The Princess And The Stones

Maria felt her eyelids begin to slowly droop down and send her to sleep. Despite Soniadore's rough galloping, she just could not stay awake. They had been riding for a good two hours and quite frankly, she couldn't last any longer. Through half closed eyes, Maria could see the tall, ancient trees that made up the Asiatian woods seemed to rush by, appearing only as long black shadows that quickly faded into the night behind her. Eventually, she found herself truly asleep and fighting the nightmares that came with her moments rest. The thoughts of her family's royal guards torturing the villages back in Asiati taunted her. The guards must have been getting desperate, it had been three years and they had no leads... What extent would they go to?

She had to drop her questions, they only brought more fear into her mind, fear she couldn't afford to have. Everything would be destroyed if she ran back to protect those she loved. Once she'd forced the questions from her mind, she found herself truly falling asleep... But didn't last long.

Soniadore's galloping came to a harsh stop, and Maria found herself being shaken violently awake. "Ria? Maria, wake up," Simon whispered as the horse came to a full stop, "time to wake up, we're in Ishibac now." Though he was right in front of her, Simon sounded so distant, like he was a faint dream.

As she slid down off the horse, Maria lazily opened her eyes just long enough to see Simon and lean on him for support. "Tired..." she whispered, the words almost painful to speak, "so tired."

Simon smiled and wrapped his arm tightly around her to keep her steady. "I know, I know. There's an inn right here." With his free hand, Simon lead Soniadore to the stables at the back. He loudly pounded against the gate to wake the stable boy who'd fallen asleep on the job. The boy jumped up, apologized, and lead Soniadore into the stables for a well deserved rest.

"Here," Simon said, crouching down, "hop on. I seriously don't think you'll be able to make it to the inn."

Maria shook her head. "I'm fine...I'm too old for piggybacks."

"No, you aren't fine. Maria, you're exhausted, you just said you were, now come along." Simon insisted.

Again, Maria shook her head. "No, I'm not tired, I'm..." she let out a deep sigh, "it's complicated."

"It can't be that complicated."

"You'd be surprised," was all she said, before making her way up the stairs to the inn. As she reached the door, her entire body froze. "Simon, I'm not going to go in there. I refuse to."

A grin crossed Simon's face. He knew this was coming. "You aren't scared of a bar, are you?"

"I'm not scared. It's just... A girl like me should not be going into a bar, walking directly into the view of hairy old men who's only ambitions in life are to spend half of it drunk, and the other watching women."

Simon pulled Maria over to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, you've got me to protect you."

"That's what makes me worry," Maria mumbled, resting her head against him for support, "you aren't the greatest guard."

Simon brushed off the remark and whispered “I'm better than nothing.”

Despite his calm, collected exterior, Simon found his palms being to sweat and shake. In his mind, there was truly nothing more terrifying than having to lead his beautiful little sister through a bar. It had been two years since Maria had set foot in a bar, and even as a fourteen year old girl who had barely begun to develope curves and a figure, Maria had drawn lustful glares from much older people that Simon described as nothing less than disgusting.

"We got lucky." Maria whispered as the wove through the chaotic room. The majority of the men were passed out around the room, and even a few women among the mix. Only a few were still consious, but barely. In the back of the room, a bartender stood, carefully cleaning a glass with a cloth.

"'ey!" The bartender called from across the room, "Ain't you Claud's boy?"

Simon looked around the room. When he realized that the bartender was referring to him, he said, "Claudius Harmoniac, right? If so, then yes, he's my father."

"Thought so," he replied with a chuckle, "ya look just like him. Same white hair and blue eyes. Yer even tall and skinny like he use to be."

A weak smile crossed Maria's face. "I can't even imagine Pa being thin like Simon."

"Ha, before he got that potbelly of his, ol' Claud was a twig," there was a mischievous glint in the bartender's brown eyes, "Now, don't ya go and tell yer mother, but I might ta been the cause of that," he said, patting his own stomach, "ale'll do that to a man."

"So this must be where Pa sneaks off to in the evenings when he's supposed to be mucking the stalls." Simon said absentmindedly, his attention really set on surveying the tavern around him. It wasn't a bad tavern, if you ignored the dozens of people passed out on the floor. The walls were varnished the wood shone with like gold. Even the silverwear and glasses were beautiful and valuble looking. It was almost suspicious really. Ishibac was certainly not a rich community, yet you'd never know from the tavern.

