Tales of Arlo

Away From Here

My name is Arlo, Viscountess of Nohr. My family name is never cheered on by the townsfolk, instead only being whispered as they point out the flaws in our leadership. I always understood why the locals never liked me, but everything in me wishes that they would have at least given me a chance. Even my best disguises couldn't hide my family's signature sharp nose and soulless eyes.

There was no loving warmth in my home, nor could I find it among the common folk. I tried to find love among the diverse people of Nohr, but my name had already stained my reputation. When my father recommended that we start looking for a husband for me, I thought I would find someone to give me the warmth I was always looking for. However, all I found were boneheads with less thoughts than a pebble on the side of the road. Although stupid, their wickedness shined through and me made that much more repulsed.

One of the last suitors we had met with a widowed Duke from Ginku, who was older than my father. My father kept inviting him over, despite my distain for him. I got so desperate that I pointed out the fact that he been married twice previously and had still yet to produce an heir. Even arguing my point with my father's perspective wasn't enough to make him budge.

For weeks, I've heard my parents' whispers about a "special occasion" they've been planning since first meeting the Duke of Ginku. I already knew what this "special occasion" was going to be and my suspensions were confirmed by my youngest brother, Elroy. Luckily, the young sprout had enough heart in him to tell me that the "special occasion" was going to be an engagement party.

With only 3 days before the event, I stole one of my brother's suits, shaved half of my hair, and packed my most valuable jewelry. Once night fell over the manor, I snuck down into the family armory and stole the crossbow that once belonged to my great-grandfather, Lord Titus of Orah, the last good person in my family.

When I came up from the armory, I could hear a door creak from upper west wing. I stepped into the shadows behind the spiraling stairs of the east wing and waited for someone to come down. It took everything in me to prevent the crossbow from rattling due to my shaking hands. Despite my fears, nobody came down.

I waited until I heard the same door creak shut and made my way for the front door, slinging the bulky crossbow behind my back gently. I swiftly opened the door, slithered my way outside, and shut the door in one, unceremonious motion; nonchalantly closing the door on the only chapter of my life that I knew.

When I wasn't being force fed the royalty life, I preferred to be out in nature like a true elf. Before his passing, my great-grandfather taught me how to hunt and how to survive in nature with nothing more than your hands and a small blade. My great-grandfather had taken in my mother, brothers, and I during the final years of the Great Elven War; a war which my grandfather had started and my father ended.

During one of our final camping trips, my great-grandfather gave me his wife's dagger, which she kept on her at all times in case she were to be attacked. Grandpapa, as I knew him, often felt it was a shame that elven royal women no longer learned to fight. This would become a tradition he had me carry out in secret. When my father found me practicing with my dagger after returning home from the war, he snagged it out of my hands and tried to hide it in his room. Unluckily for him, I've always been an incredible thief. For months, we go through the cycle of him taking it from me, me stealing it back, and him punishing me for taking it back. He eventually gave up and I was able to keep it in secret.

My life had been split into 2 pieces: living the royal lie and sneaking out to find my personal truth. During the day, I was the exhausted, eldest daughter who was seen as "growing more stubborn with age". At night, I was training to be the woman I was always wanted to be. I was never the type who could have handled being locked up inside for days on end like my mother. I dreamed of being the warrior that my great-grandmother was.