Ch. 1 “Once upon a time…” (part 6)

Late at night, Valeria was sitting by the desk in her room. With a focused expression, she was reading through a pile of documents she brought back from her office. The past few days, she was acting as Princess Oriana’s guard at Queen Hester’s request, so she didn’t have much time to keep up with her commander duties.

While Valeria was absorbed in fighting Palace bureaucracy, Kyra came to her room and sat in her usual spot by the windowsill. She covered herself with a warm blanket that was waiting for her, neatly folded among pillows. It was a place prepared specifically for her by her sister.

When Valeria and her first came to the Palace, they were both assigned to the usual staff quarters. Because of the low importance of the personnel compared to royalty and nobility, the standard of the rooms was also significantly lower. As a result, it wasn’t an uncommon thing to be assigned a place with nothing but a small basement window or no window at all, like in Kyra’s case. Growing up on the streets, she was happy to even have a room to speak of, so she never complained. However, with time, she started missing being able to just look at the sky without needing to go outside.

Fortunately, a few years later, Valeria proved herself enough to be promoted by the King first to a Royal Guard, and then to the Commander of Royal Guard. That, naturally, came with many perks, including relocation to a much nicer part of the Palace, reserved for more renowned residents. Kyra was also moved - despite her generally low status as a maid - due to the high regard that the King and the Queen had for her sister, she believed. Regardless of the reason, she finally had a nice room with a big window and nice view outside, which for her, was more than she could hope for.

Still, she liked that specific spot at Valeria’s place the most. It wasn’t really because of the view or the slightly higher standard, but because her sister was there. Kyra simply liked spending time together. Even when the Commander was busy catching up with her duties, she would come to her room and sit quietly at the windowsill, wrapped in a soft blanket Valeria prepared for her, gazing out the window while listening to the sound of quill strokes on paper.

- She’s not a bad person, you know? - Kyra said without taking her eyes off of the night sky.
Hearing her sister’s words, Valeria’s hand hovered over the papers, before going back to writing just in time to avoid leaving a splotch.

- She’s spoiled, lazy and stubborn.
- She can be handful, I know. But she also has a very kind and selfless heart. You just need give her a chance to prove it.
- We’ve been here for thirteen years. I have seen what she’s capable of. I had a good view every time I had to clean up after the mess caused by each outburst of those “capabilities”. - Valeria thought about all of the times when she was sent by the King to clear yet another misunderstanding the Princess caused. Or to apologize to some official that she unintentionally offended. Or to protect her from an aristocrat, whom she disrespected with her ignorance. - Oriana is especially skilled at offending people who could bring an end to the Kingdom on a whim.

There was no denying it - The Princess was a true troublemaker. Kyra remembered well how much work Valeria had when Oriana was still attending various social gatherings. In the maid’s eyes, the fault wasn’t with her mistress though, but rather with the way she was raised by the royal couple.

Everyone in the Kingdom knew that Princess Oriana was the only child of King Lucius II and Queen Hester, but not many were aware that before they had Oriana, the Queen was with child. She miscarried quite early on, so it wasn’t a well known fact. This, of course, caused Her and His Majesty to treasure the Princess even more, and so, they showed a lot of leniency when it came to the mischief caused by their baby daughter and of that, there was plenty. At that time, the staff even gave the Little Highness a nickname - Princess Menace. The doting and spoiling didn’t stop as Oriana was growing up either.

It was only after the infamous tomato incident and an intervention from Valeria that the King and the Queen started changing their ways. The Princess was quietly banned from official gatherings, and the secret “Princess Reformation Process” was put in motion.

Over time, thanks to the lessons with the Elder and no shortage of Valeria’s nagging, Oriana’s behavior seemed to have significantly improved.

- Well, she has changed a lot ever since then - Kyra replied. - I just think that you two would get along well if you were able to see beyond “the Princess” and “the Commander”. You have a lot in common. Both of you are good-natured, empathetic, stubborn - especially that part - and you are both princesses.
- I’m not a princess. Not anymore. My kingdom is gone along with my people, remember?
- You can’t know that. What if someone survived? They could still be somewhere out there, hiding like you.
Valeria put down her quill and looked at her sister.

- Lets say that there was someone left. What then? Even if I could rebuild Faolán and bring my people back, the Goddess is gone. We have lost our abilities. We can’t shape-shift anymore. We are not Faoldah. We would be just like humans. Should we do what other were-folk did? Turn to the Ten, beg them to at least let our souls rest in the Afterlife?
Kyra didn’t answer.

- The Wolves of Faolán were Guardians to the Heavens. We would rather die than betray our Goddess.
- But you can still shape-shift. Maybe that means, she’s not completely gone?
- It’s only me. Besides… I wouldn’t even know where to start looking. - Valeria’s hand instinctively reached for the pendant hidden under her shirt. Her fingers gently brushed against the smooth surface of the moonstone. Feeling the weak resonance of magic coming from within the gem, she felt comforted.

In the past, there was a time when she wholeheartedly believed that the Goddess would return. She waited for Her, anxiously looking forward to the day when she would be able to go home, to her family and friends. To see those responsible for this tragedy face the wrath of Sionnach, the most powerful of all gods. But as time went on, the Goddess never came back. The villains were defeated by a human hero, and the world soon forgot about the Faolán Kingdom and it’s lost Princess Eira.

“Valeria” was the name that Kyra gave her when they met for the first time. Under the new assumed identity, after a certain chain of events, she was recruited by the royal couple and came to live in the Golden Palace with her adopted sister.

Nobody, except for Kyra, knew who she really was. She made sure to never show her abilities to anybody. The day she became “Valeria”, she decided to bury her past and her true identity. She fully intended to spend the rest of her life as a nobody. Making sure that her sister lived comfortably and peacefully became her only goal. As far as she was concerned, Princess Eira died alongside her parents and her people in that temple.

Kyra noticed that Valeria was lost in her thoughts, so she decided it was time to leave.

- Don’t stay up too long, okay?
- Mm. - The Commander nodded habitually. - Don’t forget about our practice.
- I remember. I’ll be there.
Kyra wished her good night and went back to her room, leaving Valeria to her thoughts.

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That night was quite challenging for Princess Oriana. Not only could she not fall asleep for a long time, but once she finally did, she was flooded with a multitude of dreams. Each was more vivid than the one before.
They all started pleasantly as a scene from one of the books she read in the past. She was the protagonist and was about to declare, or be declared, undying love by the main love interest. As the dreams reached the resolution phase, however, all of the characters were replaced by the Commander.

There was Valeria the Prince of Elves. Valeria the Pirate Captain. Valeria the Poet. Valeria the Knight. Valeria the Queen. The Goddess. The Witch. The Beggar.

No matter what kind of scenario she was acting out, the Commander took the place of every romance partner.

As a result, the Princess spent the night tossing and turning, desperately trying to escape from the seductive clutches of the Bastard Commander and her stupidly beautiful face.

By the time the morning rays sneaked through the gap in the heavy curtains covering the window into her room, the Princess felt even more exhausted than before she went to bed.

You Evil Woman! The only way you can have my heart is if you rip it from my cold dead body!