Helene strolled through the market square, the morning sun spilling over her like liquid gold, warming the bronze of her skin until it gleamed. The wind danced freely about her, catching the length of her blonde hair and tossing it back from her brow, revealing a forehead that shone brighter than the necklaces upon her throat. In her arms she carried a woven basket brimming with roses, their red and white petals swaying with each graceful step.
Wherever she passed, greetings rose like ripples across water. Merchants paused in their activities, children darted close with eager smiles, and women looked on with fondness or envy. She was known not only for her beauty, which seemed touched by the gods themselves, but for the agility that set her apart. Helene was no idle figure content to sit within walls; she was flame when flame was needed, and soothing water when calmness was called for.
Though she bore the grace of a queen, her roots were humble. She was born on the outskirts of the city to a family of modest means. Her father, a blacksmith, still toiled in the shadow of the citadel, forging blades and shields for men greater than himself. Her mother, whose memory lingered like perfume, had been taken by death when Helene was but thirteen, leaving behind both sorrow and strength within her daughter's heart.
while helene was walking, admiring the fruits and flowers around the market, she noticed a strange man following her wearing a strange black cloak, covering his face, it was easy to notice because Helene is the vigilant type, she then played along , luring him into a small corner because she knows her way around , the strange man walked in the corner and saw nobody, he was frightened and he suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind him, he slowly turned and saw Helene pulling a small knife out of her socks, the strange man was too stunned to speak because he wasn't expecting it , she rushed at him with speed and the knife aiming for his guts, the stranger hurriedly moved to the side as he grabs her hand and shook off the knife, suddenly he received a hard punch on his left cheek, she had baited him with the knife "ouchhhh, why are you so brutal, your punch is hard " the stranger exclaimed, he grabbed her other hand and pushed her away .
"that voice....you sound familiar " Helene claimed, with a huge frown
" obviously, how is it that you still don't know who it is" the stranger stated
" ohhh I remember now....."
"FINALLY!"
" you're the merchant I owe money and you've come to collect" Helene proclaimed
" what?, NOO"
"then who are you " she says as she pulls another knife from the other pair of her socks , whole time the stranger is just in awe and disbelief, totally left speechless, he couldn't be sure of his reaction, whether shocked or impressed or even scared or all of it at once
" are you an assassin? , I have done nothing wrong " helene continued as she was about to charge on
"WAITT, helene, relax" The stranger exclaimed
"how did you know my name?...oh you've been watching me , haven't you ?"
The stranger sighed and said "you're such a nuisance "
"huhh?" Helene muttered
" you're not even going to give me a chance to explain myself, you've asked a million questions and you won't even let me answer one" the stranger said.
"ohhh....alright, give me a good answer or I'll slit your throat " Helene declared
"ouhhhh , SCARYYY" the stranger scoffed sarcastically with a mimicking gesture , this made her angry and she was about to charge again...
" woah woah woah, it's me, okay ?, relax..., good heavens " the stranger said as he removed his coverage
" you good for nothing ,arrogant piece of trash " she uttered angrily
" I'll take that" replied ,the stranger
" how are you sure I don't want to kill you more now that I know it's you" helene pressed.
"well....that...makes a little sense...or you could just...hear me out ?" said the stranger
"how did you even find me?" asked ,helene
"uhmm , it's pretty much easy since I'm a prince " he claimed
" yeah but there's no way the palace knows you're here and I know you're not smart enough to find me, I'm sure you've never been to this part of the city before "
"ohh helene , you talk so bluntly and unvarnished" he then said quietly "and it's really annoying "
"did you say something-"
"no"
"after saying I talk bluntly, you said something else, didn't you?"
"I did not"
"hmmmm"
"hmmmmm"
"alright Eraga, what's it you want to talk about ?" Helene asked calmly
"well we can start by having a drink "
"I see , so you want us to get drunk again so you can repeat what happened last night"
" come on , don't be so cynical , we don't have to get drunk "
"for Greek's sake, he's already messing it up " thaleia who has been watching them from a distance with an accomplice, calista, said , they were both dressed as Eraga was , this shows that it was all planned
"do you think he's going to make it", Thaleia asked
"no I don't assume so" calista answered as they both sighed.
"no , I'm not going to grab a drink with you , not after what you said to me the other night " said, helene
" what did i say that is so wron-...you know what?, fine, I was wrong , I said those things because I was still a little drunk, okay?, just let me make it up to you " Eraga replied
, "hmmm, ok , let's see what you've got , smart mouth " they walked into a nearby bar
" I guess this is where our tailing ends, anything that happens now is in his hands" calista implied
" he's definitely going to mess something up and get beaten by a woman " replied Thaleia
"he is a prince , she wouldn't dare and besides, he's a soilder that-"
"has never been to war, never put his ability to the test and besides she punched him , I don't think this woman cares if he's a prince or a common servant" Thaleia said, interrupting calista
"perhaps that's why he's hung up with her ", calista muttered
" what do you mean " Thaleia asked
" I am saying she sees him differently from everybody else, maybe he likes the look"
"hmmmm, that sounds about right." Thaleia replied
"so....what are you here to talk about?" helene murmured as they both sat besides each other on the bar bench
"well , I wanted to apologize for last night, I said some stupid things"
"yeah you sure did"
"so...., you're poor right ?" Eraga said , helene coughed out her drink as the bartender walked away , shaking his head , thaleia and callista at the end of the extremely empty bar they have rented, both slapped thier head , super disappointed. eraga surprised by helene's reaction said "what?, are you okay ?"
