Author's Note: This story is sort of a sequel to "Burning
Reality". You do not have to have read that one, but it would
help tremendously in order to fully understand what's going on in this story.
Enjoy.
King Skarl stood in the courtyard of his castle. His
family had been gathered around him. He wanted them to see this glorious moment.
In front of King Skarl were fourteen men: ten Draconian prisoners clasped in
chains and four Draik guards brandishing pikes.
"Look at them," said King Skarl mockingly. "Our
hated enemy. Pitiful fools at our mercy. Each day we defeat and capture more
and more of them and still they keep coming. We shall win because they won't
learn."
"Maybe they keep coming because they don't have
a choice," a voice snapped angrily.
King Skarl faced the one who dared to argue with
him. He wasn't very surprised when he looked into the face of his youngest daughter,
Princess PlanetTerra. The Acara had become very troublesome lately, asking questions
she shouldn't ask, saying things she shouldn't say. In short, the princess had
begun forming Opinions. King Skarl did not approve of this.
"Care to explain that young lady?" King Skarl
demanded angrily.
"You always told us that the Draconians had no
reason to come here!" Princess Terra snapped. "But you were lying then, weren't
you?"
"I will not be called a liar in front of my own
family!" King Skarl bellowed.
"Well too bad!" Princess Terra yelled. "I heard
you talk to Jeran! I heard you talk about some artefact that they had and you
stole!"
"Don't you dare call me a thief!"
"It's the truth!"
"You know nothing about the truth!" King Skarl
insisted. "You weren't even born when times were bad! You've known only wealth
and luxury. You have no right to speak."
"But you didn't make the bad times go away, did
you?" Princess Terra continued relentlessly. "You just gave them to someone
else to worry about and took their wealth and luxury."
King Skarl was about to respond when he could
hear sniggering. Turning around, he saw the prisoners, grinning, chuckling,
whispering and laughing at him. "Throw them into the dungeons!" King Skarl yelled
at the guards. King Skarl's normally blue complexion turned a shade of purple
as he angrily watched the guards march the prisoners from the courtyard towards
the dungeons. He waited patiently until he was sure that they were out of hearing
range.
"Terra..." he said slowly.
"Yes?" Princess Terra questioned with defiance in her voice.
"If you weren't my daughter, I'd have thrown you into the dungeons for your
words."
"So they must be true then," she said nastily. "If they were lies you wouldn't
have responded like that."
"That's it," King Skarl said angrily. "My patience with you has run out. If
words don't make you change your mind then maybe a night in a dungeon cell might.
Guards!" Princess Terra smiled arrogantly. "Some king you are, dad. Throwing
your own daughter into a cell just because she has a mind of her own. How very
noble of you."
King Skarl turned away from his daughter. "Come," he said to the rest of his
family. "There are still things to be done."
King Skarl walked towards the castle, closely followed by his three sons. None
of them looked back at Princess Terra even once. The queen, however, hesitated.
"He'll turn around, dear," she said.
"Don't worry mom," said Princess Terra. "I'll live."
"I'm sure you will," said the queen, smiling half-heartedly. "I'll make sure
the guards treat you properly, don't you worry."
"I'll be fine," said the princess.
The queen smiled again, obviously not fully reassured. She gave her daughter
a quick hug, then hurried away after her husband.
"I'm so sorry about this, Princess," said the jailer, a large Tonu that appeared
to be permanently worrying about something or the other. "But I'm just following
orders, you know."
"I know," said Princess Terra calmly.
The Tonu glanced into one of the cells, then reached for his keys. With a trembling
paw he selected the correct key and, after a few failed attempts, managed to
stick the key into the lock. He unlocked the prison cell and opened the door.
"This one is empty," he said. "So you don't have to worry about any of the
other prisoners doing something to you."
"Very considerate of you," said Princess Terra.
"Uhm... If you wouldn't mind," the Tonu said, urgently nodding in the direction
of the cell.
