Day XO Month *X Year XXXX

Today is the day. I've finally figured out the best way to get past the guards and sneak in, now all I have to do is get there and introduce myself. It really shouldn't be that hard; just meet in the garden or something and say hello, drop a name, start a conversation... It doesn't even have to be that long of one. This is how this works, right?

There's nothing in the other journals about anything like this The closest examples I have to work off of are the ones in the library books...even the journals the others left behind don't seem to have any situations I can really just borrow from. Although, what did I expect with my family? Ah...

In any case, the storybooks have some nice ideas, so I might as well try them. It's not like I have anything better. I've been practicing for a few days now, and I think I have it down.

I have to admit, I'm really excited! If this works...well, there's a lot to be happy about if it does. Now I just have to do it. May the spirits give me luck!

As he looked over the entry he had written just that morning, the somewhat pale boy pacing the floor let out a slight whimper. It was truly amazing how one's own thoughts could be perceived as so naive only mere hours after having come up with them. Glancing back toward the closed door just a short ways down the hall, he tried to recollect just how things could have possibly gone so wrong. He thought his plan had been going so well, and yet...

...And yet, she was in the guest room at that very moment. Unconscious. With probably very little knowledge of exactly what she was doing there instead of in her castle. At least it's a nice room...?

Still flustered, the young male closed the journal he had been keeping and tried to make his way down the hall away from the room. He needed to come up with a plan for when she woke up. Maybe she wouldn't remember his face? No, that was probably wishful thinking. So what do I do now?

"Hnnn..." My body began stirring. What happened? All I remember I was going to check up on Sir Plants-A-Lot in the castle garden and then... and then... blackness. Am I dead? Or did I get kidnapped? Maybe I got kidnapped and killed? I open my eyes and look around to know the answer. "Agh..." Pain rushed into my head. It was either from the incapacitating blow that struck me or I quickly looked around after I had only woken up. Probably both.

Taking a more slow look, I seem to be in a guest room of sorts. I wonder who took me here. If I was kidnapped, shouldn't I be in a cell or something? I get up and dust off my apparel. Again, if I was kidnapped, shouldn't I be stripped of my weapons and armor? Just what is going on here? Well whatever's happening, I need to get out of here but I need to be careful. Drawing my sword, I approach a door in the room and slowly opened it.

A lot of mysteries float but hopefully one of them is answered beyond this door.

-----

"Haa... Haa..." A knight, wearing an apron over his armor, with a unique helmet covering his face, scrambled into the office of the Lot Order's leader. "Thinks! THINKS!" He yelled, startling a person up from his desk.

"What is it, Plants?!" A knight, wearing light gray armor under gray robes with a hood covering his face, quickly inquired.

"The Queen... Lizzie... She's gone!"

Thinks was silent for a moment as all color drained from his body. "Sound an emergency meeting! Now!" He regained his composure and issued an order. Sir Plants nodded and dashed away. All the knights should be assembled in five minutes in an emergency meeting. Ten if they're not inside the castle. A loud gong was heard signalling the meeting. Thinks got up from his desk and left his office.

As he walked towards the throne room, he began to do what he does best. Think. Think of who could have kidnapped the Queen, how she was kidnapped and more importantly, why she was kidnapped.

As he continued down the mostly empty hall, the young sorcerer kept wracking his brain for some kind of idea of what to do next. So this didn't quite go as I planned. No big deal! Not the best start, but there's still something I can do, I'm sure. What else did those books say... Stopping for a second, he thought back to one of the latest novels he had read. The main character in that one had dealt with having to explain why his love interest was suddenly in his home when she woke up. But how did he start...

"Ah! He brought her breakfast, that's right! It's a little late in the day for breakfast, but maybe a light meal of some sort would help lighten the mood a bit so I can explain properly?"