"are you?, what kind of man asks a woman that question?" eraga speechless and wondering what was wrong about what he said
that's before Helene said "ohhh now I see the problem..."
" it's definitely over this time, let's go home Thaleia " calista grumbled as helene continues "...you don't know how to talk to women, almost like you're scared of them" with a smirk on her face
"what do you mean" Eraga asked in utter confusion
" this is why you get drunk , because it's the only time you can do the things you have no balls to do, when you're drunk is the only time you do wild things, other times you're just a good boy, you like wild stuffs but you have morals so you use getting drunk as a fuel " helene said
"well, I never thought of it that way but I guess that makes sense " Eraga replied,
"women from outside the citadel are so different " he added
" how so?" helene asked
"I grew up seeing women like my mom , my sister and our maids, they had so much integrity and manners, they were so clean and modest, but when I came out ,I saw something completely different from how I view women, that is what has scared me away from women for a long time "
" are you saying the women in the citadel are better than us outside "
" no, just different attributes but they are definitely cleaner" he scoffed , humorously
not a single smile from helene
"oh I...uhmm...thought it was...funny " said Eraga, Helene then laughed saying
" you should see your face right now"
"hahaha, very funny *sarcastically*" eraga said as helene continued to laugh.
Hours has gone by and Thaleia and Callista and has long left , it was just the 2 of them in the whole bar, laughing and drinking
"yeah that's right, that reminds me, I never asked about your parents " eraga stated, the smile on helene face faded as she coughed softly
" uhmm,did I.....say something wrong? " eraga asked
"no , it's fine, my dad is a blacksmith and my mom....I lost my mom a long time ago"
"oh I'm sorry , I shouldn't have -"
"it's okay, I have gotten over it "
"ohhh, yeah , so...what's your ambition, what are you trying to be?, you're obviously really smart, you can be of great use you know"
" I don't care about ambition or great use, none of that, I just want to survive " Helene replied
"*chuckles* , what's even that?"
"boring right ?"
"super boring , but hey , it's better than being a prince , your future has already been decided since birth, you don't even have the choice to choose or make your own future, everybody expects you to live up to their expectations, the wealth is definitely good but the cost sometimes is what bothers me, I envy you, you know, you get to do whatever you want " Eraga expressed
" yeah it's nice , I envy you too "
" why? because I'm rich? "
" nayy, I don't care about that "
" then what ?"
"i envy that you have a lot of people that cares about you, worried , that is a luxury among all the luxuries that I don't have, my dad doesn't even care, we live in the same city yet we haven't set our eyes on each other for years , not even a glimpse" Helene said
" wow , that's.....sorry "
"it's okay I'm used to it "
"perhaps that might change soon "
"what do you mean?"
"I don't know, just optimism "
" *chuckles* well if you say so " she said as they both looked at each other nervously
"yeahhhh"
"so...are you gonna take me?, this time with a sound mind" helene said with a huge smile on her face
"ohhh, uhmm....in as much as I would love that, maybe, I have to return to the palace soon, they must be searching for me everywhere, my father is preparing for an invasion, so I must be ready, a serious looking guy with a silver cloak will walk in right about...now!" aeres walked in.
"told you" Eraga said with a smirk
"what on earth is wrong with you eraga, are you drunk this time?" aeres snapped
"I am clean as a whistle " eraga replied
"move, now! " aeres pressed
" is that how you address your prince in front of his guest" eraga said
" shut your da-" aeres quickly held his speech , as he took a deep breath in and out to calm himself " my lord , please shall we exit this place, for we have so many issues to attend to , we might need your help my good lord " said aeres, Eraga stood up and tapped aeres on his shoulder
" hmmm, that sounds better my good knight " Eraga said with a huge smile on his face ,meanwhile aeres was pissed but had himself in control not to embarrass the prince in front of a guest
"wait isn't that the woman you we-" , " *gibberish *" eraga bluntly interrupted aeres as he dragged him out, saying "let's get out already "
"what was that about " aeres asked with a frown
"perhaps you're worse than me when it comes to women " eraga said
"what do you mean?"
" never mind it"
"who is she, she doesn't look like she's from the citadel"
" so basically, she's poor and I shouldn't be around her, right?"
"look eraga, this isn't a stage play or a book where the rich guy marries the poor girl and runs away , this is real life, it's not going to work , you know the rules "
" do i?....., it's not love, it's the way she looks at me "
"that's love you idiot"
"huh?, well it's different, everybody looks at me with a side eye, watching my next movement, measuring my worth with their eyes, looks of expectations, it's a scary look , makes me feel like I'm not enough, everyone gives me that look , even Thaleia sometimes, but Helene is different, she doesn't see me as a prince, to her I'm just another guy she ran into at a bar, she isn't scared of me, doesn't give me any respect I haven't earned, she looks at me the way normal people should look at a person, it isn't necessarily love, it's just different "
"well you might be right but right now you need not no distractions, you have to focus , you know you have a great responsibility "
" *sigh* what a drag "
"you know there are so many people who would kill to have what you have now eraga"
"I wish I can give it to them, I mean I love being rich and a prince but being an heir is too much burden, the one that I never asked for , and it doesn't even suit me , I don't care about politics, I wish I could give it to someone like you who really deserves it, I don't deserve it " eraga said with his hands reaching for the stars in the sky as the chariot continues to ride them towards the citadel.