by Lisa Daneils
If only it were that easy, Aiden’s mind thought as the wind whipped past him. If Liam tried to bond with the Blue Kingdom with the current bonds he had to the Golden Kingdom, it would likely destroy both. No, the only replacement for Aiden was one of the nobility in the Blue Kingdom. And many of them were dying off or going insane like his father.
He could just let it all fall apart, but that simply wasn’t Aiden.
After briefly enjoying the idea of free choice, Aiden relaxed. Shifting, he unfurled his wings and took off back home to check on his father’s current state. Lately, the king had been so agitated that Aiden wasn’t sure that he should leave home.
Maybe Grayson has it right. We are dealing with the problems left by our ancestors. Whatever resolutions we can manage will be like throwing a rock in a volcano in the hopes of stopping an eruption. Aiden’s mind was working so many years into the future that it was difficult to focus on the present. The last thing he needed was the addition of a human into his life to drain his attention from the things that really mattered. If only I could just let it all go and be as indifferent as Grayson pretends to be. It would create a whole NEW set of problems to enjoy. A change of problems doesn’t sound so bad… considering.
Chapter 1
A Woman’s Role
Alannah woke as a couple of people walked past her room. Stretching in her bed, her hand struck something warm and soft.
“Not again,” she muttered, turning her attention to her latest bedfellow.
To her surprise, her companion got very excited at her muttering and immediately got up in her face. It was the tongue licking her that let Alannah know that she had allowed a dog into her bed the night before. Laughing, she tried to block the kisses, her mind stretching back to remember the events leading up to this strange encounter.
It had been a very tiring day, but she remembered meeting the poor creature just outside the little village where she had ended up spending the night. It was between several larger towns, which usually would have meant she would keep going, but after finding the dog, she had decided to stop at the inn. She had saved the poor boy from a couple of men who were beating it. It didn’t look like they had managed to break anything, but there were some really deep cuts on the pooch.
Once she entered the small village, Alannah had noticed the inn. There she had found a nice family who seemed down on their luck. No longer in a position to be of much help to anyone else, she decided the best thing she could do for them was to stay for a night or two, at least giving them money for the room and a couple of good meals. Considering the location, she felt it was likely a matter of time before things picked up again. If the family could hold on that long, they would be fine.
Pushing herself up, Alannah leaned over. “Let me take a look at that wound.” The dog wiggled and whimpered as the young woman pushed her almost white hair out of her face. “Should have pulled it back first, huh. I’m not used to having to take care of someone else first thing in the morning.” She quickly pulled her hair up, then leaned back over. The dog again began to whimper. “Oh, stop being such a baby. My injuries are worse, and you don’t see me whining about it.” Her callused hands were gentler as she looked a little closer at the progress of the deepest wound. She had treated it the night before, and the dog had been much less of a problem—probably because he was so hungry and tired that he couldn’t pull away, much less fight back. After a good feeding and a comfy bed, he was clearly feeling much better. “I’m glad to see you are well enough to complain today. At a glance, you will still need some care, but I think you will be alright. Maybe the innkeeper will let his daughter have you. The girl seemed to want a companion.”
The dog licked her hands, causing Alannah to smile and rub her face against the top of the dog’s head. The poor thing was filthy, but Alannah didn’t much care. She wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect princess with her unkempt hair and beat-up appearance.
“Let’s go see if we can guilt him into giving you a home, shall we?” She climbed out of bed and moved to the corner of the room with a sink and bucket serving as a bathroom. Cleaning up some of the cuts and scratches on her arms and face, Alannah pulled out one of the last pairs of pants she had that didn’t have holes in them.
“Gods, I’m going to have to find a way to get more of these.” She turned back to the dog. “Good thing for me there are so many travelers around here. Shouldn’t be too hard to get the necessary funds, right?” She winked at the dog.
Turning to the mirror, she shoved her hair under a hat, then looked at herself from several angles. Looking like a man was important, but had gotten increasingly harder as the last three years had seen her clothing get increasingly skimpier than she would have liked. The only positive thing was that her shirts looked a little baggier, which hid her chest now that all of her wrappings were gone. Then again, she had lost nearly all of the fat she had, which was not quite as beneficial as she would have thought. At least she had learned to run much faster than when she had lived in the palace.
Wrinkling her nose at the mirror, she muttered, “I have to agree with my father on that one at least. I should have been born a man. All of this would have been so much easier.” The dog on the bed caught her attention. “But then I wouldn’t have met you. Would I?” She walked over and sat down next to the dog, who immediately tried to fit into her lap. Laughing, Alannah said, “You are too big to be a lap dog, you doofus. You are going to have to behave better than this if you want to find a home. Come on. Let’s get us some breakfast. If we are lucky, they will choose to share with you instead of expecting me to pay. If they don’t, we’ll both be in trouble.”
The rebellious princess helped the poor pup out of bed and out of the room to where she knew the innkeeper was. The place had clearly seen better days, but the family who ran it was very nice, if a little uncultured. The dog wasn’t exactly a vicious creature, but she knew that the size of the pooch would be a deterrent to many of the thieves in the area. It was one of the few things she could think of to help pay them back for all of their help, apart from doing any real labor around the inn. The princess knew that staying for more than a couple of nights would lead to more trouble than they would likely be able to handle.
