CHAPTER 29: TO SAVE A KINGDOM [1]

"So you’re the Princess?" Aeron’s voice cracked, asking Nyella as his back was turned to her, and he stared outside the cave. "What other lies have you been telling me? Is your name even Nyella? Or is that another lie too?"

Nyella stood frozen behind him with her heart pounding so loud. Her throat felt dry.. They were at the cave alone, their usual spot and now it suddenly felt like it was closing in on her.

"Aeron..." she began softly. "Please try to understand. If you were in my place, if you had my life, my name, would you really go around telling people who you were? Would you walk into villages and say, ’Hey, I’m the Princess of Ivarion’?"

Aeron turned around slowly. "So that’s what we are to you? Just people? Just ’villagers’ whom you visited when you needed a break from your royal life?"

She flinched at his words. "No! That’s not what I meant..."

"You said we were friends," he cut her off. "I believed we were close, Nyella. I trusted you."

"We are close!" she insisted as she stepped forward. "We are friends. But it’s complicated, Aeron. My whole life is complicated. I wanted just one part of it to be simple. Just one person who didn’t treat me like a symbol, or a throne, or a crown."

Her voice cracked as she spoke.. "That time... that little time we spent together, you and me, Ronan and Yvarra, just us, laughing and training under these trees, that meant more to me than anything I’ve had in a long time. I just wanted to hold onto that. Even if it meant hiding who I was."

Aeron didn’t say anything. He just stared at the ground.

She continued. "And maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should’ve told you. Maybe I should’ve trusted you enough to let you see that side of me. But I was afraid. Afraid that everything would change once you knew."

There was silence for a long moment. Then Aeron shut his eyes and let out a deep breath.

"You should stop apologizing, it’s already happened," he said softly.

Nyella looked up at him, her face was full of sadness.

"I’m really very sorry," she said quietly.

Then she took a step back. "I’m leaving tomorrow."

He looked at her immediately. "What?"

"I’m going to the front lines," she explained. "My father, the king, is badly wounded. The generals are struggling to hold the soldiers together. They’re deserting by the dozens. Someone has to lead them. Someone has to stand at the front and show them that the fight is still worth it."

"You?" Aeron stepped closer with disbelief written all over his face. "You’re going to lead soldiers into war? You’re not serious. What happened to all the commanders and generals? Isn’t that their job?"

"They’re doing their best," she said. "But their best is not enough anymore. The people need someone they believe in. Someone they know really cares. I’m the King’s daughter, Aeron. If I don’t lead, then who will?"

Aeron shook his head. "Nyella, listen to yourself. This war... It’s tearing us apart. It’s already lost so many lives. You’re going to the front, do you know what that means? If something goes wrong, just one thing, and you won’t make it out alive."

She looked him in the eye. "And what do you expect me to do? Sit in the palace and fold my arms while our lands burned, our people dragged into chains, and our enemies march right into our gates? I have to go."

Aeron turned away again, a surge of anger rising in his chest.

"If so, then I’ll be coming with you." He said.

She replied immediately. "Absolutely not. You cannot even fight"

"I’m good with the bow and you’ve taught me some moves before." Aeron insists.

Then she turned her face away from him. "It’s not enough, you’re still lacking in many ways... You won’t even last an hour at the battlefield."

Then something caught his eye.

Behind Nyella, was Draco, the dragon. Its glowing eyes watched them. Aeron suddenly remembered something Nyella had told him not too long ago, something about a house in the past that once ruled with the power of dragons at their side.

Just like the legends.

"What is it?" Nyella asked, following his gaze.

"That story you told me," he said, slowly. "About the house that ruled with a dragon... If I could convince Draco to fight with us, if I could really connect with him, just seeing him fly over the battlefield would change everything. The enemy would run before we even began."

"No," Nyella said and stepped closer toward him. "Don’t even think about it."

"Why not?" he said, turning to her. "You’re going to the front to risk your life. Why can’t I?"

"Because it’s not just about risking your life! Draco is not a sword or a shield. He’s a force of nature. And if you wield that kind of power, if people see you with him, do you know what that means? What kind of attention it brings? What kind of pressure? You’d become the most powerful man in this kingdom. Do you know what that kind of power does to people?"

Aeron’s eyes flared. "And what if that’s the only way to win? What if that’s the only way to save our friends, our people, your soldiers?"

She stared at him with pain all over her face.

"We’re already being forced into a war we never asked for," he said. "And now you want me to sit here, in a cave, while you ride off into death? I won’t do it, Nyella. Just like no one can stop you, you can’t stop me either."

She stepped forward slowly.

"I hope you don’t do this," she whispered. "I hope you change your mind."

Aeron didn’t respond.

She looked up at him, then reached for his arm and gently placed something in his hand, a book she had carried with her all this time.

Then, softly, she leaned in and kissed him, a slow, sorrowful kiss, filled with everything she couldn’t say. When she pulled away, her eyes met his one last time.

"Goodbye, Aeron."

And before he could say another word, she turned and walked away.