Chapter Text
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I wantto think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.—Mary Oliver, "Starlings in Winter"
Leonie Pinelli was not a prince. At least, not in the traditional sense.
She was certainly handsome with broad shoulders and short, clipped hair. She had garnered her fair share of battle scars as a result of her chosen trade. She didn’t mind it though. Running a mercenary company sure beat mercantile work. Unlike the awkwardness she felt behind a desk or merchant’s stall, she was always comfortable with a blade. And she was never one to shy away from action. But she lacked the upbringing of royalty or even minor nobility and the lessons of chivalry that accompanied it. She simply acted out of good faith, to help a person who might need it.
She had never felt like a prince because the role seemed more suited to others of different provenance. It had never seemed to her like a role that she would even want to occupy. She was a practical business owner. Tales of knights championing noble causes or royals falling in love in their ivory towers were not relatable to her. Her lance was not guided by love or duty but by the incessant need to continue living. In a world built by nobles, in which the commoners felt each lack of coin with a keen dread, she did not have the luxury for such fantasy.
And yet, during one of her scouting expeditions Leonie almost felt like a prince.
She had been wandering through a thick patch of woods when she noticed a steep incline. This place was to be the setting for one of her upcoming missions. She was unfamiliar with this area’s mountainous terrain and knew that such a disadvantage could lead to a failed job. A failed job meant empty pockets and she was already stretching her last round of earnings thin. It was as she was assessing the upper ground for its value in surprise attacks when she heard it.
A soft humming drifted by along a breeze, almost masked by the gentle gust of wind. She stilled, turning towards the noise. This was a vast countryside with only a few remote villages. She hardly expected to find another person living in this area. But when she scanned the direction of the voice, she recognized a quaint tower in the distance.
She knew that she should return to work but curiosity flared in her chest. That whisper upon the wind left her imagining to whom it might belong. And why in the middle of nowhere like this? Most people with sense would live a bit closer to the nearby village for access to resources at least. It created an overwhelming question in her mind that she could not ignore. Guided by a mixture of interest and concern, she approached the odd structure. There was a figure in the window moving their head from side to side. They seemed to be having a fun time all alone. From the open window, their voice drifted in soft tones. Leonie found herself gazing above, unsure of how to proceed.
A flash of movement and a yelp predated the fall of a particularly worn tome from the windowsill. Leonie stepped aside, glancing up to meet the gaze of the tower’s occupant who now gaped at her in surprise. She was a girl with short purple hair. Her bangs were choppily arranged in a manner unbefitting of a wealthy noblewoman. And yet, she was living in a secluded tower in the woods. The materials that had wrought such a building were not cheap to acquire and it was not worn in the way that suggested it was a rather new construction. Leonie frowned as she held this baffling woman’s gaze.
“Who are you?” The woman shrieked from above, her voice no longer soft. She wore a look of panic and Leonie immediately felt guilty. She was trespassing on this person’s privacy, after all. Her anger was warranted.
“Just a-” She hesitated to use the word sellsword lest it inspire a deeper anxiety in this person’s heart. “Just passing through. I heard your singing from the woods and thought-”
“Thought you would come and kill me, yes?” She cried, her hands balled fists. “Well I have news for you, I am armed and trained to deal with trespassers–” She flew from the door and returned with an arrow drawn.
“Woah, w-wait!” Leonie put up her hands defensively. “I promise, I’m not here to hurt you!”
“Then what is your business snooping around my tower?” The woman kept her arrow drawn.
“I just didn’t expect to find someone in these woods. They’re fairly secluded-”
“Yes, they are! They’re perfect for me! I live here so as not to be bothered.”
“Alright, I promise I’ll leave you alone.” Leonie relented. At this the woman lowered her weapon. She paused before turning away. “Did you need help with that though?” She gestured to the book that had tumbled from the windowsill.
“That’s-” The woman was obviously struggling to come up with a proper response. “I don’t need it!” Something in her tone wavered but Leonie did not push the point.
“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.” She strode slowly away so as not to scare her further. The last thing she needed was an arrow to the shoulder over a misunderstanding.
“Wait!”
Leonie turned around, puzzled. “Yes?”
“I..I, um, actually can’t…” Her voice trailed into an imperceptible whisper.
“You can’t what?”
“I can’t leave!” She admitted in embarrassment.
Leonie frowned. “What do you mean? How do you get food and resources if you can’t leave?”
“It’s a long story, alright!”
Leonie slid her hands into her pockets. “So you do need help getting your book back?”
Silence, then a swift nod. From this distance, Leonie could see that she was blushing. Obviously, this person didn’t like having to ask for help.
“Okay, well I’m assuming you can’t let down your hair to help me climb up, huh?” Leonie said this with a smirk, trying to coax out a shared rapport.
“Oh, yes let me just lean over with my shoulder length hair. That’s enough rope, right?” She was giggling a little as she replied sarcastically. Though she hid her smile behind her hands, Leonie could see the sincerity beneath. They both chuckled awkwardly at the ridiculous sentiment and Leonie was pleased to see the tension in the woman’s shoulders drop just a bit. She was not relaxed, but she was certainly less nervous.
