Umbrella!

"Promise! I promise!"

Aylin suddenly blurted out while wringing her fingers and interrupting the cacophony of the crowd. The hurt and longing lay naked in her eyes and her thoughts taste like gall. An inner torment was eating at her from the inside. She was facing the harsh reality of being a royal blood for the first time. Standing in front of the wrath and expectation of those villagers, she felt guilty and helpless.

But, gulping down that annoyingly tormenting feeling, she blurted out with a determined face, "I promise that I would bring them all back! Alive!"

The crowd became silent once again as they looked in her direction with a dumbfounded expressions. Her confidence was praiseworthy but her claim sounded too unreal to be true.