“Father, is all of this truly necessary?” asked Caroline with a slight smirk, turning her head to the side to look at Richard.

                “Don’t speak, Caroline, or you may stir your gracious helpers from their work…” he said soothingly, hugging his smiling but still traumatized wife to him tightly.

                “I what?” asked Caroline from her laying down position, her eyes suddenly shifting back up.  The maid who happened to be seated on Caroline’s stomach was rolled onto her side, laying flat on the young girl’s massive abdomen as the rumble of Caroline’s voice startled her from her precarious position.  “I’m sorry, I…” began Caroline, realizing she was vibrating her stomach again.  “I’m sorry…” she whispered this time, nodding.

                “Not to worry, your Highness, ‘twas but an accident,” offered the maid, sitting back up and continuing to scrub with her sponge at the small exposed spot on Caroline’s stomach where the beast’s claws had left a long scratch.  Not wanting to destroy the entire garment (as it was all the massive princess had to wear), Rose had taken charge of Caroline’s healing process, discovering all the places the awful monster had left a mark before cutting the seams in that area to make a small enough opening for a team of maids and nurses to wash the wounds.  Rose herself was already hard at work at lengthening the curtain robe along the back and hem, as it was already beginning to feel tight on some areas of Caroline’s body. 

While the scratches looked rather severe to the eyes of a normal sized person, to Caroline it felt like she had simply rolled down a hill into a thicket on accident, something she had done as a child, and while it was a painful experience, she felt as if she was being treated medically after returning from the front lines in a war, having only received a few bruises.  There were at least ten of the staff surrounding her at different places.  She had one woman on her stomach, two on her left leg, one on her right leg, two on her right arm, two on her left arm, one next to her head, and one on her chest.  While she didn’t want to admit it and certainly wouldn’t for fear of embarrassment, the sensation of this procedure was the equivalent of having kittens, monkeys, or some other small animal crawling all over her body, their light weight barely registering, their tiny feet tickling Caroline.  She slowly tilted her head back to the side, feeling the nurse behind her head feeling for any bumps or scratches while simultaneously dealing with how frazzled her hair had become.  “But… really, father,” she whispered as gently as possible so as not to disturb the woman on her stomach again.  “Really… is this all necessary?”

“Please, Caroline, you musn’t speak so much… I don’t want you to be hurt,” said Elizabeth slowly.  “You must return to health.  Your brother and sister would like to see you.”

“Could they not return now?” asked Caroline.

“We had hoped they would not become frightened by your wounds,” said Richard, shrugging slightly.  “I will allow them to re-enter once all of your injuries have been attended to.”  Despite how much Anne and Phillip had wanted to see Caroline after they were told the palace was safe again, they had been shooed to their rooms until the situation could be dealt with.

“But mother!” whispered Caroline again with the slightest of laughs.  “I truly do feel perfectly fine.  Minor, minor scratches, all of these.  I feel much improved already.”

“Nonsense, miss, nonsense.  We can’t have you going about until we’re absolutely positive you are going to be well again,” said Rose, scurrying past Caroline’s ear with a massive patch of new fabric dragging behind her like a shawl.  She pinned it against Caroline’s shoulder, stretched it down to her elbow to check the length.  “Yes, yes… this should do very well…” she mumbled, folding the fabric back up over her shoulder and marching back to the corner of the room, where she had been working with several other maids who were just as skilled as seamstresses.  Caroline sighed, raising and lowering her chest in a controlled manner, again remembering that she had a small human being sitting on her body, trying to help her.  She had a feeling it would be best to just let the kind nurses and maids do their work so she could sooner end the massive fuss that had been put up over her in the last hour or so since she had taken down the frightful creature almost by herself.  With several dozen of the kingdom’s strongest men brought in, along with some armored carts, the creature had been chained down, first twisted around its body and then attached in crisscrossing patterns along the carts to ensure escape was nigh impossible.  Then, using the might of the men, the carts were transported out of the room and outside the castle walls; Caroline was unsure of what exactly had transpired once the beast was outside.

Suddenly, a new thought struck Caroline.  From the commotion of the day, beginning with her nerve-wracking speech to the people and followed by her brawl with the awful intruder, she had completely forgotten to wonder about Luke.  Had he been out in the crowds?  Had he seen her?  Surely he must have.  Caroline swallowed hard, licking her lips to try to moisten her mouth again and make speaking clearly an easier task.  “Father?” she whispered.

“Please don’t trouble yourself with anything now, my daughter, just rest…”

“Was Luke present today?  At the address?”

There was silence for a moment.  “I don’t believe so, Caroline.”

