Epilogue
"... Marlena!"
Two men were walking in a steady pace by the shore. A blue-haired youngster, wearing armor and a white cape was walking in a fast pace, followed by a black haired man, who had a watch and some sheets of paper in his hands. At a certain point of the beach, the black haired man stopped.
“Halt! Your Highness, we have made five miles already.” The man checked his watch. “One hour and nine minutes... it doesn´t look good.”
“Really? I thought we were walking faster than last week.” The blue-haired youngster was a bit frustrated with the results.
“Yes, prince Rhys, but we didn´t. We must return to our previous marks. We had already reached the one hour and five minute mark for five miles and our goal is to do that under one hour.”
“I... I don´t know what happened... I´m tired. Whew! This is going to be harder than I thought.” The prince was panting. His body showed signs of fatigue.
“Well. We don´t have time to relax! We must walk back those five miles. Better get ready, prince Rhys.” The valet showed his dissatisfaction with the prince tiredness.
“Let´s go...” The prince had spotted a white spot in the sand, far away from them. “Hey, what is that?”
“What?” The valet stopped looking at his paper sheets and looked at the direction the prince was pointing.
“That thing on the sand.”
“Oh, that must be some trash. Or something lost by one of the boats.” The man dismissed the strange thing on the sand and returned to his papers.
“I'm curious. I feel like checking it out.” The prince countenance betrayed excitement.
“Prince Rhys... we will get late for your sword training...”
“It doesn´t matter. I will not rest until I check it out.” The prince start walking toward the white spot.
“Prince Rhys...” The valet shrugged. “I hope you are not doing that to skip your training.”
“Come on, it won´t take more than five minutes!”
The valet started following the prince, who was walking towards the white spot on the sand in a fast pace. After some hundred yards, the object in the sand started having more defined outlines. The prince tried to guess what it could be, but he had no idea. The valet unwillingly followed the prince. As they walked some yards more, the prince started suspecting the object was not really an object, but a body. He became worried.
“Looks like... a body...”
“What?” The valet was surprised by the prince account. “A body?”
“Yes, a body. I need to check it out!”
The prince started running towards the white object. His heart started pounding heavily on his chest, not only because of the physical exercise, but because he grew more and more anxious as he approached the object. Each step made him more sure that it was a body lying on the sand. “Oh, no, a body? Who could it be? The person must be dead, unfortunately.” The prince started running faster and faster. Soon he noticed that the body was most probably of a woman, as it had very long cyan hair and it seemed to be wearing a dress. “A woman? Oh no! What could have happened to her? Could it be that she was drowned on the sea? But no one bathes in this place. Could she have committed suicide?”
The prince couldn't find a reason why, but he was feeling a deep compassion for the unfortunate woman. As he neared her body, he noticed that she was a very young and pretty woman. He felt more sad. “Look at this unfortunate girl. Why? Why did that happen to her?”
The prince reached the body and took it on his arms. The valet followed the prince worried, as he had realized the prince was right; it was really a body. The prince felt the woman´s body somewhat warm. “Oh no, she must have just died. If only I could have saved her...” After some seconds, he noticed some movement. “Is she alive?” He shook her body a bit and noticed the woman was breathing faintly.
“She is alive! She is alive! Go get some help! Run!” The prince ordered his valet in anxious shouts.
The valet ran toward the plains, trying to find some cottage or some plantation where he could find people to help. The prince remained with the girl in his arms. He lightly stroked her cyan hair. “How she is beautiful! The most beautiful girl I´ve ever seen!” The prince raised his eyes to the sky and whispered “Thanks! Thanks! She is alive!” He laid his eyes again on the woman in his arms and each second his compassion for her was grew. He didn´t know, but he was falling in love with the mysterious woman.
The woman opened her eyes slowly. She was still confused. Her eyes met the prince face, which had a big smile in it. She smiled back. She was feeling very confused, her mind was blank.
“Are you okay?”
The girl´s ears recognized the familiar words and she answered with a faint voice. “Yes, I am...”
“What happened to you?”
“I...” The woman somewhat freed herself from the strange man's embrace and stayed on her knees, staring at him with a confused gaze. "I can't remember... everything is so confusing..."
"Oh, I can understand." The prince gave a reassuring smile to the woman. "Where are you from?"
"I... I just don't know... oh!" The woman put her hands over her temples.
"What are you feeling?" The prince became worried.
"Oh, nothing... it is just that... I can't remember anything. I don't know even who I am..."
"Don't worry." The prince was worried, but tried to comfort the girl. "You are safe now. I'm Prince Rhys, of Landen. I'll take care of you."
"Thanks." The woman blushed.
"I'll take you home. Can you walk?"
"I... I don't think so... I feel as if I wasn't able to stand up... I feel weakness... dizzy..."
"Don't worry. I will carry you, if you don't mind it, my lady." The prince was grinning playfully at the woman.
"Of course not." The woman smiled back.
The prince took the woman in his arms and started moving slowly towards the same direction his valet has taken before. By that time, the prince had already completely fallen in love with the mysterious woman. "Her soft and warm body, her beautiful smile, her eyes... I've never seen a woman so pretty in my whole life! Her sweet and innocent air..." He noticed also that her ragged dress was made of the purest silk and cotton. She also wore a golden belt and a silver diadem, both embroidered with precious gems. "She has a royal air over her... I wonder who she is..."
"Wait." The woman suddenly shouted, taking her right hand to her right temple.
"What?" The prince was startled. He was abruptly taken from his passionate thoughts.
"No... there is something... hammering on my head... a name..."
"A name? Could it be your name?" The prince looked less worried.
"Maybe... well, I think it is... Marlena..."
"Marlena? What a beautiful name! So, well, pleased to meet you, Marlena." The prince chuckled playfully.
"The pleasure is all mine, your highness." The woman grinned back.
As the prince carried the woman to safety, the woman rejoiced. She didn't remember anything of her past, but her name. But she felt as if a great weariness had waned. It is as if she had been oppressed by a strong force before and now she felt free from the grasp of that force. She felt comfortable in the arms of that unknown man.
She was in peace, the peace she longed so much for.
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