Sun rays beamed between the leaves as a warm summer breeze swept through the field. Squeals of laughter and imaginary battles overtook the area, and to most merchants, making their way to and from the capital, the same thought crossed their minds: It too was the perfect day for the children to play and let their imagination run wild.
That is... for everyone who wasn't Lunivette.
Sure, she liked playing in the overgrown field. She even loved the forest to the north with its small stream, where the spirits of nature greeted her. It was just days like today, when she gets cornered against the old oak overlooking the sea, when she truly dislikes 'perfect days'.
"Aww, look at her cry! What you gonna do now? Cry to the trees?" Three boys stood over her, mocking her flower crown, which lay in pieces.
"You thought the trees would make you the forest princess? You're too much of a freak to be one."
They continued to mock her and call her names. Tears blurred her vision, and she tried to reach for the pieces she could still use. There wasn't anything that she could say to make them stop; she couldn't run to tell her mother either. If anything, it would only make things worse for her when she saw them again. Plus, it wasn't like her mother cared to step in when she ran to her crying. She would simply tell her that boys will be boys and that the spirits would not care if the gifts she brought had been destroyed beforehand. As long as she respects them, good things will be bestowed upon her.
However, Lunivette was not that naive. She was the target only because of her white hair and blue eyes, the same as her mother's. While there were very few people who called them blessed and the children of the heavens, the majority cursed them as demons, and almost every disaster was placed on them. Besides the bakery her mother inherited from her grandmother, the town wanted nothing to do with them. For only being seven, Lunivette already knew where she and her mother stood in the eyes of the town.
The boys' laughter only blended in with the squeals of laughter and joy from the other children, and all Lunivette could hear was the taunting and teasing remarks.
Crybaby.
Ugly.
Freak.
Demon-child.
Those four words were the only thing echoing in her ears. Lunivette could only stand there and cry; there wasn't gonna be an end to it until the boys had their fill of tormenting her for the day. Clutching her skirt, she silently wished for someone to come to her rescue and take her away.
"Hey!"
There was a new voice, a shout from behind the boys, and she glanced through her hair to see who it belonged to. Standing a couple of inches shorter than her was a boy with hair that matched the old oak's bark and green eyes that would make any forest after a rainstorm jealous. His clothing, however, was different than what the other kids wore. Too clean, well put together. It reminded Lunivette of the men and ladies who would arrive in fancy carriages and only get the sweets and cakes that her mother made.
Is he like those people?
Further behind the boy, she could see what looked like a nanny running after him, followed by knights that were different from the ones that were usually in town."Young Master!"
While her voice was distant, Lunivette could hear the panic in it. The boy, however, paid no attention to it and was instead focused on her and the three others towering over her. "Leave my friend alone!"
Friend?
That was a word not familiar to her, as the other kids in the town either ran away from her or pushed her into the mud and called her names daily. Yet, standing before her now was a boy she had never seen or met before, calling her his friend with no hesitation. It didn't make sense to her, and it didn't make sense to the other boys as well. The tallest one, she believed his name was Brixton, stomped over to the newcomer and leaned over him.
"Why should I? My daddy says she is a freak and doesn't belong."
Lunivette hung her head even more in shame, and a fresh set of tears covered her cheeks and tongue. She didn't even have a chance to defend herself against the claims or talk back. The other two boys agreed and had moved around the newcomer as well, surrounding the two of them now. In the distance, she could see the nanny getting closer, well within hearing distance now, and one more knight had joined in. Whoever this boy was, he was important, and they didn't know.
"No, she's not." The boy stood in front of her, facing Brixton head-on.
She couldn't believe her ears. Someone was defending her and protecting her as the knights do in the bedtime stories her mother tells her. Lunivette was stunned into stillness and didn't know what to say. This was also the first time that someone besides her mother had mentioned the forest spirits and didn't tell her to get her head out of the clouds. Glancing around, she tried to find any of the spirits lingering in the leaves, only to see no one there.
No.. They should be here... My wish is coming true because of them.
She kept on looking around, desperate to see at least one of them granting the one wish she had spoken out loud to them when she was yanked to the side. Her arm was held awkwardly by one of Brixton's friends, and the grip he had was tight and painful, forcing a yelp of fear, surprise, and pain. The newcomer turned to face her, but Brixton locked his arms under his, restraining the boy and also keeping his arms separated.
"If you're her friend, then you wouldn't mind if we joined in on the fun, right?" Brixton was having too much fun while the newcomer struggled against him. The boys were taunting both of them, moving one closer to the other one, and when she reached out to him, they pulled them apart. Lunivette started to struggle against the boy who held her arm. If she was gonna get to the newcomer, she had to do something she only thought about doing.
When they pulled them apart once more, Lunivette twisted her body and sank her teeth into the boy's arm. The boy started shaking his arm, pulling her hair, anything to get her to let go of his arm. She didn't release his arm, only bit down harder.
