Alarick nodded, "Yes," And fell silent. He ran a hand through his brown hair, "I just don't know what to make of this," He leaned back in his chair.

Silence reigned and Miryanna felt sleep pulling at hr eyelids.

"Well," Alarick's voice broke the silence, "It's far too late to be thinking about such things." he stood up. "Let's all get a good night's sleep and think on this with fresh minds in the morning."

Does Alarick live in the secret base? how is he always there?

This jolted Miryanna from any sleep attempt she might have tried to make.

"But, what about Miryanna and getting her back to the castle?" Andarin cut in, "Everyone is worried sick about her."

Alarick paused in thought, but it was Miryana who answered, "I don't think I have to get home right this minute, I can get back home in the morning." She replied. At this point, she wanted sleep more than reunions.

"It is morning," Came Roric's voice from the corner where he had remained.

"It—It is?" Miryanna questioned.

Roric gave a short nod, "Last I checked, the sun was just over the horizon. That was ten minutes ago."

it took her over an hour to tell a story that took like 1000-2000 words to write. okay they talked about other stuff too.

He must have checked while we were all still talking, Miryanna thought.

"If that's the case, you should probably get home," Andarin commented.

Miryanna nodded tiredly, "I guess you're right," She stood up, "Shall we head out, then?"

Andarin nodded.

"Alright then." She turned to Alarick, "Thanks," And then to Roric, "Thanks for finding me and bringing me here,"

He just nodded.

there's gotta be more erglis but do any of them make even the slightest hint of an appearance? no.

She climbed out of the trapdoor with Andarin and was greeted by warm golden rays of sunlight and the songs of birds in the trees. Her eyes didn't really need to adjust to the sunlight, since it was only a few rays, but tired though she was, she took the time to stand and admire the beauty of the land. She often woke up early enough to see the sunrise, but as she lived in the city, her view of it was blocked in one way or another. Here in the middle of the countryside, where the land was flat with only a few small hills and trees to interrupt the monotony, she saw the sunrise in it's full glory, felt the chill morning air, and felt the icy dew on her feet, she felt revitalized. She smiled.

maaaaan it's mid-february rn and boy what i would do for a spring sunrise right about now

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She heard Andarin say.

She nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight.

Andarin stood beside her, "Not half so beautiful as you are,"

She smiled up at him, "Oh, I doubt that even the beauty of princess' could match the fresh, clean, and utterly pure beauty of a sunrise." She said, turning back to the wonderful sight.

probably true

"Shall we be off?" Andarin cut into her reverie.

She was slightly annoyed at this. She wanted to stay until it was over, but she saw the reason in leaving as soon as possible. Her father was no doubt sick with worry.

They went over to Andarin's horse, Charger, and he let her mount up first. She did so and he swung up behind her. His arms wrapped around her and held onto the reins. The ride back to the castle was uneventful, as far as rides back to the castle go, but as soon as they entered the city, there was more of a commotion. The guards had been on the lookout for the lost niece of the king and as soon as they saw Andarin and Miryanna, they were given an escort back to the castle.

Miryanna didn't want to be paraded through the streets at all, in her current condition, what with her bruise and tattered clothes, but there she was, with Andarin on his horse, going straight to the castle.

Lord Dominic met them at the gate and his face clearly showed his worry at her disappearance and his relief at her return. He greeted her with a tight hug and immediately inquired where she got the bruise from and why her clothes were so tattered and she was dirty.

"Uh, well, getting kidnapped—dirty business, you know," She replied sheepishly, not really sure what to say. She knew she couldn't just tell them the whole story, and she wanted to ask Andarin about what she could say. She scolded herself for not talking about that on the way there, but she'd been really tired. She was really tired. That could serve as an excuse until she could think up a good story.

"But where did you get that bruise?" Dominic asked her, "It looks like someone hit you," His eyes smoldered with anger.

"I... I..." Miryanna was at a loss for what to say. She yawned, unable to resist sleep any longer. "Um, I'm really tired, so could I just go to bed for now?"

Dominic nodded, "Of course. I can hear your story later. Would you like a bath, and some food?"

Although a bath and food sounded wonderful at the moment, sleep had more appeal right then. "I'll have them when I wake up," She said.

Her father escorted her to her room. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked again.

