Before I Sleep... (Closed for OreoCookie)

The kingdom was going to fall within a matter of days, of that there was no question. In truth, if the sun rose and set even once more over the castle nestled in the city of River's Bend, it would be a surprise to many.

Rumors had been coming in from the surrounding territories for months, telling of an army that bares no colors sweeping the lands attacking travelers, merchants, military...anyone they happened upon was a potential target for their rage. Men, women, and children were all laid low with equal calmness. King Edward Richtor had been in communications with his allies, seeking to strike the enemy down, but to no avail. With no clear indication where these forces originated, there was no way of knowing where to aim retaliation. The best any could hope to do would be to hope and pray for troops to be in the right place to prevent the next attack. Were they not so random and widely spread, forces could be focused in readiness, but it was not to be; The faceless army was nothing if not unpredictable. It was only by the grace of God that a badly wounded man should arrive at their gates, barely able to cling to the horse he rode, and tell that the enemy had razed his village to the bare soil...and that they appeared to be heading this way.

As so it had come to pass that tonight, under the cover of darkness marred only by the silver light of a narrow sliver of moon, that the princess was to removed from the castle. King Edward had taken the captain on the palace defense forces, Victor Craine, aside to make this plea to him; Should the castle be lost, the royal blood was to live in the form of his sole heir, and therefore the princess was to be taken to allied territory across the sea. The port city of Pyra was the central hub of a mighty naval fleet, and would not easily be taken by surprise should the invading forces attempt to expand their agression to other continents. For all of Victor's insistence that he be allowed to remain and protect the castle, to his final breath if need be, the king was adament.

Dressed as plainly as possible without looking suspiciously shabby, Victor waited with his men in the main hall, giving what may be his final orders (Please Lord, let them not be, he thought), and hoping to have a respectable distance behind them should the attack truly come tonight. His military bearing was difficult to disguise...standing over six feet tall, broad in the shoulders and visibly muscled, he clearly had combat experience regardless of the simple tunic he wore...so it had been decided he would travel as a mercenary escorting a young woman across the country, which was not so far off from the truth. The advantage to this was that Victor would be able to carry his polearm without it appearing out of place; The bladed weapon was certainly not something to be carried by just anyone.


Sighing, he looked up the hall yet again, as he had done countless times already, anxious to be moving. He knew the princess was unhappy with the idea of leaving the castle; As much as he hated to think such things, in his experience Victor found her to be stubborn, willful, spoiled, and far less mature than her nineteen years. That was the very age he had been twelve years prior when he joined the castle guard, and he had certainly been more an adult than she was likely to ever be. Perhaps this opinion was skewed by a lack of time spent speaking with her, as it was not his place as a guard to do so, but it was the opinion he had none the less. Victor crossed her path a few times in the average day, and in his time he felt she had hardly changed...inwardly at least. Outwardly, it was impossible not to see how she had grown up.

The princess stood five feet, eight inches, much of that in her long, slender legs. Her golden blonde hair was typically worn in an elaborate braid that reached to the middle of her back...a habit she would have to forego in their travels. Even if such a style would not draw undue attention, the fact remained that Victor's fingers were not so skilled as the maids who attended to her highness. Her skin was a pale shade, further emphasizing the shine of her emerald eyes and the redness of her lips. The beauty of her face was not the least of their problems, however, in avoiding attention. Not by a long shot. No, the greatest of their troubles would be the fullness of her breasts. At the age of fourteen, her chest had begun to make itself known to the world, and now, much like the woman who bore them, they practically screamed for attention. Her pert, round behind was little quieter in calling for notice, though drasticly smaller in size.

Yet again, he looked for her arrival, running a hand through his short, unkempt brown hair and over his slightly stubbled chin. They had hundreds of miles of land to cover before they even reached the sea, followed by a voyage of at least three weeks. Without question the princess would make for fine scenery in that time, on the occasions he'd dare to look. Victor could only hope his impressions of her were wrong, and she may actually be a fine companion in the bargain.