“There’s really no way to enter your tower except for the window?”
“Yeah,” She nodded glumly.
Leonie did not comment on the peculiar situation and instead pulled out a grappling hook from her bag.
“Would it be okay if I scaled the wall with this?” She gestured with the hook.
The woman sighed. “If you must.”
“It’s the only solution I can think of right now. I’m sorry, I left my pegasus at home.” That quip brought another light smile to her face. “I promise, I’ll be careful not to damage your tower.”
“Alright, go ahead.” She scurried away from the window, preparing for Leonie’s toss. Luckily Leonie had grown strong as a mercenary who relied on lances. She also had an eye for aim from her archery training. This target was hardly a challenge. With one vigorous heft of her shoulder, she lodged the hook securely in the window. Careful not to forget the tome, Leonie placed it in her backpack. She tested the roped with several sharp tugs. Once she was satisfied with its stability, she called once more to the woman in the window.
“I’m coming up!”
“Okay!” The woman sounded slightly panicked still, but it was far more relaxed than her previous stress. Leonie pulled herself along the side of the wall, gathering her balance before risking each step. It was exhausting to scale something so steep but not impossible for Leonie. Soon enough, she was nearly at the top. Her muscles screamed in distress as she neared the edge of her physical limit. Leonie risked the remaining distance with a quick yank of the rope. She was able to leap on the windowsill, but the quick motion had been hard to control. The sleeve of her shirt caught on pane’s edge at the elbow, tearing with a sharp rip.
“Aw, man.” Leonie looked disheartened at the damage. She was loathe to find a tailor to mend it, but this was one of the remaining shirts she owned that was not threadbare, stained, or ripped to shreds.
She did not, however, realize how her words might impact her new acquaintance.
“Oh my Goddess!” She cried, hiding her face behind her hands. “Don’t tell me you hurt yourself! I cannot be implicated in murder –”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine.” Leonie carefully hopped from the window sill and turned to show off the damage. “Just a tear in my shirt.”
“Oh.” She peeked at Leonie from behind her fingertips. “I could help with that. I love mending clothes.”
That took Leonie by surprise. “Are you sure? You didn’t seem keen on, uh, working together a few minutes ago.”
The woman thought it over. “I suppose you’re okay. For now. And you helped me get my journal back, so I can do you a favor in return. That way, I don’t owe you a thing.”
“I see.” Leonie opened her bag and pulled out the thick book. “Here’s your journal by the way.”
The woman snatched it from her with a desperate grip. Leonie was just glad she could reunite the woman with something that was clearly so precious to her. She hurried to the far end of the room, placing it delicately on an already overstuffed bookshelf.
“Alright, well let me just go ahead and get this off-” Leonie began shedding her shirt, to which the woman yelped in surprise.
“You can’t just strip in front of people!” She cried, hiding her flushed face.
Leonie paused with her shirt partway over her head. “Oh, I mean, I’m wearing an undershirt beneath this.”
“Oh.” She blinked, once again dropping her hands.
Leonie finished pulling the shirt off and shook it out. She then passed it over to the woman. “I’m assuming it will take you a few days to get that done.”
The woman nodded.
“That’s fine.” Leonie assured her, hoping to keep her spirits high. “I’m going to be in the area for a least another week, maybe longer.”
“Ok,” The woman retreated to a desk on the far side of the room, glancing at Leonie expectantly.
“What?”
“Aren’t you going to leave now?”
Leonie was surprised, until she reminded herself that this person did not seem to interact with others often. She nodded, taking her leave gracefully.
“One thing before I go actually.” She stood by the window, glancing back. “What’s your name?”
“Oh right. It’s Bernadetta.”
Leonie smiled. “It suits you.” That was perhaps a bit too familiar for Bernadetta, as she once again hid her flushed face.
She hastened to leave before she bothered this woman anymore. “Well, uh, my name’s Leonie. So that we’re on the same page. I run a mercenary company in the area-”
Bernadetta began to cry out, “So you were sent to kill me-”
Leonie plowed through, finishing her sentence stubbornly. “If I had been hired to kill you, you would already be dead!”
They both stared at each other for a moment before Bernadetta’s laugh broke the tension.
“I, uh, suppose you’re right.” She was smiling shyly now. “Thanks. For your help, I mean.” She paused, a conflicted look on her face. Leonie waited, giving her the chance to sort out her words. “Sorry for my um, rudeness to you…At first, I thought you were one of those suitors my father sends along.”
That bit of information revealed more than Leonie was expecting. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, uh…actually I would prefer to not talk about it.” Bernadetta lowered her attention back to Leonie’s torn sleeve. “If that’s alright.”
“Yeah, no problem!” Leonie began to climb out of the window, pausing for just one more moment before bidding Bernadetta farewell. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah!” And the warmth in Bernadetta’s smile lit up the room with its sincerity.