Despairing.

The place the princess resided in was a small mansion at the outskirts of the capital. A small royal mansion. Which ment that it was still towering over the neighbouring buildings with its pompous design, many windows, floors and rooms. It wasn’t as big as the actual palace at the heart of the city, where the food is said to arrive cold from the kitchen, but still an impressive building.

Lacos remembered his first day here like it was yesterday. Stef had sought him out, he was a renowned wandering healer at the time, and then rode him here from a nearby village. He then had been guided through the many corridors of the mansion, a necessary help. All the corridors looked pretty much the same, row of windows to the left, row of doors to the right, in between illustrations carved into oak, the occasional painting or statue, maybe a vase. Over time, he started to find his way around here without a problem.

Still, he got nostalgic every time he was guided to that door. Like the other ones it was an impressive piece of woodwork, but this one was also decorated with a small golden circle in which laid a sigil. The left half of the circle was black, the other a light shade of grey on top of it the depiction of a golden crown. The sigil of the Crowslaw, the royal family of Falbrein.

“I will leave you to it then.” Stef said and stomped away. He disapproved of somebody who didn’t believe in Alxer but instead in some heathen god meeting his princess, but he had to obey his oath as a knight. “Thanks, Stef. Have a great day!” “KNIGHT Stef!” was the last comment he got before Stef vanished around a corner.

Lacos knocked on the door once. No answer. He blinked a few times in confusion. Surely Sarine must have heard the conversation. Behind the door he heard a rapid clacking sound. He knocked again and waited for an answer with a patient smile. There was no need to rush things, the birds in the background provided a nice background melody to him just standing there. In his opinion having nothing to do was a good thing, it meant that nobody recently got hurt, or poisoned, or stabbed, or….

His train of thought was rapidly halted when the door flew upon, a hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him inside. He stumbled a few steps forwards, by the person that had just grabbed him and almost fell down. “Princess, this is rather unbecoming behaviour of you.” He said as he tried to get back his balance. “A normal ‘Come in’ would have been enough.”

Sarine closed the door quickly. Her crimson hair was long and fell down to the middle of her back where it was bundled together by a grey steel ring with a black stone set into it. Free strands framed her face. With the high cheekbones and fair skin she was quite the beauty, no doubt she was going to have many potential lovers once she came of age. The dark blue dress she was wearing didn’t reveal a bit of cleavage but the tight cloth made it impossible to misinterpret her curves, medium sized breasts followed by the elegant curved of her waist and hips, a long skirt that laid partly on the floor hid the rest.

Her blue eyes fell on Lacos. “What am I going to do, Lacos?” She asked, slightly panicked and started running up and down in the room. She had more than enough room to do so, her splendid apartments after all contained not only a bedroom but also her own bathroom and living room, all of which were bigger than Lacos small chamber on their own. The furniture was similarly noble, only the finest wood and greatest craftsmen were allowed to provide for the royal family. A door made of a many individual windows led to the balcony, which allowed Sarine to look over the court of the mansion.

As the princess continued her stride up and down the same route, from the door to the balcony and back, Lacos realized that the clacking noise he had heard earlier was Sarine’s high heels hitting the marble floor repeatedly. How she managed to walk that fast in that long a skirt was a mystery to Lacos.

“Calm down, Princess.” Lacos said a bit amused. “I will calm down when I feel like calming down.” Sarine shot right back, “Right now I feel like running around the room.” “Sounds like the recipe for a panic attack.” “You think?!” Her voice was slightly shrieking. She cleared her throat, “You think?” She repeated, more dignified. “Whatever, read the letter on the table.”

Lacos turned to his left and looked at the working table of Sarine. Although absolutely tidy and organized the amount of letters on there was to high to guess which one she meant. He stepped a bit closer and scanned over the table. With every day that she got closer to her eighteenth birthday Sarine got more letters asking for her position regarding the succession.

Officially, she was next in line, the regency of her uncle ending with her coming of age, but the voice in the population for Tolfin Crowslaw to remain King was a strong one. Sarine, caring very much about her people, could not just ignore that but leaving the betrayer of her parents in charge was also not acceptable.

