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Love is a story told many times, in many different ways. Ours details a brief moment of disastrous, chaotic, awful love. A love so heartbreaking that it lives on through the words of those who lived it. Their legacy left in nothing more but old torn parchment carefully stashed in the floor of our princess’s bedroom.
Violet and Caitlyn. One a poet, the other the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Caitlyn wasn't a princess, had no royal title. But the way she floated about the town, catching the eyes of those she passed with such magnetism, such charismatic power, you'd think she was. Her family was the closest to royalty the small town of Kendal had.
Before this all started, before there was such class separation, Vi and Caitlyn grew up next to each other. They were taught by the same person, played in the same places. However, their paths never crossed. There were days when young Caitlyn would lay in the meadows making flower crowns and feeding the wildlife. Little did she know, Vi was also lying there, mumbling softly to herself the short sweet words of a sonnet.
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The dried willow leaves crunch softly underneath Caitlyn's feet, her long midnight colored hair hanging long against her back. Two small protective braids form a sort of halo tied together in the back around her head. Her gown is long and flowing, the fabric a light green littered with little hand painted flowers —her mother had had it made custom when she turned 16, using the young girl's love of flowers against her qualms of not wanting a gift. She hums softly to herself with the birds, walking to the secret location of her favorite meadow. It is near the lakes, where the eccentrics stay. Oh how her mother would’ve scolded her for it. “Caitlyn, those people are dangerous,” she often says. Caitlyn has never believed that. How could her favorite authors and artists be dangerous? They write stories of love, loss, and life. How could those who write so gently be cast in such a bad light. Nevermind that, she had finished her schooling early, her teacher giving her the rest of the day off, and she is going to spend this afternoon by herself. Watching the wind blow and laying in the tall grass.
She approaches the tall grass now, the tallest of it reaching just atop her head hiding her view from the rest of what may be lurking. She slips out of her shoes making a mental note to find them after —her mother would be terribly upset if she lost another pair— and steps into the hugging darkness that will soon cover all her senses. In her pockets she pulls out the flowers she plucked along the way, having made sure to do so carefully, always ensuring more of each type will remain to continue growing, and lays them in her lap. Humming softly to herself weaving the tall grass and flowers together into a crown she sits content, till she hears a soft snap . Her movements still, waiting for another sign of life. After a few moments of hearing nothing, she begins to be concerned that it was in her head. Then once more, another snap, louder this time, as if it were closer than before. “Show yourself,” she exclaimed gently, “fear me not, for I mean you no harm.” Her soft voice, the only sound to be heard now. Another snap , further away now, indicating the intruder is retreating. “Please? I hadn’t meant to frighten you.” For a moment nothing, then a small gasp, before a person comes crashing through the tall grass nearly landing right on top of her with a light shout. “ Ahh! ”
Its, a girl? Yes, a young girl, maybe Caitlyn's age, maybe a little younger. Her hair is cut short like the boys in town but a tad messier, falling softly in her face, the bright pink hue paring nicely with the blush she now sports. The girl looks up and realizes her head is laying in Caitlyn's lap, and she swiftly stands from the ground, brushing her trousers, free of dirt. “My Grace! I'm deeply sorry!” She says in a panicked tone, her neck now sporting a red flush from embarrassment. Caitlyn laughs it off softly and stands up next to this strange girl. She sticks her hand out for the girl to take and introduces herself. “Caitlyn Kiramman, Pleasure to meet you.”
The girl looks down at Caitlyn’s hand for a second and then scoops up the hat that had fallen off when she crashed into Caitlyn, a soft green almost identical to the fabric used for her own dress. Startled by the shocking lack of information she just received, it takes Caitlyn a second to realize that the girl had started walking away. Quickly she recovers and starts after her. “Well aren't you going to tell me your name?” she asks quickly as she stumbles over herself trying to collect her things, happy that the crown she has made isn't ruined. “Hello?” she calls after once more. This catches the girl's attention. “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” she responds. Now in the soft setting sunlight it’s clear she’d been in the sun for a while. The tips of her ears were red and there was a permanent roseiness in her cheeks that Caitlyn can only assume isn't caused by the embarrassment. “Yes!” Caitlyn laughs out, “who else would I be talking to?”
