Part 2 (Iris's POV)

I looked up from the stream and realized I had no clue where I was. Tall pines surrounded me on all sides with big boulders that seemed to have been scattered on the ground by giants. The stream I was sitting by veered off into multiple smaller streams creating something resembling a web through the forest. It was pitch black by now and the moon was all I had to guide my view. The whole place looked like the center for some witchy cult.

I heard a branch snap behind me and froze. Was it the witches? I turned slowly, my eyes falling on a girl around my age dressed in a brown deerskin coat with pine needles clinging to it and, wait, were those pants? Her hair curly black was tied up in a loose ponytail that had leaves and twigs tangled in it and her face was coated with so much dirt I couldn’t tell the color of her skin. Several scratches adorned her cheeks, making her look like she’d just crawled out of the ground.

She looked at me quizzically. “Who are you?” she asked in a voice that sounded rough and worn, as if she’d been out here a while, yet still had a sweet kindness to it.

“I’m the princess, Iris.” I said.

“Iris? Never heard that name before. It’s pretty.”

“Uhm, Thanks.”

“So, what are you doing out here?” Her face held a look of confusion but also genuine concern.

“I, well, I-” my voice faltered. Why was I talking to this random girl in the woods? It wasn’t like she could magic away my problems with the stupid prince.

“You don’t have to tell me.” She smiled and came over to sit with me. Her movements were graceful and her footsteps made almost no sound on the carpet of fallen pine needles covering the ground. “I’m Alette. I came out here 3 years ago the night before I was to be wed to a horrid man from my town.” She explained.

“But, 3 years ago? You couldn’t have been more than 12! That’s awfully young to be wed!”  I exclaimed.

“13,” she corrected me, “T’was the way of my town. Women needed to be married off young so their husbands could have better chances at shaping them to their liking. The more mature a woman is, the better able she is to think for herself.”

“That’s horrible!”

“It was, that’s why I came here.”

I looked into her hazel eyes, she’d done pretty well out here to survive 3 years on her own. Could I do that? A shaft of moonlight cut through the pine trees and illuminated her face. She looked so angelic, like a nature fairy. The natural debris suspended from her form served to enforce that comparison. I decided right then and there that I could trust this girl.

“Can I join you?” I asked timidly. She grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

“Come, I’ll show you my home.”

I whistled for Cinnamon and let her drag me along. Her hand was rough and calloused but I liked the way it fit perfectly in mine. Like a yin and yang symbol. Dark skin against light. I walked in silence, taking in the beauty of the woods. The pine trees gave way to spruce and maple. Blackberry bushes grew in clumps all around me, reaching out to snag my dress and mark me as part of the forest. A very small shelter comes into view. It didn’t even look big enough to sit up in.

Alette led me up to the pile of sticks. She pushed aside a pine bough and revealed two steps dug into the dirt.

“This is where I live. It’s called a pit house, basically a big hole dug in the ground with a roof of sticks and branches.” She explained, pointing at the steps.

“Would I fit in there?” I asked, thinking of my many skirts.

“Hmmm, you may need to take off that dress, you have something underneath?”

“Of course!” I exclaimed. “Mother would never let me out without my undergarments”

“Good, well, if you don’t plan on going back, then you can take that off. It’d make good bedding. Much better than the scratchy pine needles.”

I pushed the now mudstained dress to the ground and shivered as the chilly evening wind penetrated the thin fabric of my undershirt.

“God, are you okay?” She asked, noticing the bleeding bruise on my neck. “Yeah, I just fell off my horse.” I lied.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” She slipped into the shelter and I followed after tethering Cinnamon to a nearby tree. It was pitch black inside and I crouched on the ground, leaning against the wall. Moving seemed dangerous, I could knock into anything in this small space. Alette was in the far corner, which was really just 6 feet from me, making some scraping noise.

A shower of sparks illuminated the small space for a second before flickering out. I was able to see a cot built of wood against one wall, covered in a sheet of pine needles. Another spark. A few wooden shelves dug into the sides of the shelter held clay pots, a few arrows, a knife, a pair of gloves made of  what looked like some sort of animal hide and dried meats in a wooden bowl. Another spark. A pair of snowshoes and a bow leaned against the dirt wall by the shelves. Finally the fire caught, flaring into a blazing warmth that lit up the entire place. I turned my head to the ceiling. Strings hung across it near the fire, strung with various mushrooms.