With that decision in mind, he made his way to the kitchen as quickly as possible, figuring that he probably didn't have a lot of time before the girl he believed to still be in the guest room woke up. He wanted to be able to talk to her before she started wandering around and getting lost; this place was pretty large, after all. Not as large as the castle she had come from, but still pretty big in his opinion. It was bit dark in some places as well, but the hallway with the guest room was in the lighter part, near another garden, coincidentally.

Unfortunately for him, he managed to drop his journal while he was walking. It lay there unnoticed, opened to one of the pages he had written about a month ago.


Day XX Month X Year XXXX

I really don't get what my family was thinking when they built this place sometimes. Secret passages are fun, but why are half of them in such randomly inconvenient spots? Honestly, I'm sure I almost broke my leg today falling into one by the stairs...

In other news, I finally managed to find a better way to make the knockout powder I ran out of a few days ago! Finally, this should make going out a lot easier again. Not that I've been able to since the full moon is tonight. There's been a lot of stirring in the past few days, like there always is leading up to the full moon...I could go out, but not without the right precautions prepared. This being one of them...

I also had a weird dream about that girl again...

With the door now fully opened, an empty hall greeted me. The place's dim but there's enough light for me to see, and I see a book or journal laying open on the floor. It looked like it was dropped. I slowly approach the discarded item, watching if this was a trap or something. Nothing happened when I reach the fallen book though and I crouch down to read the page exposed. Maybe it holds some answer as to why or how I got here.

"..."

So I WAS kidnapped! Doesn't say here by who though but I know for sure now this was a kidnapping for a surely nefarious purpose. This was not the place nor the time to read all of the journal entries so I pick it up and get moving. I don't know where I am nor where I am going to but I know it's better than staying put and waiting for my captors to show up. Though then again, I could have overpowered my kidnappers and force them to get me out of here but Fights always told me not to underestimate enemies.

Wandering around some more, I noticed the place lacked guards. Shouldn't kidnappers keep an eye on their kidnapees? Maybe they were pretty confident I'm not escaping this place if I attempt to do so.

"Huh?"

Soon I reach a place that seems... heart-easing. A beautiful garden with flowers of vibrant and varying colors. I was struck with awe. It was hard to think that my evil kidnappers could own and maintain such a garden.

But that's stereotyping and Fights also told me not to do that.

After some time in the kitchen, Tristyn eventually left with a tray of some very decently-prepared sandwiches. Honestly, he wasn't sure if his captive would like them, but at least he had tried, and hopefully that would count for something. Of course, in the hopes of getting at least close to the mark, he had tried a few different kinds of sandwiches. "There ended up being a lot. I wonder if we'll end up eating them all? I really hope that she's not allergic to any of these...or that she doesn't hate sandwiches for some reason...should I have tried something else? These were the safest option I could come up with at the time..."

Still muttering his worries to himself as he made his way down the hall, the young sorcerer eventually stopped when he got within sight of the guest room. The door was open. The door was opened! She was awake and wandering somewhere!

Now slightly panicked, yet again, the pale boy rushed toward the room to confirm that she was gone before rushing off again, sandwich tray still in hand. He had to find her fast, or...or...

Or what, actually? She couldn't just leave, and she shouldn't have ended up in any danger as long as she didn't find any of the more mischievous spirits...or any of the other creatures he had temporarily kept out of the main part of the castle, for that matter.

Or any of the things he hadn't wanted her to see. There was always that.

Actually a bit more worried now, he tried his best not to drop the food and continued running as well as he could until he found the window overlooking the garden. Seeing that she was there, he quickly found the entrance leading as well to follow. "W...wait!" Without thinking it through, he called out as he approached, rapidly losing steam and nearly doubling over as he slowed down. Honestly, he considered himself lucky that he had even managed to get this far before he had to stop, never mind that she was still bit further away than he had managed to get.

"W...wait!"

Hearing the unfamiliar sound, I instantly spun around with my blade pointed at its owner. Before me was a seemingly young male slightly shorter than me. He had short dark blue, or maybe purple?, hair though his eyes were definitely purple or at least a shade of purple. He wore robes befitting of a sorcerer or a wizard dark in colors. Though despite all those 'dark' things, he was... kind of cute? Handsome even. However, this man was here which meant he must have been part of my kidnapping.