"I'm doing what?" Lila had screeched at her maiden. The woman had been more than a mother to her than her actual one, who she'd rarely ever seen. But that didn't mean Lila was any bit respectful to her. She knew that the maiden had to follow her orders, she knew where she stood in the lineage, and she knew that what she wanted was what she got. But it didn't seem this way this time. The woman had just told her about the impending danger, and that she'd have to go off with one of the men from the guard. She'd felt their eyes on her, all too often. She was not going to go with one, to some strange land. It wasn't happening.

As she hissed, scratched, screeched and pleaded, her maiden, accompanied by many others, forced her into peasant clothing. Plain, brown and tan clothing, likely made out of that disgusting cow hide, with no sparkle or pizazz at all. Below that, they'd strapped down her chest, attempting to make her breasts less of a cry for attention, and it really wasn't comfortable at all. She missed her usual corset, hidden by her flashy dresses.

"When I get back, you're all fired!" She screamed, her usually pale face red with anger, her green eyes glistening with malice and hatred. At least she was making things hard for the women. None had managed to avoid her perfectly kept nails, and most of them had visible scratches on their faces. "And you, Patricia," she hissed at her maiden. "You will be beaten and tortured. This, I swear to. You'll wish for it to just end, wish for yourself to be killed. I'll watch this all, with great pleasure, and you'll regret ever disobeying me."

Patricia ignored her, taking a step back to look her over. She signaled one of the other women, and Lila felt hands on her hair. Her eyes widened. What on earth were they doing. "Get off of me, you filthy harlots!" She squealed, trying to swing around and strike at them. But she was held tightly by some of the larger women, and couldn't budge. Her hair was undone swiftly, and redone in a less conspicuous way. She looked much more like a peasant, now. Yet, she looked nothing like one at the same time. She was too proud to ever come across as a working woman, too beautiful to be considered one.

"Victor Craine," Particia said finally, "Will be the guard accompanying you. At least try to remember his name. And don't threaten him. He may not be as patient as we are. You will go by the name of Darlene Atkins. Behave, to the best of your ability, and whatever you do, do not give away your true identity." And with that, she grabbed Lila by the arm, and dragged her down the hall to where her companion waited.

The princess Lila came into the hall after what seemed a rather long time to Victor. From the look of her, she was less than pleased with the prospect of their journey, but at least her attire was suitable for fitting in. Now if only she could lose the haughty attitude she always had about herself.

Victor saw this to be a good chance to let Lila know that she was losing a degree of her authority, and he would be gaining some. He circled around her, losing her over from all angles; Mostly to be sure her disguise would be good enough, but of course there was a bit of him that simply wanted to admire her undeniable good looks. Seeing the more simple, common plait of her hair, he lifted a few locks and nodded approval to Patricia.

"You've done well with her, Patricia. The clothes are plain enough, so she'll only get the typical looks. I can only hope my own presence nearby will keep most of the men at a distance...but not all of them, I'm sure. We will need to pass through some rough places, with unsavory types; Inns, taverns, and such."

At this point, Victor looked down into Lila's eyes, addressing her with an even, calm tone. He was stating a fact to her, which he hoped would get through without too much arguement or disdain. "Even with your most prominent features restrained, such as they are, you still have obvious charms. Your face being one of them, we'll need to rub on a little dirt once we're on the road." He put a hand up to stop the expected complaint. "We will. It's my job to protect you, which I'm going to do at the peril of my own life if needed, but it's your job to not make that any harder than it must be. As such, I'm going to expect you to listen to me and to believe that what I ask is for your own sake...Darlene."

She was truly not happy with the situation she was in. The way he looked at her further confirmed her paranoia that he would try to have his way with her, and made her quite uncomfortable. Her arm raised to protect herself, but was held back by Patricia. She hissed as she felt her hair being lifted, as if to remind him of his place, and of his job. He was not to touch her. If she had to stab him to get that through his peasant mind, she'd do so.

