Evangeline was groggy when the lights shone through her satin white curtains. The birds echoed from the outside, and there was a hint of a headache running through Evangeline’s head. She groaned and flipped onto her stomach, planting her head into her pillow. Yet, it didn’t ease the pressure that welled up in her head. 

The normal six, rumbling ‘congs’ of the church’s clock had yet to go off, so the time was not yet right for Evangeline to rise. However, she was certain she would be able to fall back to sleep under the circumstances of the migraine that drilled a hole into her skull. 

“Gods, I hate everything,” Evangeline mumbled into her pillow. She pushed herself upwards with her hands and threw her legs across the edge of the bed. Her injured ankle resisted slightly a tang of pain, but Evangeline no longer winced as badly. 

She allowed herself to put her casted ankle on the floor and then put her weight on her left ankle, trying to prevent as much agnish on that right ankle as possible. To Evangeline’s surprise, it didn’t hurt quite as badly. Don’t get her wrong, it still hurt — a lot. But it wasn’t an agonizing grip that swarmed all along her leg. 

Limping her way to her closet, Evangeline opened the door and pushed a button on the wall, igniting some flares to light up the walls. 

Magic was quite an odd thing. When used on living creatures, it can be dangerous if used too often, but in times where it is used on animate objects, it was a daily occurrence. It wasn’t too difficult to opperate magic on machines, in homes, or on objects, but to use magic on a human, it then became dangerous. Not to mention, only few people had the ability to use magic when it came to creating the objects that operated magic. It was a very precise job, like that of a blacksmith or perhaps a hunter. Magic users had their niches.

Evangeline put the thought away for another time and started to sway through the hangers of clothing. To the surprise of anyone that dared to find their way into her closet, it wasn’t as bland and ordinary as it may have been perceived. Evangeline only wore simple colors when it came to her sparring ware and regular clothes. A typical satin tunic would do as well as black, white, or tan leggings. Sometimes kakis if she felt like it. She also felt it was only needed to wear her armor when sparring.

What was unique in her closet, however, were the areas where the weapons were. Evangeline didn’t have a huge array of weapons, but the ones she did have were very personal to her. There were three swords, each casted in their own scabbard on a small table on the back wall. The middle one on the table was her most used one, high-treated carbon steel with a hint of elderberry for an one-up against a few magical beasts, it was a force to be reckoned with. It was Evangeline’s first sword she was given when she was brought into the kingdom gates, and she used it whenever she sparred or was on day to day tasks with Anastasia. 

The closest sword was a gift from the king when he promoted Evangeline to Anastasia’s personal knight. The blade was made of necos acidos, a type of metal seen sparsly on the continent of Aagora, typically within the highest peek of mountains. The handle was a hyper-condensed blood-iron. It was crafted by a highly, well-reknown blacksmith, Dedrick LeBlanc, that crafts a majority of time in Zayari, a neighborhing kingdom to the east of Collosicus. 

The last blade, to the very back of the table, closest to the wall, was something Evangeline had yet to touch. The material had yet to be discovered, and the blade, itself, was tattered with indentaitons. The sccbard, itself, was covered in cuts and was stained in blood. It was the blade Evangeline was found with when she almost died. 

Evangeline never dared to make contact with the blade, even the handle. The only times she ever touched the blade was at the start of her stay in Collosicus. It was an attempt to bring back whatever memories Evangeline may have had; the king and scholars thought that maybe if Evangeline used the blade or as simply as touched it, that it might trigger a response either in her brain or in the outer world. But there was nothing. 

Since then, Evangeline hasn’t touched the blade; she has only ever dared to look, admire, and fear the things that it has seen in its either short or long life. Everyday, when she went into her closet, the blade mocked her. She didn’t think it was on purpose, but there was something about it that sent her heart into an erratic set of beats. She couldn’t put her finger on why the anxiety, when looking at the sword, caused her such anguish, but it did. 

Evangeline knew that day was the start of her lessons with Valantis and Anastasia. Well, she wasn’t sure whether it would be lessons so much as independent studying. Truthfully, Evangeline had zero idea what to anticipate over the next few weeks. She was sure it would be painfully dull, but, nevertheless, she held a bit of hope that maybe it wouldn’t be as treacherous as Anastasia made it out to be. 