"Who are you?" I asked in a serious, menacing tone. "And where is this place? And why did you take me here?" I may be bombarding him with too much questions but hey, I'm in trouble here! "Choose your words carefully. If I don't like your answer, I will not hesitate to hurt you."

It was only then that I noticed the platter of sandwiches he was carrying. They looked delicious but my stomach is the least of my problems right now.

The boy stopped and straightened up, stumbling back a bit to avoid the sharp end of the sword. A-ah! Not what I was going for! Think quickly... He swallowed nervously before opening his mouth to speak, though it took a few seconds to actually force any sound out. "...a...Ah, p-please don't jump to a-any c-conclusions just yet! I, uh, I-I can explain w-what's going on!" He could feel his voice shaking with every syllable, and he was getting the urge to either make an escape or do something equally as stupid as what he had done to start this in the first place. "C-could we m-maybe sit d-down first? I-I thought it would be easier t-to deal with after a meal, so...um..." He looked down, realizing how weird everything sounded in the air outside of his head. "B-because...it's getting late in the day and all...and...uh...oh, Tristyn! Call me Tristyn! It's nice to meet you!"

As he stood there realizing just how terrible of an introduction he had probably just made, he couldn't help thinking back to how much easier this sort of confrontation had been in the books he had been reading all this time. Then again, he didn't remember any of them dealing with swords pointed at them while making their introductions. It's usually earlier or later, isn't it? I thought that was how it worked...

The man, or Tristyn as he introduced himself, offered to explain the situation, asking me to sit down and have a meal with me. He stuttered a lot which made it clear he was nervous. I'm starting to doubt this was a kidnapping or if it was, it was a really bad one. Then again, he could be faking it and is actually lulling me into a false sense of security. I needed to make a choice. Either listen to what Tristyn has to say or to bonk him in the head and interrogate him.

The second choice would be the sensible one but my gut told me this guy was not bad. With my mind divided, I decided to take the middle ground since I had no time to compare the two choices. "Fine. I'll listen to what you have to say. BUT!" I then approach him with my sword mere inches from his neck. "You'll have to take me with this up, okay?" I tell him.

"Y-yes, Ma'am!" Barely managing not to drop the tray again, he backed up a bit in an attempt to avoid the blade threatening him. Honestly, he had probably only processed about half of what the intimidating girl in front of him had said due to his general nervousness with the situation, but he had at least understood that he had gotten her to agree to an explanation at least. He also understood by this point that any messing around would probably result in a need for the knockout powder again if he wanted to survive. Definitely not according to plan.

"Would you prefer to go inside, o-or would you rather stay out here, then? I know there's a bench out here somewhere...oh, over there..." He turned his head to the side a bit to find the stone bench underneath one of the flowering trees nearby. It was one of his favorite spots to sit when he needed to get out of the stuffy study to just think, actually. "Sh-should we maybe sit down, then?"

Tristyn lead me to a stone bench under a flowering tree and offered to sit down. "Very well." I coldly reply, my blade still poised to strike at his neck.

With our legs no longer burdened by standing up, I ask the first questions. "Okay. First things first. Who are you? Besides your name." Then I fired off the second question. "Second, why have you taken me here? But if you didn't, who then and why?" Then the third question. "Where are we and how do I return home to my kingdom?"

"I assume you know who I am and as a Queen, you realize how grave your situation is by taking me without my consent." I told him. Never mind me pointing a sword at him, the knights I have back home will tear this guy apart once they get here. "You must have a good explanation for this if you would like to continue living normally."

Though that begs the question, do the Lot Order know where I have been spirited away to? Maybe they'll take a while to get here after all. Which means I gotta handle this by myself.

