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It was almost too easy to sneak out at this point – the heiress to the Kingdom of Ahten’s throne, and yet she was getting out under her guards' noses with just a diary to track their routines.
She should bring it up as a security risk, really, but her father would have a fit if he knew how many mornings and nights Estelle spent outside the castle’s walls. The risk! He’d say. You have no idea what those peasants will do!
Estelle scoffed out into the early morning air, watching her breath condense to mist in the cold. She knew better than he ever would about how “peasants” acted. That isn’t to say she hadn’t been taking her fair share of precautions, with the royal family’s famous crystal-blue hair tucked under a cloth laid over her head and a worn cloak thrown over the high-quality fabrics she wore to sleep. Certainly not a foolproof disguise, and an outfit most definitely unbefitting of a princess, but one that had sufficed thus far.
Thankfully, she needn’t fool the masses, only those who happened to catch her in the alleys under the shadows of early morning during her journey and… one more.
Estelle couldn’t help herself as she turned out of the alleyway and laid eyes on the familiar establishment, quickly raising her fist to place a gentle knock on the wooden door leading inside. A quaint place built of rough stone and chipped wood, so wholly unremarkable aside from the heavenly smell that drifted halfway up the city and made Estelle’s mouth water from blocks away — and yet, that couldn’t compare to what was inside. Or rather, who.
“Sorry!” A muffled voice called from within, shuffling coming from inside as Estelle heard her near the window leading out into the street and stepped over to meet her as the wooden windows were swung open. “We’re still closed…” Her— Asher’s voice trailed off as she revealed herself, staring into Estelle’s sheepish smile with a look that morphed from annoyance, to confusion, to pure glee; a grin stretching across her face, freckled nose crinkling and baby blue eye lighting up.
“It’s you!” She near-shouted and Estelle let out a quiet giggle as she watched the girl’s arms rise and awkwardly hang in the air, jerking back and forth as if stuck between the urge to hug and the knowledge that her apron was covered in flour and crumbs.
Estelle solved the conundrum for the girl, reaching over the wall to wrap her arms around Asher’s neck and letting out a small “oomph” as she was suddenly pulled forward and almost off her feet by the girl’s strength and sheer enthusiasm. She felt another small giggle bubble up from her chest at the action, and silently relished in the strong arms tightening around her as Asher spoke, “Thought you weren’t gonna show up again!”
Estelle grinned against the girl’s shoulder, only slightly disappointed as the arms loosened around her as Asher pulled away – partially abated by hearing quick steps over to the bakery’s door. “I’ve only been absent a week, Asher…” She defended, stepping over to slip into the open door and past Asher as she closed it. The warmth of ovens and the beautiful, pure scent of baking bread hit her like the most pleasant wall Estelle had ever faced, and she was once again reminded of her theory that the gods must have blessed this place as her mouth began to water anew.
“C’mon!” Asher said, scandalised, and Estelle tore her gaze away from the fresh golden loaves of bread resting to the side to look back up at the grin still plastered on the baker’s face as she stepped back over to the kitchen, a lump of dough sitting among a dusting of flour where she had been working. “It’s the only time I see you! ‘Course I’m gonna miss you, Rose.”
Rose . Right, the name she had finally given after Asher pressed her the last time they met. The discomfort that she was going to have to go along with the fake name was, however, quickly overshadowed by processing that Asher missed her, and suddenly the discomfort brewing in her chest was forgotten in favour of the nervous flutters in her stomach that always came along with the familiar thumping of her heart.
Quickly, Estelle swallowed down the odd lump growing in her throat and stepped up to the counter separating the kitchen from where she stood. “I…” She trailed off as she searched for the words, clearing her throat a moment later and responding as steadily as she could, “I was preoccupied. I apologise, Asher. Sincerely.”
A bubbly chuckle came along with the slapping of dough falling against the tabletop. “Don’t needa’ be so serious, Rose. Just nice to see ya’ again is all.”
The flutters only worsened and Estelle couldn’t help but look away from the smile Asher shot her way, radiant and full of such an unnatural warmth that only Asher could emanate. “R-Right,” she mumbled and quickly scanned the bakery for something more innocuous to speak about.
“Ah.” Estelle wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it before. “You’re working alone today?” She asked. It wasn’t entirely unusual, there were times she had visited when Asher was alone in the shop but that was typically far earlier, before any of her family had arrived.
