Work Text:
Lost Child
There was a gentle breeze ruffling the tree leaves of the palace’s garden this late morning. The sun had barely rose above the highest towers, yet the air already carried the scents of the flowers in full blossom, bathing the place in sweet fragrances. The wind had washed away most of the stench that sometimes came from the city, to all citizens’ great relief.
“How dare they?” Nadia muttered to herself, striding the garden’s path in a fury. “How dare they ignore me? Ignoring their people’s plea! Their. People! Oh, and dare they ‘Do you smell anything today?’ me! What a convenient, refreshing breeze we’ve got here. Kick me out of your scheming all you want, but such lucky coincidence cannot last forever! I am not paranoid, nor hysterical, dear husband! And I have not said all my piece...”
Fuming, she kept moving with purpose. She stumbled upon an abandoned vegetable garden during one of her recent strolls and she could swear she saw tall trees by the palace fences before she was forcefully removed of the area. She would get out of those palace’s walls, whether she had to resort to tree climbing or not.
Nadia yelped as her foot suddenly got caught in the uneven pavements, tipping her over. When she tried to get up, she felt her hair being pulled back down by some low branches. With a defeated sigh, she sat down there. She brushed the dirt off her hands which were slightly cut from the gravel but thankfully not bleeding much. She felt her frustration grow as she pulled and tugged to try and pray her hair out.
“What was Mother’s saying again? Yes, the great hair of Prakra! Great hair, my a-”
She stumbled once more and fell head first in the neighboring bush as the branches snapped and her hair freed. A surprised squeal echoed her own as she found herself face-to-face with a child. Without a word, the child pivoted on her heels and ran away.
Who was she?! Where did she come from?
“Wait!”
Nadia swore she heard her small footsteps slow down. The countess had a hard time believing how desperate she sounded. Maybe not desperate, but she definitely felt the inflection in her own voice. She could use some company.
“Would you be so kind as to help me?”
After a minute or so, Nadia sighed. The child was apparently gone.
“What a day...” She muttered.
Her whole body felt heavy and sore. She was undeniably sad, tired and lonely. This whole country was so different, it was still difficult for her to adapt. Worst, since she moved to the palace, she had the hardest time finding small things to comfort herself in.
With another sigh, Nadia readjusted herself on the ground. The soft skin of her bleeding hands protested against the gravel, making her wince in silence.
“Are you alright?”
Nadia’s head snapped up and she found herself staring at the child once more. She was still far away, half hidden in the bushes, keeping a safe distance in case she had to run once more.
“Yes, thank you.” Nadia smiled at her, feeling something soft and warm blossom in her chest. “Come over here.”
Nadia felt the child’s reluctance, her small brows knitting in a worried line.
“I’m not mad at you for being here.” Nadia insisted. “Come.”
“You’re not mad?” The child asked, her face lightening up.
“No, I am not.” Nadia had barely finished her sentence that the child was strolling towards her. “My name is Nadia, what is yours?”
“I’m Pasha!”
Nadia watched with delight the child smile brightly at her, a simple smile missing a tooth.
“Hello Pasha, nice to meet you. So, what are you doing here?”
Nadia was surprised by the child’s sudden withdrawal at the question.
“I’m exploring.” Pasha answered carefully.
Was she lost? Nadia wondered.
“I am in the process of exploring myself. Would you care if I joined?”
The short red hair bounced on top of the child’s head as she started jumping on the spot, blue eyes sparkling.
“No problem, captain!” Pasha quickly saluted and strode of.
Nadia got up swiftly and patiently brushed the dust off her gown. She adjusted the shawl on her head and soon gave up with a frustrated sigh. She had too much hair to properly hide it with a simple piece of clothing anyways.
It took them a bit less than one hour to tour the abandoned garden. By the time they were done scaring the straight cats and a flock of birds, counting the black ‘snaily’ stones and pointing out all the bushes with bicolored flowers, Nadia’s feet hurt from the uneven pavements.
“Let us take a seat for a moment, shall we? A short rest seems due.”
Pasha proceeded back to the center of the garden and guided them to steps of a small cottage. The roof had started collapsing on itself but the walls stood firm. She sat on the porch steps and Nadia followed her example. The stone was hard but the shade of the neighboring tree was welcome as the sun shone brighter.
Pasha sat there in silence for about half a second before jumping back on her feet.
“Want some water?”
“Yes, please.” Nadia gracefully accepted.
The child ran to the pump in front of the house and proceeded auctioning it. For a moment, Nadia thought the well was empty but after a few strides, brown water splashed out of the tap. Pasha yelp in delight as she found herself covered in water and before Nadia could stop her from further dampening, Pasha proceeded to plunge both her hand, elbow deep, under the water stream. When the water turned clear, she rinsed two of the bowls that sat by the pump and filled them.
“Thank you.”
Nadia accepted the uneven bowl, inspecting it with curiosity. It was rough, but had a warm feel to its carved geometric shapes and hand paintings.
She tested the water carefully, it tasted just like everywhere else in the palace. She started drinking at the time Pasha was done, smacking her lips happily.