The bartender seemed to notice Simon's suspicion. “The royal guards from Karelena were here last night. Had to make the place nice and expensive looking to raise the price of drinks for them. Saved me up enough to buy my girl a ring. And not just any kind of ring, ya know what I mean? Just don't tell her yet, she don't know yet.” From the large pocket in his apron he pulled a small velvet box, which held a tiny, sapphire ring, "Ain't it a beauty?"

  "It's lovely." Maria whispered. Though it was far from being as elaborate and overly detailed like her own former ring, she found it even more beautiful in every way. It wasn't overdone and clearly for show, merely intented to take the breath away of the girl the bartender loved, and that's what made it stunning.

  The bartender smiled with content, "I was hopin' a lady like you would say that. Now, I bet you two want a room, finally get some sleep?" Reaching into his pocket again, the bartender pulled out a single key. “Here you go, last room on the left upstairs. Shouldn't be hard to find.”

“Thank you Mr...” Simon mumbled, finally realizing he hadn't gotten the bartenders name.

“Barrio, just call me Barrio.” He replied warmly.

“Alright, good night Barrio.”

Maria found herself dragging her body along and used the railing to pull herself up the stairs. When she finally reached the room, she noticed something very odd. Simon wasn't with her, and without him, she couldn't get into the room, he still had the key clasped in his hand.

As if he could read her mind, Simon came up the stairs and announced his presence. Maria didn't fail to notice a glass in his hand, and her stomach began to flip around. Whatever was in there, probably couldn't be good. “Is that paromu?” She asked weakly.

Though she had never tasted it before, Maria hated paromu. Even the smell of the orange liquid made her run. She just couldn't drink it.”

“This'll keep you awake,” Simon said gently, as if he were trying to convince a child to take fowl medicine.

Despite her stomach screaming for her not to drink it, Maria reached for the cup and brought it to her lips. A stupid little drink was not worth wasting her limited energy fighting over.

“How do you feel?” Simon asked, his signature smirk on his face.

“Not... Not tired.” Maria mumbled with confusion.

“Good, because we need to talk.” He said as he opened the door, “Now, sit.”

“I knew I shouldn't have taken that drink.” She mumbled as she fell back on the bed. Like a child, she instinctively grabbed the pillow to hide behind. “What do you want to know?”

He sighed as the door clicked shut behind him. There was so much he wanted to know, so many questions he was dying to have answers, but rather than bore the girl with her own life story, he asked the one that had been burning in his mind. “Why do you hate marriage so much?”

“I don't hate it,” she said, “I know it seems like that, but really, I don't. I hate the idea of being engaged, of being married, and having no control of it.” With a slight grin, she held up her left hand to admire the bare finger where her engagement ring should have sat. “My engagement to Oreon was exactly that. I was being forced into it, and after a while, when I wanted out, I couldn't get out.”

Simon nodded, but he still didn't fully understand. “So, you were engaged before?” he asked, in hopes of some clarification.

“Yes, yes I was. Oreon was my childhood friend. We were attached at the hip, and you know what? I loved him as much as an eleven year old girl could love someone. He said he loved me to, and for a while, I think he did. Then everything changed. He was ruined.”

“And that would be?”

She ticked off the three things on her fingers. “Pride, ego, and hormones. The three things that can ruin any good boy and make him an awful man.”

“You'd better change into your nightgown. You'll ruin that dress. Now, one more question, then I'll let you sleep.”

“What is it?” Maria asked. She pulled the pink silk nightgown from the travel bag Moraca had sent with them and gestured for Simon to turn around.

While facing the wall, Simon asked, “Would you agree to marry him again if he changed back?”

“Yes... No... Maybe? I don't know. It all depends, really.” she said.

“Depends on what?” he asked as she sat down beside him.

“Depends on if I still loved him. Though, I probably wouldn't.” she shrugged, not really caring to much about the subject. “I have four thousand years to find someone anyway. You never know, the one I'll love could be even closer than I think.”

“Really?” Simon asked with excitement. He hoped she hadn't noticed his joy. Could she have been referring to him?

“Yes, maybe I'll meet someone along our journey, maybe even right here in Ishibac!”

Simon's heart dropped, but he picked himself up for his sister's sake.

She sighed. “Well, we should get to bed, shouldn't we?”

Simon nodded. “Yes... Your bed is over there.” he reminded, noticing she hadn't moved from his bed. “Unless you want to stay with me? You know, since it's your first night away from home in years.”

Maria nodded gratefully and flopped down on to the pillow. “G'night Simon.”

“G'night Maria.”