Medieval RP: The kingdoms of Ardania and Derangia

"Equals, huh? If you insist. I'll stop calling you that if it really bothers you that much." Alice reached into another saddlebag and took out a map, unfolding it a bit with one hand and checking it out. In a few minutes, they would reach a fork in the road, where they would half to go right.

Tugging on the horses reins a bit, she caused both animals to move to the right side of the road as they continued on. "If you hate me and this journey so much, why did you even come? I could be going a lot faster without you tagging along, you know. Plus, I'm sure to would enjoy spending time with the princess without me there." If she wanted them to be equals, then she would express her opinion.. like an equal.

"Because it'll be annoying if you end up dying," Lyra stated, gritting her teeth slightly, "Don't get me wrong, I don't care a rat's ass about you, but I don't hate you.. as of yet. And I can't exactly court a depressed princess, if I'm gonna win her over, it'll be fair and square."

Alice looking at Lyra for a moment, then burst out laughing, laying her forehead against the horse's neck. She let go of her horse's reins and wrapped her arm around her stomach, her laughter coming out in breathy gasps, and she would suddenly do silent randomly, with her body just sort of shaking.

Inhaling deeply, she shook her head and looked over at Lyra, chuckling and smiling. "You're a weird girl, Lyra. But, I respect your dedication to nobility and to the princess." She shrugged. "It's not my place to stop you from trying to court her unless you intend to harm her in some way, so I don't know why you're acting so competitive about it."

Lyra stared at the maid for a good moment before a sly grin appeared on her features, "You really are dense... Ahaha, this is gonna be easier than I thought."

"Though it's good to finally hear you lighten up," Lyra admitted, now getting used to the horse and relaxing a bit, "This trip might not be as boring as I figured it would be."

Candy continued along the road, not able to see them but knowing they were going down this road. She was at this point humming to herself, enjoying the ride. She didn't seem to be taking this seriously.

She came across a fork in the road, and shrugged. "When in doubt, go left!" She said, thinking she was quoting some wise saying.

She rode the horse down this road, and decided to speed up. In the worst case, she could go back the other way once deciding they didn't go this direction.

Alice raised her eyebrow. "Dense? How am I dense? I'm just speaking the truth." This wasn't the first time she had been referred to as dense when talking with someone about the princess. it made her slightly uneasy. Still, she'd rather not act sullen now, considering she finally made Lyra seem less annoyingly depressed.

"So glad I could be of service." She rolled her eyes a bit, also seeming to relax, despite her earlier misgivings. "Do you think you can steer your horse for a bit.. or at least keep her going straight? My arm is starting to go numb holding it out like this." She lifted her arm, holding the reins out to Lyra. "Just don't jerk them and you'll be fine."

"Er.. I guess..." Lyra said as she cautiously grabbed the reins and tried to keep herself steady. It took her a moment but she was situated on the horse, without any problems, "So you really don't know why people call you dense?"

---

Milano watched as the princess went in completely the wrong direction. The maid debated for a bit on what she would do, but decided to follow the princess. Alice and Lyra wouldn't go off too far and she knew a short cut anyway. Besides, someone would have to protect the princess or well it maybe wouldn't jeopardize her mission, but it didn't feel right to leave the naive girl to fend for herself.

Alice watched Lyra until she got herself steady, to make sure she wouldn't fall off and hurt herself, then relaxed when she saw she was capable of keeping the horse going straight, even at their brisk pace. She rotated the shoulder of the arm she was holding out, glad to be able to relax it for a bit. "No. All I know is it's irritating and they always call me dense in relation to the princess. That doesn't really make sense, though, since i was raised with the princess.. I know pretty much everything about her."

Her eyebrows furrowed a bit, giving it some thought. "Is she keeping some kind of secret from me?"

As Candy continued down the path, she found that the trees around her were getting thicker. It made for an interestingly creepy effect considering it wasn't that late yet.

She saw a skull on top of a pike, and realised she was not in friendly territory. "Surely they went the other way...." She turned her horse around, but before she could a man jumped out waving a torch at the horse, causing it to rear back and run off, leaving Candy falling from it's back to the ground.

Candy rubbed her backside, before being pulled to a standing position by a couple of guys. "Look here, boys, we got a pretty young lady here," They laughed a bit as they looked at her with vicious expressions.

Candy's eyes were tearing up, "Wh-wh-what's going on here? Who are you people?"

The men were wearing brown outfits that were revealing and threatening, and some seemed like they even had... blood? right there on the outfit! Candy had never been around such foul people. "We're the Red Fists, see? And we've been kinda bored lately, ain't no competition and the traders what been travellin' through here don' no more, 'cause we've been takin' them too much. But you just frolicked right into our territory! What luck! We haven't had a good whore in ages," He laughed, and the others followed. Apparently he was the leader.

Candy couldn't quite understand what was going on. She recognized the word whore somewhat, but she wasn't a whore....

"G-good sirs, I am no prostitute. I am the Pri-" she caught herself, "Uhm, I work in the castle, see?" She remember her training, that if someone knew she was the princess she could be used as a hostage.