Still not very comfortable with the sharp object brandished in his direction, Tristyn sat a bit stiffly as his mind raced for answers. And a way out of this mess, of course, that seemed like a nice option. "W-well, I live here, so I guess I'm your host for now? And, um... H-hold on..."

So many questions at once. All of them seemed pretty reasonable, but still a lot to work with at one time under pressure. That knockout powder was sounding like a really good idea again... No! Don't make it worse! I know what I'm doing! Taking a deep breath, he placed the sandwich tray between them on the bench as a peace offering. "Okay, first, I'm the main human occupant of this place. R-rather, the only human occupant of this place for a good while now. Second...i-is the sword really that necessary? I don't think sandwiches are normally that dangerous. I'm guess I'm not sure about how they are where you come from, though. Feel free to have one, by the way..." He looked back at the food for a moment, wondering if it was safe enough to grab one without being stabbed or otherwise cut up.

Looking warily at the sword again, he slowly continued. "Um, technically you walked out here, I think. I only brought you to the room earlier because you were...maybe a little unconscious when you arrived. I'm honestly sorry about that, n-not entirely sure how that could have possibly happened...Ahah..." He could feel the nervousness taking over again, and it felt like being only a few 'smartly' worded sentences away from an even worse situation than this one. "A-as for why, I really don't know! I'm honestly really confused myself right about now, and...uh...what was the last question again?"

"Okay, first, I'm the main human occupant of this place. R-rather, the only human occupant of this place for a good while now. Second...i-is the sword really that necessary? I don't think sandwiches are normally that dangerous. I'm guess I'm not sure about how they are where you come from, though. Feel free to have one, by the way..."

"Human occupant?" I questioned. "Then does that mean there's something else here that isn't human?" Am I in some sort of lair or dungeon then? "And those sandwiches could very well be poisoned for all I know. Thus, this sword is at where it belongs." I retort to Tristyn's sandwich offer. Seriously, did he really think I'd fall for that trick? ...If it was a trick.

"Um, technically you walked out here, I think. I only brought you to the room earlier because you were...maybe a little unconscious when you arrived. I'm honestly sorry about that, n-not entirely sure how that could have possibly happened...Ahah... A-as for why, I really don't know! I'm honestly really confused myself right about now, and...uh...what was the last question again?"

"So you're saying you have no idea how I got here and simply took me in?" I clarified. Too bad for him, what he said was null and void thanks to what I found earlier.

I then bring the tip of my sword closer to Tristyn's neck. "You lie!" I told him before using my hand to bring out the journal. "According to this, my kidnapping was being planned some time ago!" I yelled at him, the tip of my sword mere whispers away from the skin of his neck. "Unless this journal isn't yours, you have been meaning to abduct me!" I continued to mount the evidence. "But then if what you say true, you're the only one capable of writing this."

"How do you explain that then, Tristyn?! If that is even your true name!"

"Poisoned sandwiches?" The young man made a face of disbelief. "Who does that? That's just completely unforgivable! Soup is one thing, wine is another, but sandwiches... Besides, that would end up being quite a bit of poison just to ensure that it was actually ingested. I don't even know if you like sandwiches, now that I think of it..." He trailed off in the midst of his ramblings as he thought a bit further on the choice of food. Even if it had been the safest option he could think of at the time, there never had been any guarantee that they would be eaten...always a flaw somewhere, even if it was tough to see...

His attention was quickly captured once again when the blade drew way too close to his throat for comfort. Note to self: If you're ever that stupid again, remove all usable weapons. Nearly falling off his end of the bench, he grasped the edge with one hand in an attempt to steady himself. "H-hold up! I n-never said that! I just said that I didn't know how you ended up u-unconscious! A-and anyway-- What is that?!" If he wasn't already quite pale, he was certain that the color of his face would have changed quite dramatically. "I-I, that is, that would be... Now wait just a minute!"

