Swords & Dragons

“…when the stalemate had gone on for almost five years without any ground being reached, Delnar was the first nation to begin to negotiate terms of peace. Knowing that they were evenly matched in battle and so to end the thirty years of bloodshed, they agreed to withdraw their troops and instead begin a healing process with the otherwise brutal nation of Iriee. The treaty, as a result, took many years to forge, and popular opinion of the time saw it as a scrap of paper at best. Those in Delnar saw Iriee only as enemies who were biding their time for what they believed to be a bigger attack. Given how small the nation was, they didn’t want to take any chances.”

-Delnarian History pg. 153 “The end of the Great War.”

Nikolai’s P.o.V

I met Her Royal Highness Princess Eliezra Sunfire, Lady of Delnar, when I was seven years old. Granted back then her title wasn’t such a mouthful – or even if it was she and the many members that made up the royal palace made no effort to enforce it. To me she was always Ellie, an outgoing child with pale skin and wild blonde hair whose antics often left me running half way across the castle as she chased the pixies and gnomes that inhabited the gardens.

It was pure luck I was able to be a part of her life at any rate. The only child to Ruby and Zachary Valentine, my father died in the Great War when I was just a child. My mother was offered a place in the palace as compensation, giving her a steady income and ensuring my education so that our family did not fall into ruin in his absence. We were one of many broken families looking to start anew, and the Sunfire family was seen as our light. They had fought alongside us in the war and they looked after the heroes and families of those whose men did not make it home.

They were showing my mother around her accommodation when I slipped away. Bored of the tour and wanting to explore my new home, I had little comprehension of what leaving the group could mean. A random child wandering around the palace was unusual, and while perhaps not dangerous, was a cause for concern. Yet I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the place. The castle seemed to glow a hot gold in the morning sun, with ivy wrapping all around any vertical surface it could reach. Fallen petals from the many flowers that made up its grand gardens swept around my body, and the fragrance of earth was all that seemed to fill my nose. I remember spinning around in awe until I felt dizzy, drinking in the sights. Somewhere in that process was when I spotted it out of the corner of my eyes. No bigger than my palm, but beautiful beyond all measure, the small fairy regarded me from behind gold eyes, strumming what looked to be some kind of harp in her hand. Letting out a wide smile, she waved before ducking into the foliage, a trail of dust following her movements. Thinking that she was gesturing me to follow her, I ran into the bush after her. Diving into it and ignoring the thorns that scraped my skin and caught in my clothes, all I could focus on was the seemingly innocent creature that had caught my eye. To that end, when she lead me onto one of the many cobblestone paths that made up the maze of the palace gardens, I did not expect anyone else would be around. That’s how I crashed into her.

Having spotted the same fairy, the little girl had made a bee-line to my place and we had collided. The recoil from our combined force threw the both of us back, pain soaring through my head and bottom as I landed on the hard rock path. Both of had cried out, hands reaching up to grip our sore limbs. Having my head smack into the other, my sight was rather blurry, and it took me a few seconds to regain my bearings. However, the girl that I had run into seemed to collect herself quicker, despite the clear discomfort that was laced in her speech.

“O-Ow. Who are you? I really wanted to catch that fairy!” The fairy in question just laughed at us before speeding away, pleased at her little trick and probably off to tell all her friends about it. I rubbed my forehead, the haze in my slight clearing to show the little girl. Dressed in a pale pink gown, her hair fanned around her in messy tangles laced with the flowers that she had picked to wrap in there. Dirt trailed up both of her arms; whether it was from chasing the fairy or some other activity I did not know. She was rubbing her cheek where a faint hue of red was beginning to form from our crash and watching me with wide, mint green eyes. Realising the wrong that I committed, I hastily began to try and apologise to her.

“A-Ah, I’m sorry! Are you okay?” I managed to get to my feet and stumble over to her, keeping a hand over my head to try and press the pain away. She was pouting, still rubbing her cheek, though she did drop her hand when I collapsed next to her with a grunt of pain. Her eyes narrowed in concern and she peered at me.