They jus tlaughed and moved in on her... "Wonder if she has any money, eh? I scared off her horse, so I get it, right?"

Candy was scared, "Alice, please help me!" She cried out in her mind to the one person she trusted most.

Suddenly one of the men fell backwards, blood pouring out of the knife sticking out his forehead. There was no sign of where the knife came from nor could they see or hear anyone nearby. It wasn't too long that another man fell down this time with a knife sticking out his neck. There was such deadly precisions with the attacks yet no clues as to where the next one would come from. It would easily send any man in a state of panic.

---

Lyra snorted audibly, "Wow, you really are a slow one. I highly doubt she's hiding anything, in fact you both are far too readable to be secretive. Man, I kinda feel sorry for anyone that falls for you, you'd be too dense to tell they have a crush on you."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Why would anyone fall for me? You're hypothesizing about situations that will never happen, Lyra." She didn't get it at all. Alice was one to focus mostly on her own social status, after all. most people wouldn't bother with a maid, and anyone who could bother wouldn't. She was far too manly to be attractive, after all.

"You really are a strange one." Alice cracked her horse's reins, causing him to speed up as she trotted ahead of Lyra a bit, scanning the woods surrounding them. She had heard this area was unsafe, especially at night. Or was that the left path.. ? She couldn't remember exactly which.

Candy's eyes widened. What was that? They were... stabbed?

The men began to freak out, and the two holding Candy dropped her flat on the ground. "Oi! Who's there?" One guy said, his voice shaking a bit.

The other men around him pulled out their swords, looking for any possible enemy, but being unable to see the one attacking them makes it very scary. One man, the one with the torch, dropped his torch and ran into the woods screaming.

"Grrr, damn newbie, I'll gut him after this," Said the leader, who so far wasn't afraid yet apparently. He pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at the woods, "Come out if you don't want to get hurt!" he shouted.

There was a moment of silence. Almost as if someone was contemplating the man's words, but that silence quickly ended as a thin wire wrapped around his neck and pulled him into the air, chocking the life out of him. Milano hoped this would be the final straw in forcing the men to run off. Otherwise she'd have to kill them all and that would waste time she didn't have.

-----

"Why would anyone fall for you? So... not only are you a stick in the mud but you're self-depeciating as well, looks like I picked wonderful company," Lyra said with a tad bit of sarcasm in her tone, "Well whatever, think what you want you poor dense maid, all the better for me."

That was in fact the final straw as many men ran off, most of which shouted "DEMON IN THE FOREST! A DEMON IS TRYING TO KILL US ALL!"

Candy looked up into the trees, afraid she was next, but at the same time thankful that she was saved. "Is it... Are you a demon?" She asked tentatively, standing up and looking around. She was trying to avoid looking at the hung man.

"Well, I'm not really known for having a sunny disposition or high opinion of myself. I'm known for being able to pick up heavy things, throw heavy things, bat people up, and make delicious herb-grilled fish." Alice smirked a big and shrugged. "But enough about myself. You're stuck with me for now, anyway, so you'll just have to try and look past my annoying traits, like I'm doing with you."

She rode back over next to the elf after scanning the trees on either side of them. It seemed quiet on this pathway so far. Still, she grabbed the hilt of her sword out of habit, which was strapped to her waist by a simple leather belt. She felt.. uneasy for some reason, but she put that off to the fact they were traveling into a kingdom that was blatantly hostile with her own. ".. Anyway. So now that you've picked my personality apart, what else do you want to talk about, hm?"

"Uhm... I don't know, I'm out of things to talk about," Lyra said with a sigh, "We have nothing in common other than our utter disdain for eachother. Well I could always try mercilessly teasing you to pass the time."

"Anyway, why are you so jumpy?"

---

"No, my princess," A voice said as a figure emerged from the shadows of the trees. She was no longer in the maid outfit she was so commonly seen wearing, but in a pair of trousers and a tunic to allow for easier travel than a dress would provide, "I am merely your humble maid and servant, doing my duty to protect you."

"Disdain? I don't hate you. Certainly you piss me off and I would like to harm you half the time, but that's pretty much how my friendship with Lily goes, anyway." Alice looked at her and sighed. ".. Please, don't. I'd hate to have to leave you tied up to a tree while I go ahead to Derengia."

"I'm always jumpy. Stick-in-the-mud, remember? Though I did hear rumors that this was bandit territory.. either this or the other path.. so I'm making sure we're not taken by surprise is someone decides to jump out and try to slit our throats."

Candy was shocked at the appearance of Milano, of all people. She almost didn't recognize her not in a maid outfit, but it was definitely Milano.

"Oh, thank you!" Candy exclaimed suddenly, smiling brightly. "I didn't expect you to suddenly appear and help me!" She walked over towards Milano.

"Oh that other path was bandit territory, trust me I know the forests like the back of my hand, if there was humans around you wouldn't be hearing as many animals as you do," Lyra stated offhandedly, "Animals are always spooked by the presence of too many humans."

---

"You are welcome, my princess," Milano said as she stepped toward Candy and held out her hand to help her up, "But we must make haste, those bandits might return soon, we shouldn't be here when they do."

