The Real Lina

It took some time for us to don our uniforms. I was done swiftly, but the other two had trouble finding armor to fit. For Dietrich, not even the largest size breastplate would fit his bulk. It took Herman extending the ties with two from other plates for it to rest comfortably upon his shoulders.

There was a wide gap across his sides where the armor would typically join together, but if he hid it with a guard’s cloak, he looked the part of a guard. Apart from his pale skin, silver hair, and cracked face that was. Which, of course, were the most important part and would give us away immediately. And since none of the helmets would fit on his boulder of a head, his only option was to hide his face with the cloak’s hood.

Lina, on the other hand, was far too small. That was, except for one area, a thought that I most certainly did not dwell on as I hid myself behind the dungeon door and made the other boys do the same. As for Ulrich, well, I had no idea if he found human women attractive in the slightest, so I let him be to aid Lina with…whatever she planned to do. Not that I thought a horse could be much help, but she didn’t seem to mind as she let us close the door behind ourselves with a wave.

As I stood in the familiar darkness with Dietrich and Herman, I could not help but imagine Lina in oversized armor as she tried to waddle about with an oh-so-serious look on her face. Far from endearing, the only word I could think to describe that mental picture was cute.

It seemed as though my imagination was not as private as I thought as Dietrich gave me a sly smile.

“What’re you thinking, boss? Something nice, I bet!”

I did not like what his tone insinuated. “I’ll have you know that I was thinking rather wholesome thoughts. Thank you very much!”

“But they were still about Lina, weren’t they?” His expression had grown rather wicked. The fiend! Right now, I could see the Demon King in his scandalous look!

“I—I’ll have you know that I…well, that to say…She is…” I had no words. He had simply stumped me. “All right, you win. But can you blame me? I can never imagine what she’ll do next. One moment, she’s as clueless as you are!”

“Hey!” said Dietrich, then, after a moment, “Eh, you’re right; I’m kinda of an idiot.”

At least he’s self-aware. I continued as if he hadn’t interrupted me. “Then the next, she emulates the divine, or gets angry at being called ugly, or she’s laughing and having fun like a child. I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my head around her.”

“Makes you think, doesn’t it?” Dietrich said, his armor clinking as he folded his arms.

“About what?” I asked.

The other man simply gave me a look, “About which is the real Lina?”

The real Lina? I had not thought about that. To think that self-admitted idiot Dietrich would say something profound. I’d only assumed that the woman who had purged Gertrude was the true Lina and that the person with a terrible sense of direction and, frankly, terrible senses in general, was just a mask she wore to hide her true self. But now, Dietrich and I stood together in the darkness—with Herman doing his best to blend into the wall. Good on him for knowing when to stay quiet—I found myself wanting to know more about her. Not her secrets but rather a proper glimpse into the real Lina. I’d only known her for two days, yet she had earned my trust. I could only hope, one day, that I would earn hers.

It was, after all, a prince’s duty to learn as much as possible about his subjects.

I was brought out of my thoughts as the door to the guard room opened. I turned to face the blinding light with the image of Lina I had pictured earlier in my mind. Prepared to laugh at her mismatched costume, I instead found myself stunned at the actual woman standing in front of me, fully bedecked in the uniform, including a pair of dark trousers.

Far from a child wearing her father’s armor, Lina wore it with grace and confidence as if she was a veteran of war. Her fiery hair was tied back into a long tail that fell past her waist. Her eyes were cast downward as she made final adjustments to her gloves and chest plate. That miracle of a plate—seemingly held together by prayer alone—was emblazoned with a red hammer, the symbol of Justice, the same that decorated our armor.

After finishing with her alterations, Lina looked up at me with a smile that immediately faded. “What’s wrong, Anno?” Her eyes returned to her armor as her hands felt around her body, “Did I miss something? I’m not showing anything I shouldn’t, am I?”

I closed my gaping mouth and averted my eyes from her searching fingers. “I—Erm, no. I was just surprised at how…nice you look. It suits you very well. Er—your hair, I mean!” I added hastily. “I’d never seen it tied before.”

“Smooth,” whispered Dietrich in my ear. I instinctively shoved my elbow into his chest to make him back off, which he did. What did he know?! I could feel his silent laughter behind me.

Lina noticed none of this as she brushed a stray strand back into place with a pleased expression. “Thank you! I had a difficult time moving once I got my armor on, so Ulrich did it for me.”

What? How?! I looked past Lina to where the horse was standing, showing me his teeth. Was he bragging?

I opened my mouth to ask further questions but was culled into silence by Lina turning away, her hair whipping out behind her. “Well then, shall we go?” she said as she walked further into the guard room to the table where a simple, visorless helmet sat.

I followed her along with the other two and watched her place the helmet on her head. It covered most of it, all but a square slit that exposed parts of her eyes, nose, and mouth. It barely hid her smile as she posed, “Well, do I look the part?”

“I’d say, Lady Lina!” said Dietrich as he raised his hood. “That Heide, not gonna know what hit her!”

I had to agree with Dietrich. As I placed my own helmet over my head, my thoughts returned to our earlier conversation. Who was the real Lina? This armor-clad woman was yet another side to her that I could have never imagined. And it was not one that I hated.

It was difficult to picture any previous scenario in which she needed to don armor, and at the thought of her doing so for her ‘darling,’ I found myself filled with a rather odd sense of jealousy.

He probably knew every side of Lina, even that ever-elusive secret that she kept hidden. That made me want to end his reign of terror all the more!

But I could not dwell on the past or the future. I needed to focus on the present! On this Heide woman, who posed an immediate threat to my people.

Upon my honor as a prince, I would set things right! I flared my cloak behind me in dramatic fashion. “It’s time to go!” said I, “Let us show Heide the true meaning of Justice!”