The girl just softly shrugs. “Hmm. Not sure, I just assumed you wanted nothing to do with me.”
Caitlyn gasps softly. “Why would you assume something so terrible of me?”
“What?!” The girl responds, realizing she has offended Caitlyn. “Oh no wait, I hadn’t meant it in a bad way. Not towards you at least. But I’ve been told by a few others from Kendal that ‘I should not bring my kind anywhere near their town any longer’, so…” She puts on a fake posh accent and dramatically collapses to the ground causing Caitlyn to chuckle softly at her antics and sit next to her. In return for her laughter Caitlyn receives a soft grin. It’s crooked and wickedly charming, the small scar against the other girl’s top lip making it unlike any other smile Caitlyn has ever seen. She shakes her head, refocusing herself on the task at hand, “May I have your name?” She asks again.
“Well you can’t have it. It’s mine to keep. My father would be very sad if I gave it away to the first princess I met.”
“No,” Caitlyn laughs again, “What is your name? How shall I address you?” The girl seems satisfied with this question and she smirks before responding proudly. “Violet, Violet Williams, but everyone calls me Vi.”
“Like the prince!”
“A lot of people in my community choose their names so I suppose that’s the one my father chose.” The girl, no, Violet looks down fiddling with her hands like she said something she wasn't meant to. “Where are you from? I dont think ive ever seen you around Kendal?” Caitlyn asks, trying to understand the entire situation more. “Over there.” Violet then turns and points to the tall trees Caitlyn has only ever dreamed of exploring. “The lakes?! You live by the lakes! By Gaia you are lucky. What's it like?” Caitlyn stands in excitement leaving behind the crown she had made.
The girl is just about to explain before a distant bell rings, prompting hasty farewells from both of them.
“I must be off but-”
“You should get-” Violet chuckles and gestures for Caitlyn to start. “I must be off but I will come tomorrow! You can tell me all about it.” Violet nods softly and Caitlyn smiles before turning on her heels and sets off walking, “But Caitlyn, your crown!” Violet calls after. “Keep it!” The other girl replied. “Farewell Violet! Till tomorrow!” Caitlyn raises her hand as if it were holding a chalice in a faux toast and runs off down the dirt road to Kendal.
As Caitlyn runs away Violet bends down and picks up the small flower crown that has blue and white flowers running along the stems, flowers Violet had seen many times before but never knew the names of. She’ll be sure to ask Caitlyn tomorrow. Violet walks home, the crown tied into her belt along with her book and pencil bounces softly against her thigh with her steps. Her grin spreads softly against her best will and she can only hope Caitlyn stays true to her promise to visit tomorrow.
The walk to her home is short, living on the edge of the meadow, a beautiful landmark that her father decided he wanted to see every morning for the rest of his life. As she steps into the door a small basket is placed on the center table with a small note of torn parchment tucked into its side. It's from her neighbor Henry, the kind old man who lived next door to her. The note read ‘ Violet, I made too much bread, I thought you might like it. ’ she chuckles softly to herself and shakes her head. She only sighs before tearing a piece of it off and walks into her fathers room.
Ever since her father died eight years ago the community had taken to caring for Vi. Leaving her bread and other food, trying to fix her clothes when they had torn and when she had refused they would just make her new ones and leave them at her and her fathers home.
She lays down on the big bed, cozy grey linens that no longer smell like her father lay across the bed. They seem to still bring the comfort she felt when they would lay together on lazy mornings, needing nothing more than eachothers company to keep them warm.
Vi can't remember when she fell asleep, it being only a moment before she's awake again. As she stands and stretches the rest from her bones her chest flutters at the memory of Caitlyn, a friend, The pride and joy of Kendal, who was coming to visit her. Caitlyn was coming to visit her!