Candy nodded, and took her hand, "Alright, and thank you," then something occurred to her.

"Milano, are all maids as handy in combat as you and Alice?" She asked.

"Well.. that does ease my mind a bit. Thank you, Lyra." Alice didn't want to admit it, but she was as familiar with the outdoors as one should be. She spent most of her time in or around the castle, after all, and was unused to leaving it for long. She was actually kind of glad that Lyra came along now, if only because she would be better than her at all this.. forestry nonsense.

Alice visibly relaxed after that. Reaching into a saddlebag, she pulled out and apple and took a bite out of it, before looking over at Lyra. "Getting hungry?"

"No," Milano said shaking her head as she pulled the princess up. She then proceeded pull Candy along with her, making sure to get away as soon as possible, "Most maids are perfectly normal, Miss Alice and I are special cases. I'm actually a spy you could call it that was sent by the Queen to watch over Miss Alice and Miss Lyra. Oh, but you must promise not to tell them, or it'll blow my cover and for that matter you can't tell your mother you know. It's supposed to be a secret and she would fire me if she knew, you knew."

Milano explained it quite quickly, not really lying but not really telling the truth. Implying that it was Marie who sent her and not Dulcy.

---

"Actually, yeah, I'm a bit hungry," Lyra answered. she hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast that morning and she had forgotten to eat any lunch. It's been hours since she ate anything at all.

Candy nodded, trying to comprehend as she kept up with Milano. "Yeah don't worry, I won't say anything if that's what you want," She was grateful for being saved. Her being pulled along felt a little awkward but she kept up as best she could without complaint. "Oh, the horse..." She commented, but she couldn't even see it now...

Alice reached into the saddlebag again and took out another apple, handing it over to Lyra. She also took out a small bag, filled with a variety of seeds and nuts. Taking out a handful, she handed the bag over to Lyra as well. "I'll be able to cook something a bit more substantial when we stop for the night." Shelling a peanut, she popped the insides into her mouth.

It had been a few hours since Alice and Lyra had stopped for a bit to eat, now it was getting late, the sky darkening with every passing moment. Having gotten used to handling a horse by now, Lyra jumped off, keeping her hands on the reigns. "It's getting dark out, we should probably set up camp somewhere. And you should get off that beast, lots of things out at night that could spook it, not to mention there are quite a few creatures out now that would love some horse meat, it's safer to walk for now."

---

While those two prepared to set up camp, Milano had already found a place for her and the princess to rest. Well, rather, a place for Candy to rest. Milano wouldn't be doing any sleeping. She'd have to keep her eyes open and sharp. The maid had a nice warm fire going and was now rummaging in her bag. She pulled out a simple blanket and a small pillow, handing it to the princess, "It's not much but it should suffice for the night," She didn't mention that was the only blanket and pillow she had, the princess didn't need to worry herself over such details, "I'll prepare us something to eat then you should get some rest, my princess."

Candy nodded, "Thank you Milano, I'll go set up my uhm... sleeping area," she set her blanket down over in another spot. She wasn't used to camping, this whole ordeal was a lot worse than she'd ever imagined. She'd never met anyone outside of the city, and she'd never been very far even into the city. She kept jumping back when she saw a bug, scared it was some kind of monster. She wasn't sure how she was going to sleep that night...

She returned near the fire, and put her hands up to it. She noted aloud, "I just realised I hadn't brought a blanket or clothes for myself... I'm so used to castle life..."

Alice went along with the suggestion, hoping down off the the horse and lightly stroking the side of its face, holding onto the reigns with her other hand. She walked next to Lyra, obviously on edge again as night started the roll in. "Any particular kind of place we should set up a camp? You're more of the forest expert, after all." The pessimistic views on the horses didn't do much to ease her mind, and she was both glad and irked that she was a light sleeper. She wasn't betting on getting much rest tonight.

"Somewhere we can easily tell if something is approaching but not too out in the open where we can be seen," Lyra stated, surveying the area around them, "Normally I'd spend the night in a tree but..." She eyed Alice, "I doubt you could climb a tree with that clunky armor of yours."

---

"Do not fret, My Princess," Milano said trying to assure the young blone woman, "It is understandable, princesses are not usually expected to go on journey's such as this. Feel free to use what I have brought, I do not need much for myself."

After a moment, Milano handed Candy a piece of cooked meet on a tin plate she had brought with her, "Here, it's not much, but it should sustain you for tonight, my princess."

(For this I'm assuming Milano is good at cooking, as it would surprise me if she wasn't good)

"Ah, thank you very much, Milano," Candy said, smiling as she took the meat. She ate it happily, quietly munching on it.

"Even if I was wearing clothes capable of allowing me to sleep in a tree, I wouldn't want to," Alice said, frowning at the very idea. "I'd fall out and break my neck." Alice looked down at her arm, leg, and abdomen guards. Her armor wasn't that clunky, anyway. Pointing that out would probably only lead to some sort of stupid argument, though, so she stayed silent.

Instead, she scanned the area as well. Hopping down off her horse, she walked into an area of the woods off the road that seemed to fit what Lyra described. It even had a tree for the elf to sleep in, if she wanted to. "Will this do?"