Shapes in My Palm

Chapter 3

The man began, "Does she have everything she needs?" head-nodding towards Kai. His voice had a thick french accent, causing Kai to almost not understand him.

"Yes," General Hoax replied. Kai had been given a bag of supplies in case of emergencies. She lifted the bag she had given Kai only moments ago. There was a large number of items occupying it, at the bottom was a dagger, which was to be used to kill the princess, who now stood across from Kai. Everything felt so real, and it all hit her at once.

General Hoax gave Kai a nod and a stern look, she turned away and walked back towards the path leading back to their kingdom. The man walked up to Kai and handed her a map with places to stop, and their final destination.

"Here are good places to stop at." The man said with force in his voice. She continued to look at the map and nod her head. "And here are the towns, with the hotels and inns where you will be staying, I assume you have been given money for the expenses."

"Yes sir," Kai replied, her voice as steady as his.

"Good."

She began to tune him out as she read over the map. It had always been her favorite part of training, map reading. She had a gift for it and she knew what she was doing, but she tried to listen anyway. He gave Kai a few more instructions and then turned towards the Princess. Kai excused herself from the conversation and walked away from the pair, looking into the map and locating her own idea of the best route.

Once the route had been located, Kai turned towards the man and princess, what she found was the princess alone and the man was gone. Kai hesitantly walked towards the princess and held the map tighter than before. She stood a little taller, trying to take authority. Be brave, she thought.

"Ready?" Kai questioned, her voice stern and steady. She adjusted her bag so that the awkward tension would lower, waiting for an answer.

The princess nodded, looking at the ground, and the journey began.

* * *

Kia led the way as the pair walked down a path leading through the woods. The sun was shaded by the umbrella of green trees, and the air was slowly getting colder. Kai used her cloak to warm her up, covering her shoulders. Trees seemed to go on forever, following them and leading the way. They seemed to be the barrier protecting the path, keeping them safe from any harm coming their way. The sun was the main villain, trying to shine through the leaves, wanting to hit the two girls. Silence had filled the air throughout the journey, except for the rustling of leaves from walking and an animal now and then. No words had been spoken and no questions were asked. Something in Kai wanted to talk to the princess, ask her questions and integrate her. Her mind was racing with inquiries and assumptions about this mystery blonde princess. But nonetheless, she smashed them down into her mind, she had one job to do, kill her.

After all day of walking, crossing streams, fallen trees, and large boulders, the sun began to set and it was time to set up camp for the night. The plan was to camp for a week, maybe longer, and then hop from village to village and stay in small inns until they reached the castle. Still, tonight was a night of camping, so when the duo found a clearing in the woods, Kai spoke the first words. "We are going to camp here tonight." Her voice was hoarse and dry from not speaking once word, but she tried to keep it steady and stern.

"Okay," the princess responded, her voice was as soft as butter and flowed like a river. It had the same accent as the man from earlier, except Kai had a better time understanding her. Her soft voice was the direct opposite of Kai's, something about it was intriguing. Kai wanted to ask more questions just to hear it more, but no, she needed to build the tents. Why was she thinking like this? Kai was taught to fight and command.

She walked over to the middle of the clearing and placed down the bag full of supplies. Her shoulders were tense, and her feet were sore, the idea of sleep made Kai fill with joy and excitement. Kai pulled out her tent and began putting it up, first the poles and then the cloth over it. She had done this before when she and her sister would camp in their backyard. Kai was focused on putting the metal rods together when she heard rustling behind her. She swung around faster than her brain was ready for and was face to face with the mystery princess.

"Sorry," she spoke, still soft as before, "I was going to put my tent together."

Kai was frozen in the spot, was this actually happening. Was she actually about to do work? She had been prepared to put up both of their tents, the princess's tent was next. But if she was willing to get her dress dirty, then Kai wasn't about to stop her. Besides, it might have been fun to see her struggle a little. Finally, she was pulled out of her thoughts and replied, "Oh, okay."

They both continued in silence until the tents were put up and Kia had built a fire in the middle. On each side of the campfire, were two long logs that Kai had rolled over to resemble benches. She took a seat and began rummaging through her bag, searching for the food. They had packed one day of meat for the first night, wrapped in ice. She slowly unrolled it and began to cook it food on the fire, while the princess was in her tent doing who knows what. Kai usually loved the silence, it gave her a chance to go through her thoughts. But today it was hell, every time she was in her thoughts she got more curious. Who was this girl? What was her backstory? How does she feel about this whole situation? And ultimately, will I be able to kill her? Because that was the end goal, Kai had had to remind herself that multiple times.

The tent across from her slowly unbuttoned and out stepped the princess, now in a light blue nightgown. It was similar to the first one, except it had long sleeves and didn't touch the ground. She sat across from Kai in silence and accepted the food handed to her. They both ate in peace, no one saying anything. Until the blonde princess spoke up.

"So," the girl across Kai started, "what's your name?" Her tone had an underlying sense of harshness and Kai was unaware of where it came from. Had she done something in the past twelve hours they had spent together? No, if anything this girl was in the wrong.

Kai stared at her, why did she care? They weren't supposed to get attached. But something about the girl's green eyes crumbled any barrier built on the inside and Kai replied, "Kai Barlowe."

"Hmm," the girl thought, her voice sounded of judgment and confusion, She began to continue but before she could Kai stood abruptly.

"What do you mean "hmmm"?!" Kai said, her voice now raised and filled with anger. She didn't know where it had come from, but she was enraged by the girl, who did she think she was. "I'm sorry is my commoner name not good enough for you, your highness?" Kai stormed towards her tent leaving her food by the fire, she was no longer hungry.

She thought she heard the princes say something in response., but it was too late Kai was already in her tent and had zipped it up for the night. She stormed towards her bed and threw on her pajamas. As she laid in her bed she realized that she was right all along. All princesses were snobby, arrogant pricks, who seem helpful until they judge you for your name. Kai had realized complete her mission she needed to ignore this girl and repress all curiosity related to her, no matter what. The mission always came first.