Lila's eyes conveyed how much she hated him, in that moment. This... guard. This man that had no authority over her... He was ordering her around? Her body moved forward suddenly, as if to strike him, but Patricia held her back. She gave another pull, but Patricia held fast. Damn, that woman was strong. Instead, she sneered at him, and said, in her most haughty voice. "I'm not messing up this face with dirt."

However, a part of her knew that she would mess up her face. Against her will and better judgment, she simply did not want to be raped. And if rubbing dirt on her precious face was the ticket out, then so be it. But she wasn't going to let him have that easy satisfaction. She'd fight him until the last possible moment, and then swipe on the dirt in a huff, obviously upset about it, but making it clear she was doing it of her own volition. This man would not hold any power over her. She promised herself that one thing. Even if she had to go on a long, strenuous journey, she'd hold the power.

"Don't even think about laying a hand on me," she told him, her eyes conveying the meaning behind her words. When she returned, she planned to do everything she could to get this man removed from his post. And him touching her would make that a lot easier.

Victor listened as the princess told him she would not be marring her pretty face with dirt, and further that he was not to touch her. He looked past her towards Patricia, and then to the guards gathered there. They gave Victor looks that conveyed sympathy, but he wasn't too terribly bothered; This was pretty much what he had expected from Lila.

"That's quite alright; Your face will be dirty enough with road dust before too very long anyway. As for landing a hand on you..." Victor stopped and took a breath. He had almost told the princess that she had much too high an opinion of herself, and that he could manage to contain himself somehow. "...I wouldn't think of doing such a thing. Whatever disguises we have to wear in our travels, you are still the princess, and I'm just the undeserving soldier in charge of keeping you safe. So I suppose we should get moving; The sooner we leave, the sooner we arrive and the sooner we're done with each other."

He was already walking out, to the sound of someone drawing in a sharp breath over what he had said to Lila. Victor knew he would hear about that comment, but he was already displeased to leave his duties in the castle, even for such an important purpose. Making a promise to himself to maintain his composure, he continued walking, expecting that Lila would follow. If she chose not to, well...she would be the maids' problem again.

She was about to cut in and say "And don't you forget it!" when he continued to talk. She sneered at him, a look that could kill bunnies. But he'd already turned away. How dare he say such a thing to her? Sure, she agreed with him, but she was also pretty sure that he hadn't said it for her benefit. He wanted to get rid of her. She grinned evilly, now.

"Oh. Don't worry. You'll be more than done with just me." She scuttled to keep up with him. "You don't think you're coming back here, do you? Why else would you have to look after me, instead of defending the castle?" She tried to put an innocent look on her face, but that just... wasn't something she knew how to do.

"Father's not bringing you back, Sir Knight," she said those words with particular venom behind them. "Especially not after you treat the princess so poorly. You think those words won't reach his ears? I'll make sure he hears of them, and any other you say against me. You're on thin ice here." She huffed and regained her composure, speeding up to walk in front of him, as if she had some inkling of where she was going. "I suggest you don't blow it."

Victor was taking deep breaths, keeping his temper in check, as he listened to what Lila was saying to him. She tried to mask the thick contempt of her words with a look of angelic innocence upon her face; The look was as wrong on her face as the common, drab clothes on her body.

When they were on the edge of town, about to truly set out upon the road, he stopped and faced her. Victor went so far as to hold her shoulders gently, to be sure she looked him in the eyes. Naturally, the princess struggled away, and he took hold of her a bit more forcefully. He locked eyes with her and spoke in a deathly serious, even tone.

"You're absolutely right...I won't be coming back here most likely, and your father won't be taking me back. If rumors prove to be true, there will not be a here to return to...or a king to call me back. That's why I've been ordered to move you, to keep you safe. You are the whole of the Richtor blood line, and it's my duty to see that you remain safe until we arrive in Pyra across the sea."

He let her go and took a step back, pointing up the road. "Just allow that all to settle in. Now then; I'm going to be going this way, heading for the coast. You can come with me and endure my 'bad treatment' if you like. Otherwise, the castle is right back there...for as long as it's standing." He motioned back the way they had come, where the castle could still be seen. He planted the butt of his weapon in the ground and leaned on it, watching her face while she made up her mind.

