Calister
It has been 14 years since I came here. 14 years of 'service'. 14 years of 'sustaining the honour of my nation'. 14 years of dying alone. 14 years of sugar-coated slavery.
Not until 2 days ago.
That girl suddenly appeared. I haven't had a conversation with another human being in 14 years, neither have I touched one. I wanted to ask her what had been happening on the outside all this time. I wanted to find out about this strange person, the first to ever enter this place without the barrier coming down first. She could've been an enemy. Her objective could've been to steal the mana stones. But it didn't seem like that at all. Perhaps she was an angel sent to rescue me. To get me out of this damn place.
Look at me, being delusional. This place is chipping away at my sanity, little by little. I walk over to the Arnaci flower, the same one she was so fascinated by. The same one she held before disappearing. Leaving me alone again. I soliloquize out loud. "Perhaps she wasn't real. Perhaps she was something my mind made up. Standing proof that I'm going insane." I laugh at my own madness. Funny how I would've been crying as a child. Hell, I cried every day, and it got me nowhere.
"If you're going insane, see a psychiatrist. There's an excellent one I could recommend. Although, considering the manner in which you just howled, his abilities may fall short." I jolt, turning around and praying that this voice is real. There she is, standing in the same spot she appeared the last time. Same wavy hair, braided to the side, same still eyes, glaring at me. I walk towards her, reaching out to touch her cheek. I need to know if this is real. She slaps my hand away. "Do you not now that you do not lay your hands on a princess without her permission, or are you just ill-mannered?" She's as real as she'll ever be. "Did you miss me so much that you couldn't help but pay me a visit?" I ask nonchalantly. "So says the mad man that laughs alone." She heard what I said earlier. "I fell asleep and found myself here once again." She meets my eyes. "Heaven knows how I keep winding up in this cave."
"Were you in the middle of an attack yet again?"
"If I got attacked like that every day, wouldn't my face be covered in scars?"
"So why are you here?"
"I fell asleep, and now I'm here. Any more explanation needed?" She looks a whole less tense than she did the other day. "I will likely return as I did last time. Moreover, I have a few questions I need to ask you." She looks around, scanning the place. "But first, do you think of it as good etiquette to leave a lady on her feet?"
"Princess, if there was a hearth, carpet, sofa and cozy bed with a maid who brings me hot cocoa when it rains, I wouldn't be losing my mind in here."
"That's right, how do you sleep?"
"I don't. I am tasked with keeping a barrier up to prevent breaking and entering. That is why my soul alone is here and not my body."
"How long have you been in here all by yourself?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, princess." I scoff and sit on a rock. "You have probably been bathed in affection and attention your entire life, praised wherever you go. Served by a myriad of servants, preparing to rule."
"You have just described the life of a princess with honour to her name." My head shoots up and I look at her. I examine her, yet she doesn't faulter under my scrutiny. "A perfectly mundane princess born to an empire where even the commonfolk have some form of magic. How much 'honour' do you suppose she will have?"
So, she truly is from Aetherwyne. Even I could hardly believe it.
She sits beside me. "Back to what I wanted to ask. Does your country hold a grudge towards Aetherwyne?"
"No, as far as I know, Aetherwyne and Sylvarael share borders and do a little trade, but since they are both strong nations, barely interact. I've not an idea what you could be talking about." She pulls a loc of loose hair from behind her ear and fiddles with it, curling it around her finger. "But elves attacked us the day I came here."
"That is impossible, they have no reason to do that."
"I am serious. They covered their faces, but their magic was of vegetative origin, peculiar to Sylvarael, and I took one in for questioning. He was definitely an elf." What reason would Sylvarael have to attack Aetherwyne? "It's probably a personal grudge."
"Yes, I have considered that too." She sighs, massaging her temples. "Whatever it is, I will work it out." She looks stressed. Perhaps burdened would fit better. I silently lean against the wall of the cave. "So, what is your name, princess?"
"You would ask me for my name without first giving yours?"
"Where are my manners? You'll have to excuse me; I have been alone for so long I've forgotten human interaction." I don't meet her eyes. "You have a habit of using a sarcastic tone to say things you actually mean."
"Not a habit, a way of living."
"Is that so?" She holds my hair in her hand, letting it slip through her fingers. "Long. So long." She whispers almost silently. I don't blame her. A man having such straight, long hair isn't exactly an everyday occurrence in her country. She stares at me, longingly. Like she's begging me for something without saying anything. "What is it?" I ask. She points at my hair. Her doe eyes look adorable, making me wonder what she's asking for even more. "May I braid it?" She asks bashfully. "Of course not." I spurn her.
"Why?"
"Why should I let you?"
"Because I never get to braid anyone's hair anymore."
"Whose hair did you braid before?"
"Why, my mother of course."
"Then, go back to your kingdom and braid it."
"She isn't in the empire. She is in a place my hands cannot reach out to feel her hair any longer. She's gone." She says such a thing so indifferently.
It is clear that she lives in a world where she cannot show weakness. Not for a single moment.
I sigh and sit with my back facing her. "Do as you please." She smiles brightly. You would hardly believe that she is the same person from the other day. She braids it slowly, and I feel every motion of her fingers. She stopped occasionally only to continue shortly after, and I wonder why. "I'm all done!" She practically squeals. I pull the long braid over my shoulder and now I understand why she kept stopping. She wove flowers into it. It was intricate, yet simple. The loveliest thing I'd seen in a long time. "Pretty, isn't it?"
"It's terrible." I hope I'm hiding my small smile. "Of course it is." She rolls her eyes, but the grin on her face shows that she is agreeing with what I'm really thinking. "You have a habit of reading minds, don't you?"
"Not a habit, a way of living." She uses my own words against me.
I chuckle. "Is that so?" I repeat hers.
"Do you ever get any visitors like me?" She changes the subject. "Apart from the elves who come once a year during the magic festival to carry a mana stone, no. And I never actually see them." I might as well answer any questions she might have.
"How come you don't see them?"
"I hold up a barrier to seal this place, so no one gets their hands on the mana stones and healing flowers. But on that day, after releasing the barrier, I pass out because the abrupt change in my mana output is large. It's only for about an hour or two, so when I come to, the retrieval is over, and I continue." She is silent, seemingly staring at my braid, thinking deeply.
"Calister. My name is Calister." Her attention leaves the braid, and she stares at me.
"Is this what you want to do with your life, Calister?" Her eyes are searching again, what they do best. I shrug, as I always have. "It is my duty to serve my kingdom."
"Is your hearing impaired, or did you not understand the question?" That catches me by surprise. "I asked if this is what you want, Calister. Living alone in a cave that is pushing you to the brink of insanity, with absolutely no interaction and no care. Is this what you want?"
I don't know how to answer that question. I was never asked such a thing before. For as long as I can remember, it was always, 'train to protect your kingdom, Calister!' and 'get ready for the day you leave, Calister!'
This is what you were born to do, Calister.
I take in a breath, about to answer, and in the blink of an eye, she's gone.