Everything looked handmade. I was amazed Alette had done this all on her own as a 13 year old. I turned back to her. She held two rocks in her hands and I tilted my head inquiringly.

“Flint.” she said, holding up a dark stone with sharp edges. “You scape it against another rock and make a spark. Learned it from my mom before I came out here. Couldn’t have survived without it.”

“Oh.” I was jealous of her. My mom had never taught me any cool skills or tricks. Only manners, posture, etiquette, and more manners.

“So, you live here year-round then? Even when it gets super cold out?” I asked. How could she put up with those sub zero temperatures we get with only this little stick hut for warmth?

“Yeah, pretty much. I hunt, gather, make my own way. Fire is the best tool, after my wits of course.”

“Wow.” I was in awe of her skill.

“So, you want to learn?”

“Of course! Teach me everything! Please, I’m never going back home! I just can't, I never want to see him again.” It all rushes out of me. I mean it too, I have no intentions of returning to the prison of the palace.

“Him?” she questioned, before quickly adding, “I mean, of course you don’t need to tell me if you aren’t comfortable.”

“I, uhm, maybe soon.” I dropped my eyes. Hadn’t I just said I trusted her?

“You can stay, no questions asked, ok? I recognize a fellow girl in need.”

“Thank you!"

~ ~ ~

My eyes flew open. Why am I not under a silk sheet with a breakfast try on my nightstand? Oh yeah, because men suck and I almost got raped yesterday.

I shifted under my old dress and realized Alette had her arm draped over me. I jerked away suddenly. Alette wouldn’t hurt me but that disgusting man’s touch was still fresh in my mind.

The morning sun squirmed into the shelter through small cracks in the stick roof, streaking light across the dirt floor. I stumbled over to the door and cracked it open, letting in some sunshine. Alette stirred and got up. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Brrr! It’s really cold this morning.” she exclaimed.

“Well, you can’t expect much better for early April.” I replied, smiling.

“Least it’s only getting warmer!”

“So long as I don’t have to spend a freezing winter in this shelter, I’m fine.” I stated, laughing a little.

Alette’s face fell ever so slightly, her smile receding from her eyes, but I noticed it.

“Oh, you’re not going to stay?” She asked quietly. “ I mean, it was stupid to assume you would anyway, you just got here and I’m a stranger and you’re proabbly going to go back to your mom and your life as a princess. It’s gotta be pretty awesome, all the good food and parties and nice clothes and nice people. You’re so pretty, you probably have all these amazing princes fighting over you, I’m sorry I had you rip your dress, go tell your mother I kidnapped you or something, I’ll come and turn myself in, you won’t get in trouble. I’m so so sorry, you barely know me, I was stupid, this was all stupid, I-”

“No,” I grabbed her hand and cut her off, “No, Alette, I’m staying. I’m staying through the winter. If you want me to, that is.”

She looked up at me, “You mean it?”

“Of course I do. You’re right, I did have princes fighting for me. That’s why I left. It got to be too much, one of them . . . Well one of them took it too far.” I admitted.

Her eyes dropped to the bruise on my neck and I looked away hurriedly before continuing. “I just meant, this place needs a bit of fixing up before winter. We should fill in those cracks over there by the door, we could use moss and then cover it all with pine boughs. We could get another animal hide for a blanket too, just make it more comfy and warm in here.”

“Well okay then, as long as you’re staying, we have all year to get this place ready.” She smiles, happiness lighting up her eyes again.

“Hey, do you know of anywhere nearby where there’s some grass? I need to feed Cinnamon and I’m not really familiar with this forest.”

“Yeah, actually. If you follow that stream where I found you for about like half a mile that way,” she points her finger in the opposite direction of the castle, “there's a little shore and some grass. The soil’s so rocky there so the trees don’t grow. But be careful, there are so many brambles.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“No problem.” she replies, tossing me her coat, “you may want this.”

I smile and laugh, “Yeah, probably!”