Trouble In Castle Town (Open)

Lena glanced in the direction of the voices as she began hearing them. She recognized the male's voice right away, one of the wardens of the prison, and one of the few people to actually treat her like a real person. On several occasions, he expressed his sympathy for the girl, openly lamenting that he lacked the authority to do anything. He was also savvy enough to know that nothing good would come of protesting the girl's blatant mistreatment, as much as it sickened him. Needless to say, he was quite pleased to see that the princess herself seemed to be taking a personal interest in this horribly one-sided case. Perhaps now there might be hope for her.

Either way, Lena heard the other voice, but didn't recognize it. It was a woman's voice, but that was all she could tell. Either way, she was too exhausted and weary to actively focus on what was being said. She was curious, sure, but she just didn't have the energy to listen in. It wasn't as though it was going to do her any good. Her trial was officially set to take place tomorrow, and it was made abundantly clear that her life was over. All because of some entitled noble who refused to listen to her and had enough money and authority to throw around to make everything go his way. All because she couldn't do something that was literally impossible for her to do.

She listened as the steps grew closer, and she looked down at the floor, not daring to even risk making eye contact with whoever was seemingly passing through. So imagine her surprise when the footsteps suddenly stopped just as they were passing in front of her cell. This surprise was doubled when she heard the clanking of metal, and the unmistakable click of her cell door being unlocked. Now she was too terrified to look up. Haven't hey beaten and interrogated her enough? What more could they possibly gain from harassing her even further when her fate's more or less been sealed? Or maybe they're just here to gloat. Maybe that's it.

Still, as she heard someone walk in, she looked up and was shocked to see not one of the guards, but a young woman instead. Her eyes widened when she saw the symbol of the royal family clasped around her neck. Once their eyes met, and the young woman asked her first question, she nodded "Y-yes...that is correct..." That was when this young woman confirmed Lena's suspicions by introducing herself. Marianne de Hyrule, the princess herself. She was so shocked by this unexpected development that she almost missed the reason of what she said, though she did managed to barely catch it. Just hearing the name of that man, Lord Kiranos, sent a chill up her spine.

The first question came, and the desperation in her eyes and voice were almost painfully obvious. "N-no! I-I would never! H-he got upset when I told him I couldn't do his request overnight, and then he threatened me as he left...b-but I hear threats like that all the time from people like him...I-I never expected him to actually act on it..."

Lena was admittedly a bit concerned by Marianne's lack of a reaction to what she said, though, at the very least, she wasn't giving any sort of indication that she didn't believe her. She'd just have to take what she could get, given her current situation. Did she dare to hope that the princess might be on her side? Or would that just open her up for an even bigger letdown than what she was already facing? She wanted to have hope that everything would be alright, but no matter how she looked at it, her situation was hopeless. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, trying to figure out how she got in this mess.

When the next question came, Lena let out a sigh "He wanted a pair of extremely decorative longswords that would still be useful in combat; one with a gold trim, and one with a silver trim. Both with elaborately-shaped blades with all kinds of etchings and engravings and an extra-sharp serrated edge on both of them. Frankly, what he was asking for was a bit impractical for combat, but I wasn't one to judge. And it wasn't as though such blades were beyond my ability, but it would've taken me around a week to finish them; at least a few days per sword..." She paused for a moment, letting out a sigh.

"Which is where the problem started. He demanded that I have them ready for him to pick up the following day. I tried to tell that there was no way such elaborate blades would be ready in less than a day...even for the most skilled Goron smiths I know, such a thing would be impossible. But he refused to listen when I tried to explain this, and kept acting as though I was refusing his request. Eventually, I got fed up and asked him to leave...then, later, he came back with those guards and had me arrested."

Marianne de Hyrule

Lena couldn't help but flinch a little when Marianne rather abruptly cut off the Warden when he interjected, which made her wonder for what reason she would possibly have done so. It also made her rather curious as to what he was going to say, especially since it almost sounded like it could have been helpful. Was it perhaps something Marianne already knew? Though, for all of the conjecture she could come up with, one thing was clear; Marianne wasn't completely taking her side. At least she wasn't completely against her, though. All in all, she wasn't sure what was going through the Princess' head, but she'd just have to hold onto the hope that this might be just what she needs.

The next question came, with Marianne inquiring as to what she'd been doing before the incident. "Let's see..." She had to think for a moment to try and recall everything, but soon, the memories came to her. "Well, I spent most of the afternoon working on a separate request. The owner of a restaurant, Miss Kearn, had asked me to repair a broken knife. I don't know the full story, but apparently it was damaged during some sort of accident in her kitchen. It turned out to be a relatively simple fix, though a bit time-consuming. I had just finished reforging and tempering the blade and was in the middle of making the preparations to have it sent back to her when Lord Kiranos showed up."

