Chapter Eight

We arrived at the ridge just after nightfall, I set up camp while Simon unpacked the horses. We decided on a location that was a clearing surrounded by bushes and large pine trees. I put up two simple tents made from some long sticks and simple tarps and a single campfire with Simon's instructions. Simon was sitting on a log as I was tying the horses' reins to a sturdy branch.

"You are so much like your mother, she always loved to build things out of sticks," he said.

"What?" I said.

"Your mother was always very good with animals and people and she always trusted people even if she didn't know them all that well," He said.

"You knew my mother? personally or professionally?" I asked, sitting by the campfire.

"Yes... yes, she was good friends with my son, they spent almost every waking moment together, they loved to climb the hills near the farm," He said.

"But she was the princess of the Emerald kingdom back then, she told me that only she had survived after the destruction of the kingdom," I said.

"She wasn't wrong to have told you that... you see the attack on the Emerald kingdom left oceans of blood from over dozens of bodies, but not everyone in the kingdom was slaughtered that horrible night, the soldiers along with everyone who resisted or ran were killed, but the very young children, babies, and some experienced farmers were spared. My wife was a personal bodyguard assigned to the princess... she was killed in the line of duty, however, my son and I surrendered," He said, hesitation in his voice.

"You probably have a lot of stories about my mother?" I asked him.

"I bet she didn't tell you the one about her first love... When your mother was about five years old, she snuck out of the castle for the first time and went for a walk through the wheat fields when she meant a young boy named Kobe. Kobe was working in the fields with his father harvesting the wheat with their new plows. The two hit it off right away, she stayed in the fields with them lending a hand even after the guards had found her and were trying to take her home. Every day for the next seven years she would sneak out to the fields to see him. I could tell that they loved each other, but they were far too afraid to tell each other. After all those years her father decided to make the mother of the young boy his daughters' personal guard so that his daughter could see her love whenever she wanted. They went on a date a year later; Kobe had planned a picnic on the top of the hill. But it didn't last long, four years later her father asked her if she would agree to marry a stranger to bring peace to an endless war. Suddenly her responsibilities to her people overpowered her love for Kobe. She broke it off with my son to marry the young prince of the knight's kingdom at seventeen years old. But she never stopped loving him, even when she was forced to be a queen, she would sneak out of the castle away from her husband and everyone else to see her one true love in the new kingdom she now ruled. One day the king found out about his wife's betrayal and that the unborn child within her wasn't his but was this other man's child. He locked my son in the dungeon to await execution for treason or at least that's what he called it. Don't worry; my son managed to escape and ran for his life after he said goodbye to his love and child; he is still out there, alive somewhere," Simon said.

"My mother was in love with your son? And they had a child!? Wait which child? There are so many of us," I said.

"The child was the second-born... The king could only have sons, when he found out about you, he considered it to be a curse, he wanted to find a way to end your life while you were still inside your mother, but she fought for you and she never stopped fighting for you even raised you on her own," He said.

My jaw dropped, it couldn't be true, could it? He could be lying only it makes sense that I'm not the true daughter of the king. He always looked at me like I was some sort of witch. I picked up one of the twin blades that were leaning up against the log behind me.

"These belonged to your wife... she must have been someone everyone wanted to know, I wish I could have met her in person," I said.

"Ever since her death, I believed that the power of her soul was still within those blades, they saved her life more times than I could even begin to count... I have something that might help you carry those a bit easier," He said while reaching into the sack.

He shuffled around the inside of the sac for a minute or two before pulling out two sheaths specifically made to hold the twin blades and were connected in the middle to form an X.

"These will allow you to fasten the blades to your back and easily pull them out if needed," He said.

"But I don't even know how to use them correctly," I said.

"Our next destination is a small village filled with a few excellent warriors... it's where my wife learned how to fight, it's also where she grew up, they will be able to teach you," He said.

"Do you have any more stories about my mother's childhood?" I asked.

"Yes, I was there when my mother first touched mud, when she first learned to ride a horse, or when she caught her first fish with a spear... her father was a very proud man," he said.

"Could you tell me one?" I asked.

"Tomorrow, right now you need to get your rest. We have a long journey ahead of us in the morning," He said.

I nodded my head and walked over to my small makeshift tent, crawling in, I faced my head away from the entrance and pulled a thin deerskin blanket over my body. Within seconds my mind was filled with blank thoughts and pictures of faraway galaxies before nothing but darkness was surrounding me.