“Good morning,” she chirped as she walked into the bar area.
The innkeeper’s wife strolled over. Giving the dog a quick pat on the head, she said, “Good morning, young man. Did you sleep well? Or did the wounds keep you awake most of the night?”
“The bed was more than enough to make me forget my pains. And I dare say it worked well for the dog too.”
The woman’s eyes moved down and she pursed her lips, but didn’t say anything.
Alannah noticed. “Don’t worry, I will pay extra for the cleaning. Or maybe I could clean the sheets. I just need to know how to do it and—”
The woman laughed, “You know, most people offer to help with some idea of what they are getting into.”
“Well, I figure I was the one so softhearted, I should be the one to fix the mess from my lack of forethought.”
The innkeeper was cleaning glasses not too far away. “I think that little Lilith can help you there. She can show you how it’s done, and you can carry all of the heavy stuff for her. You may be mostly meat and bone, but I dare say that there is a good bit of muscle in there somewhere.”
Alannah nodded. “Much more than an 8-year-old has, to be certain. Sure, I’ll do all the heavy lifting, and it won’t hurt me to learn a little more. It’s not like I can’t learn.”
The man and wife shared a look before she said, “It is quite a strange sentiment for a young man to express, but I applaud the willingness. Your wife will be most pleased when you finally settle down.”
Alannah laughed, “Settling down is the whole reason I’m on the road now. If I wanted to settle down, I would still be at home, several little snot-nosed brats running around my legs.” She laughed a little longer, fighting back the horrors hiding under the surface of the
mention of the palace. “No, the open road is for me. And learning to clean clothes better might help me to keep them a little longer.” As if to emphasize the point, she held up part of the sleeve of her shirt.
The innkeeper shook his head, “I think we all think that as lads. Once upon a time, I wanted a life on the road. Now, you couldn’t convince me to leave this place or my family. I’m sure it will happen to you some day. Some woman will steal your heart, and then…” he moved his hands as if to signal an explosion.
His wife nodded, “It’s much harder for a woman to settle down. We have to be a lot pickier because when men decide to settle down, they want to start having babies right away. If you were a woman, I would suggest you keep right on enjoying the open road because leaving home is much harder for a woman.”
Alannah smiled, “Yes, it must be tough.” She knew all too well how horrible life could be for a woman.
Fortunately, the daughter bounced into the room. “Good morning, Ally. What will you have for breakfast?” Even though she was so young, the girl already knew how to take care of the patrons in the restaurant.
Sitting up, Alannah took on a serious expression, “What would you recommend?”
“Are you hungry?” The little girl smiled, but her tone was very businesslike.
“Very much so.”
“And will your guest be dining with you?” The kid’s eyes darted to the dog.
“That’s going to be up to the lord and lady of the place.” Alannah cast a mischievous look at the pair, who were clearly not amused.
The girl immediately understood what the guest meant. “I’m certain they would be more than happy to share our scraps with the poor dear.”
The father laughed as the mother shook her head to hide her smile. “Oh, you two are a terrible pair.”
“Well, actually,” Alannah cleared her throat, “the dog isn’t mine. I just rescued him from a couple of brutes, resulting in the injuries you helped to mend last night.”
“How could we not? That was quite the nasty cut to your arm,” the wife responded, and Alannah got the impression she was intentionally avoiding talking about the dog. It was a hint of just how difficult it would be to convince them to keep the dog. If she was going to succeed, it was clear that the wife was going to be the one to hold out the longest. The husband had already started to call the dog Lucky, which meant he would very likely say yes without hesitation. But he had not been the one to pick up on what Alannah was hinting at.
Thinking there would be time later to bring it up, Alannah followed the flow of the conversation. “You did far more than was necessary. I’ve been turned away from more than one place when I looked a lot better than yesterday evening.”
“Well, we aren’t that kind of establishment,” the wife said. She then gestured to her daughter, “Go ahead, Lilith, and take his order. We’ll take care of feeding the dog.”
Alannah was still looking for a way to bring up their taking care of the mongrel, but a couple more guests had just entered, and the parents were going to be busy for a bit. She could always stick around for one more night and bring it up later. If they had other customers, the couple would be better served taking care of them than taking care of her. At this point, Alannah really didn’t have anything to offer anyone.
Lilith took her order. When Alannah offered to carry the laundry, the little girl was incredibly happy to hear it. “That means it will take so much less time! Thank you, Ally! Thank you!”
Reaching out and rubbing the child’s head, Alannah smiled, “No problem. The sheets are really dirty, so I bet you’ll need help getting them cleaned up.”
“What did you do? Bleed all over them?” The child clearly meant it as a joke, but it took Alannah a second to realize that. At first, she feared that the child had realized what she was.
Forcing a smile, she said, “No. I let the dog on the bed with me.”
“What?” This was obviously not what Lilith had been expecting, and the horror on her face was evident. It didn’t last. “If I had a dog, I would want to let him sleep with me every night too.”