Asher’s hands stilled on the ball of dough and her expression fell from the evergreen smile Estelle was used to by now. She was silent for a long moment before, “Uh, yeah–” She cleared her throat loudly and shook her head. “Ma, she’s down with something fierce and so we got Pa taking care of her right now,” Asher explained, and Estelle couldn’t help the quiet “oh” she let out in response. It was a simple circumstance, one Estelle had heard dozens of times before, but never to someone she knew .
“I’m… sorry, Asher,” Estelle responded softly, condolences at having to explain and at what Estelle knew the future may hold for a family such as Asher’s. A royal she may be, but Estelle was not blind to the issues that gripped those such as Asher — medicine was expensive, a fault of Estelle’s great-grandfather and every leader that came after him for not fixing the mistakes he made. She may not know quite what ails Asher’s mother but she was aware of the extent of what could.
Asher’s hands continued on the dough, but she didn’t look up from her kneading. “Ay, don’t get all sad,” she spoke with a cheerfulness that Estelle could tell wasn’t genuine, “My ma’s strong. Wheredya’ think I got it from?” She finally looked up, with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eye and Estelle responded with her own in spite of that.
It… was that which amazed Estelle more than anything; how Asher could so effortlessly smile as if everything was right. No matter if someone had stolen from the bakery, or she had just burnt her hand on the oven, or… if her mother may not survive the month, Asher would simply bear it. It was incredible, and yet Estelle could not help but feel a tinge of sadness in her heart at the thought.
The silence stretched on, and Estelle felt the atmosphere grow heavier. Finally, she interrupted with a huff and willed herself to at least attempt to cheer Asher up as she had done for Estelle so many times. “Hm… I wasn’t aware that arms the size of my head were passed down.”
A moment passed – and Estelle worried she had only made everything so much worse – before, finally, a soft little huff of laughter exhaled from Asher’s nose, and Estelle had to hold back a grin. “Eh. I dunno, think my ma’s might still be bigger than mine,” she spoke, lips curling up into a small, beautiful smile as she lifted one of her arms to show off; flexing her bicep enough to make Estelle’s cheeks go a brilliant shade of pink and erase any semblance of thought she may have followed up with.
“I. Uh-” Estelle floundered, mind coming up empty as she attempted to respond, meanwhile she stayed transfixed on the individual muscles that flexed and moved on the tanned skin of Asher’s arm. A sudden stray thought telling her to climb over the counter and see how it felt in her hands was enough to shock her out of whatever stupor she had been put in. “I-I wouldn’t know.”
Asher’s shoulders rumbled with a laugh as she returned to working the dough in her hands, and Estelle couldn’t help but join her in quiet laughter.
The conversation continued easily after that, as they always did with Asher. Simple questions about Asher’s life were answered as she set about working loaf after loaf and assembling goods to bake. Before long, a knock sounded out at the door signalling the arrival of customers and Estelle’s unfortunate departure.
After a goodbye, far too short for Estelle’s liking, she was slipping out of the bakery with an unfamiliar coat around her and a berry tart in her arms.
(“It’s freezing outside! Just take it!” Asher urged between slight chuckles, to Estelle’s annoyance and her own laughter.
“I’m fine, Asher! I swear," she tried to answer, pushing the garment back into the taller girl’s arms. “Do you not realise that you will get cold without your coat?”
Asher shook her head with that big, dumb, beautiful grin and returned the coat to Estelle before stepping away. “I’ll be fine, Rosy. Just return it next time you come here!”
Next time. Estelle sighed with a slight hint of annoyance at the woman’s insistence, but couldn’t stop the small part of her that was curious about how a piece of Asher’s clothing would fit over her.
“Fine,” she relented, shoving the coat under one arm. “Thank you, Asher,” Estelle said with a nod before she turned to leave far later than she should have.
Her hand was on the doorknob when Asher’s voice suddenly stopped her with a “Wait!” and Estelle turned to spot the girl holding out a tart to her like it was something precious she had forgotten.
Estelle just sighed, and though she wanted to deny the gift, it felt like a tradition now to leave with one of Asher’s baked goods. Though, perhaps her decision was also helped by the fact that she had worked up a slight appetite after walking through the entire city and chatting for what must have been hours.
“Idiot…” Estelle muttered with a quiet shake of her head and a smile that was far too wide to be proper.)
The trip back was long, and cutting it much too close for Estelle’s comfort with questions from a guard that she simply brushed off, but as she laid in bed underneath her blankets, hugged around a bundle of fur and cloth that smelled like fire and freshly baked bread, Estelle thought of beautiful orange hair and freckled skin, and how she was possibly going to ask her mother for a basket of medicine that wasn’t for her.