Lacos eyes fell on a letter that had been opened without the usual dignity. Ripped open, parts of paper still sticking to the wax seal on which the royal sigil was depicted. It laid close to the middle of the table, next to ink, a feather and a started but scrapped answer letter. Lacos guessed that this was the letter she was talking about.

‘To my honoured niece,

I, Regent Tolfin Crowslaw, invite you to the festivities in a week. We will be celebrating your coming of age and therefore your presence is highly sought after. I wish that you could also speak to the court at such a joyous occasion. Please let me know when you will arrive as soon as possible.

With great respect,

Tolfin Crowslaw.’

The letter sounded a lot more urging than being invited to your own birthday party would normally be. “You see my problem now?” Sarine said and gnawed at her thumb as Lacos put the letter back on the table. She was still walking of course and Lacos head followed her passing him repeatedly while they talked.

“Your uncle wants to urge you into talking in front of the nobles.” Lacos said, “It is not that I have to talk in front of the court, it is what I will have to be talking about.” Sarine answered, “This is about the succession, everything is. Whatever I say about it will cause an uproar.” “Then don’t talk about it.” Lacos suggested with a smile. He knew that wasn’t an option but he was here to find Sarine find an answer on her own, not provide her with one. “No, no if I do that I lose face. They will think I shy away from confrontation, that I am weak.” Sarine continued to gnaw on her thumb, “As your medic I suggest you stop that.” She looked confused for a moment and then pulled back her hand “Right, nervous behaviour.” She mumbled.

Lacos smiled faintly as Sarine continued to walk up and down, her thoughts apparently pending back and forth in the same vain. Frustrated she turned to Lacos. “Don’t just stand there and smile, isn’t your religion about counselling people?” “That would do Tlaxacala no justice.” Lacos said, “He teaches us that every person of wisdom should find a person of power which he can support. I choose you, Princess, because I believe that you will make a fine ruler.” “So I should proclaim that I will take the crown?” “That is not what I said.” Sarine stopped in her stride, turned her head and now walked towards him.

She raised her face up to his and her blue eyes stared into his with slight anger. “Then what are you saying?” She asked. “Sarine, whatever your decision is going to be will cause and uproar, as you have stated yourself. I suggest you take a step back and think about the pieces involved.” Sarine pondered for a moment before sighing and taking a physical step back.

“As always you speak in tongues that are confusing but helpful.” Lacos shrugged as Sarine started walking again, slower than before. “The pieces involved…” she muttered. “That would be me, my uncle, the court and the people.” “Yes, you don’t know what you want.” She gave Lacos an unpleasant glare, “I guess so.” She gave in and turned her gaze back to the floor. “My uncle is afraid of me. Not only can I take power from him but he also doesn’t really know me or my ideals.” “Your relationship is frosty to say the least.” Sarine nodded and continued her train of thought. “The nobles are divided on the issue, I am the legitimate heir but also and unknown factor. The people…” She stopped again looking disheartened, “The people are afraid I will turn out like my father and drag them into another war.” She looked like she was repressing the urge to ruffle her hair out of frustration. Then she kneeled on the floor and hid her face in her dress. Gone was the determined woman, replaced by a timid girl.

“Who am I to blame them for that?” She asked, her voice muffled by the thick cloth. Lacos walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Princess, they don’t know you.” He said, “They need time to get to. You have lived here in this mansion all your life, sheltered and hid away.” “Time…” a small sniff and Sarine raised her head again. A bit of tears in her eyes which she blinked away quickly. “Time.” She said again. The blue in her eyes seemed to lighten up and she jumped on her feet. “Of course, time! Lacos, you are a genius.” “I wouldn’t go that far.” The Draconoid said, “I only was in the middle of my class at the Banfaul Academy.”

“Then you are just lucky.” Sarine said and smiled at him. Although her eyes were still a bit reddened the determined look was back, stronger than ever having replaced all of the angst. “Call a messenger, Lacos, my uncle will get his answer. I will attend the festivities like he asked.”