“How can you be so trusting with the water?” Nadia mused.
“Humm?”
Pasha looked confused.
“I thought all Vesuvia citizens were terrified of the water these days.”
Pasha looked at her even more confused.
“Only blood red is bad, bad. Light red is a no-no to drink but it’s fine to wash stuff if you let them dry in the sun.”
Pasha sounded like a child reciting a lesson known by heart, but she wasn’t parting with her confused frown.
“Isn’t that what everybody says?” She concluded.
As Pasha waited for confirmation, Nadia felt the full weight of her ignorance about this people she set herself to lead. Her people. She felt terrible about it. She had dreamt of being a different ruler, one connected to their people, a worthy ruler, and yet, here she was… She had isolated herself in the palace walls just like she swore she never would.
The realization of ignorance enforced her decision to get outside the palace and walk the streets of Vesuvia once again. Nadia took a minute to reflect on it then cleared her throat. Now was not the time to mop around, it was a time for action.
“So, Pasha... Tell me a bit more about your parents! What do they do at the palace?”
The child gave her another look. She had this sheepish and shy attitude again. Nadia’s gut fell. What did she say wrong this time?
“Do you still have parents?”
Pasha shook her head. Oh, just great! What tact, Noddy. She could hear Lucio’s disdain as if sat in the garden with them.
“Who takes care of you?”
“My aunt. She is a queen, you know? A real one, with a ship like, that big! And that sailed all the seas.” Pasha beamed. “And I have my brother! He brags and nags all the time, but I know he doesn’t mean any harm. He is a crybaby too, but don’t tell him I am the one who told you, he’ll get mad at me.”
Nadia couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her throat at the child’s gestured and exaggerated explanation.
“Do they work at the palace now?”
“No... I don’t know anyone at the palace.”
“You know me now.” Nadia offered with an honest smile. “How did you get in then?”
“If I tell you my secret, will you be my friend?” Pasha started entwining her small fingers together and twisting them.
“Sure, that is if you would have me as a friend of course.”
“Great! But before we go, we need to disguise you. Your hair is too...”
Pasha’s sentence ended in a lot of hand flare.
“Foreign?” Nadia suggested.
“What does it mean?”
“From a different country.”
“Yes, exactly! It is so pretty everybody must look at you on the street. But we don’t want that...”
Pasha had crossed her arms over her chest and started mumbling to herself. Nadia was looking at her with a mix of heart racing and stopping. Talking to that child without filters was intense, if she were from a different world, she would describe it as an emotional roller-coaster.
“That is why I took this shawl.”
Nadia tried to fend for herself and pointed at the scarf she had draped over her head and shoulders. Pasha simply shook her head.
“It sticks out at the back too much. Oh, I know! I’ll braid them! My aunt taught me.”
Nadia was about to object but what else was there to do in that abandoned garden anyways? She might as well enjoy being taken care of. Nobody had dressed her hair in a long time. Her eyes traveled around the bushes in front of them but only memories were playing in front of her. Her mother, her sisters, running, laughing and fighting as children.
“Mind telling me the tale as to why our path crossed this morning?”
And Pasha started narrating her story as she braided Nadia’s hair. After quite a bit of time, a lot of hair pulling, pirates, but nice ones, ugly thugs and an enormous human eating rat, Pasha got at the end of both her braid and story. Nadia who had been too focused on minimizing the damage done on top of her head to admit she barely followed said tale. The braid was as uneven as she expected it to be, but she had to give it to Pasha, it was easily canceling her hair once she wrapped it around her neck, below the shawl.
“Despite all, I had a great time.” She eventually said, thinking every word of it. “But all good things must eventually come to an end... I am entailed to go back to the Palace shortly.”
“Your wording is so funny.” Pasha snorted before jumping on her feet.
Nadia felt a small pang of surprised indignation straightening her back.
“But a deal is a deal!” The child went on, ignorant of Nadia’s outrage. “I have one last thing to show you. Come!”
Soon Pasha disappeared again in the garden and Nadia was left wondering if she really sounded so off. Trying to brush it off as a childish comment, she rose from her seat and went in the child’s general direction.
“Come, come!” Pasha whisper-screamed in the distance.
As Nadia went on, the trail became even more uneven than before and soon disappeared altogether. She had to brush off low hanging branches so they didn’t get caught in her hair or shawl again.
Nadia went deeper in the garden than she could have ever expected. For a moment, all she saw was branches and thorns covered in small tenacious flowers. And suddenly Nadia hit a wall. It was covered with so much vines that she almost missed it. It was towering over her, casting its shade on the dense bushes. The area was a lot less welcoming than the sunbathed porch of the abandoned cottage.
“Pasha?” Nadia called as a shiver ran up her spine.
“Over here!” The child called right back, her voice so far to Nadia’s left.
Amazed by her agility, Nadia trailed off in her general direction. A small red head popped up between the bushes a minute later.
“Come on!” She grabbed Nadia’s sleeve as dragged her gently along the wall. “Hurry up!”
Nadia yelped and almost tripped over Pasha when she suddenly stopped.