With a heavier heart than normal, Evangeline took a step deeper into her closet and shifted through a few of the items that hung from the coat rack. She bit her lip as she sorted through the wardrobe, the back of it showcasing more dramatic and bright colors. Then, nearly at the back, did she find something that wasn’t over-the-top but was a step out of normal direction. It was a very simple auburn colored stress with a sheer v-line and short, also sheer, sleeves. It was fitted at the waste and came to about the knees with a white hemline that circled around. To go with the dress was a little hair piece, a bow, that seemed fit to be on the back of the hair, perhaps in a ponytail or braid. 

Pulling gently at her unkept hair that was down, instead of in twin braid, Evangeline decided to do something out of the ordinary for her style. And, by the gods, she was excited, yet nervous, to see how Anastasia and Valantis would react.

-

“Oh my gods,” Anastasia said upon Evangeline making her way into the library. It was like the world had stopped spinning and time came to a stand still. Both Anastasia and Valantis had stopped their apparent conversation when those doors opened, and as Evangeline had stepped inside, their minds had slowly came to a stand still. 

“You’re in a dress,” Anastasia squeaked out, bawling her hands together and jumping around like a wisp flying amongst the night sky. She let out a smile and ran towards Evangeline throwing her arms around her and giving her a hug, “you’re in a dress on your own accord. Eva, oh my gods, it’s a bright dress. I absolutely love it!” 

“Isn’t this quite a development,” Valantis said, wearing a smile as wide as the Gentitro mountain range. Which, to be fair, isn’t very wide as it is steep.

Evangeline, in the process, lit up in a blush. Part of her didn’t want to be standing there in the orange dress, but the other part of her liked the attention. She never really gave herself the chance to dress casually, to dress differently than her normal, formal attire. It almost made Evangeline feel… feminine. Don’t get her wrong, she felt feminine in her normal attire, but this was different. She had freedom to step out of her comfort range that she absolutely wasn’t able to do normally. 

“I figure if I am going to be trapped in this library from daylight to nightrise, I should be comfortable.” 

“To be fair, we are not in here all day. Princess Anastasia has a meeting with her fiancé when the clock tower strikes three ticks.” 

“Oh my, and what knight will be in her presence,” Evangeline questioned, a pang of nervousness striking her chest. She had to acknowledge that she felt useless; she wasn’t able to accompany Anastasia when she needed to be there. Evangeline realized that she hadn’t a chance to truly meet this Prince Philip, and she wanted to ensure that Philip would be a compatible partner for Anastasia. 

What if he wasn’t? What if he was the worst possible partner from Anastasia. Someone who was boring, serious, and refuses to give Anastasia freedom to do as she wishes? Not that it wasn’t much different from her current situation … but Anastasia was to be Queen! She had long awaited this freedom, and what if she never got it because Philip could possibly be a dimwitted asswhat? 

Only in that moment did Evangeline realize she was approaching the situation with the worst possible outcome. Perhaps Philip would be a kindhearted gentleman who would sweep Anastasia off of her feet and gift her diamonds and flowers when she awoke every morning. 

“Well, I will be in her attendance. As well as that other lad, Prince Philip’s knight. His name was err–” Valantis hesitated a second as Evangeline noticed his mind starting to spin with recognition. Yet, Evangeline already knew the answer. 

“Vance. Yes, we have met. A few too many times, I must admit,” Evangeline mumbled the last sentence under her breath and shifted her weight, cautiously, on her left leg. She didn’t want to hurt her ankle; she was starting to walk without the crutches, despite the pain. Honestly, she was absolutely exhausted by the crutches. Evangeline would rather deal with the pain of her right ankle landing on the floor than having her under arms and ankle feeling like they had been run over by a pack of wild wolves. 

“Ah, yes, Vance. Quite a fine gentleman. I’m sure any young, female, knight would be interested in his appearances,” Valantis looked at Evangeline with teasing eyes, a sneaky smile making its way onto his face. In a moment, though, Valantis’s face turned solemn and he motioned for Evangeline and Anastasia to follow him through the library. “Enough standing around, let’s make our way to the study room.”