“The dog would need to be much cleaner if you wanted to have any chance of convincing your parents to let you.” This gave Alannah an idea. “Say, why don’t we take him with us down to do the washing? We could clean him up after, and then he wouldn’t leave such a mess around here.”
“Okay.” The girl was clearly giving it thought, even if she did agree immediately. “Do you know how to get him to sit still for it?”
“I’m sure we can figure something out. How hard could it be?”
Neither of them knew just how much trouble a dog could be. If they had, they could have avoided a lot of the trouble they would soon encounter.
Alannah enjoyed her breakfast and did some more cleanup in her room. When Lilith came up and said she was ready to do the sheets and towels, Alannah grabbed the large basket. When she had first left the palace, she would have had a hard time carrying it. Now, she was able to carry a lot more than a basket full of dirty clothing. A faint smile passed over her lips as the idea flashed through her mind.
The washing ended up being a lot tougher than she had anticipated. During the first year or so, she had refused to do any commoners’ chores. That didn’t last beyond the first year as she learned just how much was required to survive on her own with no extra income. Cooking had been the first thing she had to learn, and it was much harder than she had thought it would be. After burning herself a number of times and eating some disgusting food for a few months in the woods, Alannah had learned to value commoners’ work. Still, she had not stooped to learning washing, and it was only more recently that she had realized that was nearly as foolish as avoiding cooking. How many clothes would she still have if she had cleaned them instead of tossing them?
The pair were chatting away as they hung the sheets over a tree branch.
“I guess the dog is next,” Alannah said, turning to the pooch resting on the bank. He had grown bored, but surprisingly had stayed close to them as they worked.
At first, he responded when they made it obvious that they were going to give him attention. However, when they got him in the water and started trying to wash him, he decided that meant it was play time. Running around them, soaking the pair, the dog quickly made a mess out of their clothing, drenching them from head to foot.
Unfortunately for Alannah, she was wearing a white shirt. It was filthy, but as it clung to her, it was fairly obvious that she wasn’t a boy. Lilith’s attention was on the dog as they finally finished getting him clean, so she didn’t notice.
It was the men standing nearby who were the problem.
“Well, well, well. It looks like we meet again. And this time we have the advantage.”
The dog started to growl and his hackles stood up as the men who had hurt him the day before began to walk toward them.
Alannah spoke to Lilith, her eyes not leaving the two men, “Get the dog home, girl. I’ll take care of this.” The girl began to protest, but Alannah cut her off, “NOW!”
Lilith grabbed the collar they had just put on the dog after the cleaning. “Come on, dog. Come on!”
The dog was growling, but his tail was between his legs. The two men laughed as they approached. Knowing that things were about to turn ugly, Alannah kicked the dog’s haunches. “Run, you mangy mutt!” She hadn’t done much more than tap him, but it had startled the dog. No longer focused on the men, the poor pup gave her a hurt look. Tail still tucked between his legs, the dog let the girl pull him for a few more seconds as what happened sank in. Finally, he turned and ran.
As soon as she knew that the girl and the dog were out of the way, Alannah’s mind was trying to figure out how to take both of them on. Pulling a small knife out of her boot, she warned them, “Upset that I didn’t kill you yesterday? Want me to finish the job?”
“No, girly, we don’t want you to finish the job.”
The word made her freeze for a second. Knowing
that there was no point in denying it, Alannah pulled out a small sword. Now armed with two weapons, she said, “Well, now that you know I’m a woman, there’s absolutely no reason to leave you alive.”
The men growled, then charged her at the same time. The fight didn’t take long. Three years were more than enough time for Alannah to learn how to be an incredibly efficient fighter. A few of the lovers she had taken had been more than happy to teach her a bit because they thought it was funny to see a woman fight. One of them died laughing as he tried to enslave her. Alannah had always been a quick learner.
As good as she was, the woman had not fully recovered from the previous encounter. While she did manage to hurt both of them, one of them succeeded in stabbing her in the back as she killed his partner. Angered, she had pulled the dagger out of her back and had driven it into the second man.
Tired and now bleeding from a wound she could not tend, Alannah knew that she wouldn’t be able to make it back to the inn in time. She fell on her hands and knees, attempting to crawl back. As bad as it would be for the innkeeper family to find out she was a woman, it didn’t seem nearly as terrible as the idea of dying.
She had no idea how much time had passed, but Alannah found her strength completely gone. Collapsing on the ground, she was barely conscious as she heard an unfamiliar voice nearby.
“Not quite the display I had anticipated. Hmm, maybe Liam had a point. It wasn’t possible for all of you to be useless.”
Wondering what kind of afterlife she was entering, Alannah laughed weakly, “Gods damn priests even got that wrong.”
There was a momentary silence that met this response. When the voice spoke again, it definitely sounded amused, “No one’s ever thought of me as an angel before. If I were to keep you around, I might have all the entertainment I could possibly want. Alright,” it was clear that the voice had been pondering her future, without ever considering what she wanted, “I’m convinced that you shouldn’t die here. Just don’t get too high an opinion of yourself just because I’m breaking my rule of not interfering for you. I’m doing this for myself.”