Finally losing his grip on the bench, Tristyn let out a yelp as he crashed to the ground, cloak somewhat hindering his attempts to get up after. When he did finally manage it, however, he made sure to give himself at least a few strides distance before he held out his hand and yanked it back through the air to draw the book in his direction. "Give me that! That's so rude! If you're going to take the indecency to read through the personal thoughts of another person, you could at least check the inside cover for a name yourself! I have never planned any 'kidnapping' despite what you seem to think and your being here is a complete accident that I'm still trying to figure out! How much did you even read?" Barely remembering his original goal anymore, he could only feel his face flare in embarrassment as he ranted. "Good gods, I shouldn't have to enchant everything I own! Not even the ghosts do this. I...I...

...I'll just go now. Lovely to make your acquaintance." Shoulders slumping as he realized how much of a mess he had made of the plan, he thought to walk back inside and perhaps stay out of sight for a while. There didn't seem to be any likely way of salvaging the situation anymore, but there was probably a good corner in one of the rooms he could hide his shame in. Yeah, that would do for now.

The man paled when I showed his journal. That should bring out the truth. Tristyn stumbled from the bench and got some distance before getting up. Holding out his hand, he drew the book from my hand to his. "Wha--?" Magic. I see the man was a mage of sorts.

"Give me that! That's so rude! If you're going to take the indecency to read through the personal thoughts of another person, you could at least check the inside cover for a name yourself! I have never planned any 'kidnapping' despite what you seem to think and your being here is a complete accident that I'm still trying to figure out! How much did you even read?"

Tristyn ranted at me. Not stuttering like earlier which led me to believe I hit a nerve. I found myself wondering if this was really a kidnapping like I believed. Maybe Tristyn was telling the truth. Maybe this was all one big accident. However, that didn't really fix my problems. So whether if Tristyn was innocent or not, I still need his help. But his outburst made me lean to the former. I guess I did brought about the truth, just not the truth I was expecting.

"Good gods, I shouldn't have to enchant everything I own! Not even the ghosts do this. I...I...I'll just go now. Lovely to make your acquaintance."

Tristyn, with slumped arms, began to walk away. "Now wait just a minute!" I sheathe my sword and caught up to him. "I'm not sure if you can be trusted or not but I still need your help to get out of here. I don't even know where I am." I grab his shoulder and turn the guy towards me. "Look, I'm sorry for being hostile. I was trained not to take chances." I said. "Besides, I only read one page. The part with the knockout thingy. I didn't have time to read the rest."

"Anyway, like I said I need your help to get home. Or at least to know where I am." I told him. He also is going to need mine but I'll put that off for later. "You said me being here was an accident. What exactly happened?"

Flinching slightly at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, the young man was both reluctant to face his captive again and slightly shocked. "The...the knockout...eh?" To be honest, he wasn't sure how many times he had written about things pertaining to that word, including a few embarrassing instances when he had been a bit too careless with the knockout powder and ended up losing hours at a time because of it. Either way, that level of awkwardness was something he felt he could live with, were that really what she was mentioning.

"Anyway, like I said I need your help to get home. Or at least to know where I am. You said me being here was an accident. What exactly happened?"

The question brought him fully out of his shame-filled daze, and he bit his lip as he tried to think of a good answer. "Well... First things first: You're at my home. It used to have a lot of famous wizards and witches and sorcerers hidden here, but at the moment, it's mostly just me and a few helpers...hindrances...l-let's call them 'friends' for now." He let out a nervous chuckle as he glanced back toward the garden entrance. They'd have to discuss those later. "Um, as for how you got here...you don't...r-remember anything that happened before you fell unconscious, do you?" He played with the fingers on one of his hands as he asked, only feeling more awkward as he looked away. "Because, it's true that I didn't mean to...but I kind of panicked...I didn't expect you to show up when you did...and then I heard someone else coming...and before I knew it, I activated something I shouldn't have a-and we ended up here."

"...Please don't kill me."