“You look worse than me…” She trailed off, her hands reaching up to try and pry my hand away from my head. I let her, unsure as to what she was planning and was caught completely off guard when she reached up and kissed the source of my pain. When she pulled away, she was smiling.

“Rachel always kisses my pain away when I hurt myself. Now I can do the same for you!” All I could do was blink at her, something likened to a stunned deer or rabbit. She seemed to relish in my confusion and giggled before standing. I watched her gaze around the garden for the fairy, before giving a shrug and extending her hand to me.

“Fairies are funny, aren’t they? My teacher says that they’re all tricksters, but if you manage to catch one they can give you dust to make you fly! Wouldn’t that be fun?” She must have seen my expression still in agony and still looking at her like she was crazy because she placed her hands on her hip and began to make a tutting noise at me.

“You don’t seem like much of a talker, do you? I did ask your name, though. You shouldn’t be rude.” She scolded. Regaining some sense of composure, I reached out and clasped my hand around her own tiny one. With her help I pulled myself to my feet again, stuttering over my speech before managing to spit out “N-Niko-“

“Nikolai!” My mother had realised that I had gone missing and her shriek was enough to scare a small flock of birds from a nearby tree. The girl by my side flinched at the noise, gripping my hand that was still laced with hers tightly. I must have reacted too; because she peered up at me and inclined her head to the path were the servant’s quarters lay. Her expression was curious.

“Is that your mother?” She asked, seeming to read my mind. I swallowed and nodded at her, to which another set of tuts was admitted from those pale pink lips. “You shouldn’t run off without telling people where you are. That’s what Rachel says to me. That’s why I said to her, “I’m going out to catch fairies!” and she said: “Ellie, you are very silly; you’ll never get one.” I almost had it until I ran into you!” I hung my head at those words for two reasons. One, I knew the repercussions of running off and scaring my mother would be great and two I felt bad for denying this “Ellie” a chance to fly. However, I was interrupted as there was a tug on my hand.

“Come on then! Can’t keep her worrying for long!” Ellie said, trying to pull me forward.

Despite my initial thinking that this was the strangest girl I had ever come across, I let her lead me back home and to the wrath that waited there.

My mother was furious I had left her behind, bellowing something about my safety and that our home was temporary at best. Staring at my shoes, I hid my reddening face behind silver hair as I knew Ellie’s eyes were upon me and my sorry state. In fact, my mother had been consumed by her anger at my actions she had no idea who stood only mere meters from her. So when she turned her head to thank her for finding her son, she found herself stumbling over her words.

“P-Princess Eliezra!?” She said in shock. The young princess didn’t seem fazed by her actions, simply clasping her hands at her front and giving a warm smile to my mother. I, on the other hand, snapped my head up, my wide eyed stare and open mouth gaping at her. She just laughed at me.

“It’s nice to meet you, mother of Nikolai! I promise your son was not naughty. He helped me hunt fairies!” She would then wink wickedly at me and I continued to gape at her like a fish out of water.

From there we were joined at the hip. Ellie enjoyed my company as I did to her. We did as she told my mother – we hunted fairies, picked berries, dared each other who could jump off the large fountain into the deep pools below – everything you would expect of children. We were even taught together, Ellie protesting that she liked to learn with other children her age. This continued until I was fourteen years old and our studies had to deviate. She was to learn political sciences and the art of running her country when her parents departed. Since I was a poor boy, I have no need for such skills. Instead my teachings focused on fitness, running great lengths and enduring the elements.

My want to become a Knight started young. I remember vowing to Ellie that I would stay by her as one. We were just told that our classes would cease together, and the young princess was distraught that we would not spend any more time together. She was standing at the balcony of one of the palace’s many halls, staring idly at the setting sun. I caught her on accident, on my way home to help my mother prepare dinner. Creeping up behind her, I managed to scare her by coughing and send a wave of: “Nikolai! You’re so mean! You need to stop doing that; I don’t want to die this young from fright!” I just grinned, brushing my hair from my face as I went to stand beside her.

