The Wandering Princess

[Disgruntled Goat]

The Rogue, #005200

Robin shook his head as the girl approached him. It wasn't that he disapproved of her refusal to go back to the old woman's house, it was the way that she had freely told her of the importance of their mission. There was no need to attract any extra attention to them, and he was already aware of the need to get Cinderella to change out of her dress and into something a little plainer, because she was like a beacon to any bandits. The dress was probably intended to cause problems, no doubt a toxic "gift" from Grimhilde and her lackeys.

"Oh," replied the old woman, her face falling as the princess pulled away from her. "Oh, that is a shame. Still, if your journey is so important, then I shan't hold you up. Go, child, and do what you must." She tried to force a smile, but it was clear that the gypsy was hurt by the princess' refusal. "Tell me, my dear, where can you be going without a horse?"

Robin stepped forwards, putting himself between the gypsy and Cinderella, holding up his hand to the girl, indicating the need for her to keep quiet. "We're meeting some friends deeper into the forest," he lied, "They're bringing some extra horses to us, and then we're all off onto the plains of Marklan, to the south. It might be a day or two until we join up with the rest of our caravan, but then it will only take a few days to reach Marklan."

"You're lying," said the old woman, with a wry smile. "I can always tell when someone's lying to me," she added, shaking her head. "Still, I'm sure that whatever secret mission your princess is on is very important indeed and I won't keep you." Her old eyes sparkled for just a moment, "Make sure you take good care of her, Mallory Hood. Oh, don't look so surprised, you know that I never forget a name! Tell me, who is your friend?"

Robin sighed and shook his head, "Ah, Widow Bahati. You should have called me by my name straight away. One can never be too careful in these woods." He stepped a little closer to the princess, but his demeanour was much more relaxed now. "This is Princess Cinderella-"

"Cinderella?" repeated the old woman, her face paling, as if she had seen a ghost. She stepped closer to the girl, "Oh, my dear child. I thought you had died in that castle!" Widow Bahati was about to clasp Cinderella's hands in her own once again and just cut short, shaking her head and backing away. "Oh, child, I am sorry. So very sorry." She locked eyes with the princess, "Go, do what you have to do. Perhaps you can come back and visit me on another day." She looked past the girl and to Robin, narrowing her eyes slightly, "You take good care of this one, Robin. Promise me that."

"I promise," said Robin, without hesitation. The widow gave them both a wave and scuttled off into the forest once more, humming to herself.

Cinderella looked at the rogue in confusion, "Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah, we do," said Robin, his voice suddenly heavy as he gave a sigh. "I thought everyone in Everbright knew Widow Bahati. She's a little bit mad, but harmless enough, and she has the best intentions, but she claims to have magic in her blood, and that causes all sorts of trouble. She brews potions that rarely work as intended, and she claims to be able to see the future - that's how she makes her money, she's a fortune teller. I've known her since I was a lad, when she lived in Everbright, but when Grimhilde took over, she chased all the gypsies, fortune tellers and magicians out of the land. She said that their magic was corrupting the land, and at that time, people believed her. Most of them moved to other towns, but Bahati refused to go far and built herself a little hut just outside of the town. Some people still go to her to have their futures read, or to check that she's still alive, but it's been a while since I last saw her."

Robin shook his head, "The problem with everyone knowing Bahati is that it would be all too easy for someone to pretend to be her. I wouldn't put it past Jafar to set a trap like that, and I'm sure a man of his standing could easily find a woman to dress up like Bahati." He smiled, closing his eyes, "There's maybe two people in the whole world that know my real name and she's one of them. For all of his tricks and charms, Jafar wouldn't have a clue about it, that's how I can tell that she's the real Bahati."

He opened his eyes and looked over at the princess, "Well, three people now, but you'll keep calling me 'Robin' if you don't want to find yourself dumped alone in the middle of a swamp." He shot the girl a wink to show that he wasn't too serious about the threat, before turning around and heading in the direction of Prospyr. "Come on, princess, we need to get back on the road. Do you think you'll be alright to walk?"

 

[moffnat]

The Princess, #85d1ed

Hearing Robin's explanation of Widow Bahati allowed a small stint of guilt to settle in her stomach. Cinderella never liked distrusting people despite all she had been victim to, and yet her protection was of utmost importance on the road and in her suspicions she had turned away an innocent woman. She frowned and gathered the skirts of her dress to follow Robin where he led, feeling a bit more at east in knowing that at least a few of his secrets were as innocent as a name and a humble old woman. "I can walk," she told him, "thank you for your concern." And with a small sigh of stress and trepidation, the unlikely pair had embarked on the road again.

The journey was much less comfortable than it had been on horseback. With a small bag slung over her shoulder and her heels held in her hand, Cinderella followed Robin Hood as far as he dared go for one night without complaint. She knew better than to inquire after his reasoning or his goals, which direction they were going, or even to voice concerns about her feet. The heels certainly did not accommodate a servant girl who could hardly wear them long without blistering, much less on a dirt road, so she suffered through the dirt and rocks and twigs that came with the territory. Occasionally she would wince as she stepped on some stay sharp something, but the princess had no desire to stop and tend to herself when there was a mission to be carried out, and payment for her caretaker to collect. I hope he is being paid well, at least. I can't imagine anything less than the highest for the protection of a woman of royalty. But of course, that begged the question as to whether or not Grimhilde considered her royalty at all, or just another burden to burn in the fires of her damnation. Cinderella found she wouldn't be surprised by the latter.