According to Tristyn, I was in his home which used to be the home of a lot of wizards, witches and sorcerers. There were apparently other residents but I don't think Tristyn is eager to introduce me to them. I was basically in the tower of the evil wizard who captures princesses and dares knights or princes or something to come save the damsel. Except that the wizard may not be evil and the damsel needs not saving. Okay I admit I'm not very sure of the last part.

"Um, as for how you got here...you don't...r-remember anything that happened before you fell unconscious, do you? Because, it's true that I didn't mean to...but I kind of panicked...I didn't expect you to show up when you did...and then I heard someone else coming...and before I knew it, I activated something I shouldn't have a-and we ended up here."

"That... was not a very clear answer, Sir Tristyn." I honestly expressed the vagueness of his answer but I think I know what he was talking about. "So you were in my garden, or in my path to the garden, then you panicked then you did something you shouldn't have. Is that what happened?" Now that I said it, it was still kind of vague. Breathing out a sigh, I continued. Or at least tried to.

"...Please don't kill me."

I gave a light chuckle. "I'm not going to kill you, Sir Tristyn. Though if you do something stupid, I shall." I replied. Buuut... "However, I have an entire order of knights who all swore to protect me. If they know where this place is, they will surely march here, cut off your head and burn this place to the ground." I told him of his probable fate in a relaxed tone. "But! That's only if they know where this place is. If they don't, they will start looking and then the aforementioned happens."

"So that begs the question. Where are we?" I asked him. "Also, do you know where my home is and how to get back there?"

"I..." The young man stopped for a moment as he realized how terrible an explanation that had been. "P-path to the garden. I was supposed to get there first. Then I wasn't prepared to see you before I reached there and I kind of...knocked you out by mistake...then I messed up with the spell activation to escape and you sort of came with me..."

"I have an entire order of knights who all swore to protect me. If they know where this place is, they will surely march here, cut off your head and burn this place to the ground. ]But! That's only if they know where this place is. If they don't, they will start looking and then the aforementioned happens."

Tristyn froze completely at what he heard. That...was also not planned. That was bad.

That was another reason why kidnapping was such a terrible idea. He decided that he would have to make a note of that in his journal later.

Sucking in a breath and running a hand through his hair nervously, he looked off toward the other side of the garden. "Nope, that...that's definitely not desirable...I'd definitely rather avoid that..." He cleared his throat as he turned back to the young lady in front of him to answer her question regarding their location. "Well I did have to make the trip, after all, so of course I should know it. The only thing is, well...we're pretty far away by now. I can tell you that we're practically nestled in the mountains to the North, and that there's actually a labyrinthine forest one usually has to get through to get here. But, we also kind of can't just leave. It's a problem that comes with the 'enchanted forest' type of territory, you see, and it runs on a very odd schedule. Now just really isn't very safe."

"I... P-path to the garden. I was supposed to get there first. Then I wasn't prepared to see you before I reached there and I kind of...knocked you out by mistake...then I messed up with the spell activation to escape and you sort of came with me..."

"I see." So that's what happened. "I guess all this is one big accident eh?"

"Well I did have to make the trip, after all, so of course I should know it. The only thing is, well...we're pretty far away by now. I can tell you that we're practically nestled in the mountains to the North, and that there's actually a labyrinthine forest one usually has to get through to get here. But, we also kind of can't just leave. It's a problem that comes with the 'enchanted forest' type of territory, you see, and it runs on a very odd schedule. Now just really isn't very safe."

"HA! I knew it!" I exploded. "I knew there was something in the Lapen Mountains! Thinks always told me there's nothing there! Oh, the look on his face!" Realizing that I was not alone and probably embarrassing myself, I quickly recomposed myself. "I-I mean... ahem. Looks like my army will take quite a while to get here."

"So let's see... We are in the Lapen Mountains which is north of the Moon Kingdom with a great deal of distance of area between the kingdom and the mountains." I reviewed. The area between the mountains and the kingdom has some smaller nations or at least less powerful than my kingdom and they act as buffers between the Moon Kingdom and the High Forest Kingdom. Not that we're enemies or anything. "Hmmm... I'm definitely leagues away from my home and with your magic forest maze..."