“Can a poor man request a princess’ thoughts?” I teased. Ellie pouted; her dislike for how I pointed out her status obvious. She gave a loud puff and shook her head, letting her hands drop away from the railing. She looked at me and I swear I could see fright in those mint green eyes.

“We’re best friends, right?” She questioned. I raised one eyebrow, wondering if she was attempting to trick me into answering her thoughts incorrectly. When they widened further and I feared she would begin to cry if I did not answer, I nodded my head.

“Of course we are, Ellie. Why are you so worried?” Ellie bit her lip and brought her hands close to her heart. She was fidgeting – a habit she accumulated from nerves or fear, normally brought on by our teacher.

“I… I fear we’ll lose touch. I want you to stay by my side always and how is that to happen if we cannot spend time? You’ll start your training and I… I will start this.” Her resentment showed through. Ellie was never one for things like princess lessons. It wasn’t that she was spoiled or that she believed that she did not need such things, just that the expectation that was laid on her to be perfect at everything often lead to her doubting herself. I always thought she was perfect. To this end, I tried to soothe her.

“Do you honestly think I am going to abandon you? If you do, what kind of friend do you think I am?” I asked her. The pressure on Ellie's lip increased as she shook her head violently back and forth.

“R-Right; I’m being stupid. This isn’t going to change anything.” I took her hand then, and her shaking stopped suddenly to peer at the hand and then to me. I smiled at her.

“Hey. I’m training to become a knight. A knight. I’ll be able to stay by your side always – I’ll be able to protect you. You’re not going to let me do that?”

“You promise you’ll stay?” She whispered. I nodded.

“Always.”

So I trained, and I trained hard. The royal regiment was not one to be taken lightly and to get into it required a dedication and skill that not all men contained. Many times I thought myself not worthy, but I remembered the promise I made Ellie that I would stay by her and that made me try harder. My mentor, the old king’s personal guard, made sure my work was gruelling. I ran in the heat, the rain the sun and the snow. I worked both night and day with no idea when I would be stopping for a break. It wasn’t a series of weeks or months either. For four long years this treatment continued, my time spent with the princess becoming shorter and shorter. For every night we spent talking and walking along the gardens was another month that all I saw of her was her face peering at me through the window as I lifted ungodly heavy weights from the gardens. I would always try to wave at her and she would back. She was always worried, the poor girl. She thought that I was working too hard and such stresses would harm me. I thought they were healthy.

On my eighteen birthday, a man by my kingdom’s laws, I was able to formally request to become a guard to Ellie. Her father, Prince James, was happy to accept my proposal given that he had seen me work and he knew my skills were excellent in comparison to many others of my own age. While I lacked the brute strength of others, I had good agility and stamina which made me favourable in the regiment. From there, while my training did not cease (“New and better threats arise all the time, whelp! This is why we must always stay on top!”) my duties were rather simple. I watched over Ellie in her classes and accompanied her to royal engagements where most of the time she would snicker under her breath and make fun of my armour. This existed for a year, and then everything changed.

Standing in the blistering head of the Delnar summer, a deep frown was set on my face as I peered at the castle in the distance. Never did I expect that I would leave my home kingdom. Neither did Ellie, and that was apparent at how she had acted when the demands were brought to her. Furious at her predicament, yet knowing there was nothing I could do, I waited for her arrival.

My beautiful Ellie – only a day over eighteen and here she was trying to have the grace and poise of a woman much older. I could tell she was scared, for she made no effort to hide it, but to the outside world she had to be as mighty as her father.

Dressed in robes of yellow silk she rode out on her palomino horse, keeping her head as high as it could. Forcing a smile on my face, I tried to reassure her as I always did.

We were together still. At least for now.