Already, she wasn’t feeling good.  Had her intended heard about her condition through some sneaky word of mouth and not bothered to show up, having already made up his mind about the woman that was probably going to be his wife someday?  This thought instantly consumed Caroline’s mind, and she wanted to tear up a little in her eyes, but she figured it was best to hold it back now and avoid the sharp dipping and rising of her chest that would come as a package deal with the inevitable dry sobs.  She didn’t feel any better, though.

“Do you… do you know… why?” she asked, not wanting to know the answer at all but at the same time requiring it of herself.  Richard nodded, and could probably sense the fear and doubt in her voice, because he was quick to step forward, waving his hands as if to hush her.

“Yes, my daughter, and believe me, it has nothing to do with you at all.”

Caroline wondered if her father was being truthful or simply trying to cushion the situation for her in her state of slightly disturbed health, but she chose not to press that particular aspect of his answer.  She giggled lightly as the maid sitting on her stomach scrubbed across the scratch very gently, creating a tickling sensation.  The woman looked up, worried for a moment but smiling herself.

“Apologies, your Highness…”

“None required, you’ve lifted my spirits some…” smiled Caroline, lifting her head slightly to make eye contact with the maid before laying her head back on the ground and turning to face her parents again.  “What was it then, father?  I did so desperately want to see him, I would have hoped… to have had the opportunity to explain matters to him.  Have you…”

“Yes, Caroline, I have indeed seen and spoken with Luke.”

Her heart stopped in her chest.  What could possibly have transpired?  Caroline had the irresistible urge, just as when she was a child knowing her parents were deliberately withholding information, to leap up and jump up and down with eagerness, but somehow she had a feeling such an action would not end comfortably for the majority of the people in the room.  She swallowed again, feeling particularly dry in her throat at this new development.

“When did…”

“This morning, my daughter, this morning at a very early hour.”

“Please, father, what has become of him?”

The king grumbled uncomfortably, looking down at the ground, and Elizabeth took over.  “Caroline, we would so like if you would simply rest.  These matters will wait until later,” she said soothingly, stepping closer to her daughter’s face.

“But… I cannot rest, mother.  I must know where he is, I must speak with him as soon as possible.”

“Really, Caroline.”

“I… shan’t be able to shut my eyes until I am fully aware of his whereabouts,” said Caroline, growing more and more worried.  The king rubbed at his temple as Elizabeth stepped back, defeated.

“Very well.  During the night, we heard stirrings near the entrance into the Black Mountains.  I must confess, I had a feeling that the… being who so graciously paid us a visit today was traveling towards the kingdom, so I gathered together a force to head it off at the cave entrance to the mountains.  Having some prior knowledge of it, I knew it would take no route other than the darkest and least navigable, which called for a rather specialized group…” said the king, clearing his throat.  “I gathered two dozen of my finest and bravest before the sun even rose this morning in the hopes that they might meet the threat and end it before steps were forced to be taken.  And… Luke must have heard a whisper in the wind, because he arrived too, wanting to join the force…”

Caroline’s breath caught in her chest again.  It couldn’t possibly be.  Her father couldn’t have actually allowed Luke to venture out towards the mountains and face the beast.  Despite her best efforts, her chest and stomach began to rise and fall a little more quickly.  She felt both maids ceasing their work and hanging on to the fabric of her robe to avoid falling off the gigantic princess’s torso.

“Father, you can’t mean…”

“My daughter, I swear to you, I tried multiple times to persuade him into not going, but he would have none of it.  He informed me he was going to march out toward the mountains of his own accord, and it would be… my choice to try and protect him.  There was little I could do.  I handed him a blade and shield to ensure the safest journey possible.”

“No… no…”

“Please, Caroline, try to understand… he was intent on going.  He said that he refused to let anything potentially harmful reach the walls of the palace.  He told me… he intended to make sure you were safe.”

Caroline shut her eyes tightly in an effort to dam up the waterworks, but regardless felt the tears streaming down her dirt-powdered cheeks, the small hands of the woman tending to the scratches on her cheek retracting at the sight of the massive, salty droplets.  She tried to hold back the sobbing, but she couldn’t and soon felt her chest and stomach heaving a little.  It wasn’t much, but it was enough to ensure the two maids actually sitting on her body couldn’t work.  Both quickly slid off of her sides, knowing that this could get worse reasonably quickly.  Caroline wrinkled her nose and clenched teeth, hoping to stop herself and not force the entire staff of nurses and maids to halt their work while she wallowed in doubt.

“Father, please, tell me… where IS he?” she said through a cracked voice, trying to bat the wetness from her eyes.  Richard grumbled again.

“Caroline… we…”

“Father.”

“Yes… I’m so sorry, my daughter.  None of the men have returned yet.  We have heard no sign of them,” he answered grimly.  At this, Caroline broke out into full-on weeping, her large, rosy cheeks becoming fully stained by her tears.  A slippery puddle began to form by her head, and the maid trying to work her hair out slipped right onto her back after trying to take a step through the steadily growing puddle.