She paused for a moment, then nodded. "Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The only other thing of note that I did was head to the market to purchase some ore from a Goron dealer who always opens a stall to sell goods from Death Mountain; his name is Gordoma. Short of hiring some mercenaries to go and collect them straight from the mountain itself, he's my primary source of materials for my smithing work...honestly, he's been an absolute godsend. Aside from that, I just did my usual routine of maintaining the shop and checking my stock of materials to see what I'm running low on."

Lena sat quietly as Marianne started going over everything in her mind. Even without the warden's wordless warning, she wasn't planning on doing anything to interrupt. Not if there was even a remote chance that any of this could be leading to the Get Out Of Jail Free card she would desperately need to get out of this horrible mess. She listened as the princess verbally recounted everything she'd been told, nodding along with each thing she said. If nothing else, it was good to know that Marianne had been listening to her up until now. That by itself was enough to give her some hope that maybe her life wasn't over. But hope was a scary thing in desperate situations like this; it'll make it hurt that much more should Lord Kiranos get his way and she does end up spending the rest of her life in a prison cell.

Once Marianne fully recounted every thing that Lena told her and asked for a confirmation, she nodded "Yes, Your Highness. That's everything that happened."  Once again, Lena remained quiet, only daring to make a noise when directly spoken to. However, her emotions flared up, for the first time since she came here, when she heard the question that followed. She wasn't just upset when asked if she'd ever robbed or thought of robbing anyone; she was legitimately offended at the mere thought of being asked such a thing. "Of course not! There's no way I'd consider doing such a thing, no matter how desperate the situation!" However, once she cooled off, her eyes widened in realization "Ah...f-forgive me...I-I didn't mean to raise my voice..."

Okay, good. Marianne wasn't offended by her accidentally raising her voice as she spoke. She nodded along with her comment, relieved that her minor outburst didn't make her situation even worse. If there was even a tiny glimmer of hope that this conversation might get her out of this mess, the last thing she wanted to do was piss off the one person who might actually be able to help her. However, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the final question that Marianne imposed on her. Her honest feelings about the lord, huh? That was a tough one. She had to pause for a moment to think about her answer. She needed to choose her words carefully, while still being honest; something that could possibly be easier said than done.

"...the honest truth, huh?...well...given what he's putting me through, I can't say I'm very fond of him. Nobles like him...I see them all the time. They waltz in my shop like they own the place, make impossible demands, then stomp out making vague threats about "making me pay for my insolence"...then I'd never see or hear from them again. There's a small part of me that almost respects Lord Kiranos for actually having the guts to follow through with his threat...but still. I don't know the man well enough to judge whether or not he's a good person or an effective lord...but for him to abuse his power and authority in such a manner...that he'd so casually ruin the life of a person he barely knows just because he didn't get his way...it's disgusting..."

She sighs "...I know this might sound horrible...but there's even a small part of me that almost wishes I was capable of doing the horrible things he's accused me of...then maybe I wouldn't feel so damn helpless when everything goes wrong..." Despite her predicament, there was no malice or venom in her tone. She was just tired. She wanted this ordeal to be over with so she could either go back to what remains of her life or face whatever punishment the lord decided she deserved for her "crime".

As she finished speaking, unable to help but wonder if she hadn't said more than she should have, she watched Marianne quietly, hoping to gauge some sort of reaction out of her. Anything. Eventually, she finally got one. A smile. In that moment, the tense atmosphere seemed to almost completely vanish, and the words that followed from the princess seemed a lot warmer. Then Marianne surprised her even further when she ordered the warden to let her go. It actually took a moment for it to register that Marianne was actually telling her that she was free to go. "W-wait...j-just like that?..." She had figured that, if Marianne was planning to help her, she'd show up at the trial tomorrow and vouch for her there.

She was in a bit of a daze as Marianne gleefully hinted about the trouble that Lord Kiranos was likely going to be facing, so most of that went over her head. She did, however, respond with a small nod as Marianne personally apologize for the trouble she went through. It wasn't until her shackles were removed that it finally fully registered with her; she was free to go. Many emotions welled up within her all at once in that moment, but the two biggest ones were relief and gratitude. She didn't even bother trying to hold back the tears of joy, instead, she looked up at Marianne and whispered out a tired "Thank you...thank you so much...". She clung tightly to the cloak that was wrapped around her, welcoming the warmth it provided.

Finally, when given a choice, she took a few seconds to think on it, before nodding. "...I...I think I'll take you up on that room for the evening...more than anything, I just want a soft bed to sleep in...and maybe a hot meal...if that won't be asking too much..."