Prince Donmal

You were having a terrible nightmare. You had just been woken up by an impending storm and looking out the window when suddenly your mother appeared. You looked at her and asked her what was wrong, but she just stared. Suddenly she turned into a huge clawed bat and flew across the bed. You feel a sharp pain in your chest as its claws pierce your flesh.

You jolt into sitting up, clutching at your chest where you were clawed in your dream. You find no bloody gouge. Looking down at it though, you see a deep purple scar just off center of your chest, marring your otherwise unblemished skin. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes you look around in confusion. This place was not your bedroom. In fact, it wasn't even the castle. You're in a small, one room cottage. The best way to describe it would be cozy. The bed you're on is a single bed with a little wooden nightstand beside it. On the same wall is a tall bookshelf that is full of all sorts of books. The far side of the room houses a cooking fire depressed into the wall with a large iron pot hanging above it. There's also a few counters to the left of that for preparing food. The front of the house consists of two large windows and a oaken door. The windows are adorned with various potted plants and vines. It looks almost as if it was being used as a greenhouse. Several rows of varying flowers were placed in front of the window with care to ensure that all the plants received their necessary light.

In the middle of the floor you see a bedroll and that got you thinking about who owned this place. You're shirtless and you lift the covers to confirm that you aren't just shirtless, but completely nude. You do breathe a small sigh of relief as you see your softened manhood in tact and between your legs where it belongs. You slide out of bed and search around briefly for a change of clothes and find some. Strangely, they seem to fit you. Even if they look a bit plain compared to what you're used to. After making sure that you're looking reasonable you head outside to look around.

The hovel is in a pretty clearing with a small lake, or pond nearly straight out the door. Suddenly your belly growls loudly with hunger. From around the side of the building you hear a woman's voice say, "Well, It sounds like somebody's awake."

You step around the corner, "Uh...Hello?".

A beautiful woman is kneeling and tending a garden, or finishes tending a garden as the case may be. She stands and you find yourself in the presence of an elven beauty. She is head and shoulders taller than you with long silver straight hair that stretches to the small of her back. Her clothes aren't the most modest as her top is shaped to lay just below her ribcage leaving her midriff largely exposed. Her breasts are small and you figure that she's no larger than a B-cup. The exposed skin on her body is well toned and muscular without being bulging. Giving her an athletic look. She has a thin green shawl wrapped around her waist that's easily seen through and underneath she's wearing trousers that stop at her knee.

she smiles warmly at you, "Hello! It's nice to see you awake finally."

You do your best not to gawk at the beautiful woman in front of you, "Uh...Yeah... Sorry, I don't really know what to say in this situation."

Standing, she grabs a basket full of vegetables, "Well, i suppose we should start simply. My name is Tarasynora Reyberos. You may call me Tara, if you wish. I know how you humans sometimes have a hard time with long names."

You scratch your head, still completely confused about what's going on, "I'm Prince Donmal."

"Prince?" a look of surprise appears on her face as she walks towards the door, "Not King Donmal?"

You follow her as she walks into the house, "No...Just Prince. I'm not a King yet...Why? It's an odd question to ask."

"Hmm...A question over dinner, I think." She steps over to the cooking fire and waves a hand at it. You see a spark of flame jut out of her hand and ignite it.

"What happened to me? Where are we?" you sit down and watch her cook, taking in her beautiful curves.

She cuts the vegetables as she talks, "We're in The Great Forest, You have been **** for about two weeks."

"Two weeks!" Your mind reels from the amount of time you've been out. The Great Northern Forest was a dense region of forested lands on the northern border of Itheria. It likely would have taken a week just to arrive. "What happened?"

"What happened to you? I know not, but I know how I found you. I was down near the capital looking for some rare ingredients and found you dumped in a thicket. Honestly, I thought you were dead. There was so much blood..." she dumps the vegetables in the pot of bubbling water, "I used magic to keep you alive until we could arrive here and I could use my poultices and potions to help. By the time we got here though, your actual wound was almost healed. You heal fast, Your Highness."

You rub the scar on your chest impulsively as you mull on what she's said, "You're a sorceress then?"

She shrugs and stirs the stew, "I think your people would equate me more to a witch. "

"You're far too beautiful to be a witch" You recall children's stories you have heard of ugly old women with warts on their noses.

She seems quite pleased by that, "Thank you, but I'm a hermit who brews potions and can do magic. I suspect some of the more superstitious people would still claim I'm a witch."

"Perhaps..." you reply, Tara pours both you and her a bowl of stew and then sits down across from you. You waste no time and take a taste. It is glorious pleasure to your taste buds, "This is...Delicious!" You quickly destroy the food as if it was your worst enemy, Satiating your belly.

"I'm glad it's to your standards, Your Highness" Tara eats more slowly.

"So, earlier you were surprised when I said I was a Prince and not a King...why?" You drink the broth out of your bowl.

Her expression darkens, "I figured you would know..." She gets up and picks up a piece of parchment and hands it to you, "These decrees are all over the villages."

You read it and are shocked at what it says and more importantly who decreed it. It reads:

By Orders of King Donmal of Itheria:

A dangerous catfolk going by the name of Akina has fled the castle!
She's wanted for the violent **** of King Bryce of Itheria.
She's also wanted for the **** of King Bryce's daughter
Princess Anna. If you see this dangerous criminal, please report
Your findings to the city guard. Any information leading to her
capture or **** will be paid with a 10 gold piece reward.
Taking her dead or alive will grant you a 10,000 gold piece reward.

Long Live The King!

Akina was the leader of your father's spymaster corps. She'd never kill him and you suspect that the **** it mentioned is more like protection. You toss the paper on the table, "This...Isn't actually possible. I didn't write that, or decree it."

She looks at you carefully, judging your reaction, "Perhaps we should start with what happened to you?"

"I..." you sigh. "I don't remember.." You recall your dream about the bat-like creature that assaulted you in your room, "I was attacked, by something. I think it was my mother?"

You see her eyebrows raise, "Your mother attacked you?"

"I don't know!" You sigh again in frustration.

"Well, It seems like someone usurped you. someone who can take your appearance, or at least mimic it. What you do about it is something you can do tomorrow. Tonight you need a good night's sleep and I need to check on your wound."

You stiffen, "You do?"

"Of course, I need to make sure it's fully healed. Take off your shirt and lay on the bed."

You obediently do as she says. Taking your shirt off, you lay back on the bed. She picks up a small bucket of water that was sitting by the fire and knees beside the bed. You suddenly become a little self conscious at being shirtless near her. She smells of daffodils and you shiver a little as she presses a warm, damp rag against your scar and you find the situation oddly intimate.