "We're going to have to walk on foot." She said as she was worried about what this meant, about what this was going to do. After all, walking back would put them at risk, leaving them exposed to whoever wanted to attack them... or atleast Maria.

"We should start walking, maybe she fled, but then ran out of energy." She said as it was a long shot, considering the horse hadn't exherted much getting them there, but if they stood here then they were leaving themselves exposed and that would end pretty badly.

"Come on, we don't have much time." She said as she grabbed his hand.

 

[Winter_Wolf]

"Oh great--I suppose you're right, but if she runs to the castle then we are done for," Adrian gasped, "then again, Britta has energy when she needs it. I don't think she'd just run out of energy so soon..."

As Adrian mulled the situation over, he felt Maria grab and tug at his hand. It was a great shift in initiative, but Prince Adrian understood her urgency. He nodded at what she said. They did need to go, and quickly indeed. Adrian held his dagger at the ready as he shadowed the Princess. He was still unsure if they might face any more danger at the hands of the disgruntled. Unfortunately the last possible signs of Britta were fresh horseshoe tracks angling up the stone road, going towards the castle.

"You're definitely right," he said, "but if we're lucky then they will think it was a normal stable escape..."

 

[Lilbutterfli94]

Maria took in a deep breath as she looked at Adrian as they started walking, “well we have more problems than the fact that they might think the horse got out in her own.” She said as she touched her neck carefully. “My parents won’t take kindly to the fact that I got injured. There’s a potential that they will be angry that I got hurt and think someone in the castle attacked me. It’s not like I can exactly hide the cut.” She said as she sighed a bit before she started walking.

“It’s going to be difficult to do damage control on this though.” She said as she looked at Adrian once more and then forward. “We’ll be lucky if my parents buy such an absurd story as I hurt myself or something like that.” She said as they would he lucky if anyone would buy such a story.