It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 18

The next morning, Charlie was up early. She made her way through the forest, marveling at the nature that surrounded her. After spending sixteen years being isolated in that dreadful tower, the fresh air and the warm sunshine felt so wonderful. She had forgotten what a Summer morning outside felt like and she was determined to never forget it again and the princess was so happy about her new found freedom that she couldn't resist singing a little song to express her joy. 

"La, ah, ahhh, la, la, la." 

She had a very lovely voice. Singing a song was usually how she brightened her moments of depression within the tower. 

Her vocals soon caught the attention of a bird who decided to sing along with her. Charlie happily agreed to share a duet with the bird, just like Princess Octavia would do all the time.  Unfortunately, even though Charlie could sing very pretty-like, there was a slight dysfunction to her voice that would come and go.

"La, la, LAAAAAAA-"

She sang a high note, she released an involuntary, high-pitched, wail that could rival a banshee cry. Her pitchy howl was so extreme that it caused the bird to shake and convulse. Then came a loud pop as the bird exploded, leaving behind a bunch of feathers in the breeze.

"Oops." She said looking guilty. 

"Still haven't learned to control your pipes I see."

Vaggie had awakened about ten minutes ago and followed the princess's footprints to this location. She took note of the recent bird-icide that her charge had committed. 

"I didn't mean to make him explode." Charlie said. 

"Well who's gonna mourn a bird anyway?" Vaggie asked. 

"Did you sleep well last night Vaggie?" 

"Yep. The best sleep I had in years. One where I could actually rest my brain."

Guilt crossed Charlie's face again and she looked at the moth adze with remorse.

"I want you to know that I'm very sorry for what my father did to you." She apologized. "Believe me, if I had known that it was the collar that kept you in that state, I would have taken it off you myself long ago."

"Don't worry about it." Vaggie assured her. "You had no more say about what he did to me than what he did to you. I'm just sorry that I made your imprisonment so long."

"It wasn't your fault. Anyway it's all over now so we should just forget the past and move on."

"Funny you should mention that because I really can't remember much of anything before."

"You can't?"

"Well I remember you and I remember bringing you food and what you needed to survive. I remember being that Godforsaken castle but everything else is either a complete blur or just comes back in flashes. Nothing is really clear."

"Maybe it's for the best that you don't remember that stuff clearly. I know I wouldn't want to remember all those years of not being in control of my own mind."

"What's really frustrating is that I can't remember, but I know what I did."

Vaggie trembled. She knew that she had killed countless innocent men who only wanted to free Charlie. She knew that she had taken their lives and drained them of blood. She knew that she was responsible for all those corpses and skeletons that littering the dark castle. True she had killed unwillingly but that didn't change the fact that those men were dead because of her.

Charlie embraced her, giving her a comforting touch that Vaggie had not known for so long. It made her feel much better and it caused her negative feelings to be ceased. At least for now.