"Young Master!" The voice of the nanny reached her ears, and she released her grip on the arm and turned to face her. The boy took this opportunity to throw the girl at the newcomer and took off past the nanny and knights, crying for his mother.
The boy who claimed to be her friend reached out to her when she was thrown in his direction. It was too quick; Lunivette didn't stand a chance to react when she landed with a 'thud' and soft groaning underneath her. The boy was holding her when he took most of the damage from the fall. She scrambled to get off as quickly as she could and put some distance between the two of them.
"Young Master Orion!" Lunivette hadn't noticed when the nanny or the guards got there. The woman had moved around Lunivette and was checking every inch she could of the boy.
"Can you check on her? I'm fine, Miss. Nola." He gently pushed her hands off his face and was next to her.
His hand was outstretched to her, waiting for her to take it. The two knights were on edge, but they didn't move towards her. Miss. Nola, on the other hand, was nervous about him being close to her. The boy moved his hand closer to her and bent down to her level.
They should be safe, right?
She was hesitant, but slowly, Lunivette placed her hand in his and let him help her up to her feet. She kept her head down and held onto his hand tightly. A pair of black shoes entered her line of sight, and two soft hands pressed against her own cheeks.
"My dear, are you hurt anywhere?" Miss. Nola slowly raised her head to look at her.
"No ma'am I'm okay.." Lunivette didn't want to cause them anymore trouble than what she already caused.
Miss. Nola sighed softly and turned to the three boys. "I suggest you scoundrels go while I still have the patience."
"Tch. The freak can have friends, I guess." The remaining boys headed down the hill and joined the other kids. Lunivette could still feel the eyes, though burning a hole through her. Orion was now standing next to her and grabbed her hand.
"Are they always bullies to you?" There was something about his boyish charm that she didn't know what to say. All she could do was nod her head, and she looked at the broken flower crown in the grass, the one gift she was excited to show the spirits by the stream.
Lunivette could hear the nanny scolding Orion, which gave her a chance to look at their attire. Orion had a cream-colored collared shirt under a dark blue jacket, and instead of shorts that many of the children wore here, he had on black pants. The jacket wore an emblem of a silver dragon and a black dragon circling each other. The knights in front of her were different from the royal army, and she had never seen them here before.
She could feel their eyes on her as well, this time more closely now than before. They were taking her white hair and blue eyes, measuring how much of a threat she was to them. Lunivette knew better than to maintain eye contact for too long. A chill ran through her spine at the very thought of running away right now. A sudden voice caught her attention.
"Wanna be my princess?" Orion was still holding her hand; this time, though, he had a bright smile.
There was a small tug, and next thing she knew, he was pulling her around the trunk of the tree towards the old swing that faced the ocean side. "Anyone can say they are a princess, but the difference between them and us is that we have to vow to never be apart, okay?"
She was sitting on the swing with Orion standing next to her. The nanny was a few steps behind them, as well as the knights this time, though they weren't looking at her with contempt, but with a softer expression.
"Okay, but only if you promise to play with me again next time you visit." She could feel her rational side let loose. He said he was her friend, so friends have to have fun, right?
Orion let out a bark of laughter at her eagerness, and soon enough, they went on their own adventure by the oak tree. The nanny and one of the knights became the evil henchmen who would 'kidnap' her and keep her from Orion and the other knight while they endured numerous 'battles' to save her. They would race around the trunk, climb the lowest branches, and even use the swing as a ship to sail across distant lands. For the first time, Lunivette was laughing and squealing like the other children at the bottom of the hill. This time, she finally had a friend.
The sun was beginning to set when Orion finally 'saved' her from the evil henchmen, and under that same branch where the adventure started with the old swing, they held a 'wedding' between the princess and the brave knight.
"In my hometown, there's a special vow we say to pledge our loyalty and love. I don't know all of it, but I vow to be your shield when shadows fall and home in every realm we walk." Orion held her hand and kissed the back of her hand like the knights in the bedtime stories her mother had told her.
Lunivette giggled at the thought of him being a knight and coming back to her as they did in the stories. "And this is how my dad and mommy used to say their vows. I vow to walk beside you, to be your song in silence and light when the world grows cold. Promise you'll always be my knight?" Lunivette took a step back and held out her pinky.
"As long as you'll be my princess." Orion wrapped his pinky around hers to seal the promise.
In the distance, Lunivette could hear her mother calling for her from the bakery. She went to run past him and the knights, but Orion called out to her.
"Wait!" He grabbed her hand once more and placed a ring in her palm. "Here, so you don't forget me."The ring was a simple band with vines, and the leaves were filled with a blue gemstone.
Taking the ring, she placed it on her pinky and reached around her neck to undo the clasp of her own necklace. "So, you remember to come back."
Lunivette reclasped the necklace around Orion's neck, and this time, when she took off at the sound of her mother calling for her again, he nor the knights stopped her. And she never looked back to see him waving her off in the distance. Unaware that this would be the first and last time they would see each other again for at least another eighteen years.