Aligned

Chapter 4

"You really are reckless, you know," Melinda teasingly scolds Sybil. "You didn't even steal the proper battle gear!"

    "Well I didn't know that at the time," Sybil mutters into her scone. She takes a bite, crumbs falling onto her burnt orange gown, and says with her mouth full, "They did me just fine, as you can see, I have inflicted minimal damage onto myself."

    "I want to hear more about the soldier you carried back," Olive changes the subject. She plays with the tips of her golden blonde hair, preferring to wear it down as opposed to Melinda who always wore her dark brown hair in a tightly braided coronet. "He sounds handsome."

    "You're getting handsome from dirt and blood covered face, matted hair, and busted lip?" Melinda scoffs.

    "Don't pretend you're not a secret romantic!" Olive accuses her. "Soldiers are already automatically handsome because of their bravery and allegiance to the kingdom. And our Sybil here always gets what she wants, and I know that she wants a handsome man. So it only makes sense that this soldier is handsome and their love story begins at this battle."

    Sybil laughs as her ladies in waiting, who she considers her best friends, almost sisters even, argue about the odds of her finding true love in the short time she was on the battlefield. It has always been clear that Olive is pure of heart and an open romantic while Melinda her contrast, practical and sharp-tongued. They remind her of her parents in that way. Also like King Eldridge, Melinda has a soft spot and it happens to be romance, which Olive will exploit at any opportunity. She somehow even convinced Melinda to read some of her romance novels, all of which were borrowed never to be seen again.

    "I'm going to put an end to this right now!" Sybil states above her friends' argument. They both stop talking and turn to the princess. "I have no interest in romance right now, despite what everyone in the kingdom says about me already being too old to be unwed. However, I am to report to the infirmary tonight after supper as my punishment for sneaking out. I will seek out the soldier I brought back with me and confirm whether he is handsome or not. Nothing beyond that, understood?"

    Melinda seems satisfied while Olive pouts into her jam-smothered biscuit. Sybil smiles at them and changes the topic of conversation to that of the market square dealings of the day.

    "Can I just say," Olive interrupts Melinda's retelling of a particularly interesting goat trade from earlier, "if the soldier is handsome, can you at the very least ask for his name? Even if you two boring sacks won't fantasize, I would like to."

    "Fine, if he is handsome, I will supply you with his name so you can daydream all you want about my wedding that will never happen," Sybil relents. "But I want to hear none of it, keep it to yourself. I have more important issues to ponder over."

~~~

    It's later that evening, after supper, as Sybil makes her way to the castle infirmary. She has changed out of her casual dining gown and into more comfortable trousers and fitted tunic. Her father did say her work down here would involve a lot of running back and forth for supplies and a gown seemed impractical.

    Sybil's steps echo off the stone walls in the empty corridor, but soon mingle with the low hum of the infirmary sounds. Soft conversations and cloth being unraveled, container lids being set onto tables and the occasional yelp float down the hall to meet her ears, growing in volume as she approaches the entrance.

    The royal doctor, who also oversees the general infirmary when not tending to Sybil's family, greets her at the door. She introduces Sybil to a few nurses and begins a quick tour. Not that Sybil needs it; she has been in this infirmary many times as a child growing up, whether it be from play injuries or out of curiosity.

    As they pass the section beyond the medical supplies in the front to where the injured are laying down on their cots, Sybil takes note of the fact that there aren't as many soldiers down here as there were this morning. The doctor notices her concern and says, "We didn't lose anyone that was brought in. Most of the injured were able to be quickly bandaged and sent on their way home after you had left. Those that remain mostly need to be monitored over the next few days to make sure infection doesn't take hold, but upon my initial observations, that is highly unlikely to happen. The king will be disappointed to know that your services may be cut short as we won't have much for you to do other than talk with the injured so as they don't get bored and think the worst."

    "I can do that," Sybil says, relieved that her tasks here will be more beneficial to gaining the knowledge she seeks out. "Of course I will be of assistance anywhere that you need me," she adds, not wanting to sound as though she doesn't want to be here. She genuinely likes to be involved in the castle activities, even those not conducive to being the princess heir. It's like a new adventure to her, one that she believes will better prepare her for when she becomes the monarch.

    "Is the soldier that I brought in this morning still here? If there isn't anything specific you would like me to help with now, I would like to speak with him," Sybil turns to the doctor. Though she hopes that he was not too wounded to have to stay here, Sybil would like to give Olive something to pass her time with other than bothering her and Melinda with her overly romantic delusions any time she is finished reading a novel.

    "Yes, he is. He's been walking around the infirmary talking to the others, but he should be back in his cot by now. The last one in this row," the doctor points to a line of cots, mostly unoccupied, soldiers taking up space every few beds over.

    Sybil nods her thanks and makes her way to the last cot in the row. She doesn't know why, but her heart starts beating a little quicker as she gets closer to the dark lump under the thin sheet. Maybe it is the thrill of being reminded of the battle, or the anticipation of closure.

    She approaches the cot and clears her throat. The lump doesn't so much as stir. She tries again, shifting a little closer. Still nothing.

    "Excuse me?" she finally says, a little louder than necessary considering the distance between her and the soldier.

    "I can hear you, what do you want," he says, his voice thick with the sleep she interrupted him from. Heat spreads across her face in embarrassment, but takes a deep breath and presses forward.

    "My name is Sybil Flamme, princess heir of the Kingdom of Prozaria. I helped you out of battle today and wanted to see how you were faring," she says in her most formal voice, one she does not use often.

    The figure stills even more and then slowly turns over to face her.

    Oh.

    Olive will be pleased.