The Final Days of Springborough
Chapter 6: The Resilient Princess

As Kyrstin ventured into the woods, she was only slightly afraid of the way she couldn’t see anything past the first row of large trees. Sunlight seemed to bend and weave through the branches, only to illuminate the fog that appeared to rise up from the moist dirt, but never reaching her. A cold wisp’d its way through her cloak and dug seemingly straight into her bones. She shivered, trying to get warm, and continued on toward her grandmother’s house.

The last time she came this way to visit her grandmother was countless moons ago with her parents in a horse-drawn carriage. Looking at the pathway now, she was surprised that a carriage could even fit on the dirt trail amongst all the trees. Perhaps more shrubs grew along the path since that day, but everything seemed placed there ages ago. Obviously, this road was built to only allow visitors passage one way, which also meant that her grandma did not receive many visitors.

Such was the reason her grandma, the ex-queen, lived out here in the forest. Her grandma’s entire life was spent being surrounded by people that were asking for favors, advice, and decisions. So now, Queen Grace, who ruled Springborough for fifty years, was surrounded by trees “who talked considerably less”, she would say. Although, to Kyrstin, the trees seemed to be giving her constant warnings.

Turn back! Kyrstin felt they implored of her. Don’t come any further.

They might actually be saying it. Kyrstin knew of a witch back in Springborough that could make words travel on the wind. Why couldn’t the witch of Springborough have these trees say whatever the ex-ruler wanted? Queen Grace (as she was still to be addressed, even though she wasn’t the current Queen) held large sums of wealth still and could pay anybody any price to do anything. Where she kept the money, nobody knew. But everybody knew, it wasn’t at the cottage, and so don’t bother robbing her. It was common knowledge that the older woman didn’t want to be bothered, and anybody who should drop in on her unexpectedly, would face the wrath of the kingdom, no matter how innocent the visit was to be.

Kyrstin could visit whenever she wanted. That was also known.

The reason why Kyrstin hadn’t visited for so long was that it was nearly impossible for her to catch up on her studies if she missed a day. For Kyrstin, it was exceptionally hard because she wasn’t too intrigued in the first place. So, knowing this about herself, she knew her only chance of keeping up with her work was to not take a day off. And so, she’d write her grandmother short notes of “I love you” so her grandma knew she was all right, but stayed in the castle and focused on work.

“But, everybody needs a mental health day once in a while,” Kyrstin whispered to herself, clutching the wicker basket, firmly believing that one more day within the castle would send her into a stir crazy stupor. Already, the fresh air was doing wonders. She could feel it, cool and crisp as she breathed the air into her lungs, and could almost feel her lungs put the oxygen into her blood, and her blood carry it through her body.

Crrraaaack!

The sound of a branch breaking somewhere to her right immediately put Princess Kyrstin on high alert, and she switched hands with the basket to put her hand on the hilt of her brother’s sword. Thomas’ weapon, which she easily lifted from his wall this morning, felt heavy on her hip. In these lands, girls were not permitted weapons. By now, Thomas would have discovered it missing. Pretty soon, he’d discover her missing. From there, she wondered how the kingdom would react. Somebody would have to figure out she had come out to her grandmas.

That was, unless, judging by the sound she just heard, somebody has already figured it out, has used his horse to catch up, sneak through the woods, trail her and wait for the perfect time to make his move. The perfect time to leap would be halfway between her grandma’s house and the entry to the woods, where Kyrstin’s calls for help might not be heard. Kyrstin didn’t know if where she now stood would be that spot, but she did know that she wasn’t going to be taken by surprise.

“Who’s out there?” she called, daring the thing to move again, make a sound, or actually answer her.

She brings her sword out, making sure to rotate it so the steel would capture any light it could, making sure the weapon could be seen from the distance, she hoped the next thing she heard was the sound of feet running away. She wouldn’t mind never knowing what it was as long as she knew that it wasn’t going to come after her again.

But, other than the wind through the leaves, and the occasional (maybe) whisper of warnings, no sound came back.

“I know you might believe a girl can’t wield a sword, but I’m here to surprise you. Come out from your cover, if you dare.”

Whatever was following her did not dare to expose itself, leading Kyrstin to believe that upon her first interaction with a foe, she had won. Not only had she won, but she surprised herself with how brave she felt. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, making it almost hard to concentrate. She just wanted to run off the path into the dense woods, toward the noise, swinging the sword maniacally.

Instead, she continued on her path.

After what felt like hours, as the sun rose high in the sky and dangled there, Kyrstin came upon her grandmother’s cottage, a building twenty feet high made of the thickest logs the forest could provide, and nestled upon four tree trunks. The only way in and out of the structure was by a large plank door the Queen could drop at the flick of her wrist. A pulley system of large boulders could also raise the multi-ton door with an equally easy flick of the wrist, designed by Kyrstin’s father, rendering the Queen completely safe of any attackers or unwanted company.

So, it was a complete surprise when Kyrstin found the plank door open, leading right into her grandma’s secured lair. Her grandma was not expecting her. Kyrstin, still holding the sword since she heard the noise, carefully stepped onto the thick wood of the lowered door, and called out to her grandma: “Queen? Grandma?”

No response. Kyrstin waited another moment just in case, but the open door seemed, itself, a wound. The little princess knew that nothing about this situation was any good.

“Grandma, respond to me, please.” Just wind through the windows. “Grandma, as acting Princess, might I remind you, you have to do what I say. Although, as my grandma, I respect you… Respond to me, please, so that I know you are all right. That you are safe.” That I’m safe. Kyrstin wanted to say, the bravery she felt in the woods was receding to fear something bad had happened to someone she loved.

Once in the doorway of her grandmother’s cottage, Kyrstin peered into the darkness, seeing virtually nothing out of place. Her grandmother’s bookshelf still appeared in order. The table was still set for a large dinner that never seemed to happen, complete with long candles that hadn’t been lit. But when Kyrstin took her first step inside, pressing her shoe down into the ornate rug, she heard an unfamiliar sound. The squish of liquid within the fibers.

When she looked down, she saw the red bubbles of the liquid press up against her foot. Princess Kyrstin took a step back, examining what once was a colorful floral pattern in her grandma’s large rug. It was now just a pattern of red flowers against a red backdrop. The royal rug was soaked with royal blood and the ex-Queen was nowhere to be found.

Kyrstin felt that upon this discovery it was now the most appropriate time for a young royal in the middle of the woods to be completely afraid of her current predicament.