She smiled, "Yes, nothing some sleep and food can't heal me from," And disappeared inside her room. Once inside and the door closed behind her, she rushed over to her vanity to look in the mirror. The Ergli's insignia was still painted in red on her mirror, a stark reminder of last night. She scowled and grabbed a piace of cloth to rub it away. It didn't go away fully, it would require some soap and water for that, but it went away enough for her to see herself. She'd imagined she looked awful and she did.

The bruise covered almost half of her face and was an ugly purplish red. Her face was smudged and dirty and she could see faint tracks of tears. Here eyes were red and bloodshot. She stood up and looked in the full length mirror beside her window. The skirt of her dress was dirty and torn at the hem and so were her sleeves. Her hair was in a tangle. She sighed. She knew the tangle would get worse if she slept with it that way, so she sat down at her vanity and started work on it. Her hair had been loose the whole time so at least there weren't any ornaments or anything to get stuck in it. She laboriously dragged the comb and brush through her waist length red hair, but the results were satisfactory. With a relieved sigh, she slipped out of her dress and into her comfortable nightdress and hopped into bed. Before she could fall asleep, however, she jumped back out, closed the curtains so the morning light couldn't get in to disturb her, and dashed back to her bed where she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, she last thing to flash before her eyes, a fleeting image of blood red eyes.

She slept long, untroubled by dreams or nightmares and woke up to find that it was night. She at up slowly. It felt strange to have just woken up as if from a night's sleep and find the sun gone. Her curtains were closed tightly and there was hardly a speck of light. The darkness unnerved her, and she tried to go back asleep to awake in the morning, but now she felt restless and more hungry than ever before. She apprehensively got out of her bed and dashed to the door to let some light in. With the light from the hallway, she found her candle and lit it. She closed the door and went to the window to open up the curtains.

She couldn't see any of the stars with the city lights. A soft knock came at the door, and she went to answer it. It was a servant come to ask her if she wanted the bath and food. She replied in the affirmative enthusiastically. She gathered some clean clothes and followed the maid to the bathing room where a hot bath had been prepared for her. She undressed and slipped in, loving the feel of the warm water enveloping her. While soaking, she contemplated a multitude of stories she could tell, but she knew she needed help. Perhaps if she could get away with Andarin... No, it was unlikely that he'd just be hanging around the place, and it would be strange if she asked to see him before telling the story to her father.

how would it be strange for him to hang around the palace? dude's there 24/7

She scrubbed herself thoroughly and dried herself thoroughly and donned the clean clothes, feeling fresh at last, but still starving. She returned immediately to her room, relieved that she encountered no one. One they way, she had a bright idea. Why not say that she had been unconscious the whole time? It wasn't the best story ever, but it was the best she had.

She rather expected her father to waiting for her in her room, but he wasn't. A hot meal was though, and she ate it, savoring every bite. She's never take food for granted again, she thought as she ate.

"If you were that hungry, we could have given you something back the base," A voice came from the darkest corner of her room.

She nearly jumped out of her skin! She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand clamped over it.

"Quiet!" Roric's voice hissed, "Do you want me to be discovered?"

DUDE don't scare her like that

She nearly fainted from relief.

He took his hand from her mouth and seated himself across from her on the small table that occupied her room. He threw back his hood, his shaggy black hair falling over his forehead and eyes before he raked it back.

"Roric!" She scolded, "You made me nearly lose my supper," She put a hand to her stomach where the food she'd just eaten was churning.

He just smirked.

"I'm serious!" The last time a mysterious cloaked figure was in my room, I ended up getting kidnapped. What is it with my room being some epicenter for cryptic notes and sketchy persons?" She waved her hand in the air before reaching down to grab the fork she had dropped. She wiped it off with napkin and continued eating.

Yeah, what IS it with her room being an epicenter for cryptic notes and personages?

Roric leaned forward, keeping his voice low. "Have you told your father, or anyone else for that matter, any details?"

She shook her head and finished chewing a mouthful of food. "No, but I've been trying to think up some explanations." She told him. Before he could say anything, she asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, I figured you'd have trouble thinking up a story about how you came to be in the state you were, so I thought I'd drop by and give some suggestions.

because contrived roric appearances are the best roric appearances