Kyi Leigh has a minion!

Billie the Floe

I.
She'd given it all up for love.
The idea of love, at least.
The palace. The constant balls with their fancy gowns and false-faced courtiers. The personal chef who knew every mood of her sweet tooth.
She didn't miss that luxury. Mostly. Though she sometimes wishes she could have bribed the chef to come along on her journey.
That would have defeated the purpose, though. She knew that finding true love demanded a total sacrifice. She was convinced that finding a true and everlasting love could only occur if she was willing to become completely selfless.
And suffer the loneliness that went along with such dedication.
The only token of her former life that she could not bear to leave behind was the icy crown that was both a link to her past and a mark of the future she will one day reclaim.
When she finds her love.
Or dies trying.

II.
Life as a princess had been pleasant enough but as the fifth in line, she had never felt any real obligation. Her oldest sister saw marriage as an obligation. The next two had chosen based on shaping stronger alliances for the land, should the burden of ruling ever fall to them. Her fourth sister...nobody ever really knew what to make of that one.
She hadn't taken much interest in the constant talk of balls and gowns and possible center pieces at the wedding banquet table. The palace library was one of the best in the world, the sort of place one could enter at sunrise and easily lose themselves in until well after dark. Chocolates, crafted after the theme of her latest literary obsession, were always within arm's reach. Cook had a soft spot in his heart for her. The queen had frowned on such indulgence. The king would shrug and warn his wife not to take away the joys of youth. Soon enough, their bookish daughter would be like every other noble woman, tottering down a narrow path of polite conversation and socially acceptable hand gestures. Let the girl find joy while she can. Let her have a little fun.
She never took notice of these conversations, though she was hardly ignorant to what her future held. The prospect of marrying some handsome duke or ambitious count was merely a distant threat. She was too busy observing dancing witches in the woods or soaring on the backs of winged horses to put much focus into matters of state. When her lady-in-waiting became too much a pest, she would slip down to the lake and do a few laps. Her people were of the sea. She could slip into her scaly skin as easily as breathing. The arctic water felt no colder than tepid bath water, for she was immune to cold.
She put on the dresses and jewels at her mother's command. (Though never in a shade of coral...an unfortunate swimming accident as a toddler had left its mark, quite literally. To say nothing of the fact that most shades of pink left her looking like a bloated fish.)
She would have likely settled into a life of mediocrity, had it not been for the book.

III.
Yes...the book.
Not merely a book, but the book. A book of magic more wondrous than all the parlor tricks to ever be presented in the Royal Theater. Every turn of the page would bring with it a new story, one always sure to fit the reader's mood.
She had found it on a gloomy day, when the moon was new and the wind was especially bitter. A tale of wandering a maze of icy cobwebs that could capture the memories of travelers not wary enough to keep their hands to themselves. It had planted a seed in her mind, a hidden desire to get out and see more of the world than her isolated little snow globe of a kingdom.
For weeks, the tales built, one on top of another. Teasing. Suggesting.
Until the story that made her sit entranced until three cups of tea had grown cold and her maids were nearly faint with worry.
The tale of the wealthy queen and the handsome pauper. A love story so powerful that its author had been banned in seven different cities.
She longed for a love of such magnitude, a love that could never betray her or grow bored with her or question how anyone could spend so much time reading books.
It took careful planning, convincing the king and queen to give her journey their blessing. She would revisit the depths of the oceans and bring back new trading contracts from foreign lands of great wealth. She would do it all for the glory of the kingdom.
Her mother relished the thought of having this peculiar daughter away in a place that could offer culture. Her father was more reluctant - but he could see the great excitement in his daughter's eyes. He had been sure nothing but a dusty old tome would ever encourage that look.
Whatever bug for adventure she'd caught, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

IV.
The years passed.
It seemed she had walked every mile of land that spanned the seven seas. The food was often atrocious but the beauty of nature and the peace of being alone as she crossed the ocean spans could almost make up for the luxurious life she often missed.
Many handsome princes and wealthy merchants (and even a charming rogue or two) were happy to host the lovely princess from the frozen north but none could ever awaken that spark in her heart.
None were the pauper. The idea of him was too dear to sacrifice her journey for a few witty phrases or three dozen white lilies dipped in real silver and gold.
The cold lands would at least sometimes capture her attention for a while. Frigid beauty was something she could relate to.
Many a jaded man would say that she had a frigid heart, when quite the opposite is true. She has great capacity for love, but a long string of disappointments has made her wary. Sometimes the deepest declarations of love can hide the basest scoundrels.
The Persian prince came the closest. He had a love of books nearly as great as her own...but he would never stoop so low as to risk his life when she was in danger. He could not entertain the thought of spending the night in a conjurer's dungeon for her sake.
It was what the pauper would have done.
She just knew it, without having to be told. (Though she'd consulted her magic book and confirmed that was exactly what the pauper had done.
It would have never worked out between them, even if that prince had passed her test. She couldn't stand to live in the desert.

V.
Love remains elusive, yet still she wanders.
She consults the book every day. She studies maps of the world, seeking out obscure lands and tiny villages with names she can't even pronounce. She does her best to keep hope alive.
Will she ever truly find that love that will make the many lonely nights and sacrifices worth all the trouble of roaming every corner of the world?
Only time will tell.

~I'm on a mission into destination unknown
An expedition into Desolation Road~
Castaway by Green Day

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