After a long day's travel, the two stumbled upon a little pond with croaking frogs and gently moving cattails in a soft twilight's breeze. The water was much welcomed. Almost immediately. the princess set what few things she had in the dirt beside her and sat beside the water, dipping her feet in to was the dirt and soreness from her skin. "Ahhh," she sighed happily, massaging the soles of her feet and looking altogether very unladylike, laughing at the relief with her royal dress hiked up mid-thigh. "This feels wonderful," she told him in honesty. "When you're done doing what you need to do for tonight's camp, you should join me. Though if your feet smell I may move away from you."

Cinderella knew nothing about setting up a camp, much less how to start a fire, so she figured those things were best left to the professional. She laid back on the banks of the pond with her arms spread, her feet dangling in the water as she moved them back and forth. The stars above were glittering as brilliantly as they did when she watched from the small window in the attic that was her chambers, and though home was hell she felt a small comfort in being reminded of it. In her head, she remembered all the constellations that she could see and the stories that coincided with them.

"Do you know how suspicious it is to not tell people your true name?" she asked with a little laugh, clearly not being entirely serious. "In her curious decision to send me as far from my country as possible, Grimhilde sent me an ever bigger mystery--you. Though perhaps it is not one that's meant to be solved..." She was talking just to talk now, but the relief of the halt in their journey had lightened her spirits, if only a little bit. She liked to make conversation when in a good mood. It was one of her many qualities that drove Jafar mad, ever since she was a little girl. "Are you from Everbright, Sir Robin?"

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

The Rogue, #005200

Robin had spent much of the day's journey looking back on the girl, to check that she was still keeping up. He had to walk much slower than usual and he wondered if they would move faster if he simply carried the girl; she obviously didn't weigh all that much, given how thin her arms were, and as they didn't have much equipment any more, it wasn't like he had a pack to carry. Yet, she had told him that she would be fine to walk, and her huffy sigh had been enough to convince him not to probe her further. He didn't know what the princess was used to, but he wasn't some kind of a servant that would just do things for her, nor was he going to keep asking; at some stage the girl's common sense would prevail, and she would ask for help.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to happen. They had traveled in almost silence, barring the odd murmur of disgust or pain when the barefoot princess stood in, or on, something she probably hadn't meant to, but she never once asked to stop. It had been dark for quite some time before Robin decided to stop at the next lake or pond they came across. A natural source of water was something, although a river would have been preferable, but this would suffice. To the best of Robin's knowledge, there were very few rivers through this forest, so one pond was as good as the next. Since the princess wasn't asking him to stop, he would need to stop for her, and he couldn't help but wonder how she had coped with her shoulder, and now the pain in her feet that he was sure she would have acquired.

Robin left the girl to tend to herself; it was an easy way to keep her out of his hair as he tried to create a camp as best as he could. The sky seemed clear of clouds, given how bright and easily visible the stars were, so he didn't bother wasting time on trying to devise a shelter. There were only two things he could accommodate for tonight; warmth and food. There was nothing in nature that would better suffice as a bed than the floor itself, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise, so, with his goblin knife in hand, Robin began digging a hole in a patch of dry ground, a little way away from the pond. Once he had gone down deep enough, he set to work on gathering rocks and branches. Birch trees were a good choice, and there were plenty around the river; they burned well and didn't smoke too much, so he had an abundance of fuel for the fire. Whilst searching for firewood, Robin had noted a few blackberry bushes, as well as a few hazelnut shrubs, which were sure to be useful later, whether he got the fire going or not, so he gathered them up using his waistcoat as a bag and carried them back over to the fire. Robin then laid the rocks around the pit as perimeter, to trap the ash and embers, before using his knife and a piece of flint he carried with him at all times to start the fire. The tinder took well to the sparks, and before long he managed to get it to spread to the kindling. He knew how to build a fire, and he knew that he had built this fire properly, but he would still have to wait and hope that the fuel logs would take; then he would have real heat and he could add more fuel to ensure that the fire burned through the night.

He had already ignored the girl's comments about washing in the lake with her, that wasn't high on his priorities right now, although the sight of her lower legs did give him another reminder of just how starved this girl had been. It probably explained why she hadn't stopped to complain about hunger during the day; she was likely used to that feeling. When she questioned his name, the rogue turned to face her and stood with his hands on his hips, "I told you the name that everyone knows me by. Even Widow Bahati knows me as 'Robin', she just chooses not to address me as such." He had already taken off his coat, owing to the exertion of gathering the rocks and logs to build the fire, and it now laid neatly piled on the floor as a pillow for the evening.

With his fire started, Robin approached the lake and knelt down, washing his hands and face in it, but keeping his distance from the princess. After splashing the cool, clean water on his face a second time, he looked towards her and shrugged his shoulders. "I was born in Northam Forest, but I've spent most of my life in and around Everbright, so I suppose it's more like a home to me. I don't really remember the forest; I only lived there when I was very young." The girl's comments on him being a mystery would be left unanswered; not because he wished to be more mysterious, but simply because it was preferential to keep up some kind of divide, so that this girl wouldn't probe him too much.

He returned to the fire and smiled, seeing that some of the larger fuel logs had started to blacken, meaning that they would start to burn in a few minutes. There was a good amount of light and heat coming from the fire too, which left only one matter left on his mind; food. "When you're done bathing, gather up a good bunch of those cattails and come join me by the fire," he called out to the girl, whilst using his knife to peel the outer skin from the hazelnuts. He then stuck the end of his knife into one and held it out over the fire, gently roasting it. He would have been happier eating the rats he had seen scurrying around the bushes, but he didn't think that the princess would take too well to the idea of eating a disease-carrying rodent, so nuts, berries and reeds would have to suffice tonight. As they probably would have to do for the next few nights, too.