“Ohhhh…” moaned Caroline in further embarrassment and annoyance at the fact that she couldn’t even cry anymore without nearly breaking someone’s back.  “He… w-why…”

“Please understand, my daughter, I gave him the best armor and weapons I could, he was set upon going.  Everything he did, I know he did it for you.”

Caroline could feel the small hands of the maids drawing back to give her some room to settle.  Her arms free, the princess brought her massive hands up to her face, trying to wipe at the little river of tears flowing down both cheeks, her breath catching uncomfortably in deep sobs.  After a moment of simply squeezing at her cheeks, the dampness now coating the spaces between her fingers, Caroline took her hands off of her face and smashed both of her fists down onto the ground in rage, knocking down several of the people in the room with the shockwave through the ground, her sobs loud and frequent as a rapid-firing ballista.  Her hands trembled then, her fingers opening up and drumming along the cool marble.  She refused to believe it.  He couldn’t be dead.  He simply couldn’t.

“Oh, mother…” said Caroline, sighing deeply in a failed attempt to cease the sobbing.  “’What am I to do?” she asked helplessly.  Elizabeth stepped forward, patting her daughter on the soaked, glistening cheek and kissed it.

“Please just rest now, Caroline, it will be all right, I’m sure of it… the soldiers, all of them, shall return home.  They are, as your father said, the best of the kingdom, some of the finest warriors available.  They surely are simply wandering home, wearied, from their journey; I know you are aware of the distance, it is over a dozen miles just to reach the entrance of the caves!” she offered, stroking her daughter’s cheek.  Caroline sniffled, clearing her throat again.

“But… but even if they are… all right…” she said, terrified at having to make the distinction when in regards to anything involving Luke.  “…the caves, so deep, so winding, like a labyrinth!  Are they not, father?” she asked worriedly, new fears trickling into her mind rapidly.

“Y-Yes…” he said quietly, coughing.

“Then… what sort of odds…” moaned Caroline, scrunching her face up in mental agony.

“Caroline, I BEG you to not think on these matters so deeply and further threaten your heart,” said Elizabeth, her own voice sounding wavy but refusing to break in order to help soothe the gargantuan princess.  “These are the BEST, not only in battle, but in knowledge of the world and geography, of plotting a course to the destination with precision and accuracy!” said Elizabeth as optimistically as possible.  “If anyone is to find their way through the caves as if taking a leisurely stroll, you can rest comfortably in the knowledge that it is THESE men and of course Luke.”

Caroline tried to work this through her mind.  Luke was indeed very smart, and could find his way out of the thickest, unknown forest blindfolded, earmuffed, and handcuffed.  While he was still very young, having just recently turned 20, he was no doubt one of the most skilled navigators to ever visit the kingdom, and she had little doubt that he was capable of standing up to the challenge of the caves and leading the men to safety.

But then again, Caroline had never seen the caves with her own eyes.  She had been brought near the mountains with her father, years before as a young child, as the royal family traveled to a neighboring province along with a massive escort of guards to keep them fully secure.  She had seen the mountains, towering, terrifying beacons as the caravan of royals, guards, and carriages had traveled through the deep valleys, the monuments of stone death standing overhead as if watching them.  She had felt frightened then, and had never actually traveled in that same direction since, only seeing some of the mountains from her view from the palace ramparts, although even this was difficult at times because an oppressive layer of fog constantly covered the mountains, becoming even worse near the top.

This thinking was doing her no good, and despite her efforts to forget it for now and rest, Caroline felt the tears flowing anew down her cheeks.  She covered her face again, not wanting to be looked upon by all of these people who couldn’t quite grasp her pain.

“Evening approaches, dearest Caroline, I would so like it if you would attempt to get some well-deserved rest…” said Elizabeth, kissing her daughter’s cheek once more before slowly retreating toward the door, shooing the maids and nurses away in the process.  Richard nodded to his daughter solemnly, knowing there was little he could say to comfort her.

“Caroline… if I hear anything, a single breath of news…”

“I know you will, father, thank you… I just want to be alone…” said Caroline, resting her hands on her chest and stretching her legs out.  He nodded, exiting, leaving his daughter to continue weeping, stewing in the fear that her one-foot-tall essentially-betrothed could be lying painfully in a cave somewhere, wishing someone would come and help him.  She closed her eyes, picturing what the strapping young man would look like to her from her stature.  She could almost see him, lying pained on a cold and wet cave floor, trying aimlessly to right himself.  Caroline stretched out her hand into the air, curling her fingers slowly with desperation; she so badly wanted to wrap her fingers around Luke’s sides and pull his small body to hers in an attempt to save him, but there was nothing there.  She retracted her hand quickly, the sobbing continuing as the sun set.