Rather be a Lover than a Fighter

Chapter 4: The Family

The doors to the throne room closed behind me and I let out a breath, I did not know I was holding. A guard next to me watched me, curious about the reason I seemed to be so stressed out, I could tell by the way he was looking, that he was as new here as the servant, I met earlier. I honestly did not understand the reason the commander still employed new soldiers, since I was taking away their work all over the country. It did not make sense in my opinion, because they would all end up guarding the palace at the end, and it was not like we needed any more guards around here. Of course, the king would be furious if the amount of soldiers would be reduced with the only reason being my hard work, so I kind of understood his actions. The Commander tried everything to keep the king's concern and anger about my involvement in the military under control, something I was very grateful for. He supported me wholeheartedly and even though he also worried about me, as a soldier himself, he understood the reason I fought and tried to do it all by myself. I thought about paying him a visit at this moment, but I decided to calm my mother and my sisters first. Their quarters were near mine, so simply went back to where I came from and took a turn to the left, shortly before I reached my own quarters. It did not take long for me to reach the majestically decorated quarters of the King and Queen of this country. I could bet that my little twin sisters came here the to cry to mother about my departure and my possible death. As expected, there were two guards stationed in front of the main entrance to the four connected rooms that belong to these countries rulers. I knew both of them, so they only glanced at me, before gladly opening the door, which was very understandable. My sister's cries were so loud, that they could even be heard through the door, and I was sorry for those, who probably had to listen to it all day long.

The second I entered the room, though, a puzzled silence spread between my mother and my siblings. Then there was a scream and both of my sisters jumped at my waist to hug me tight, most likely with no intend to ever let me go again. "We missed you so much", they cried desperately and, if at all possible, hugged me even tighter, which brought me to believe that they have cracked my collarbone. "Now, now", my mother scolded them, but the smile on her lips gave away that she was not angry, "your sister did not return to us alive, just to be crushed". Immediately, both of the twins let go of my waist and backed off, while murmuring multiple apologies I could not quite understand. Though, I did know that they were simply worried about me, so I showed them my forgiveness with a fond look and a ruffle through their hair. They smiled happily and instantly knew that they understood my message, which made me even more grateful. "Let me take a good look at you", my mother suddenly came closer and inspected my entire body, "no injuries again, you are so lucky young lady". "Why do you always do this to me", she murmured quietly like my father, then she also tackled me in a hug and pressed me close. It did not take long for both of my sisters to join us enthusiastically, only a little more gentle this time. Like always, I was not quite sure how to react to that, I was obviously grateful, but I never really felt like I was worth this kind of attention. On the battlefield, I killed countless times and I considered the idea of dying so often already, that it always felt weird to have my family worry about my death so much. "You need to hug us back, otherwise this does not count as a family hug", my youngest sister complained, her name was Celena. "Stop complaining and enjoy that our big sister is finally back", the older twin argued even though I was barely gone for more than a day, she was called Verena. "Enough you two", my mother interrupted them, "I am sure your sister is very tired from her journey, and she does need to hear your unnecessary fights right now". "We are sorry sister", both of them apologized at the same time and backed off again, "we did not want to tire you out even more". They did not, but since I could not tell them that, I just nodded to signal that I accepted their apology. A small bow was meant to tell them I would be leaving now, and they nodded back, trying to sympathize with me by not using their voices. It kind of annoyed me because most people did that, and it simply made the irking silence more unbearable, but I could not break it. I know they meant well though, so I was not really mad, it just dampened my mood back to its usual state. It almost felt like it lightened up a little, but I knew I should not let it, it would take away the suspicious attitude I build up to protect myself, which I could not afford. Being on edge was the state I got used to, and it trained my senses for the battlefield, something I could use to keep myself alive. "Hey Flora", somebody behind me suddenly asked, and I could tell by the voice that it was my twin sister Verena, "will you join us for dinner this evening". I thought about it for a short while, but considering that I have been gone for almost two days and that I still had to meet up with the Commander, I honestly did not think I could. In order to not completely shatter her hopes, I rose my head and shrugged as if I was not quite sure yet, which was partially the truth. "I am glad", my sister answered happily and showed me one of her biggest smiles, "I really hope you can make it this time". Another shrug from my side was all the answer I gave her, though, since I did not want to lie to her even more. Then I turned around and with a last wave of my hand, I left the room that I only visited to calm down the rest of my family.

The guards closed the door behind me and gave me a thankful smile, something I could only respond to with a slow nod. I left the room behind and wanted to enter the corridor to my left, when I saw something and used my reflexes to step aside quickly. A split second later, a young maid, I recognized as the one taking care of Verena, was laying on the floor. She must have tripped because of the speed she was running at, which was not meant for the long maid dress she was wearing. I moved to help her up until I realized that I was technically not allowed to and since there were witnesses, I signaled one of the guards to help her. Of course, they rushed to help immediately, and I cursed the fact that I could not help someone in need because of my rank. Once she stood up from the ground and thanked the guard that went back to his position, she turned around to face me. "Your Highness", she said and bowed quite deeply, "did you see your sister princess Verena, I have been searching for her all over the palace". I nodded and pointed at the door that was right behind her, to show her where my younger sister has been for the past few hours. "Thank you very much, your highness", she answered and bowed again, "I was hoping to find her here with the Queen". She quickly turned around after that and made her way to the door, before knocking and asking for Verena to come out. What happened afterward did not concern me anymore, so I just left the situation and went into the corridor I originally wanted to go through. Verena's maid has always been a little uptight, but it was understandable since she needed to prepare my sister for the worst case scenario, which was my death. After I decided to risk my life on the battlefield, Verena had to catch up to all the preparations a crown princess needed to go through. She was very stubborn about it and did not want to prepare herself for the case of my death, which was the reason she always ran away from her duties. Celena also was not much help, since the preparations required the twins to separate, which was something both of them absolutely hated. They would always sneak away from their classes to meet up somewhere in secret, which made their maids and teachers furious.