Vi picks up the boots she had taken off last night off the floor in front of the bed and walks out into the kitchen. She takes time to choose her clothing for today, not just hastily grabbing and wearing whatever she could find. She makes sure to find the pieces she likes the best. Her tunic is a dark green hue with a tan undergarment beneath it, her trousers a color similar to that of her under shirt. The boots are dark brown and leather, similar to her belt where she once again ties her book and pencil, her flask of water, and the crown Caitlyn had made.
As she walks out the door Vi pulls her hat onto her head and sets off to the meadow proudly.
A few hours pass and Caitlyn walks up to the tall grass to see a softly sleeping Violet. She quietly chuckles to herself and bends down to touch Violet's shoulder gently. She whispers to the other girl “Violet, it's me” while shaking her gently. Her eyes flutter open softly to see Caitlyn kneeling there in front of her. “Huh? Oh, hi” Vi sits up slowly and rubs the sleep from her eyes, “ i'm sorry i hadn’t meant to fall asleep”
“It's ok love, truthfully I hadn't meant to take so long.” Caitlyn apologizes sitting next to Vi in the grass. “How did you make the crown flower thing?” Violet asks with wide eyes before turning to untie the one Caitlyn had made the day before and hand it back to her. All Caitlyn can do is beam a large smile at Violet. “It’s quite easy!” Caitlyn takes flowers out of the pocket of her dress and places them once more on her lap.
She goes through the motions explaining each step slowly and carefully, and all Vi does is nod along listening intently. Eventually, she gets to a point where all the steps repeat themself so Caitlyn asks Vi about the lakes again. She leans back and answers all of Caitlyn’s curious questions, never treating one more important than the other. When a question she especially likes comes up, Vi becomes ecstatic, flailing her arms around explaining the importance of words and what they truly mean.
When Caitlyn finishes the crown she slowly removes the hat from Vi’s head, replacing it with a crown of spinning ivy, grass, and little white flowers once again. In turn, she places the crown that had been made the day prior atop Caitlyn’s head, who once more had two small braids starting at her temples and wrapping around forming a crown of their own. Vi stands and exclaims “here ye! To the princess of Kendal! Miss Caitlyn Kiramman !”. She gestured down to where Caitlyn was still seated, a flush scattering across her exposed collarbones. Caitlyn stands “well, if I’m the princess then you have to be my prince.” She says matter of factly.
Vi nods once, blush rising in her cheeks, before saying “then I shall,” and she bows deeply with one foot back, crown almost slipping from her head. “I vow to be the best prince you ever have.” She stands back up with a smile across her face, her heart races with exhilaration from this newfound connection. Caitlyn only smiles and says “oh prince Violet, born a poet, died a prince” and Vi’s heart jumps.
The sun is low now, similar to when they first met. Vi grabs Caitlyn’s hand and leads her to the center of the grass where she’d never been before. As they get closer to the center, Vi slows to a speed close to a crawl and gestures to Caitlyn to be quiet. When they find the center, Caitlyn sees why they have to be quiet. Sits there, a small pond where a family of ducks lives. Vi leads her to the edge of the water slowly and crouches down, careful to not scare the animals. Caitlyn crouches to the edge of the water leaning slightly inward to get a better look.
As Caitlyn admires the ducks, Vi sits back and admires her, it's nice to get to show someone something for the first time. She notices the way Caitlyn carefully brushes her hair behind her ear when it falls into her face, how the long arms of her dress stop just before her fingertips, how the flush of her ears didn't seem to show until Vi had called her a princess. She can hear the whispers of her father now “When a person comes along, and evokes ideas of greatness, you must show to them the importance of that. The true importance of one's presence”
Caitlyn turns back to look at Violet and smiles “Any other wonders you have to show me my prince?” she teases softly, joining Violet by the edge of the water. “No not today, unless you would care to watch the stars with me?” Vi looks up at the sky, nearly dark now with tiny specks of light scattered throughout. Caitlyn follows her gaze ‘I very much would love to”
As Vi and Caitlyn walk back down the road to Kendal their hands brush a few times till Caitlyn catches Vi’s pinky with her own and holds it. When they reach the front of Kendal, Caitlyn turns to Violet and leans in slowly before she places a small kiss on the corner of her mouth, the same side as her scar “Tomorrow I shall return.”