The Lost Princess

Chapter Twenty-Three: Sparring pt. 1

Amara sighed and looked at Earwen sitting next to her. They were out in the gardens. They had thoroughly explored the interior of the castle and now were making do with the immediate grounds outside for entertainment. It was not going well.

"You'd think there'd be at least one secret tunnel in this whole place. There were many in the castle in Gaearost," Earwen said.

Amara nodded absently. "We had them in Calathil as well. Maybe they've all been sealed up. Queen Kallah would be the most likely culprit, destroyer of all things entertaining that she is."

Earwen chuckled. "You can't really blame her for being cross with us after that library incident. Luckily, it was Ninim to catch us acting up this time. We gave her quite a fright when she saw you standing in the fireplace searching for hidden triggers."

Amara rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't have been that surprising."

"Amara, the fire was lit."

Amara pressed her lips together, refusing to laugh. She could still hear the shriek of the meek maid and the crashing of brass against stone as she dropped the basin she'd been carrying. Amara had stepped from the lit hearth unharmed, while Earwen had consoled the maid and sworn her to secrecy on what she had seen. It had been the most exciting thing to happen in what seemed an eternity.

Shaking her head, Amara came back from the memory. She looked at Earwen still sitting next to her on the bench in the garden. "I imagine we shouldn't go into town for fear of attracting attention to ourselves."

Earwen shook her head. "We should probably wait another day, and then, of course, we will have to ask permission."

Amara groaned and stood to pace in front of the elf girl.

Suddenly she stopped and grinned mischievously down at Earwen. "We could scale the wall and go into the forest. I could call Kai back and teach you how to hunt with knives."

Earwen's eyes sparkled for a moment, but then she frowned and shook her head. "They have patrols out in the forest now. If we run into one of them, it will cause all kinds of trouble. We need to stay here."

Amara threw up her hands in disgust.

Earwen stood, a half smile of apology on her lips. "Come to the library with me again. We can read about some exciting adventures."

"Earwen, I don't wish read about adventures. I want to live them."

Earwen shrugged. "Sometimes you take what you can get."

"It isn't comparable."

"Why not?"

Amara studied the elf princess. "Has anything truly exciting ever happened to you?"

Earwen cocked her head to one side, her countenance puzzled. "I've been held hostage by a girl who became my friend, who I discovered was a fire wielder and the lost princess of a kingdom taken over by an evil sorcerer. I've been chased by swamp wolves in a bog and traveled hundreds of miles over the Eleniel Sea just to return to my homeland, to name a few."

Amara waved her hand in dismissal. "Yes, yes, but before all that."

Pursing her lips, Earwen grew thoughtful. "No, I suppose not."

"Why did they let you come on this journey?"

Hot color flushed the elf princess's face. "Why shouldn't they have?" Earwen snapped.

Amara was surprised. She had offended Earwen, but she didn't know how or why she had taken offense. "Well, your sister is the queen, and she's the one that had that so-called vision. So she felt she had to come, but why bring you? Shouldn't you have been left behind to lead your people?"