“It’s here.” Pasha whispered, looking over her shoulder, right into Nadia’s eyes.
“What is?” Nadia questioned in a low voice, crouching beside Pasha to hear her.
“The passage.”
Nadia followed Pasha’s line of sight. She stared at the dense vines for a while wondering what she was supposed to see. Soon her eyes adjusted to the shade of the area and she caught a small ripple of light. A shimmer between the leaves, like a ray of light caught on the scale of Parkra’s great fishes. At first, she fought she had gone mad but the longer she looked the more fluid the stones on the wall got. Nadia decided to extended her hand and brush some of the vines out of the way to get a better view. Her fingers started tingling as they brushed the surface of what definitely not a stone wall.
“A portal?”
She knew she was right as Pasha started to radiate with static energy beside her.
“Where to?”
“Out!” Pasha beamed.
Nadia’s face fell. How long had it been there? Exactly how many people knew about this passage? Could she leave this unguarded? Maybe she would rather not have known it existed at all.
“Who else knows about this?”
Nadia realized how harsh she sounded when Pasha recoiled at her question. Taking a deep breath, she looked once more at the child, she was so honest and sweet, she probably didn’t mean any harm.
“Who showed it to you?”
“I found it myself.”
Pasha’s eyes started to tears up.
“Shhhh... Everything is fine, do not fret.” Nadia awkwardly soothed, brushing her small shoulders gently. “Who else knows about it?”
“My brother, but he never comes to play with me.” She sobbed, big tears now rolling down her cheeks like pearls.
Nadia was at a loss of what to do. The child was obviously lonely and harmless, all she wanted was to comfort her as a token of her gratitude for this lovely morning in her company. But, if anyone ill-intentioned were to ever stumble on this passage, no one could prevent their entry on palace’s ground. Worse, in case of invasion, the palace would be completely unguarded from that side.
“Pasha, the Gran Adventurer.” Nadia said in her most solemn tone.
The countess waited for the sob to die down a bit beside her. She could help but crack a smile as she regained the child’s attention.
“May I call you that?” She kept going, now the center of Pasha’s focus.
Pasha shyly nodded.
“So be it. I hereby, Countess Nadia of Vesuvia, from this day until your last breath is taken, grant you the title of Gran Adventurer of the court.”
Nadia slid a glance to the side. Pasha’s eyes were still shining with tears, but she was obviously listening in with a lot of attention.
“It entitles the following: first, the Gran Adventurer of the court shall be dedicated to the quest of unraveling Vesuvia’s greatest secrets. Second, the Gran Adventurer of the court shall only answer to me. Third, the Gran Adventurer of the court shall swear to never reveal their secrets under any circumstances. It’s a heavy responsibility to bear, but do you swear to protect the title?”
“I swear!”
“Delightful! And forth, the Gran Adventurer is authorized by the countess’s authority to pinch her brother when he is being a jerk.”
To Nadia’s pleasure, Pasha burst in laughter.
“Announce yourself!” A guard suddenly sounded not far from them. “This is palace ground! Whoever you are, come forth before I remove you by the Count’s authority!”
Pasha looked at Nadia in panic.
“Quick, come or we are in trouble!” The child pulled on Nadia’s sleeves, but the countess shook her head.
“Don’t worry about me, Pasha. But you must go in hast and never come back. The palace isn’t a nice and safe place for a child to play. Promise me that too.”
“Okay.” She was obviously confused by Nadia’s sense of urgency. “Will we meet again? Please come find me! My aunt has a magical garden in the flooded district. Promise as well.”
“I shall come find you, child. Now, go!”
Nadia rose and as she spun around, she was met with a guard’s spear.
“Countess Nadia!” The guard snapped to attention with wide eyes. “What are you doing here?!”
“Are you questioning me?” Nadia quirked an eyebrow in his direction.
“No absolutely, not ma’am. I wouldn’t dare, my apologies.” The guard started sweating. “But, with all due respect, you shouldn’t be here, ma’am.”
“So, guard!” Lucio’s loud voice boomed five meters away from them. “What did you find?”
The guard simply snapped to attention, straight as a rode, and stepped aside. Lucio cladded in his usual glorious white military attire shone in the midday sun. His nose wrinkled in a displeased frown when he saw Nadia.
“Noddy? What are you doing here?”
“Following cute little mice as you would gladly know, since I cannot attend any official meeting. Speaking of meeting... I should be the one asking you this question: what are you doing here? Was it not yesterday that you told me the agenda was so full it would take you the whole day to cover it all?”
Lucio nonchalantly shrugged the accusation off. Instead, he offered an arm to his wife. Nadia frowned at his attitude, but took his arm nonetheless. They started walking back together in a silent agreement, the guards followed them at a polite distance.
“By the way, what’s with the attire?”
Nadia followed his eyes to the inequal braid in her hair and the silk scarf clumsily frown over it.
“I am innovating.”
“It is hideous.”
“A good thing I do not need your consent then.” Nadia smirked at him and gently patted his arm. “All things considered, I do not need your consent to enter the court room either. Shall we go back together, my dear Count?”