Lila's jaw locked up. How dare he? HOW DARE HE? She wanted to scream. Through a tantrum. But she was too old for that. She had to remain cool. But how could he stand there and talk about her home... her father... his King... like it was nothing. Her face contorted with the thoughts in her head. She looked at the ground and closed her eyes for a moment. She couldn't cry. She didn't cry. It wasn't... she just... she hadn't cried in years. Now was not the time to start.

She stared at him, her chest heaving with the emotion running through her body. She detested this loathsome creature oh so much. Nothing could make her go with him. Nothing. Except for the fact that she had no where else to go. She hated the fact, almost as much as she wanted to scream. But she had to go with him.

Her face finally settled in a very distasteful look that on any other face would have been quite unattractive, but somehow, on her, it was quite pretty. The only face in the world that could pull such a look off. With a look of utter defiance, she made her way toward him, glaring.

"Where are we going?"

Victor sighed softly, more than a little disgustd with himself. It had been a cruel approach, but he felt it was the correct one to use. No sugar coating...no dancing around the issue. He had simply told Lila the state of things. He could see a flurry of emotions moving through her, not the least of which was anger; From his words? His touching her? Hell, probably both, above and beyond the horrible situation she had been thrust into.

"We need to make our way east, out to the coast. From there, we're going to find passage across the sea into Pyra. They have a strong fleet, and there's little chance that the attacks here will continue there. You'll be safe."

Victor didn't mention the posibility of the rogue army circling round and approaching on land...Pyra's navy would be utterly useless should that happen. If the idea never occured to her, it was one less thing the princess would have to worry about. He started walking again, slowly, looking back frequently. For one, he wanted to be sure Lila was near at hand. For another, as long as the castle was still within sight, he wanted to see it.

"...I don't want to be doing this any more than you do. Not because of you. I don't like the notion of giving up...that this was the only way. I'd never compare my situation to your own, and I'm not asking for your pity, pr-- Darlene..." He'd have to get used to that before his tongue slipped and got them both into trouble. "But I would ask you to bare that in mind; I'm losing rather a lot as well."

The thought did occur to her, but she kept it to herself. If the thought hadn't occurred to him, it didn't matter. She didn't expect to live all that long, anyway. Sure, he looked threatening, but why would her father send a good guard away from the castle at his most desperate time? Sure, she was the only way for the line to continue, but why would he care? He'd be dead. She chocked back her feelings and looked at him as he spoke. She sneered again. "As if I care what you're losing?"

She was lying though. She cared. If only a little. A part of her felt bad that she was causing him to miss the battle that he obviously wanted so badly to be a part of. "Go back if you want to so badly," she added. She said it in a rude, sarcastic way, but that same part of her meant it sincerely. She didn't really think herself worth it. Not if she was going to die either way. If she thought she'd have a larger chance with him by her side, she wouldn't have said anything, sarcastically or not.

She bit down again, tightening her jaw as she thought about her situation. "I'd never pity you," she said finally. "I don't pity. I don't care enough about you to pity you. Why should I?" She gave him a smug smile. Why would he think she'd pity him? Did he really think she'd care at all about his situation?

Victor kept walking as the princess talked, allowing her to vent her anger and agression. He'd come into this expecting complaints, and at least it was distracting her for the moment. Once this current topic had run dry, he didn't believe it would be long before she started in on how rough the road was, how sore her legs and feet were getting, how tired she was, and so on and so forth.

"I'm not going back no matter how much I may want to, because I was ordered to watch over you; Unlike some who've grown up in the lap of luxery, whose only responsibility is to look pretty for the guest, I understand duties and I see them through." He turned his head to look her way. "You can strike me for that when we set up camp. And as for pity, I know you don't care about my situation; That's why I said I'm not asking for it. It's been perfectly clear to everyone for years the only pity inside you is self-pity,because of what a...hard, terrible life you've lead." He held up a pair of fingers. "You can strike me twice."