I guess there's no helping it. "Oh well. Looks like I'm staying here for a while." I told Tristyn. It sucks but unless I'm a super magician, there's no getting past that forest maze if Tristyn's words are to be believed. "You should feel honored. To be in the company of the Queen of the Moon Kingdom herself for an unknown number of days. You better make my stay here pleasant alright?"

"Say, is there any way for me to send a message to the outside? I mean, it's undesirable if my knights attacked you on sight right?" I asked.

"HA! I knew it! I knew there was something in the Lapen Mountains! Thinks always told me there's nothing there! Oh, the look on his face!"

Tristyn tried his best not to show his amusement at the outburst, but he had to admit that it was quite an interesting display. He certainly wasn't able to look away from that. "Erm, yes, I don't know who that is, but that is a common assumption. It would have been a problem if we were actually detected at any point over the course of maybe hundred years, so there are a lot of precautions in place to prevent that..." He cleared his throat, not really wanting to get into the finer details at the moment. There was plenty to deal with here first.

"You should feel honored. To be in the company of the Queen of the Moon Kingdom herself for an unknown number of days. You better make my stay here pleasant alright?"

"Say, is there any way for me to send a message to the outside? I mean, it's undesirable if my knights attacked you on sight right?"

"Um...possibly. I-it would be worse if they even managed to get that close, to be honest, b-but maybe..." He trailed off and fell silent as he let what she had just said sink in. "W-what? I...I thought...Q-queen?"

"...Oh gods. I kidnapped the queen."

"I kidnapped the Moon Kingdom's queen!"

As if the world had suddenly crashed down around him, he began clutching at his head with wide eyes staring at nothing and stumbled backwards a few steps. His breathing quickened to the point where it really shouldn't have been very effective and he found himself kneeling with his face turned toward the ground, journal forgotten beside him. "Oh gods, oh gods! I messed up! There's actually an army coming...I didn't know she was queen already...I thought it was the princess...not much better, but at least it's not the ruler...oh gods, so many political issues, what if market prices increase...Why, just why..." The young man kept muttering, the words coming out faster and faster until they blurred together between ineffective breaths.

"Um...possibly. I-it would be worse if they even managed to get that close, to be honest, b-but maybe..."

Oh good. Saves me the trouble of... wait. What the-?

Suddenly, Tristyn broke down. He clutched his head and his eyes widened but looked at nothing. It's as if he discovered a very, very disturbing revelation. From what he said, I believe he thought I was just a princess and not the actual ruler of the kingdom. With the threat of an army coming for his head added with the repercussions of a ruler suddenly disappearing, Tristyn's reaction was not unsurprising. What is surprising is that he cared about the consequences of the kidnapping. Wait, he used 'kidnapped'. Was he really kidnapping me? Argh, I'm confused and the incoherent babble coming from Tristyn wasn't helping.

I close the distance between me and Tristyn, knelt to his level and delivered a sharp slap to his face, hopefully knocking him back to the world. "I'm going to assume you did not mean to use the word 'kidnapped' alright?" I said before heading for an explanation that might calm him down. "Yes, technically I'm the Queen. All my decrees are followed without question BUT... I don't run the kingdom entirely. I have some knights who do that for me until I'm ready to do so myself. So no economic crises." Part of me wishes I would never be ready. "Also, from what I had been taught about politics, mobilizing an army towards here would stir up tension and raise questions. Sure they'll risk that to save me but they won't because there's another way."

"They'll most likely just send a small task force that should whisk me away from here... and probably kill you." I continued. "But again, that's provided they know where this place is." Though given my knights' experience, there's good chance that they do. "Really now, having two breakdowns in the span of several minutes." I said but not in a condescending tone but in a playful one.

Rising up, I offer a hand to help Tristyn back up. "But there's still one thing: Do you know who I am? 'Cause you panicked earlier about that and I guess now's the time to clear things up."