The sun had set. The girl stood away from the battle, away from the arena, dressed in a fine robe with gold lines and diamonds on her forehead. He had dressed her and crowned her as a princess after these long battles.
Though the other soldiers were gone only a day, they seemed very far away. They had been together for so long, it seemed they were so bonded that there never existed a time when she did not know them. She was with them all the time, ever since she met them. They were very close, very near her. The separation was strange.
She wondered where they were and how they were doing. She loved them so much, so deeply that her heart was breaking. The adjustment was difficult. Adjustment always felt like breaking off from something her heart was attached to. It always hurt. She was home and she was loved. But all the girl could think of was that she would either rather be alone or with her team.
The king spoke to her, “would you stay with me?” The girl looked up at him. His sad eyes reflected her own. “The time with those soldiers has ended,” he told her. The king explained that there was no magic that could restore it. “But,” he said, “you are all still warriors for my kingdom, so you are never too far apart.”
The king reassured her in her sadness that loved her. More than anything, he understood her. He understood the aching inside her and he told her that it was okay to feel that way. He did ask that she console herself through him, and not wallow in her sadness. The day before she shared with another that when she looked at the king’s heart, the girl saw her heart inside his. It was small and far from perfect, but it was a real image. Their hearts beat together, hers thriving from the life of his.
What would be home for her now? She could see how different she was, but would it be enough? She feared falling into the attractions of the other treasures or other kingdoms, of falling away from her king on accident because she was distracted or no longer focused through her training or the demands of the war front. She was not afraid but she did not trust herself. The girl should trust in the help of her Queen Mother. Did she not wear this Lady’s seal? In in a few days she would feel better and more at peace. She must rest on her Queen.
