Dans POV:
Donavin was mortified. Not only had he been shone up by a small girl, he a prince, had been seen in a state of undress. His mother would be very displeased. The stolen tunic reached almost to his knobby knees, so at least she hadn't seen more than his legs. She didn't seem fazed at all about proper decency and etiquette, maybe peasants dressed and behaved completely different from them.
He quickly dressed in his still slightly damp clothes and looked out the door for the strange little girl. He saw uneven footprints in the dust that indicated she had skipped to another area. He shook his head. His sister was often scolded for doing that, though he had seen a few maids skip before without getting in trouble. He followed the prints up the stairs and down another hallway to a new room almost identical to the one he'd been in.
There he found the girl swinging the old dagger like a sword with a way too big helmet on her head and half a wooden shield as tall as she was. He couldn't help it, he laughed. She turned and looked at him flipping open the faceguard "Hi! Look at all this cool stuff, can you believe they just left it all here?"
"It's all broken."
"But it can be fixed! My dad's a smith, he can fix anything metal," she informed him. When he didn't say anything right away, she looked at the floor and said. "No one at school will fight with me. They say girls can't fight but I know they can, because I've seen it, in the mountains and because my mama did. She was a warrior princess, and I want to be just like her!" She looked up suddenly, fierce and proud, then she looked back at the floor… "would… would you play with me?"
"I don't like sword fighting and I'm not very good, but I have had training and I'm bigger so I'd likely end up hurting you."
"I've had some training too," she said proudly. "We can use sticks, they won't hurt as much and it's ok if I do a little bit, just as long as I have someone to play with." She said pouting at the floor. When she peeked up at him from under her eyelashes with building tears he caved. He could be gentle and it might actually be fun without all the fear of being constantly overwhelmed. He'd never 'played' at fighting before, he didn't get to play much at all.
They found some sticks and the little girl abandoned the too-big helmet and shield. She got into a fighting stance holding the stick in front of her and he did the same. She tentatively tapped his fake sword and when he withdrew and met hers again lightly; she grinned and her eyes lit up with glee, she jumped forward hitting from one side then the other, back and forth.
He held his ground and blocked every blow with ease. There was a simple easy rhythm to it like she only knew those two strikes. Then she didn't meet his fake sword in front of him and a split second later her wooden stick hit him in the side of the leg.
He'd underestimated his opponent and although it didn't hurt he felt embarrassed all over again. She giggled. "That's for not even trying to beat me."
Excepting her gracious words, he nodded and they began again. This time he clipped her gently on the shoulder in a matter of seconds. He was a little afraid she might cry but she just beamed and said "That was amazing, you're so fast and way better than the other boys at school. If you come to school tomorrow you could probably beat them all!"
"I don't go to the commoners' schools. I have my lessons somewhere else… this is actually the first time I've gone so far…"
She had an audible intake of breath, "Are you Noble?"
"No" he said with a laugh and she looked relieved.
"That's good, I was warned to stay away from them, they are mean and hurt people. I'm especially not supposed to talk to noble people. Have you ever met one? Are they scary?"
"I have, and some are but most are not."
What's your school like? Do you have other friends?" she asked, already counting him as a friend.
"It's long, hard, boring, and lonely."
"You don't have friends either? But you talk normal. And can fight good," she said confused.
"There are not a lot of other kids in my school, and none my age."
"I'll be your best friend then!" We can climb and explore and sword fight and talk and… and everything else friends do." she said excitedly.
He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "I'd like that, but once I leave here I might not get to come back. I didn't plan my escape very well and didn't bring food or money. So I'll have to go home or leave the kingdom.
"But why would you leave?"
"I'm tired of being picked on and beaten all the time. My job's too hard, I'll never be what my family wants me to be, they want perfection and I'm far from it."
"I think you're perfect. You know a lot, you're nice and you're great at sword fighting and talking! Your family sounds mean and not smart." she said all matter of fact.
He laughed at her compliment. It was a ridiculous thought and a bit embarrassing for someone to praise him so openly. "Not according to my uncle or brother, they are far better than me at everything. And you haven't seen how good they are, you're just a little kid after all."
"No, that's not true, because they are mean to you, so they are not nice like you. You're better than them at that."
"But how does niceness help me?"
"I'm not sure but it does, it is good to be nice." She said so sure of herself. "You haven't been mean to me at all, others are and that doesn't feel good. My family wants me to talk like everyone else so I'll be safe from meanies. I try but the sounds just come out wrong, so I'm not allowed to talk at school and people make fun of me for that too. That's why I ran off today… Father will be really upset. But I love him, and he loves me. That's why he gets mad. He doesn't want me to get hurt. But he can't protect me from all meanies all the time, that's why he wants me to get better."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with how you talk; it's different but nice. I just thought all commoners must speak like you."
"They don't, they sound like you but less…clear?" she said tilting her head to the side in thought.
He smiled at her confusion over how to describe it.
"When do you need to go home?" he asked.
"Before the sun touches the top of this castle."
"It's a wall"
"No. It will always be my castle," she said simply.
"It's not yours either." He said, smiling at her. "Let's go check on the sun's position."
They climbed the stairs to the top of the wall and when they got out the sun was halfway between its zenith and its setting position. You should probably head home, he told her.
"...But it's not touching us yet," she complained.
"The perspective from the ground will be very different, and it will take you a while to go home too."
"Ugg, I don't want to," she complained. "This was fun. and… will I see you again?"
"I'll stay here for at least a night, but I'll need food eventually and I need to decide what to do if I leave and what to do if I go home," he said troubled.
"I have my lunch, '' she said excitedly. I didn't get the chance to eat it so, you can have it. I can sneak you dinner too. If you want." Then you can stay longer, right?
"Don't sneak away again, you'll get in more trouble. And please don't tell anyone about me," he begged.
She nodded "Ok… I won't." she promised without even asking why.
Just then they heard the far-off sounds of a big commotion from the direction of town. Dogs were barking, belles were ringing. and town criers and guards were yelling. Closing his eyes tight he ducked down from the top of the wall. His father must have ordered the royal guard to rouse the whole town searching for him, they even had the hunting dogs out searching for him. He hoped they would lose his sent when they reached the water and wouldn't be able to pick it up again.
He was going to be in so much trouble...