Chapter 6: War(Lost)

At the palace;

A man rode on a horse, towards the gates of the palace. He wore a green uniorm and a green cap. He pulled the horse's reins and it neighed and immediately stopped. One of the guards asked; 

"Who do you seek?" 

The manreplied; "I am here to deliver a letter meant for the royal family."

The second guard collected the letter from the man. "It will be delivered." The second guard said. The messenger nodded and rode away. 

****At the village market****

Martha and Princess Ella walked through the bustling market. Ella, who was dressed in simple clothings, had a big gleam in her eyes. She was really excited! This was the first time she was walking in a market. She rarely goes out especially ever since the war started.  Her mother preferred she stayed in the place where she can be protected at all times. 

"Martha where are we going next?" She asked.

"Let's go get some vegetables." They got to a vegetable stand, where a woman with blonde hair stood. She had an apron tied around her waist and she had a small frown on her face. 

"How much are these?" Martha asked.  The woman immediately replied, 

"It just costs ten shillings."  The woman said. 

"isn't that too much?" Martha asked. Ella suddenly getting tired of the conversation , started to look at her surroundings. She saw how the villagers moved from place to place and how they conversed with one another.  She looked to her left. There, she saw a magician performing tricks. She secretly left Martha's side and went closer to get a better look. 

People had already gathered around the magician. She pulled her shawl closer to her face. She was very intrigued by the magician's performance. Her eyes gleamed with interest and she squeezed herself through the crowd and got to the front.  Meanwhile, Martha had finished buying the vegetables when she realised that Princess Ella wasn't next to her. 

"Ella?" She called out but she couldn't see her.  Martha went forward but still couldn't find her. 

"Goodness! Where is she?"  She hasn't been to the village before so where could she have gone? Martha began to get very worried. She continued looking for Princess Ella. 

Princesss Ella who was still engrossed in the magician's tricks had totally forgotten about Martha. When the magician finished, everyone gave him a round of applause. Ella then remembered that she had to go meet Martha.  She went back to the vegetable stand that they were at before but she couldn't see Martha. 

"Excuse me, but do you perhaps know where a certain woman is, we both came here to buy vegetables a few minutes ago. She's an elderly lady of average height, has grey hair and she wore a blue gown with a white scarf." Ella said while thoroughly describing Martha. 

"Well if I'm correct, she just left a couple of minutes ago." The vegetable vendor replied. 

"Ok, thank you." She walked away while wondering what she should do. She realized that she shouldn't have left Martha's

She walked for while but later stopped. She didn't know where she was going nor did she know how to get back to the palace. She thought of asking someone for directions but she didn't want to risk exposing herself. She stared at absolutely nothing with furrowed eyebrows. 

****

Aurora was heading to her mother's shop. Her cheeks had turned red because of the harsh sun. She carried three bags in her hands. She walked with a medium pace and her yellow dress gathered some dust as it swept the ground. 

"Good morning Miss Harson." She heard a man greet. Turning, she saw Mr Reynaldo Hart. He was a man who lived in the town. She rarely sees him here in the village unless he was here for work. He was just a few inches taller than her. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. His looks were refined and right now he had a charming smile on his face. 

Giving him a smile she said, "Good morning Mr Hart, How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, it's wonderful to see you after all this time." He said, the smile never falling from his lips. 

"Yes. Are you here for work?" 

"Yes, I am. How are your parents?"

"They are perfect." Aurora replied but deep down, her heart tightened when she remembered what are parents were going through right now. 

"That's good to hear, I'll see you later." He said as he stared at the beautiful girl in front of him.

"Of course." Aurora said and with a bow, she left. As she walked further, she saw a girl no less than twelve years, having a stressed expression on her face. She looked as if she was looking for someone. I got closer to her and decided to find out what was wrong with her. 

"Are you alright?"  I asked the girl. She looked up at me. "I'm looking for someone. I left her side for a few minutes but when I returned, I couldn't find her." She said timidly. If her mother should find out she left Martha's side just to see a magic trick, she would be greatly scolded and probably even punished. The thought of that frightened her to her bones.

"Okay, where were you two before?"

"At a vegetable stand. I've been walking for a while now but I still can't find her."

Aurora thought for awhile. "Well let's see, maybe we can search for awhile and if we don't find her we'll see what we will do next." I said to her. 

She nodded. Ella felt a little bit relived that she wasn't alone now. 

"Thanks for helping me."

I gave her a bright smile. "It's no problem. What's your name?" 

"Ella."

"Ella, well my name is Aurora."

She gave Aurora a smile and they started searching. They searched for a long time but they couldn't find her. Aurora had forgotten about the errand her mother had sent her. 

"She might have gone back home." I finally concluded. 

"She knows I don't know the way home. Infact I have never been here before, so she couldn't have left me to head to the pal... I mean home. 

Aurora sighed a little. "We have already looked all around the market. You really can't remember the way home?"

"No...  Martha!! Ella screamed. She ran over to where Martha was. 

"Ella, where were you? I was worried, why did you leave?" Asked Martha. She felt relief rush over her.

"I'm sorry Martha, it was very foolish of me." Aurora went closer to them. "Martha, this is Aurora, she helped me to search for you."

"Thank you Aurora, I really appreciate it." Martha said with much gratitude.

"It was no problem." I said with a big smile. I was glad that Ella hasd found her guardian. 

"We have to go." Said Martha. 

"Yes, Thank you Aurora, Goodbye." Ella said. 

"Goodbye." Aurora said and they left.