"Of course," said Princess Terra. Then, with all the royal dignity she could
muster, she stepped into the cell.
"I'm so terribly sorry about this, Princess," said the Tonu, closing the cell
door and locking it again. "I'll make sure to bring you some food soon, don't
you worry."
"Most kind of you."
"Err... right."
Unsure of how to act around a princess in prison the Tonu quickly bowed, then
hurried off as fast as he could. Princess Terra quickly surveyed her cell for
the night. There wasn't much to survey. It had a few very solid walls, one very
solid ceiling, another very solid floor, one wooden bunk that looked highly
uncomfortable and some straw spread around in the corners. Then she noticed
that the shadows in one of the far corners opened a pair of red eyes. Princess
Terra backed away, but didn't get very far since there were bars in her way.
A black shape stepped out of the shadows, its eyes gleaming. The torchlight
from the hallway that just barely filtered into the cell was not enough for
Princess Terra to be really able to see who or what was standing in the corner.
"So you're a Princess, are you?" said the shadow. "Pity I didn't know that
before." Princess Terra recognised the voice. She had heard it that night when
she had left the castle and wandered into a burning village.
"You're that Zafara that saved my life, aren't you?" said Princess Terra. The
shadow stepped forward. It was indeed the Zafara she had met that night. His
fur was still as black as the darkest night, but he looked a lot skinnier than
the last time she saw him.
"That's me," said the Zafara. "Of course, if I had known you were royalty I
probably wouldn't have let you go like that."
"You would've killed me?" Princess Terra asked, her voice quivering slightly.
The Zafara chuckled. "No, I wouldn't have killed you. Captured you, yes. Held
hostage for ransom, yes. But kill? No."
"Oh," said Princess Terra. "That's a relief. I think."
"So..." said the Zafara, sitting down onto the bunk. "What's a highborn noblewoman
like yourself doing in a stinking hellhole like this?"
"I... had a disagreement with my father," Princess Terra said honestly.
"And for that you get thrown into jail? Some father."
"I can understand what he did," said Princess Terra. "We're at war. He doesn't
need someone of his own family saying this war is wrong."
"Are you saying you don't agree with the war?" the Zafara asked.
"I... I want what's best for my people," said Princess Terra. "And I don't think
this war is it."
"Now that is an interesting point of view," said the Zafara. "Especially coming
from someone like you."
"What do you mean, 'someone like me'?"
"Well, look at you. Young, naive princess, probably never had any difficulties
in her life whatsoever. I'd say you're the kind of girl who'd be waiting at
home in the castle in breathless anticipation whilst the noble knights of the
realm go forth and slay the vile enemy," the Zafara said sarcastically. "You
know, one of those people who think that war is all about shining armour and
waving banners."
"I'm not like that!" Princess Terra huffed indignantly.
The Zafara raised an amused eyebrow. "Really? You sure look like it."
"Looks can be deceiving."
"You don't say." The Zafara stood up from the bunk and stepped in front of
Princess Terra, his red eyes staring intently into her blue ones. "Tell me something,
Princess. What do you see when you look at me?"
"A prisoner," said Princess Terra. "Maybe a soldier."
"Oh, don't give me that. What do you really see, hmm? A freak, maybe? A monster?
I mean, look at me, black fur, red eyes. I look like something that walked out
of a nightmare. And you tell me that all you see is just another soldier?"
"Yes."
"Then you're either blind or a liar."
"OK, fine," Princess Terra snapped angrily. "I see the man who saved my life!
Is that what you wanted to hear maybe?"
"Man?" the Zafara said. For no apparent reason, he suddenly burst out laughing.
He walked back to the bunk and sat down on it. When he looked back at Princess
Terra, his eyes looked almost friendly. "You really have gone blind, haven't
you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Take a closer look, Princess. I'm a girl."
"You're a what?"
"A girl. You know, the opposite of a boy?"
"But you're a soldier."
