Five

"Lucinda?!" Vivian squeaked as she recalled her earlier interaction with the lean blonde woman. In the moonlight, she could see Lucinda was wearing the white linen shirt tucked into brown canvas pants. She wore no shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a long braid.

As the brute begin to stand again, Lucinda tossed the chair legs across the room and pulled her great sword from its sheath. It was then that she recognized the sheath and made the connection,

"You're the knight captain??"

As the large man began to regain his balance, Lucinda rammed her shoulder and the hilt of her sword in the middle of his chest under the ribs. The man coughed and staggered back into the wall beside Vivian, who jumped as the wall shook against her back. Sword still in hand, Lucinda quickly twisted and landed her foot right into the attackers jaw. His head slammed into the wall behind him and he groaned. She sheathed her sword, stood over him, and grabbed his shirt,

"Who do you work for?" She snarled, grey eyes aflame in the blue light.

"Myself," the man grumbled, "the girl looked rich. I needed a meal."

"You expect me to believe that?" Lucinda somehow lifted his back off the wall and slammed him against it again harder. Vivian wondered how it was possible for a woman to possess that kind of strength.

"I swear, lady, jeez. I'm just hungry!" The man put his hands over his face and Lucinda backed off,

"You picked the wrong target."

Vivian saw the fear in the man's face and believed him. It made her feel sorrow that her people were starving to the point that they felt they had to rob someone...

"You should have just asked," Vivian muttered, collecting herself. Lucinda stared at her, mouth agape. The man looked at her, slowly lowering his hands. Vivian pulled one of her gold rings off of her left index finger and dropped it on the floor in front of him.

"My lady, what are you doing?" Lucinda made eye contact with Vivian and they stared each other down for a few seconds. She knew how crazy she looked. This man attacked her, he may well have killed her.

"He could be lying," Lucinda told her.

"Or not," Vivian replied.

The man clawed for the ring on the ground and stumbled to his feet, running from the room and coughing as he went. Lucinda relaxed her stance. Vivian saw her more clearly. She had a short but sharp nose, with pronounced cheekbones and a wide jaw. In the white light, Vivian could make out freckles on her sun kissed cheeks. Her features were mature and strong, but at the same time almost boyish. Her gaze still held like blue fire, angry and uncontrolled, but her voice was instead kind and firm, almost like a parent,

"He attacked you, why would you give him something valuable? All that tells him is that he can do it again to someone else."

Vivian felt a fire rise in her. She felt betrayed by her family that she did not know the state of her people outside of the palace... why hadn't she sought more information? She could have helped.

"I am the princess and you have no right to question my decisions," Vivian clenched her fists and faced the warrior woman head on, ignoring the fear she felt.

"Oh," Lucinda said, placing her hand on her chest, "That's how you'd like to play it then. Well it is my job to keep you safe, so, please let me know next time you'd rather work things out on your own with an attacker. He really looked like he wanted to chat."

Vivian's eyebrows furrowed together. The two women stared at one another intensely. Lucinda looked down at Vivian, at least 5 or 6 inches taller than her, but Vivian didn't back down,

"I am here to help my people, not hurt them."

"If you shell out your jewelry to every poor soul in this kingdom you will have nothing left before the end of a day. We won't make it to the Northern kingdom," Lucinda's words were like knives, but she said them in such a collected tone it was almost deceiving.

Kai appeared in the doorway without a sound,

"Luci, what happened here?"

Lucinda looked at him. She bowed lightly to Vivian and brushed past him out the door,

"You can ask our lady."

...

Kai lit the candle in Vivian's room with a match and she explained to him what had happened. She pulled the quilt off of the bed and sat wrapped in on the floor as he sat across from her. He listened carefully to her and nodded along,

"I see. I was on watch outside, I'm sorry I wasn't here to assist in your protection."

"You couldn't have known," Vivian said, shaking her hands out in front of him. She wasn't looking for an apology,

"It was infuriating! He was just a poor man."

"My lady, I must tell you that I would have killed him immediately," Kai said, his tone going cold. The empty look in his eyes actually scared her for a moment.

"What?" Vivian whispered, "Why?"

"We were ordered to kill anyone who dare lay their hands on you. Our knight captain though, it seems, would prefer to retrieve information and then let them go..."

"He was just looking for money," Vivian said, feeling sudden guilt over her treatment of Lucinda, followed by an immediate desire to defend her choices.

"It makes no difference, princess. Our sole duty on this journey is to protect you. We will always do what you say, but you must understand that though it may seem cold, we have your best interest at heart," Kai was so level-headed that she almost couldn't believe he would side with Lucinda. Though when explained to her calmly, she could be more thoughtful about it.

"Luci is a force, and I apologize that she chooses to use aggressive communication with you, but she is right. We cannot be too careful lest we risk our entire country's livelihood," Kai told her.

"I think I'm realizing that I do not know a lot about this country's livelihood... I should thank the knight captain for ensuring my safety," Vivian felt she would feel defeated in doing so, but she also would've been a goner without Lucinda's entry.

"How did a woman become the knight captain? Or I guess, how did she get so strong?" Vivian asked Kai. He laughed heartily,

"That is probably something you will want to ask her."

"She hates me."

"Oh I don't think so," Kai chuckled, "But in all seriousness, you will help your people most by completing your mission, princess. Think not of each person individually, but rather the country as a whole. This alliance will be critical to our health as a kingdom."

Put in those terms, Vivian began to understand. Kai was right. In realizing the challenges faced by her country, of course she will want to fix them as they become apparent, but doing so would prevent her from saving the people as a whole. To get wrapped up in the tiny details would be a detriment.

"Thank you, for speaking with me," She told Kai.

"Of course. Goodnight my lady," Kai replied.

Though she did not sleep that night as the reality of her responsibility weighed heavily on her.