"So? It's not like I'm the only one. I mean, take whatshername, that Aisha
girl fighting for you. You know, with the wand."
"Lisha. But that's different. She's a hero, not some rank and file infantry
grunt."
"And that makes all the difference, does it?" said the Zafara.
"Well... yes."
"Well, it may work that way in Meridell, but over in Darigan we can't afford
to be bothered very much by that kind of sexist nonsense."
"And that makes your society better, does it?"
"Nope. Just more realistic." The Zafara yawned, closed her eyes and lay down
on the bunk.
"What are you doing?" asked Princess Terra.
"Taking a nap."
"And what am I supposed to do? Just keep standing here? Or maybe you want me
to sit down on that hard floor?"
"There's some straw in the corner. You can sit on that."
"On straw? I'm a princess!"
"You're a prisoner now. And since I've been one
for longer I get the bunk and you get the straw. And could you please be quiet
and wake me when that nice Tonu shows up with the food he promised."
Princess Terra was about to make a scathing remark,
but swallowed it, thinking the Zafara would probably only view it as amusing.
So she walked to the straw and sat down on it. It was sort of soft, but probably
only a little bit more comfortable than the floor. She looked at the Zafara,
since she was the most interesting thing to look at right now. So that was her
saviour, was it?
That was the... the soldier who managed to persuade
her superior officer not to kill her for being in the wrong place at the wrong
time. Princess Terra had secretly hoped that she was the proverbial knight in
shining armour. Prince Charming in disguise, so to speak. Well, not exactly
Prince Charming as it turned out, but still someone good and noble and just
and fair. For a moment, Princess Terra felt very angry at the universe for crushing
her beautiful dreams like that.
Well, the Zafara was not a knight in shining
armour and didn't even come close to being Princess Charming, but she had
saved her life. And in Princess Terra's book, that still meant something. Princess
Terra leaned back against the wall, a plan forming in her mind.
"Err... Princess? It's me."
Princess Terra got up from the bunk and walked
towards the cell door. The jailer was standing behind it, carrying a tray with
more food than prisoners usually got.
"I see you brought dinner?" said Princess Terra.
"That's right." Princess Terra waited patiently, while the Tonu started looking
more uncomfortable every second.
"Err... no offence, your highness, but you have
to step away from the door. Standard procedure, you see."
"And a very sensible procedure at that," said
Princess Terra, stepping back into the shadows.
The Tonu got out his keys, unlocked the door
and stepped inside. He carefully put the tray on the ground, got upright again
and suddenly got a glassy look in his eyes. A few seconds later, he slumped
to the floor. Princess Terra dashed over and quickly got hold of the keys. Out
of the shadows near the door stepped the Zafara.
"Good plan," she said. "Knocking him unconscious
when he was inside the cell with the door still open."
"I told you so," said Princess Terra. "Now I
suggest you leave before this guy wakes up." The Zafara walked over to the tray,
emptied a mug of water, and took as much food as she could carry. She then headed
for the open cell door, where she hesitated.
"Can I have the keys?" she asked.
Princess Terra shook her head. "No. I'm helping
you escape because you saved my life, but I'm not going to aid you in a prison
break."
"Figured as much. But, I had to ask, hadn't I?"
the Zafara said, smiling a little. "Sure you won't get into trouble over this?"
Princess Terra chuckled. "I'll think of something.
Don't worry."
"Right," the Zafara said. Then she stuck out
her paw. "I'm DataAngel, by the way. Call me Angel."
Princess Terra looked surprised at the offered
paw. Then she took it and shook it. "I'm Princess PlanetTerra of Meridell. Call
me Terra."
"Well Terra, thanks."
"My pleasure. Now get lost."
Grinning, Angel nodded once as a way of saying
goodbye, then disappeared into the hallway and the shadows that were lurking
there between the torches.
Princess Terra smiled, happy that the universe
hadn't been able to crush all her dreams.
The End | 
